Early research- finding schools to explore

[Anonymous]

Need some google guidance please.
It’s early days, and am trying to do some advance parental research to find potential schools for STEM kid who enjoys non-recruited sport (like fencing, volleyball…) and is also in HS band and may want to continue in college. Thanks for advice on how to search.

[Anonymous]

Probably Union in NY.

[Anonymous]

Univ of Wisconsin

[Anonymous]

If it's early days, it's a good idea to check out some local schools just to get a sense of what feel your DC likes. Big, small, loud, quiet, D1 sports atmosphere, urban, etc.

[Anonymous]

Men’s volleyball programs are rare, but many schools have club volleyball.

Steven’s institute is an amazing STEM school and has club volleyball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it's early days, it's a good idea to check out some local schools just to get a sense of what feel your DC likes. Big, small, loud, quiet, D1 sports atmosphere, urban, etc.

+1.

Visit some schools close by, or within a certain drive, and get an idea of what your DC likes. We did this and it let my kid rule out schools that he didn't feel comfortable with (e.g., too big, urban, sports, etc.), and we went from there.

[Anonymous]

Davidson. Great STEM offerings and my son loves the fencing club! I've heard from other parents that the music program is top-notch. Although DS is not a musician, he has tons of friends that are and is planning to join the choir.

[Anonymous]

Roll Tide

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it's early days, it's a good idea to check out some local schools just to get a sense of what feel your DC likes. Big, small, loud, quiet, D1 sports atmosphere, urban, etc.

+1.

Visit some schools close by, or within a certain drive, and get an idea of what your DC likes. We did this and it let my kid rule out schools that he didn't feel comfortable with (e.g., too big, urban, sports, etc.), and we went from there.

+2 Hit a mix of urban, small town, big, small schools to get a sense of preferred environment. Not everyone has a clear preference but if they do it really helps to focus the search when you can narrow it down by size/setting.

Size especially influences the EC opportunities like band and fencing. He should consider what kind of band -- does he want to do marching band, jazz, symphony, pep etc. Big schools will likely have all those, smaller schools may not.

My DD had similar interests (STEM, band, fencing). As the process went on band became more important and she ended up at a school that had great science programs and the band options she wanted (pep and symphony, no marching band -she didn't want that time commitment) but, unfortunately, doesn't have a fencing club.

[Anonymous]

Here's the best advice I've heard: Build your college list from the ground up.

This means starting by researching and visiting less-competitive schools that your kid is highly likely to get into, which in most cases will involve a state school. Then look at schools where the likelihood of admission for DC is between 25%-60%. And, finally, find schools that are reaches for your kid (which includes nearly any college with an admissions rate under 20%). The goal is to build a realistic list of schools that DC would be happy to actually attend. I think most people build their list the other way around. They start with the best possible schools that their kid might have a microscopic chance of attending and then work downward. This seems like a recipe for unnecessary disappointment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's the best advice I've heard: Build your college list from the ground up.

This means starting by researching and visiting less-competitive schools that your kid is highly likely to get into, which in most cases will involve a state school. Then look at schools where the likelihood of admission for DC is between 25%-60%. And, finally, find schools that are reaches for your kid (which includes nearly any college with an admissions rate under 20%). The goal is to build a realistic list of schools that DC would be happy to actually attend. I think most people build their list the other way around. They start with the best possible schools that their kid might have a microscopic chance of attending and then work downward. This seems like a recipe for unnecessary disappointment.

Yes! It's easy to find reaches but finding less competitive schools they can love is harder. When you do it really lowers the stress in the process.

[Anonymous]

Thanks all- lots of good suggestions!

[Anonymous]

We started with Princeton’s guide to the best colleges (a gift under the Christmas tree for my high school sophomore who was excited to start the process). It has well organized two page descriptions of quality schools, with lots of data (ranging from how many kids get financial aid to how many people are in Greek life). They also have handy lists, like best for each major, best for LGBTQ+—every category you can imagine.

Naviance also has a search feature, but you need to know some criteria for it to be useful (school size, region, etc).

[Anonymous]

If DC wants to have a real marching band experience as you note, you need to look at large state schools or the few privates that play div I football. This was a must have for my current senior when he built his list. Start with your state flagship and if DC has a good chance of acceptance and likes it, then it's all gravy from there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If DC wants to have a real marching band experience as you note, you need to look at large state schools or the few privates that play div I football. This was a must have for my current senior when he built his list. Start with your state flagship and if DC has a good chance of acceptance and likes it, then it's all gravy from there.

Most large state schools will have club or intramural teams for almost any sport.