Colorado College Full Pay vs. Whitman w/ Merit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone for the feedback. We didn’t let her apply ED anywhere because we wanted to take cost into account, so she knew that she couldn’t necessarily go to the best school she got into. I think the pros and cons of the block plan are a good point. She sees it as interesting and that she’ll get to take cool classes and do interesting things in the block breaks. But I’m not sure how she can major in a STEM subject if she’s interested. She’s undecided about major. Also got into Cal Poly, Oregon, Colorado, Lewis & Clark, Kalamazoo, and Clark.

I wouldn't choose such a small school. My parents pushed me to one and it was miserable as it was super clicky like HS and everyone went home on the weekends. I'd pick any of the others over those two.

Colorado College and Whitman aren't go home on the weekend schools. For one thing, the majority of students at both schools are from out of state. It's the small regional schools that empty out on the weekends. My bigger concern, especially at CC, would be the over the top wokeness.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, I’m sure your kid will do great wherever they end up. Since they are undecided, I would eliminate cal poly since it seems geared towards jumping directly into your major.
I assume Lewis and Clark, Kalamazoo and Clark also offered merit? So you actually have 6 schools cheaper than Colorado college?
I would explain that Whitman would give a financial cushion to do other things. The CC schedule means you have to spend more $ on breaks or watch others do so. That’s pretty tough.

[Anonymous]

CC mom here. The breaks do not have to be expensive. Sure, some kids do extravagant things (the way they do at a host of other schools - there will always be plenty of kids with disposable income) but CC offers a ton of heavily subsidized (read virtually free) backpacking, hiking, climbing, etc trips that are very popular. The block breaks are only four days and lots of kids are tired and just stay on campus and chill - there's programming for that as well. in terms of finances, the school is very financially supportive of individual research and travel/experiential projects, which I don't think is the case at other places. I've read a lot of the commentary about the students being woke and monied and I only partially agree with them My child is neither, although the woke-ness is hard to miss. The school is large enough that you can still find your own peeps and if you want to jet to cabo for block break you absolutely can, but the majority of kids are going to be learning how to rock climb on the school's dime, or something similar. You can't really escape the outdoorsy-ness; that's a feature, not a bug, of the CC experience as most kids are really into being outside.

[Anonymous]

That is not much of a difference. I would let her go to Colorado College.

Or, you could give her the option of you are loaning her the difference between the two. She can start paying you back when she turns a certain age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is not much of a difference. I would let her go to Colorado College.

Or, you could give her the option of you are loaning her the difference between the two. She can start paying you back when she turns a certain age.

You are either a kid or cluelessly rich.

[Anonymous]

For STEM…Cal Poly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never heard of Whitman. So there is that. DH, DS, and I all have attended college+

Honestly, your ignorance is your own problem.

[Anonymous]

She ended up choosing Whitman. She actually liked it more than Colorado College when she visited. Happy with the decision, though it will be a slog for visits/travel. Also visited Cal Poly recently and liked it more than CC too, but chose Whitman because it’s easier to switch majors.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:She ended up choosing Whitman. She actually liked it more than Colorado College when she visited. Happy with the decision, though it will be a slog for visits/travel. Also visited Cal Poly recently and liked it more than CC too, but chose Whitman because it’s easier to switch majors.

That’s great! Whitman was on my list of schools I was interested in (as a parent) but it wasn’t right for my kid. Seems lile a great place though

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She ended up choosing Whitman. She actually liked it more than Colorado College when she visited. Happy with the decision, though it will be a slog for visits/travel. Also visited Cal Poly recently and liked it more than CC too, but chose Whitman because it’s easier to switch majors.

Congrats! My son committed Macalester over Colorado this week! We considered Whitman but he didn’t like compare to the other two.

[Anonymous]

Congrats to her! It is a terrific place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child was picking between two different colleges but basically the identical choices as you describe. We let him pick and he picked the Colorado College equivalent. He’s now a soph and I regret it every time we pay the tuition bill, and in between, too, because DS hasn’t performed as well as we’d have expected in college, nor is particularly engaged there (he enjoys it, but could have gotten this experience anywhere given his lack of engagement), and it is so painful to be paying this amount of money and DS will likely graduate with a mediocre GPA. (We would not have expected any of this, by the way- he was an excellent and involved student in HS.)

I wish we’d encouraged DS to take the Whitman equivalent choice. Being honest just bc it is an anon forum.

Interesting, thanks for sharing. Do you think the block system or other aspects of the curriculum or school culture contributed to your child's academic struggles or lack of engagement? Do you think he would have done better academically elsewhere? Just wondering, as we have children approaching college who may also be susceptible to lack of engagement

[Anonymous]

DC seriously considering Whitman but we visited over summer so didn’t get the full vibe… and nine months later DC can barely even remember the campus. On paper it has everything. But DC is making the decision a little blind.

Can someone compare the Whitman vibe to, say, Kenyon? I know that it’s a lot less isolated (once you finally get to Walla Walla, which is itself isolated!). But what’s the energy of the kids on campus? Who would be happy there, vs. other LACs?

(DC wants enviro studies, probably combined with biology, but also wants to do a fair amount of writing/humanities/theater.)

Really running out the clock on this decision!

[Anonymous]

I don't know Kenyon, but I would guess both are good choices. I am very familiar with Whitman. The faculty and staff are so friendly and welcoming. The students are very engaged in many activities at a time. They have a culture really built around community. I would describe "most" students as PNW-outdoorsy types. Not all, for sure. But it is warm and sunny much of the year, which is very conducive to biking, skating, outdoor activities, hanging out on the main quad, and walking to the adorable downtown adjacent to the school that is filled with soooo many great shops.
My child is transferring to Whitman this fall/sophomore year and also plans to major in ES/bio, but is also a fall athlete who likes to have lots of clubs to participate in, outdoor activities, guest lecturers, etc. When she was on campus last month to tour, to sit in on classes, observe the team spring practices, lift with the team, do a volunteer activity with the team, and really talk to current students, our goal was to see if community was a real thing or just lip service. We found out that there are constantly gatherings/parties/dinners/volunteer activities going on all around campus and in dorms/interest houses that are truly open to all students. They work to get as many attendees as possible, and the events do have good attendance.
My kiddo is a west coaster who was recruited to a NESCAC and the social vibe did not work out. So, she is transferring somewhere she will thrive academically and socially (yeah, the athletics aren't as competitive, but that does not seem to matter as much now). We know other Whitman grads from her top private day school who are thriving and LOVED their time at Whitman.
Anyway, I hope this helped a bit. Again, Kenyon may have a lot of these same qualities, but for my kiddo it is all about FIT this time and Whitman had it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know Kenyon, but I would guess both are good choices. I am very familiar with Whitman. The faculty and staff are so friendly and welcoming. The students are very engaged in many activities at a time. They have a culture really built around community. I would describe "most" students as PNW-outdoorsy types. Not all, for sure. But it is warm and sunny much of the year, which is very conducive to biking, skating, outdoor activities, hanging out on the main quad, and walking to the adorable downtown adjacent to the school that is filled with soooo many great shops.
My child is transferring to Whitman this fall/sophomore year and also plans to major in ES/bio, but is also a fall athlete who likes to have lots of clubs to participate in, outdoor activities, guest lecturers, etc. When she was on campus last month to tour, to sit in on classes, observe the team spring practices, lift with the team, do a volunteer activity with the team, and really talk to current students, our goal was to see if community was a real thing or just lip service. We found out that there are constantly gatherings/parties/dinners/volunteer activities going on all around campus and in dorms/interest houses that are truly open to all students. They work to get as many attendees as possible, and the events do have good attendance.
My kiddo is a west coaster who was recruited to a NESCAC and the social vibe did not work out. So, she is transferring somewhere she will thrive academically and socially (yeah, the athletics aren't as competitive, but that does not seem to matter as much now). We know other Whitman grads from her top private day school who are thriving and LOVED their time at Whitman.
Anyway, I hope this helped a bit. Again, Kenyon may have a lot of these same qualities, but for my kiddo it is all about FIT this time and Whitman had it.

Are you willing to name NESCAC and the social vibe at that NESCAC school ? It would be very helpful. Thank you.