A "is this a good college" thread for all college searchers...

[golfgal]

The Elon thread got me thinking, with all the college mail we are getting from out of state, it's is difficult to know if a school is good or not. I thought a thread would be useful so if people had questions about schools they could list the school here and ask. It would be helpful in the answers if you know what the "average" student looks like, meaning is it easy to get in needed only a 22-24 on the ACT or highly selective needing a 30+, for example. It will make it easier to keep or toss all the mail

One example, the twins got information from Champlain College in Vermont. Never heard of it. Does anyone have information on this school? We have pretty much ruled it out for DD because they don't have a golf program but the campus looks really nice

 

[minniebeth]

I think this is a really good idea for a thread. While my DS is only a sophomore, we are wanting to start looking at various college campuses this summer to find a good "fit" for him. I have no crystal ball, but I don't see many of the "big" name schools in his future for various reasons. I know there are many gems of schools out there!

 

[golfgal]

I think this is a really good idea for a thread. While my DS is only a sophomore, we are wanting to start looking at various college campuses this summer to find a good "fit" for him. I have no crystal ball, but I don't see many of the "big" name schools in his future for various reasons. I know there are many gems of schools out there!

Our twins are sophomores too. We are going to do some college visits this summer mainly because of their schedule. With marching band in the fall that really limits how much time we have for visits and going anywhere in the winter can by iffy .

 

[j's m]

My DS is a junior and took the PSAT last year and this year. Since he did better this year, our mail and e-mails this year are for different schools. The paper is staggering, our mail person must hate us. It doesn't help I'm POA for DM and DMIL and get tons of mail for them too.

He's received from Carleton College and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. We've decided it's a no because too far and too cold. But can you tell me anything about them and why they want him? He's looking for accounting/business/economics and then a law degree.

It is so hard to decide, there's too many choices and too little merit aid around here.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

Anyone know about York College in PA or College of St. Rose in Albany?
We're also on a budget so the SUNY schools may be the way to go if my DD doesn't receive enough merit awards.

My older DD goes to SUNY Cortland and loves it. Seems to be pretty good.

 

[punkin]

Carleton is a very good school. I believe it admits about 30% of all applicants and the general consensus seems to be that that rate would be much lower if it was a comparable school in the East. I don't know about the specific majors, but it would be great preparation for law school.

Champlain College is a nice little school in an absolutely stunning area. It is not particularly selective, but it is a good, solid school.

I did a tremendous amount of research for DD18's applications for last year and I originally looked at these two schools (Carleton for a reach and Champlain for a safety) but DD refused anywhere that cold, so she never wound up applying.

 

[agnes!]

Anyone out there know anything about Drexel? Or American University?

If you're getting a lot of glossy brochures, you can check and see if your kids' counselors need any extras...sometimes what they have on file is waaaay out of date .

So...Drexel or AU anyone?

agnes!

 

[bballmom56]

We looked at Champlain back in 2006. Beautiful campus in Burlington and just down the road from UVM. Great college town, right on scenic Lake Champlain. Many of the dorms are old Victorian houses which were unique. It is supposed to be a "dry campus", but with frat houses of UVM mixed in (the boys were out on the roof drinking already at noon while we were there, lol) I'm not sure how "dry" it really is. This was also mentioned by our tour guide. The view from the top floor of the student center (or was it the library, can't remember) was breathtaking.

DS was looking as a computer science major. We never really saw the computer facilities and our guide wasn't familiar with that major. After the tour we met as a group with an admissions person. That is where they lost us. The adcom was a bit pretentious, stating that their selectivity was rising so that maybe some of those in the room could no longer plan on being accepted. Then he had discussions with each of the prospies, except DS. Adcom pretty much ignored DS. (And there were only 4-5 prospies). So after that meeting, it came off the list. Other negatives were no athletic teams or programs of any kind. Don't know if they have changed that since then. Also felt the amount of snow and winter they receive would be more than DS wanted to deal with.

From the latest figures I could find, they have an 85% acceptance rate and a 76% freshmen retention rate, both of which would concern me.

 

[punkin]

Drexel: Seems to be pretty Tech oriented. Very urban campus (near UPenn).

AU: DD went to visit and did not like it. She seemed offended that the girls all seemed to wear an upper class suburban "uniform" and all had their makeup done before the first class in the morning. On the other hand one of DD's best friends (who went with her on this visit) really loved it. Academics are fine but not spectacular. Of course the area it's in is lovely (DH used to work near there). It is great for government internships if that's what your child wants.

 

[j's m]

Anyone out there know anything about Drexel? Or American University?

If you're getting a lot of glossy brochures, you can check and see if your kids' counselors need any extras...sometimes what they have on file is waaaay out of date .

So...Drexel or AU anyone?

agnes!

We did the Drexel tour in the fall. My DS liked it, my DH hated the neighborhood it's in. The week after we visited there was a shooting on the adjacent Penn campus. On the tour they did point out the safety measures they have, like phone to campus security all over. I do wonder what the campus is like at night, though. The freshman dorm we saw was depressing, but they did have security in the foyer and you did need your ID card to be admitted to the dorm.

We've spoken to admissions and they seemed likely to give DS merit aid, but DH will not let him even apply.

 

[erincon23]

Anyone know Western Michigan in Kalamazoo, particularly their fine arts program? We were there last weekend, and DS did an audition for musical theatre. We really liked the campus and the program. They said they have a "realistic" minimum of 22 ACT and 2.5 GPA. They addressed the out of state tuition thing, suggesting students could stay down through the first summer and get in-state tuition. Anything not to like (presuming he gets accepted -- he's been accepted to the university but the musical theatre program is considered highly selective)? I'd like to know if anyone has any experience, good or bad.

 

[DawnM]

My husband majored in golf management for undergrad.
Back when he was looking there were about 2 schools in the entire country that offered it! He went to Ferris State in MI. I am sure there are far more opportunities out there now than there were back then. It sounded like a great program. He went to school 2 quarters per year and then worked at a golf resort the other 7-8 months per year.

I didn't know him then, we met in our upper 20s.

Dawn

The Elon thread got me thinking, with all the college mail we are getting from out of state, it's is difficult to know if a school is good or not. I thought a thread would be useful so if people had questions about schools they could list the school here and ask. It would be helpful in the answers if you know what the "average" student looks like, meaning is it easy to get in needed only a 22-24 on the ACT or highly selective needing a 30+, for example. It will make it easier to keep or toss all the mail

One example, the twins got information from Champlain College in Vermont. Never heard of it. Does anyone have information on this school? We have pretty much ruled it out for DD because they don't have a golf program but the campus looks really nice

 

[bballmom56]

It would be helpful in the answers if you know what the "average" student looks like, meaning is it easy to get in needed only a 22-24 on the ACT or highly selective needing a 30+, for example.

Sorry, forgot to include for Champlain: SAT: Reading Middle 50%: 500-610
Math Middle 50%: 490-590

ACT: 20-25

 

[Jeafl]

I would love some input on Carnegie Mellon, Purdue, Marquette, University of Iowa and Valparaiso. My son is currently trying to decide between these. He got accepted at all of them, but is still waiting on the financial packages from a couple of them before making his final decision.

On the other hand, I know lots about Augustana since my daughter is a senior there. So if anyone needs info about that, I'm your girl!

 

[punkin]

I would love some input on Carnegie Mellon, Purdue, Marquette, University of Iowa and Valparaiso. My son is currently trying to decide between these. He got accepted at all of them, but is still waiting on the financial packages from a couple of them before making his final decision.

On the other hand, I know lots about Augustana since my daughter is a senior there. So if anyone needs info about that, I'm your girl!

This is just my opinion, but Carnegie Mellon over the others by a mile, particularly if he's techie at all.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Anyone out there know anything about Drexel? Or American University?

If you're getting a lot of glossy brochures, you can check and see if your kids' counselors need any extras...sometimes what they have on file is waaaay out of date .

So...Drexel or AU anyone?

agnes!

My ds graduated from AU and we all LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it!
The campus is in a really nice area in D.C. - In fact many of the Ambassadors residences are right down the street and the kids used to go trick or treating there.

There are some really good programs there and ds had no trouble graduating in four years.

We can't say enough good things about AU!

My nephew graduated from Drexel and while he liked it just fine we felt that there was a lot less school spirit there as the campus is spread out in the city and not a regular campus.

Good luck in choosing!

DH and I really miss going down for Parents Weekends - they always were done really well.

 

[minniebeth]

I would love some input on Carnegie Mellon, Purdue, Marquette, University of Iowa and Valparaiso. My son is currently trying to decide between these. He got accepted at all of them, but is still waiting on the financial packages from a couple of them before making his final decision.

On the other hand, I know lots about Augustana since my daughter is a senior there. So if anyone needs info about that, I'm your girl!

I remember this thread about Purdue:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2652161&highlight=purdue+university

 

[erincon23]

I would love some input on Carnegie Mellon, Purdue, Marquette, University of Iowa and Valparaiso. My son is currently trying to decide between these. He got accepted at all of them, but is still waiting on the financial packages from a couple of them before making his final decision.

Purdue -- the only thing I can offer is an observation from my brother, who is a mechanical engineering grad from Purdue. He currently is a consultant, and goes to many college campuses to meet with their engineering departments. He doesn't feel that the Purdue engineering program is very good -- says it doesn't work toward real-world experience, and that the director of the program told him that what they actually do is prepare the students to go on to grad school rather than to get an actual job after a 4-yr education. We looked at Purdue for acoustic engineering -- one of the few programs in the country -- and were very impressed. For ME, though, my brother recommeded U of Colorado Boulder.

 

[sharbear]

We have visited Purdue and Carneige Mellon. I'm suspecting that your S is looking at engineering?

Had a bad weather visits at both places which probably ruled both of them out which is not fair at all. Of the places you've mentioned, these two have the best reputation in engineering by far. The other two, I don't know there rep's but I would expect that they are good regional u's. I know Iowa has some really good programs and are respected in the midwest. If he wants to get a job somewhere else, Pudue and CMU have national and international name recognition.

Purdue is in a small town which is dominated by the campus. All red brick building. Thought that they engineering department was very competitive. It seems like you take your core classes Freshman year and then apply for your major. Not everyone is able to major in what they want and some disciplines are hard to get into. They only took the top 50% in their co-op program. But if your S is a very good student he could really thrive here. It wasn't the right fit for our S.

CMU is very techy, very diverse, lots of internationals from what we saw. It's big. I am sure it's very competitive. My D is at a school comparable to CMU and it's very, very competitive. The kids there are so smart and so capable. It's very hard for her, she works very very hard to stay in the middle of her class.

Oddly the thing my D did not like at CMU was the food plan. It was very odd and it seemed to have a strange system of dorms and food. Don't ask, sometimes a school goes off the list for the strangest things. She wanted a school with more of a social scene and thought that CMU might be a bit more techy than she wanted at the time. Also we heard from sources that financial aid was not as good as some of the other places she applied to. If she was to go to a private university, she needed a good financial aid package.

 

[AshleyW]

I would love some input on Carnegie Mellon, Purdue, Marquette, University of Iowa and Valparaiso. My son is currently trying to decide between these. He got accepted at all of them, but is still waiting on the financial packages from a couple of them before making his final decision.

On the other hand, I know lots about Augustana since my daughter is a senior there. So if anyone needs info about that, I'm your girl!

I went to the U of I for a while and lived in the dorms my first year and I loved it! I' ve always lived within 25 minutes of campus so I was already familiar with it, but its a beautiful campus and so easy to get around. The school has tons of opportunities and there is always something to be involved with. I was also a little surprised at the diversity there, having grown up in iowa.. they get a lot of international students, especially from China and Kenya.

Iowa City is also a really great small-ish town, lots of fun stuff to do.. and lots of bars.

If you have any specific questions, let me know!