<p>Syracuse- S1 thriving there. Solid academics, teacher offered to do tutorial for writing, great sports and speakers, clear but fair policies on drug-alcohol and academic expectations. Oberlin- S2- lots of culture but hard courses, a very “hands off” approach by advisors-January term and mid October week recess mean lots of time not on campus.</p>
<p>Our son will graduate from Duke in May. It has been a great experience for him. </p>
<p>In spite of what you may hear/ read; he is independent a (not in a frat) and has still had a rich experience with no lack of social opportunities. The first year living arrangements and tenting freshman year fostered relationships that are still so strong that I will be surprised if many are not life-long. He values the diversity of the student population, which is nicely reflected in his broader group of friends. </p>
<p>Academics and competition. The students at Duke are high achieving by definition. Yes, courses are often graded on the curve. But, somehow, the cut throat, competitive atmosphere just doesn’t thrive here. Students cooperate, study together, help each other.</p>
<p>Study abroad: many engineering programs are not easily adapted to study abroad. But the Duke counselors and administrators worked with him to make a semester abroad possible, and he was not an exception in that regard. This took planning on his part as well as a few especially rigorous terms at Duke.</p>
<p>Recruiting and career counseling: our son was well served by the systems in place, both for internships and job after graduation.</p>
<p>In balance, this was a great experience. For everyone? No. But it has been good for our son.</p>
<p>Mafool - Any observations on the party / alcohol emphasis at Duke? Did your S find it pervasive or is it something that interested students just seek out?</p>
<p>
That’s actually more difficult to answer than you’d think, because the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Alcohol and partying has a key role in the social scene, but it is also easily avoided should one care to do so. </p>
<p>Duke has more money set aside for undergrads than it really knows what to do with, so there’s always a lot going on even on weekends. My friends were heavily involved in theatre, so I’d often attend plays and musicals, and there are also movie showings, lectures, and even Disney sing-alongs in the student union. The Coffeehouse on East, which contrary to its name is more of a concert/entertainment venue than one of the many coffee shops on campus, regularly hosts poetry slams, indie music performances, etc. </p>
<p>On the other hand, there are also parties thrown by Greek organizations and various selective living groups (most of which are not in fact at all selective). These parties are open to anyone in the Duke community, and you’ll find all sorts of people mingling together. I once had a bemused visitor from UNC ask if he was at a “gay frat” due to the large number of my fellow gay friends present at the party (heh).</p>
<p>Alcohol consumption is really up to the individual…personally, I never once drank underage, and I was not a heavy drinker when I did pass 21. There are a few events where alcohol is admittedly a key factor (i.e. tailgating and LDOC), but by and large, a mild drinker or teetotaler would not feel out of place. Several of my friends at Duke did not drink (including a few Muslims), and they still had a great time.</p>
<p>Put more simply, Duke has a very diverse social scene, and you can pick and choose what you’d like. Some people consider the weekend to start on Thursday; others prefer quiet nights. Some prefer raucous parties with a hundred people; some host Wii tournaments in a Central campus apartment. Some frats serve alcohol and host parties, other frats serve hamburgers and hotdogs and host cookouts, and a fair percentage do both. There really is something for everyone, I think.</p>
<p>gadad, followingh on warblers’ post: The drinking/partyculture does exist, and because of its nature, it is more readily apparent than the other very really real options. A noisy party is just easier to notice! It is not difficult to find a party on weekends, but I do not have the impression that, outside of some frats, there is pressure to partake. Does that make sense?</p>
<p>My daughter was looking to fit into a small college/university community (under 5,000); one without graduate school that could attract most of the campus monies, prof attention and research allocation; one without sororities and other cliques that seek to alienate; one that focused on academics and personal growth of individuals more so than on their football stars(which might mean special considerations not deserved by many, much like in HS); one that “forced” the student to focus on achievement and not in finding a mate ( which means no need to “dress up” to catch guys attention every day). She found these “requirements” in Wellesley. She is comfortable, stress free (except for academic work), social outings are on her terms and usually mean a trip to Boston to enjoy what the city has to offer. Great financial aid, great work study in the Media center, choice of cross registration in many colleges, and overall fulfillment in all ways she needed. She has blossom into a stronger, independent woman thanks to this perfect fit for her. The distance from MA to Long Island is 4 hours on the Bolt bus for less than 30 dollars RT most of the time. Good choice for us!</p>
<p>The above list is a combination of what my dtr was aiming to find and stay away from. She did not want a repeat of the HS experience which was made miserable by the school’s leniency on the male athletes’ misbehavior and the principal’s willingness to cater to them and to the parents who demanded special consideration when they failed academics. Any college with strong emphasis on their team sports were not chosen during the college selection process. Other students might actually pursuit the opposite and be happy.</p>
<p>D is a junior at Ohio State and I would definitely recommend it (espcially if an applicant was eligible for the honors program). The opportunities at the university are amazing and the school spirit is fun.</p>
<p>
Wait… there’s a Christian student athlete on CC who wants to be the next Republican senator from his state? I assume he’s a lurker, no? :D</p>
<p>OK, so I guess I should post something on topic here too. 
My son attends Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA, and loves it enough to slog through the punishing (though interesting) core curriculum. I recommend it for some students.</p>
<p>If your kiddo loves work – really hard work – and considers sleep to be optional and rather uninteresting, HMC may be the place for him. (OTOH, if your kiddo must have his 8-10 hours of sleep every night without fail, fuhgeddaboutit. ;))</p>
<p>If your kiddo is certain that his interest in STEM subjects will endure for four years, or (alternatively) doesn’t mind becoming an off-campus humanities/liberal arts major with courses like Special Relativity/Quantum Mechanics on his transcript, then HMC may be the place for him.</p>
<p>If your kiddo is entering the sciences with the fervent hope of never having to write things, make presentations, or think about humanities subjects… HMC is probably not for him.</p>
<p>If your kiddo doesn’t like the thought of having to take intense courses in all of the subjects (math, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, humanities)… HMC is probably not for him.</p>
<p>If your kiddo’s idea of recreational activity includes ballroom dancing, singing, eating bacon, sharing hats, juggling, building a cross-campus Rube Goldberg machine that ends by dunking the college president, playing video games or D&D, writing a computer game from scratch, preparing a pot luck picnic together, listening to talks on string theory and giving talks on solar energy or tidal power, pranking commercial Web sites (within the limits of the Honor Code), playing inner-tube water polo, or running around the basement of a classroom building at 2am armed with a 12-inch paper tube wrapped in duct tape… HMC may be for him.</p>
<p>If your kiddo is headed for medical school or otherwise highly focused on graduating with a very high GPA, or he would not handle a drop from 3.9x (high school) to 2.6x (college frosh)… HMC may not be for him. If your kiddo would have a nervous breakdown if he flunked a test or even a class… HMC is probably not for him. If your kiddo sees his peers as threats or as competitors to be crushed, rather than as resources and collaborators… HMC is probably not for him. All of these, unless an attitude adjustment is desired and likely.</p>
<p>If your kiddo has coasted through high school on sheer brilliance without ever learning to work his tail off… HMC may be for him, but he’s going to have to make quite an adjustment. Ditto if your kiddo has worked very hard in high school, but the school didn’t give him a background that includes IB or AP-level chemistry, physics, and calculus BC.</p>
<p>As to the food, career services, academic support, physical setting… all those are good enough (career services and academic support are quite good). Those aren’t the factors that make or break the place, though; I think it really comes down to the personality and “fit.” Most Mudders-to-be seem to know they want to be Mudders when they first visit the campus and encounter… well, Mudders.</p>
<p>We love Cornell and MIT…for the right student. It really is all about the fit.</p>