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

[bethbuchall]

She will have her "choice" of men. RPI is heavily male.

What major is she looking at?

Everyone of these is a good choice! What is she interested in doing?

She is looking at Environmental Engineering.

 

[dejr_8]

She is looking at Environmental Engineering.

Is she considering getting a graduate degree as well?

I doubt the cost of RPI can be justified for an Environmental Engineering BS degree.

 

[golfgal]

DD got a letter from Carroll in Waukesha, Wi. She said that she probably shouldn't go there if she couldn't pronounce the name of the town it was in Heck, any way to eliminate schools works for me. I told her how to pronounce it though.

 

[Cinderella94]

I think she's pretty much made the decision, but anyone want to weigh in on SUNY-Albany, SUNY-Binghamton, SUNY-Buffalo, SUNY-Environmental Sciences and Forestry, Rochester Institute of Technology, or Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute?

FWIW, I was in the hospital for a long time this winter and one of my favorite nurses went to SUNY Albany. She really liked it.

 

[NotUrsula]

Just a quick note.....when colleges say that they prefer 3 years of a language, they actually mean three years of one specific language, not two years of one and one or two years of another.

If she is interested in matriculating to a 4-year college, quite a few kids (not all and probably not most) come in with 3 or 4 years of a language, especially the more competitive ones vying for honors programs and scholarships.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that kids don't get into NJ colleges with only two years of a language, just that it looks more competitive to come in with 3-4 (and if you have AP credit, even better! Just make sure that the college accepts it. Rutgers does give college credit for students who score at least a 4 on the AP exam.)

Just thought that you'd like to know, especially if you're weighing the cost. The better her HS record is, the more chances she'll have for merit awards from colleges.

That assumes that it is possible to take 3-4 years of a single language in your school; in many rural or working-class districts, it isn't. In my hard-up urban district there is only one very competitive magnet school that offers 4 years of a single language; at all of the others two is the norm of what is offered because two is what the state university system requires. They can't afford to pay that many specialist teachers for classes that are essentially elective. (Foreign languages don't tend to lend themselves to multi-tasking with the athletic dept.)

(Just tossing that out in case someone is looking at their HS curriculum and thinking that a child is doomed if his school doesn't offer 4 years of Spanish.)

As for weighing cost, my advice on that end is always to hedge your bets with the CLEP program if the schools that you are aiming at will accept it (and in most states systems at least some of them do.) CLEP receives little attention these days now that AP is so popular, but the beauty of it is that if you really want that credit and know your subject you can get it, no extra class time required, at the bargain basement price of about $22 per credit hour. I CLEP'd out of my entire freshman year at a state university and did not have to take a single English comp class or history survey course.

 

[LBAK]

DD is starting to seriously look at schools and is interested in engineering. Any info anyone has about RPI, Bucknell, Lehigh or Layfayette would be greatly appreciated.
She's looking for a medium sized school from MA to VA. She is hoping to play either lacrosse or soccer in college so before we start emailing coaches we'd like to have an idea about the school from parents and kids point of views. The books obviously make things look very enticing!

 

[PrincessKsMom]

DD got a letter from Carroll in Waukesha, Wi. She said that she probably shouldn't go there if she couldn't pronounce the name of the town it was in Heck, any way to eliminate schools works for me. I told her how to pronounce it though.

Because she probably didn't understand the way it was spelled: WauKe$ha.

That assumes that it is possible to take 3-4 years of a single language in your school; in many rural or working-class districts, it isn't. In my hard-up urban district there is only one very competitive magnet school that offers 4 years of a single language; at all of the others two is the norm of what is offered because two is what the state university system requires. They can't afford to pay that many specialist teachers for classes that are essentially elective. (Foreign languages don't tend to lend themselves to multi-tasking with the athletic dept.)

(Just tossing that out in case someone is looking at their HS curriculum and thinking that a child is doomed if his school doesn't offer 4 years of Spanish.)

As for weighing cost, my advice on that end is always to hedge your bets with the CLEP program if the schools that you are aiming at will accept it (and in most states systems at least some of them do.) CLEP receives little attention these days now that AP is so popular, but the beauty of it is that if you really want that credit and know your subject you can get it, no extra class time required, at the bargain basement price of about $22 per credit hour. I CLEP'd out of my entire freshman year at a state university and did not have to take a single English comp class or history survey course.

Admittedly had to Google CLEP. Thanks for the heads up. Not happy about the offerings. Don't know beyond next year, but this year's Freshman Spanish was an inclusion class as is next year's class. I don't mean to sound but they're not doing much in this class. I really wish there was a more aggressive Spanish curriculum.

 

[pixie dust 112]

She is looking at Environmental Engineering.

I'd go with ESF. I know a few people who went there and all are doing well in that field!

 

[Denise W]

My husband got his mechanical engineering degree from RPI. He recommends it highly. While there are still a majority of males there, there were always plenty of girls schools nearby when he went there!

Denise

 

[bethbuchall]

Is she considering getting a graduate degree as well?

I doubt the cost of RPI can be justified for an Environmental Engineering BS degree.

That's where our thoughts generally lie, too. She is definitely talking about getting her masters as of now (things can change a lot in four years).

FWIW, I was in the hospital for a long time this winter and one of my favorite nurses went to SUNY Albany. She really liked it.

Thanks! That's good to hear. That is one of the lower choices, because the major isn't quite there.

I'd go with ESF. I know a few people who went there and all are doing well in that field!

Thanks! She really liked the feel of the campus and the professors that she talked to there.

My husband got his mechanical engineering degree from RPI. He recommends it highly. While there are still a majority of males there, there were always plenty of girls schools nearby when he went there!

Denise

It is a terrific school! The price tag is high, though, and I just don't know if the fit is right.

 

[js]

DD is starting to seriously look at schools and is interested in engineering. Any info anyone has about RPI, Bucknell, Lehigh or Layfayette would be greatly appreciated.
She's looking for a medium sized school from MA to VA. She is hoping to play either lacrosse or soccer in college so before we start emailing coaches we'd like to have an idea about the school from parents and kids point of views. The books obviously make things look very enticing!

Lehigh has an excellent reputation for engineering.
We visited Lehigh and Lafayette with my dd, a junior.
She wants pre-dentistry.
We also visited Villanova (her first choice), UDel. Also Fordham and Quinnipiac (not considering it).
Villanova was, to her (and my dh and me) the perfect fit/feel campuswise.
UDel was a medium size school but the larger size of medium.
I felt Lafayette was small but she also loved it.

Villanova, Lafayette, Lehigh were her top choices. She took the SAT in January and taking one more time on Saturday. She'll take her SATII in May along with her AP tests during that same week.

I want to visit Bucknell end of summer and go back for interviews by July.
Also going to Syracuse University end of June/July. That may be another one for you but that is very large AND COLD LOL

I live in SI so not too far from LI.
My dd has had a private tutor since end of August. Anyone else?

 

[cruisnfamily]

As for weighing cost, my advice on that end is always to hedge your bets with the CLEP program if the schools that you are aiming at will accept it (and in most states systems at least some of them do.) CLEP receives little attention these days now that AP is so popular, but the beauty of it is that if you really want that credit and know your subject you can get it, no extra class time required, at the bargain basement price of about $22 per credit hour. I CLEP'd out of my entire freshman year at a state university and did not have to take a single English comp class or history survey course.

More details on what this means please. I understand you're talking about some kind of college placement test but I'd like to hear more on this.

 

[golfgal]

More details on what this means please. I understand you're talking about some kind of college placement test but I'd like to hear more on this.

Basically kids can take a placement test and see if they know enough not to have to take the 100 level class in college. If kids have taken a full compliment of honors/AP classes they are usually knowledgeable enough to test out of 100 level classes. It is very similar to AP except that the tests are taken at the college itself. We haven't found a lot of schools that actually have this now so it is hit or miss if they offer this.

Back in the dark ages when I was in college they didn't have a formal "CLEP" program but if you had taken certain classes in high school you met the requirement in college so you just didn't have to take those classes. For my college it was math, public speaking and a composition class.

 

[SydSim]

That assumes that it is possible to take 3-4 years of a single language in your school; in many rural or working-class districts, it isn't. In my hard-up urban district there is only one very competitive magnet school that offers 4 years of a single language; at all of the others two is the norm of what is offered because two is what the state university system requires. They can't afford to pay that many specialist teachers for classes that are essentially elective. (Foreign languages don't tend to lend themselves to multi-tasking with the athletic dept.)

(Just tossing that out in case someone is looking at their HS curriculum and thinking that a child is doomed if his school doesn't offer 4 years of Spanish.)

Didn't meant to insinuate that a child is "doomed" if he/she doesn't take 4 years of a language, just that there are many kids that make themselves more competitive by taking more than the minimum requirement (of course, if available). Colleges that were sure bets twenty years ago are becoming more selective these days. Doing more than the minimum can give kids a better shot at entrance

 

[mom2travel]

We also visited Villanova (her first choice), UDel. Also Fordham and Quinnipiac (not considering it).
Villanova was, to her (and my dh and me) the perfect fit/feel campuswise.
UDel was a medium size school but the larger size of medium.
I felt Lafayette was small but she also loved it.

Villanova, Lafayette, Lehigh were her top choices. She took the SAT in January and taking one more time on Saturday. She'll take her SATII in May along with her AP tests during that same week.

I want to visit Bucknell end of summer and go back for interviews by July.
Also going to Syracuse University end of June/July. That may be another one for you but that is very large AND COLD LOL

Villanova grad here Fell in love my junior year of HS and never looked back. It was a wonderful 4 years of college - my closest friends are all fellow Villanovans. Even though scattered throughout the country now, we are all in touch and get together for a day or a week whenever we can. My father still teases me that the other schools I applied to never mattered because there was no changing my mind (wasn't even tempted by a large scholarship to another school - worked my way through with a little help from mom & dad, jobs, grants & some loans). I am hoping that my own children can find that same connection, wherever it may be.

It's been a while (ok, a long time) since I was a student but I'd be happy to try to answer any questions that may pop up for your DD.

Also, a friend from HS went to Bucknell (for accounting) and loved it. I was only on that campus once, but it seemed really nice, just a little more out of the way of everything than I liked.

 

[golfgal]

That assumes that it is possible to take 3-4 years of a single language in your school; in many rural or working-class districts, it isn't. In my hard-up urban district there is only one very competitive magnet school that offers 4 years of a single language; at all of the others two is the norm of what is offered because two is what the state university system requires. They can't afford to pay that many specialist teachers for classes that are essentially elective. (Foreign languages don't tend to lend themselves to multi-tasking with the athletic dept.)

(Just tossing that out in case someone is looking at their HS curriculum and thinking that a child is doomed if his school doesn't offer 4 years of Spanish.)

As for weighing cost, my advice on that end is always to hedge your bets with the CLEP program if the schools that you are aiming at will accept it (and in most states systems at least some of them do.) CLEP receives little attention these days now that AP is so popular, but the beauty of it is that if you really want that credit and know your subject you can get it, no extra class time required, at the bargain basement price of about $22 per credit hour. I CLEP'd out of my entire freshman year at a state university and did not have to take a single English comp class or history survey course.

This information is sent with the school profile when a student applies to a school though. Colleges know that and most of them, if you look on their websites, say they want you to have taken the most rigorous courses AVAILABLE (for the highly competitive schools). If a school only has Spanish I and Spanish II that's all they have, but if they have classes through Spanish VI, for example, they want to see kids taking them. I also know several people that have not taken any foreign languages (or only one year) and have talked with admissions people about that and have gotten that waived--mainly because their schools are on block schedules and they couldn't get into or couldn't fit the other years into their schedule. Basically they are giving up Spanish II to take AP Physics or something along those lines.

 

[NotUrsula]

Basically kids can take a placement test and see if they know enough not to have to take the 100 level class in college. If kids have taken a full compliment of honors/AP classes they are usually knowledgeable enough to test out of 100 level classes. It is very similar to AP except that the tests are taken at the college itself. We haven't found a lot of schools that actually have this now so it is hit or miss if they offer this.

Back in the dark ages when I was in college they didn't have a formal "CLEP" program but if you had taken certain classes in high school you met the requirement in college so you just didn't have to take those classes. For my college it was math, public speaking and a composition class.

Not necessary. ANYONE can take a CLEP test, all you have to do is pony up the fee. You don't need to take any kind of honors or AP classes to qualify to take it, OR to pass it; I went to school in literally one of the 3 poorest districts in the nation, we didn't have any such thing as an honors or AP program. I was simply very well-read, and I passed 10 tests. You still can do it this way, if you are the kind of kid who likes to study things on her own. Most colleges do limit the number of hours that you can get using CLEP, but at many of them it can be enough to save you up to 3 semesters of tuition. (It also can help to put you in a better position to have time to take high-demand classes and still graduate on time, if your school has a section shortage in certain subjects.)

One of the most common scenarios for a student taking CLEP is an immigrant student taking them to test out of the college foreign language requirements. If you are a native speaker and well-read in your native language, you can usually manage to do it. Depending on which tests the college will accept, it is also possible to test out of higher levels than just the so-called "100 level" classes (that is, the entry-level class on the topic.)

CLEP testing is most commonly offered on community college campuses. However, the tests qualify for consideration at any school if that particular test is on the admitting college's list of those they will accept, and if your score meets the requirement. It doesn't matter where you take them, the tests are national standard tests administered by the College Board.

As an example, since we seem to have a lot of folks from the Carolinas here, this is the list and score requirements for NC State: http://admissions.ncsu.edu/find-stuff/clep-info.php

 

[golfgal]

Not necessary. ANYONE can take a CLEP test, all you have to do is pony up the fee. You don't need to take any kind of honors or AP classes to qualify to take it, OR to pass it; I went to school in literally one of the 3 poorest districts in the nation, we didn't have any such thing as an honors or AP program. I was simply very well-read, and I passed 10 tests. You still can do it this way, if you are the kind of kid who likes to study things on her own. Most colleges do limit the number of hours that you can get using CLEP, but at many of them it can be enough to save you up to 3 semesters of tuition. (It also can help to put you in a better position to have time to take high-demand classes and still graduate on time, if your school has a section shortage in certain subjects.)

One of the most common scenarios for a student taking CLEP is an immigrant student taking them to test out of the college foreign language requirements. If you are a native speaker and well-read in your native language, you can usually manage to do it. Depending on which tests the college will accept, it is also possible to test out of higher levels than just the so-called "100 level" classes (that is, the entry-level class on the topic.)

CLEP testing is most commonly offered on community college campuses. However, the tests qualify for consideration at any school if that particular test is on the admitting college's list of those they will accept, and if your score meets the requirement. It doesn't matter where you take them, the tests are national standard tests administered by the College Board.

As an example, since we seem to have a lot of folks from the Carolinas here, this is the list and score requirements for NC State: http://admissions.ncsu.edu/find-stuff/clep-info.php

Anyone can take an AP test if they pony up the money too. You don't have to take the AP class to take the AP test. You still have to pass the CLEP test for it to count for credit.

 

[punkin]

DD' school does not give any CLEP credit, neither did my college (aeons ago). I do remember my sister taking a CLEP (or 2) to get out of some college classes but that was in the '70s.

 

[NotUrsula]

Anyone can take an AP test if they pony up the money too. You don't have to take the AP class to take the AP test. You still have to pass the CLEP test for it to count for credit.

Obviously; no school is going to give credit for simply taking an exam.

Your post made it sound as if the only way a student could hope to pass an advanced-credit test was if he or she had taken some sort of special classes to prep for it. That just isn't so. Sure, those classes would help, but if you have enough knowledge to score well it doesn't matter where you gained it. The CLEP credit path is also often used by adult returning students who gained the knowledge in their working lives.

There are an awful lot of people out there for whom the gamble of spending three or four hundred dollars to take a shot at several CLEP tests is very worth it, weighed against even the possibility of saving tens of thousands of dollars in tuition. For some it can mean the difference of getting to choose a more expensive school that would otherwise be out of reach financially.

PS: Yes, there are colleges that won't grant CLEP credit, but there are very many that will, especially state schools. It is work checking. It is NOT a dead program, and in fact the federal gov't is considering adding incentives to expand it to try to make up for some of the Federal student aid cuts.