OT: Visiting Campus

[HuskyHawk]

At the end of the day it's her choice, as I am sure you emphasize with her. I'm glad she took a look at it, as I was with my own kids, neither of whom applied to UConn.

I love hearing what people think. I had a friend comeback from a visit. His take was that "it is what a college should look like" between the brick buildings and the paths and landscaping. It really made a impression on him.

A co-worker brought his son last month on my suggestion. He loved it. It became his top choice. Unfortunately it’s a bit of a reach for him. He does equestrian stuff so he is hoping that helps. Several kids at the tour Saturday were clearly very excited by UConn (and one hot mom). Most of them knew what field they wanted to study. Mine does not. I think that is a factor as well.

I think it has helped me figure out my own kid.

 

[auror]

Tufts was ideal in that regard, with Davis Square near and Boston via the T. Holy Cross was good too. Even Wesleyan. I suspect PC, UVM, UNH, BC would similarly appeal. BU visit coming up and I am curious. Expect she will find it swings too far towards urban with not much of a campus. But I could be wrong. May need to talk her into considering schools outside the region like College of Charleston, Wake Forest, St. Louis U etc.

BU's campus is a bit unorthodox. But it does have a campus. It's just a 2 mile stretch of Commonwealth avenue instead of in a square shape. The good thing is that the train runs right down the middle of it. Even if it is above ground and has to stop at lights, it can take you from one end of campus to the other fairly quickly. And most students get a monthly pass for the train anyways since you take the same train to get into Boston also. Most kids live on campus the first couple years despite there being a lot of off campus living nearby. Having Fenway Park practically on campus is pretty neat.

Almost no greek life and green space is limited if those are dealbreakers. My friends and I managed to find parks and the like to play whiffleball, pickup soccer, etc, and the esplanade is a short T ride away. I did have a few female friends who would go to MIT fraternity parties, also, as they are next to the BU campus. Good way to set yourself up for life.

I guess biggest negative would be lack of football/tailgating and mediocre basketball with very few fans attending games, but the hockey following is strong and college hockey is a fun sport to spectate.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Good, insightful discussion. Thanks for sharing and all the best for the Boneyard progeny, their patient, supportive parents, and successful college choices. bcu and dook psukk, just saying.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Way out of the region, but SMU and TCU are 2 schools which offered ridiculously generous financial benies for kids with great grades, SAT/ACTs, leadership activities, etc from their non-traditional recruiting regions, e.g., niece from small NY parochial school, nephew from good Westchester public, colleagues from above average DC ‘burb. Respective parents love and loved the schools; kids have or had multiple, good job offers in Silicon Valley, the City, Boston, DFW, etc.

Quirkier way out of region recruit: Seattle ‘burb, great high school to very respected St Olaf in Minnesota. Beaucoup tuition and R&B, financial aid parents couldn’t fathom nor reject when their kid and they visited and loved and still love the school.

Not for every kid, but ...

 

[HuskyHawk]

Way out of the region, but SMU and TCU are 2 schools which offered ridiculously generous financial benies for kids with great grades, SAT/ACTs, leadership activities, etc from their non-traditional recruiting regions, e.g., niece from small NY parochial school, nephew from good Westchester public, colleagues from above average DC ‘burb. Respective parents love and loved the schools; kids have or had multiple, good job offers in Silicon Valley, the City, Boston, DFW, etc.

Quirkier way out of region recruit: Seattle ‘burb, great high school to very respected St Olaf in Minnesota. Beaucoup tuition and R&B, financial aid parents couldn’t fathom nor reject when their kid and they visited and loved and still love the school.

Not for every kid, but ...

Daughter wants go to a concert in Dallas in July with some fan club girls she met on Twitter. But I did consider a visit to SMU as part of it. It’s probably too “country club“ for her, but who knows? It’s a good school.

Was messing around with various net cost calculations from schools. My EFC was more than cost of attendance at all. Plugged in UVM with the kid’s rough GPA and test numbers, before I got to EFC it said “congratulations you qualify for the Presidential Scholarship, $17k a year”. Whoa. That came out of nowhere. That option just got more appealing If it pans out.

 

[AAC Guru]

Yeah, she's a junior. This is all exploratory to narrow down the general types of schools (size, location, focus) for the deeper dive next year. So I understand all of that. She has economics right now in HS and it's her favorite class she has ever had (which surprised me). But things may change.

I better not share that Tulane info with my wife, she'll have us on the next flight to NOLA. Maybe that's not a bad idea. Frenchman street is calling. Looking online, it's seems about BC level selectively wise. But for New England kids, maybe easier.

As for Holy Cross, it's more selective than I knew. The SAT range is not much different than UConn's although the acceptance rate is lower. It's still less selective than BC, BU and Northeastern based on what I see online.

I fully appreciate that you can succeed coming from anywhere if you are (a) driven and/or (b) lucky. I don't trust that she's that driven. I mostly fall into category (b).

My view on STEM or Business vs Liberal Arts is informed by my time in corporate America (now working at one of the larger companies in the world). The willingness to hire those people into many of the more focused roles and train them up is way down from what it was. Wall Street is a bit of an exception and has long plucked high ceiling kids and trained them. Certainly a liberal arts major with good grades at a good school can be in ok shape in many professions. And it remains a good platform for those getting MBAs or JDs. Some majors are an utter waste of time and money though. I also think that most schools have plenty of liberal arts in the overall curriculum even for STEM and Business majors (maybe not engineers, but she won't be that). UConn certainly did.

Do you work for TJX?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Do you work for TJX?

No. Why?

biggest company near me is CVS. Fortune 19 now, wow. But that’s not it either. But a lot bigger than TJX.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Daughter wants go to a concert in Dallas in July with some fan club girls she met on Twitter. But I did consider a visit to SMU as part of it. It’s probably too “country club“ for her, but who knows?

Was messing around with various net cost calculations from schools. My EFC was more than cost of attendance at all. Plugged in UVM with the kid’s rough GPA and test numbers, before I got to EFC it said “congratulations you qualify for the Presidential Scholarship, $17k a year”. Whoa.

Wouldnt consider SMU for that very reason, but to each his own. Guess the aid package and my sister’s wacked sister-in-law living nearby inexplicably played a role. The latter’s wackiness should have been reason enough for my sister to keep her kids far away from University Park and Dallas. Luckily, they appear to have escaped relatively unscathed and well educated.

Twitter fan club in Dallas? Hah, it’s a different world from the days of convincing parents the New Haven Coliseum or Hartford Civic Center were OK.

UVM: If the $17K haircut proved true, it sure would be helpful. Outdoorsy? Is it still as granola-ish as a few decades ago? Good school.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

No. Why?

global brassiere buyer rumors shot down in one fell swoop ... I jest

 

[HuskyHawk]

Wouldnt consider SMU for that very reason, but to each his own. Guess the aid package and my sister’s wacked sister-in-law living nearby inexplicably played a role. The latter’s wackiness should have been reason enough for my sister to keep her kids far away from University Park and Dallas. Luckily, they appear to have escaped relatively unscathed and well educated.

Twitter fan club in Dallas? Hah, it’s a different world from the days of convincing parents the New Haven Coliseum or Hartford Civic Center were OK.

UVM: If the $17K haircut proved true, it sure would be helpful. Outdoorsy? Is it still as granola-ish as a few decades ago? Good school.

Scary but she is somewhat like me talking to all you idiots (and the idiots I talk to about Scotch, Bourbon and Rum on Discord), her passions take her where those who share them are I suppose. The girls are in Minnesota, El Paso and Wichita, but Dallas was the most central concert for them to met up at. She won’t be going alone if she goes.

She isn‘t outdoorsy or granola, but we have a house in VT and she likes the state and finds Burlington fun, which it is. Vermont has changed some. It’s free spirited for sure, and dirt poor in parts, but its attracted some business too.

 

[HuskyHawk]

global brassiere buyer rumors shot down in one fell swoop ... I jest

i wanted to pioneer the Manziere. But Costanza beat me to it.

 

[8893]

Was messing around with various net cost calculations from schools. My EFC was more than cost of attendance at all. Plugged in UVM with the kid’s rough GPA and test numbers, before I got to EFC it said “congratulations you qualify for the Presidential Scholarship, $17k a year”. Whoa. That came out of nowhere. That option just got more appealing If it pans out.

Yeah, that's what I was trying to tell you upthread about UVM. They take the opposite approach from Marist, i.e., they start with a high sticker price (for out of state students) and then they give that Presidential Scholarship of $15k to $25k (I think there's an additional $5k potential for out of state business students or something like that) to attract above-average candidates, so you end up in the high $30k to low $40k range, which makes it more competitive with a lot of others.

Our high school sends a ton of kids there--so much so that that was actually a turn-off for our daughter. We had lunch in a dining hall there and she ran into three kids she knew from town. I spent a lot of time there as an undergrad because a few of my best friends went there, and I lived in Burlington one summer during college. A couple of those friends now have their own kids attending and they love it and are doing really well. Turned out not to be a great fit for our daughter, and for her academic interests it was certainly no stronger than UConn and would have been around $10k more per year for us, so it didn't make a lot of sense--except for the fact that Burlington is way better than Storrs in pretty much every way.

 

[mauconnfan]

Well we are back home. Daughter found UConn too big, too sprawling. Too much like it’s own city.

My own thoughts are that while much of it is certainly a lot nicer and more updated it lacks the open space it once had. The student union is really nice now. The new sidewalks and brick are nice. But that whole area near the library, new rec center and new business school is too dense. It feels almost urban, a bit claustrophobic, which is a bizarre thing in Storrs. All of Hillside Road is too busy and overall they got rid of too many grassy areas. I understand why they did, to fit a growing school into the old footprint (KU did the opposite and lost some of the “campus“ feel), but I liked it better before.

The new Rec Center is a fiscal abomination. How about cutting tuition, leaving the old softball fields and encouraging a Planet Fitness to open over on Dog Lane.

Another weekend without a damn commit? This is getting bad around here.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Another weekend without a damn commit? This is getting bad around here.

Coming soon, but not from me. She's a 2021 recruit anyway. BU this Saturday, BC next Friday and we are done for 2019.

 

[CL82]

She didn’t hate it. Liked the fact that it had a defined campus and liked the range of types of students and things to study or do. She just needs a place that’s a bit more cozy perhaps.

FWIW, living on a big campus is like living in a city. You aren't obligated to know everyone. In short order you find your group whether it be your floor, your dorm or classmates. (One of the advantages of playing a sport is that you 'group' is defined from the get go (shared experiences, etc.)

Regardless, she needs to find a place where she feels like she will be comfortable. More times than not it is a eureka moment. It's a good feeling to hear "Dad, I think this is it."

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yeah, that's what I was trying to tell you upthread about UVM. They take the opposite approach from Marist, i.e., they start with a high sticker price (for out of state students) and then they give that Presidential Scholarship of $15k to $25k (I think there's an additional $5k potential for out of state business students or something like that) to attract above-average candidates, so you end up in the high $30k to low $40k range, which makes it more competitive with a lot of others.

Our high school sends a ton of kids there--so much so that that was actually a turn-off for our daughter. We had lunch in a dining hall there and she ran into three kids she knew from town. I spent a lot of time there as an undergrad because a few of my best friends went there, and I lived in Burlington one summer during college. A couple of those friends now have their own kids attending and they love it and are doing really well. Turned out not to be a great fit for our daughter, and for her academic interests it was certainly no stronger than UConn and would have been around $10k more per year for us, so it didn't make a lot of sense--except for the fact that Burlington is way better than Storrs in pretty much every way.

I've started wading through College Confidential forum and the r/applyingtocollege on Reddit. Informative in part, but can be terrifying in some ways. "Hello, I have a 4.0, 4.9 weighted with a 1580 SAT, with loads of leadership and volunteer time and I'm NMS, can I get in to [insert ordinary school]"? No, no soup for you! If I was applying today I feel like Central would kick me to curb.

The one thing that became apparent that I should have realized, many of our desirable local New England schools are drawing applicants nationally (and internationally) at an aggressive clip. That sucks for anybody who wants to stay local. Meanwhile, similarly competitive schools elsewhere are not drawing nearly so many kids from all over (with obvious exceptions). So many people responded with "have you considered U Alabama, they'd love to have you". I think this is also consistent in what you've been telling me. In short, she can get into better schools and pay less, if she goes further away. I have noticed a trend of that happening, way more local kids going to schools like Clemson, NC State, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa and even Auburn.

 

[MattMang23]

I've started wading through College Confidential forum and the r/applyingtocollege on Reddit. Informative in part, but can be terrifying in some ways. "Hello, I have a 4.0, 4.9 weighted with a 1580 SAT, with loads of leadership and volunteer time and I'm NMS, can I get in to [insert ordinary school]"? No, no soup for you! If I was applying today I feel like Central would kick me to curb.

The one thing that became apparent that I should have realized, many of our desirable local New England schools are drawing applicants nationally (and internationally) at an aggressive clip. That sucks for anybody who wants to stay local. Meanwhile, similarly competitive schools elsewhere are not drawing nearly so many kids from all over (with obvious exceptions). So many people responded with "have you considered U Alabama, they'd love to have you". I think this is also consistent in what you've been telling me. In short, she can get into better schools and pay less, if she goes further away. I have noticed a trend of that happening, way more local kids going to schools like Clemson, NC State, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa and even Auburn.

My girlfriend is a high school counselor at one of the best public high schools in the Hartford area. Her kids can pretty much pick where they want to go to school, outside of the Ivies. She has more kids applying to Penn St. than UConn this year (not that Penn St. is super far), but what really struck me when you wrote the above is that she has one senior with the following list: Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi and LSU. They’re just more affordable.

Other popular schools for her kids: Endicott, Drexel and BC. But almost every one of those kids is applying to large state schools, too.

 

[UConnRock]

I've started wading through College Confidential forum and the r/applyingtocollege on Reddit. Informative in part, but can be terrifying in some ways. "Hello, I have a 4.0, 4.9 weighted with a 1580 SAT, with loads of leadership and volunteer time and I'm NMS, can I get in to [insert ordinary school]"? No, no soup for you! If I was applying today I feel like Central would kick me to curb.

The one thing that became apparent that I should have realized, many of our desirable local New England schools are drawing applicants nationally (and internationally) at an aggressive clip. That sucks for anybody who wants to stay local. Meanwhile, similarly competitive schools elsewhere are not drawing nearly so many kids from all over (with obvious exceptions). So many people responded with "have you considered U Alabama, they'd love to have you". I think this is also consistent in what you've been telling me. In short, she can get into better schools and pay less, if she goes further away. I have noticed a trend of that happening, way more local kids going to schools like Clemson, NC State, Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa and even Auburn.

Avoid College confidential!! I cannot say that any stronger. It is a brutal commentary board that makes all students and parents feel inferior.

Geography can be a pro or con. Southern schools hand out a ton of scholarships to northern kids as they want geographic diversity. The problem is the the southern state schools are huge and are still dominated by in-staters. There are a handful of good smaller southeastern schools that you can play the geography card. Schools like Elon, Furman, Wofford, James Madison. Some are turned off by the southern "culture shock", but some find it appealing. Same goes for some of the midwestern liberal arts and smaller publics. Lots of money being handed out by Miami of Ohio based solely on SAT/ACT scores.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yep. Tough area, and Hartford ain't Boston.

But there's a reason all the decent schools in the Boston area are so competitive and expensive: it's the best college city in the country.

Likewise, there's a reason UVM is the most expensive state school for out-of-state students: Burlington is the best college town in the country.

One of my favorite teachers in high school was a kind, wise old Jesuit who was like a cross between Socrates and Yogi Berra. He had all these sayings that could either mean everything or nothing, depending on how you took them. He always used to say "The most important thing about where you go to college... is Where. You. Go. To. College." I always took him to mean the location, and on that score I considered Storrs a failure.

I was just in Atlanta for work last week and was really impressed with how happening and young it seemed. Great public transport too. Good friends have a son at Emory and he loves it. Very competitive though.

I mentioned both Loyola and St. Joseph's before; they both fit that criteria of really nice campuses with easy access to a nice city. They are both good schools but less competitive than Emory and the top tier New England schools, which makes them more likely to woo her with merit aid; and those two in particular are known to compete with each other for many of the same students.

I somehow missed this one yesterday, but I think this nails it. I don't know Baltimore or Philly at all. Not sure she'd be interested in either, but maybe Loyola Chicago would be ok. Neither of us like NYC at all.

I mention the "where you go" to people looking at law school all the time. The job market is so regional it really matters a lot (plus bar exams lock you in). Ultimately my daughter is a Boston kid, maybe Providence, and that's where she will probably want to be after college. I think she'd consider Chicago. May need to explore other locations, even my wife's fondness for Loyola NO.

 

[HuskyHawk]

My girlfriend is a high school counselor at one of the best public high schools in the Hartford area. Her kids can pretty much pick where they want to go to school, outside of the Ivies. She has more kids applying to Penn St. than UConn this year (not that Penn St. is super far), but what really struck me when you wrote the above is that she has one senior with the following list: Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi and LSU. They’re just more affordable.

Other popular schools for her kids: Endicott, Drexel and BC. But almost every one of those kids is applying to large state schools, too.

Yeah, mine goes to a competitive Catholic School in the Boston suburbs (and Providence suburbs too I suppose). Last year kids went to: Arizona State, Auburn, BYU, Clemson, College of Charleston, Furman, Loyola NO, Marquette, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, St. Louis, Santa Clara, Alabama, Iowa, Notre Dame, Oregon, Richmond, South Carolina and others. That's a bizarre change from my day. My school was 3 times the size (with fewer going to college) and I doubt we sent anybody to schools like those.

Even two years ago when she first attended the list was not that geographically diverse. I know the kid who went to Clemson on the list above and his list included: NC State, Auburn, Alabama, Georgia and Florida State.

 

[8893]

I somehow missed this one yesterday, but I think this nails it. I don't know Baltimore or Philly at all. Not sure she'd be interested in either, but maybe Loyola Chicago would be ok. Neither of us like NYC at all.

I mention the "where you go" to people looking at law school all the time. The job market is so regional it really matters a lot (plus bar exams lock you in). Ultimately my daughter is a Boston kid, maybe Providence, and that's where she will probably want to be after college. I think she'd consider Chicago. May need to explore other locations, even my wife's fondness for Loyola NO.

None of us had ever been to Baltimore before we started looking at it. We were all pleasantly surprised at how much we liked it. It gets a bad rap because of "The Wire" and Freddie Gray, etc.; but obviously if you are considering Chicago you know there are good and bad parts of most major cities--and these schools are not in the bad parts. Baltimore also has Johns Hopkins, which pours a ton of money into the nicer parts and keeps buying up more of the city to make it nicer. Philly is also experiencing a nice arts-centered renaissance and is a good college city with lots of schools in the area.

Loyola New Orleans gives a ton of merit aid and other enticements to attract good students from out of the region. A good friend's son went there, as did the son of another acquaintance, and both were able to negotiate even better deals by going back and bargaining; and the former got accepted to their honors program as well, which afforded other benefits like smaller classes and other educational opportunities. He went on to medical school and is now doing his residency at Columbia in NYC, which was his first choice.

We love New Orleans and spend a lot of time there, but I definitely didn't have enough restraint as a college student to be successful there and that would be the concern for me sending a kid to school there. That, and I hate humidity.

 

[CL82]

She has more kids applying to Penn St. than UConn this year

I have to say Penn St. is like UConn on steroids. The campus has a similar feel though it is much larger and they are absolutely a rabid fan base. They even make their own ice cream. (I'd put them at #3 of those I've tried, UConn, Delaware and then Penn St.) The campus is attractive, well laid out and definitely has a "sense of place" about it. (Where ever you are on campus, it feels like Penn St.) It is worth a look, but probably not what @HuskyHawk's daughter is looking for given her reaction to Storrs.

 

[8893]

I have to say Penn St. is like UConn on steroids. The campus has a similar feel though it is much larger and they are absolutely a rabid fan base. They even make their own ice cream. (I'd put them at #3 of those I've tried, UConn, Delaware and then Penn St.) The campus is attractive, well laid out and definitely has a "sense of place" about it. (Where ever you are on campus, it feels like Penn St.) It is worth a look, but probably not what @HuskyHawk's daughter is looking for given her reaction to Storrs.

Every kid I know who looks at it comes back in love with the campus. More than any other school, I think it looks like what many people have in mind as the ideal college campus. Several good friends have kids there; most have done well, but many seem to have problems graduating in four years.

Which reminds me to advise @HuskyHawk to always look at each school's four-year graduation rate. If it is likely that you are going to pay for another year, you have to consider that cost.

 

[HuskyHawk]

None of us had ever been to Baltimore before we started looking at it. We were all pleasantly surprised at how much we liked it. It gets a bad rap because of "The Wire" and Freddie Gray, etc.; but obviously if you are considering Chicago you know there are good and bad parts of most major cities--and these schools are not in the bad parts. Baltimore also has Johns Hopkins, which pours a ton of money into the nicer parts and keeps buying up more of the city to make it nicer. Philly is also experiencing a nice arts-centered renaissance and is a good college city with lots of schools in the area.

Loyola New Orleans gives a ton of merit aid and other enticements to attract good students from out of the region. A good friend's son went there, as did the son of another acquaintance, and both were able to negotiate even better deals by going back and bargaining; and the former got accepted to their honors program as well, which afforded other benefits like smaller classes and other educational opportunities. He went on to medical school and is now doing his residency at Columbia in NYC, which was his first choice.

We love New Orleans and spend a lot of time there, but I definitely didn't have enough restraint as a college student to be successful there and that would be the concern for me sending a kid to school there. That, and I hate humidity.

We can do a mid-Atlantic trip and check out the Philly-DC corridor. Wife went to Maryland for grad school (I turned down Maryland law school, in part because it was in Baltimore...wanted to be on a main campus).

My wife went from Boston to Loyola New Orleans back in 1984. Loved it, and it was an 18 drinking age there then. She survived but transferred to BC for Junior and Senior year. In my case, I didn't have enough restraint for UConn, let alone New Orleans. So I share that concern. About the humidity too.

 

[superjohn]

State College is one of the creepiest places in the country, no UConn fan should be comparing UConn to that place.