effect of tragedy on college?

[Anonymous]

The terrbile news from LEwiston ME has me rattled. I have good friends that live there (they are physically OK) and I have loved my visits to the town.

I wonder how mass shootings effect schools-- like after Virginia Tech, did lots of parents have their kids leave? Did applications drop in the following years? If so, I'm wondering if something similar may happen to Bates, even though the shootings weren't on campus.

My kid is a junior and I had been planning to nudge them into considering Bates, but now I'm thinking I'll just be nudging toward foreign schools. Im so sick about the guns in this country.

[Anonymous]

Not the same, I know, but there was a plane crash at my school's airport which killed multiple students. It did not affect applications for the professional flight program the next year.

[Anonymous]

This is among the most disgusting posts in a forum that has featured many.

[Anonymous]

I do not find it a disgusting post. Everybody is dealing differently with tragic events like this. Mass shootings are sadly a very recurring event.

Your questions are legitimate questions. But no, I do not think it will affect the number of applications to Bates nor should it make a kid shy away from the college.

There is no guarantee no matter where they go that nothing will happen. Though I have to admit the chance of a mass shooting will be much smaller outside the US.

Let you child pick their school independent of this event. If they want to go to another country for the love of a challenge of living abroad and greater cultural exposure, great. If they want to stay stateside, just as great.

[Anonymous]

What’s so gross about this post? It’s the truth and the reality is tragic events like this leave gaping wounds and scars on entire communities. We should openly acknowledge it.

My kid attends a high school that experienced a shooting over a year ago and while my child was not enrolled there at that time, we as a current family feel the effects on the school community, although it doesn’t impact us in nearly the same way as those who lived through it.

[Anonymous]

I think PP's are assuming OP wants to swoop in and use lower applicant rates to boost their kid's chances of admission, which is incredibly cynical and weird.

[Anonymous]

It brings people together. Especially now, because the rest of the world moves on within days while the community is still grieving.

[Anonymous]

Applications went up at Virginia Tech after their shooting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Applications went up at Virginia Tech after their shooting.

I could see that. I had never heard of Virginia Tech prior to the shooting because I was living on the opposite side of the country.

I'm not sure Bates will get the same boost since the name of the college isn't mentioned much.

[Anonymous]

I doubt this will raise or lower apps to Bates.

[Anonymous]

This tragic event has nothing to do with Bates.

If the killer wanted to go there he would have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is among the most disgusting posts in a forum that has featured many.

attention seeking

[Anonymous]

My kid is at VT. He was too young to even know about the shooting but was very attracted to VT’s “school spirit,” which surely increased after that tragedy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at VT. He was too young to even know about the shooting but was very attracted to VT’s “school spirit,” which surely increased after that tragedy.

We didn't even tell our kid about VT's history when touring because we didn't want them to have their decision affected by that. Good decision. Avoid the drama. There is too much in real life

[Anonymous]

In places where death is common, people become numb to it by adaptive necessity. USA is in a transition phase.