<p>Penn State/Binghamton with Honors/Geneseo with Honors</p>
<p>Ithaca(16K)/Boston College Honor's Program/Fordham(10K-could go up)</p>
<p>D has looked at Northeast schools only; does not want to be that far away, we live in NY. Interest's are in Math , English and creative writing. Swears she will never be a teacher(not sure why) but would make a great one esp at the college level. Debating whether private is worth it, did not do it for the others. Will be my only child in college. Will not qualify for financial aid therefore, will have to take out loans. Waiting to hear from Lafayette(mom's favorite), Penn State's Schreyer's Honors College and UPENN.</p>
<p>I would pick one of the SUNY schools, unless you (the parents) and the daughter are truly ready to make a huge financial sacrifice. And since you have not planned for it far in advance, I don't think that it's a good idea to start down that road now. It just isn't worth it for most people.</p>
<p>I've heard of Geneseo, and it's good, don't get me wrong, but Binghamton's English department is just as strong, and is better recognized by grad schools.</p>
<p>Heavenwood- D does have thoughts on going to grad school. Although she has been accepted, we have yet to visit. When her school printed out Ruggs Recommendations for english departments--Bing and Geneseo as well as Buffalo were on the list for stong departments. I will keep what you said in mind about grad schools.:-)</p>
<p>Ithaca is an okay school. Very good music school, and you have some priveledges with Cornell. But I don't think that it's quality in liberal arts is any higher than geneseo or bing, and it seems that it would still be slightly more expensive.</p>
<p>Janesmom, your best bet for creative writing in that group is probably Lafayette. Although it doesn't have a well-known creative writing program (as HeavenWood points out, Binghamton is better known for that), it has an excellent English department, which is far more important for a beginning writer than actual writing courses. At this point, your daughter needs to study literature so she learns to write well, and a strong English faculty will give her the tools she needs to analyze it. As long as a school offers writing courses (so she actually makes time for writing), she will be fine when it comes to applying for grad school, if that's the direction she chooses.</p>
<p>If Ithaca allows students to take Cornell writing classes, that would also be an excellent option, although keep in mind that Cornell's graduate writing program probably guarantees that she will be taught by grad students, at least in the beginning.</p>
<p>I think the rule is that Ithaca college (and wells college) students can take cornell classes for which there isn't a close equivalent in they're school, but i could be wrong on that. If so, only the specific eng/writing classes would be available cuz you'd still have to take eng 101, etc. at ithaca, not cornell.</p>
<p>BC is hot here, and the honors program is supposed to be great. The high price tag is the damper here. As it would be for UPenn if she should get in. Penn State is ridiculously high for a state school, but kids love it. My son got into Ithaca, and though I liked it, he did not after spending a day there actually shadowing a student in his major. What the kid wants is paramont in these situations, as long as there is not some strong reason that the parent sees that the kid does not.<br>
My good friend is an author, MD (pediatrician), and a Lafayette graduate. She got a lot of mileage from that school. She won the Wash College Creative Writing award while there. Few people know Lafayette as a "writing" school, but it is excellent. Pricey, but I'll bet your D gets some merit money there. Friends of ours have their two girls there and love the school as do their girls. Drawback is that it is in an isolated locale if your D likes city. Which brings us to Fordham which I think would be a great choice especially with the merit money. Congrats on her haul, and wishes for more.</p>