<p>sell me on being a friar :D</p>
<p>i loved my day visit but i'm torn between provi and a few other schools (american, northeastern, etc.) pleaseeee help.</p>
<p>My D is now deciding between PC and one other school, so I can only speak from our experiences visiting schools, we have no one enrolled there right now.
What really stood out to me at PC was the level of student/faculty engagement. It really came across to us there are excellent relationships between students and faculty. At every break out session that we went to, faculty were more than willing to speak with us and answer question.
Also I remember on our very first visit, we were confused on which building to go to, a young woman asked if we needed help and walked us to exactly where we needed to be. This happened again on accepted students day when I asked a young man how to get to a particular building, he walked me over and kept the conversation going about his experience at the school. As a parent, these randon acts of kindness speak volumes to me. This type of thing also happened at some other schools we visited, but certainly not all.</p>
<p>Freecycle, what is the other school?</p>
<p>davisdjudo – my son is currently a freshman at PC. he too was torn between American and PC… went to accepted student’s day at both and it became clear to him that PC would be the right choice…and it has been. I’ve never seen him happier, on every level. He’s “undecided” and his advisor has provided him with so much guidance and really goes above and beyond. Academically, he’s challenged and engaged. He’s involved in campus life through clubs and intramurals. Socially, he’s already made lifelong friends. Try to get to both schools again and listen to your gut-- this is such a big decision. Oh, and if you do decide to become a Friar, apply for Urban Action – a great way to get to meet your fellow freshman and learn your way around campus and Providence while providing community service.</p>
<p>ctmom2boys – my D is deciding between PC and BC, leaning towards PC right now. Much of this leaning is for financial reasons, but also as we as a family have really tried to reason thru this decision, it is becoming clearer that PC is probably a better fit for her. The size of the school and faculty interactions. Honors at PC, no honors at BC. If you’ve seen any of my other posts, you’ll see we’ve been up, down, and all around thru this whole college process. WAY more stressful than I ever expected it to be! Like i’ve said in other posts, we’ll see where it all falls out May1.</p>
<p>freecycle - are you aware that tuition for freshmen at Providence is going up $5,000 next year? I only mention it because you said she might be leaning toward PC for financial reasons, and the difference between the two schools is not as great any more. The “Accepted” thread has a discussion about it. We were very surprised to stumble upon it - I don’t believe the college has sent anything out to prospective students about it - and it’s a potential gamechanger for us.</p>
<p>Thank you zonian, yes we are aware. My D was accepted into the LAH program which comes with a generous scholarship, so for us there is a significant financial difference between the two schools.</p>
<p>"freecycle - are you aware that tuition for freshmen at Providence is going up $5,000 next year? I only mention it because you said she might be leaning toward PC for financial reasons, and the difference between the two schools is not as great any more. The “Accepted” thread has a discussion about it. We were very surprised to stumble upon it - I don’t believe the college has sent anything out to prospective students about it - and it’s a potential gamechanger for us. "</p>
<p>I would think so! Especially since many students who apply to PC as a safety or target and also apply to BC as a reach, with the tuitions being only a few thousand apart, I would think that BC would definitely be the clear choice.</p>
<p>BC is my son’s dream school. If he got in there (we applied knowing he has almost no chance, but he would never forgive himself if he didn’t try, hoping the AC makes a mistake), he would think he died and went to heaven.</p>
<p>Free, congrats on having such wonderful choices…my son would love to be able to choose between those 2 schools.</p>
<p>I see you’re waiting on Holy Cross, another very expensive school. I have 2 nieces (sisters) who both went to HC after being offered full rides at their State University’s. SIL and BIL (actually, ALL my SIL’s and BIL’s) spent a fortune on their kids educations…but that was before the recession. I wonder if they’d do it again?</p>
<p>thanks for the insight everyone!</p>
<p>@ lucysmom
what was it about pc that made your son choose it over american?</p>
<p>He loved DC. Came home from the accepted student’s day “underwhelmed” by American. Thought the speakers, faculty and students alike, were going through the motions…bored. Upon speaking to some of the students he left with the impression that most of their free time is spent off-campus. They raved about the city, but not so much about the school. At PC’s accepted student’s day people were falling all over themselves to answer questions, make him feel welcome and show-off their campus/school. Lots of school spirit/enthusiasm. He decided he wanted a real connection to his school for the four years. He hasn’t been disappointed. He LOVES it. He is always busy, never bored. Really likes his profs…complains a bit about civ. My husband and I were blown away at Freshman orientation. They’ve got their act together. They start building the student’s resume immediately and seem to have great career counseling – we’d like him to get a job some day! Our second son has committed to Holy Cross, ED. We’re very curious to see how they compare…HC will have a tough act to follow with PC. Don’t hesitate to ask more questions and good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>Lucy…funny, we had the same experience at American. Beautiful campus in a great city (S loves DC), but all the kids (I hope I don’t offend anyone) looked bored to tears, kind of like robots.</p>
<p>And our tour guide was awful. Nice enough girl but rambled on in a monotone giving stats. We didn’t see a class, the library, the dining hall, the sports facilities, nothing. We just walked around the campus and stood outside of all these buildings while she droned on.</p>
<p>We couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I got the impression that the students were way too serious for S, and he agreed.</p>
<p>I definitely love DC too. I don’t know as much about providence other than it has a huge mall in it. It sounds like there’s a lot to do on campus at pc, but does your son like being in the city itself too? thank you so much :)</p>
<p>The area right around the school is a bit sketchy but the city is quite nice. There are several colleges in Providence so it has that feel. They’ll sometimes go to the area around Brown (Thayer St.) and there’s a cute “little Italy” section w/ great food. There’s some program in place where college students have free transportation on RI public transit…but I don’t know the details. He and his friends have gone to Boston a few times – I think under an hour by train. He doesn’t have a car there and doesn’t seem to need one.</p>
<p>sorry for all the questions :-P</p>
<p>what is your son majoring in?
are the dorms livable? i didn’t get to see one on my day trip.
is it true the pc is a big party school?</p>
<p>He is undeclared and has another year until he has to decide. When we moved him in his dorm was clean, roomy and well maintained. Nothing fancy. Party school? I’m his mom. I’m sure he’s no angel but he seems to have balance. He has some really demanding classes, participates in some clubs, plays intramurals, works out and gets good grades. I don’t know how much time he has for “partying”. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>to ctmom – not sure if you follow the blogs on the PC website, but I’ve been reading Scott Sesaske’s for the last year while researching colleges. I’ve found them interesting, helpful, and I love the transparency that the admissions office seems to have.
Anyhow, noticed this morning that there’s a catagory on waitlisting dating from last spring back about 3 years. Thought it might be helpful to your son.</p>
<p>I lived in RI for 6 yr when a college student and early married. RI is a great place for college students! If you like history & architecture there is plenty of that, Boston is an easy ride away, the beaches are 30-40 min to the south and some of them are free. Narragansett Bay is right there and you used to be able to take a ferry to Newport from India Point. Hope you still can! </p>
<p>In spring & summer the city has Waterfire–go to the website using google—and the area around the rivers downtown is really nice. </p>
<p>Winters can be dreary at times but what else is new. Spring & fall are great in Providence. Summers too, if you stay there.</p>