<p>S is freshman at MIT and I would strongly recommend it. He has taken advantage of many opportunities from athletics to research. Dorm/food - very good. The other students he has met are really great. He really likes his classes, but the work is very difficult. Last week i asked him if anything exciting was going on.
He responded “Everything here is exciting”</p>
<p>D: NU - don’t know. Seems like she’s having a reasonable experience, just don’t know if it warrants the 50 grand; time will tell. If you want to go to med school like she does, perhaps a local state school would have been a more cost effective approach.
S: CMU - yes, but the SCS dept hardly needs my vote. He really has found areas that he’s passionate about to the point where I worry if he’s burning all ends of the candle.</p>
<p>I’ll have to echo Septembermom and KandK - Virginia Tech has been wonderful for both of my sons. The amount of extra help available for those who want/need it, whether for job interview practice, resume writing, or tutoring, has been terrific. Small town that is 100% behind the school and a great bus system (although I’m sure many other schools provide that as well).</p>
<p>Like Dad<em>of</em>3 I have a son in SCS at Carnegie Mellon. SCS is an amazing place - I feel they make a real effort to be nurturing and to encourage a bunch of computer nerds to get outside their comfort zones. (Not always successfully, but I have to give them props for trying!) CMU is full of students who already know exactly what they want to be when they grow up - engineers, artists, actors, etc. I’m not sure it’s as comfortable a place for the ones who are less directed. The campus is attractive, the neighborhood is nice. See Lurkness’s post (#3) for how nice Pittsburgh in general is.</p>
<p>mathmom – you are exactly right about CMU! I’m an alum and I’ve done a lot of interviewing for the school and I’ve always thought the students who fit the school best are the ones who know exactly what they want to do. It’s a school for serious, driven students.</p>
<p>“… and I would enthusiastically recommend it to the right kid.”</p>
<p>Yeah, and there’s the rub. I’ve recommended my D’s schools to kids I thought would fit and do well. And I’ve discouraged kids who appeared to be poor fits. “I have a 24 ACT, a 3.1 weighted GPA and I need lots of merit aid. I want to major in agricultural arts. Is NYU right for me?” Uh, no.</p>
<p>I’m with Rachacha, my S1 is at a school that is not for everybody. It was absolutely “right” for S1. I recommend if a specific poster seems to “fit”, but in general probably wouldn’t randomly post up a recommendation.</p>
<p>wis75 wrote:
</p>
<p>Isn’t it interesting that this particular UW advocate doesn’t seem to have enough confidence in the school’s merit on its own and instead feels she must demean other schools to make her point?
I love UW-Madison; my daughter could have easily gone there; didn’t want to. That’s why it’s wonderful there are so many college choices, in all shapes and sizes, for our kids.</p>
<p>Yes to both Boston University and Santa Clara University…but neither school is for EVERY applicant and both are pricey.</p>
<p>D is really enjoying her life at NYU. The biggest surprise to me was that in the largest private university in the country, her classes have fewer than 20 students per and she knows her professors. </p>
<p>That said, I agree with Newhope in that I would recommend the school only to a student who is a “good fit”. But I would do that for any school.</p>
<p>I’d happily recommend my kids’ colleges to other parents, but I agree with the other posters on the thread who’ve pointed out the importance of a good fit. Some kids bloom where they’re planted (mine seem to be of that variety), but when you’re making this kind of investment, you want a compatible school environment. The kid might as well be happy for $25-50K per year.</p>
<p>pixeljig, since you also asked about “the most pleasant surprise so far”: for d1, a 2005 W & M grad, if was how enduring and nurturing her college friendships have turned out to be. D lives in the DC area, where (not surprisingly) many W & M alums end up - she still sees a core group of hall buddies several times a month. They’re a surrogate family for each other - there couldn’t be a better resource for young adults establishing their own lives.</p>
<p>For d2, a 2009 Vanderbilt grad, the best surprise was that the Vandy student body stereotype is indeed just that - d found much more diversity of thought and background among her peers than the conventional wisdom would have it. She also found that rich kids and/or members of Greek organizations could also be heavily invested in service to others, only occasional drinkers (or abstainers), tolerant of other viewpoints - even liberals! </p>
<p>D3 is also at W & M, which was a reach school. So far the most pleasant surprise, at least for us, is that the work ethic she learned in high school has allowed her to flourish academically in such a challenging environment.</p>
<p>Agree, everybody needs a great fit, was pleased with choices (have one more to go) </p>
<p>UCONN, big on Division I sports, basketball & football, there is a housing shortage so plan on living off campus for at least one year. FA was good for OOS student. What surprised me the most was the lack of red tape, never got the run around. Alumni connections have been great. Professors were always accessible, no problems there. Greek Life is small, has no impact on the social scene. Dairy Bar: make their own ice cream at UCONN, I do miss the ice cream, H & I were talking about a day trip just to eat their ice cream. </p>
<p>St. Lawrence University, nice town of Canton, NY. Wonderful accessible professors and Dept. Chairs, good FA, Great Study Abroad, Northern New York a bit isolated, but no complaints about boredeom! Truly a “Candle in the Wilderness” as it has always been known. Wonderful school for a student who loves the outdoors. Greek Life is small. </p>
<p>Alfred University, Alfred, NY - small rural town, AU provides entertainment on the weekends, lots of clubs, shuttle to Rochester Airport at break times, buses to nearby Hornell (bigger town w/shopping etc) Great Academics-College of Engineering, College of Liberal Arts, School of Business & School of Art & Design-only 2200 students. Excellent Financial Aid, access to professors etc… Housing all 4 years, no Greek Life (abolished it) We are all pleased so far, only complaint has been the food! They all complain about food, so I just ignore that, a typical remark…</p>
<p>Talk about opposites, and yes for both:</p>
<p>Daughter at NYU is very happy at this most popular (by total number of apps) school in the country, but you gotta love the city as a campus. Quite bureaucratic, but the staff tries hard to make it personal. We met some wonderful profs, and D likes hers as well.</p>
<p>Daughter just graduated from Reed and loved it. Good for someone serious about academics and/or research, and can handle the quirks of this free-wheeling campus: classical curriculum with significant structure, let-loose fun, hidden grades. Echo dmd above.</p>
<p>Son at Kalamazoo. I enthusiastically recommend it for a serious, quirky kid who is looking for a small school that has serious academics and is not a party school. </p>
<p>Pros: Beautiful campus, small size, friendly Midwestern vibe, small classes, gorgeous indoor spaces, demanding professors, location in the arty city of Kalamazoo- easy walk to downtown, strong emphasis on writing, lower COA than some similar schools, great merit aid, strong advising</p>
<p>Possible drawbacks: most students are from Michigan, small size, no national reputation</p>
<p>I protest: Kalamazoo has a great national reputation for biology and foreign languages.</p>
<p>I also recommend James Madison to others. Beautiful campus, happy kids, incredible food, good dealings with health care center, responsive administrative offices - the ones I have dealt with so far. More importantly, my D has found her professors to be very helpful and approachable. This was a concern to both of us because she got to know her teachers well in high school and was worried about college being too impersonal - she has not found that to be the case.</p>
<p>I almost didn’t post because I loved 'rentof2’s modesty and question, but I think some folks might be interested in these answers.</p>
<p>D’s school (she’s graduated) is Barnard. I would unequivocally recommend it. Here were the really amazing things: Advisement system – top notch. Academics: – top notch. She emerged with a graduate school mastery of the academic world, did paid research for the chair of her department, wrote a thesis, and wrote one publishable paper uncovering a new area of scholarship. (All happened more because of the school than because of her – NOT BRAGGING ABOUT MY D.</p>
<p>She made friends with very like minded women – sophisticated, career oriented by not greasy-grinds.</p>
<p>Felt like she was at the center of the known Universe: Hillary Clinton gave a press conference there, Akmadinijad (atrocious spelling, please forgive) spoke on the Lowe library steps. </p>
<p>Opportunity: Got to take a field trip to the Supreme Court on college’s dime for one of her courses.</p>
<p>Making use of the city: Visited museums for free. Saw plays and ballets as coursework on school’s dine.</p>
<p>Amazing orientation so the young women are immediately acclimated to the city.</p>
<p>Cons: Sophomore housing had mice. Res life didn’t do much for them.</p>
<p>S’s school (he’s a junior): Williams. Yes, I would enthusiatically recommend.</p>
<p>The pedagogy is interdisciplinary and creative – he got to write music for his class on classical theater. Wrote a performance score for Aeschylus’s Orestia in lieu of a paper.</p>
<p>The art history class takes trips to the two museums and has discussion sections here.</p>
<p>The visiting professors have been awesome.</p>
<p>The winter study courses have contributed to developing previously unexplored facets of his personality. He wrote and directed his own skit inspired by THE TEMPEST for one; he learned Aikido (got actual wooden swords), mastered its philosophy and helped his group solve a social problem using its precepts. He wrote the script for the video they made.</p>
<p>He had great opportunities for EC’s: Made the cast of two Shakespeare plays, sang in the chorus, played violin in the student orchestra and participated in the environmental group all at the same time.</p>
<p>Loved the orientation trip and began hiking and canoeing.</p>
<p>This is a pro or con depending on your point of view: academics are very rigorous. He did not do as well as he would have liked in his first choice of major and had to rethink his direction. He is succeeding well in his second and is much happier to boot. He is better suited to second major. At a different school I think he might still be in first major. So, he did experience discouragement but it led to creative growth.</p>
<p>Liked dorm situation. He asked for and has always had a single. He loved the entry system and made great friends. Others don’t always have the same positive experience.</p>
<p>Con: Advisement system, especially for sophomores, is weak.</p>
<p>Con: By junior year he really wanted a car and I gave him my old clunker (but it’s a sleek Saab, but with 140,000 miles.) This would be a con for many (extra expense), but for me it felt like a plus because he hadn’t driven all that much before he left (17, young in NY) and now he has really mastered driving – an important life skill.</p>
<p>Older D went to Wittenberg and I’d have trouble “recommending” it. However, I have no idea how things have changed since she was a freshman 03-04 and I wouldn’t really have recognized how much was missing if I didn’t think S’s school did things about a gazillion times better (at Middlebury).</p>
<p>The replies explaining what kind of person is doing well (or not) at school X, and why, are most helpful. Many thanks to all those who took the time to post.</p>
<p>I would have to agree with the others who said James Madison University. My daughter is a freshman there, and we have been so pleased with the entire school. We were just there this weekend and I was reminded how beautiful the campus is - lots of rolling hills and mountains. The food is great. We had brunch there on Saturday and it was delicious! Her professors have been so easily accessible and helpful. Surprisingly, her classes are all very small - most around 30 kids. She always raves about how interesting her professors are and how much she has learned. </p>
<p>Everyone around campus is so friendly. They hold doors, say hello, etc. I was very impressed. School spirit is everywhere! JMU was not my daughter’s first choice, however, she told us this weekend that it was the best decision she has ever made.</p>