Outside of academics, what factors to look for in terms of fit

[Anonymous]

Cooperative vs cutthroat student body, housing, food, activities, ability to get needed courses in a timely manner. How kids weight these will vary but can make or break the experience.

[Anonymous]

Some kids will thrive at a college heavy with fraternities and sororities, but others will do better at a college without them. Some do better at a big school, others at a small school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Things that swayed my kids one way or another...

Variety of housing options
Quality and variety of the food
Extracurricular activities -- could they continue specific ECs, how competitive is it to join clubs
Rec centers - does it have good equipment, how crowded is it (can you actually get in to use it when you want to)
Extended visits where they could meet with several students and get a sense of the "vibe"
Surrounding area - does it have places they want to go, how hard is it to get around
Academically - how many required general ed classes are there, how flexible is the curriculum, what kind of supporting research centers or other facilities do they have to support experiential learning.

Vibe is a key factor for my kids. As you walk campus, talk to students and tour guides, does your kid "feel at home" and see themselves fitting in. Some campuses, my kid really saw it, others it helped them to see, while the academics are great and it's an amazing school, they will do better at the other choices

+1 DD had a clear take on the "vibe" at schools that to me seemed pretty darn similar. In the end she picked the place where she felt at home. IMO, you don't argue with the vibe assessment.

At the school my kid ultimately picked, they just felt at home from the first tour. Ironically, each tour we did (2) they had multiple guides and you could pick one. So they had an engineering major (STEM), a premed (but humanities major), humanities/social sciences (not premed), etc. Well my kid picked the engineering major both times, and got not just an engineering major, but a Chem E major (my kid's chosen major) both times. So it really helped to see that the tour guides were interesting, engaging kids that are similar to my "non geeky" engineering kid.

Then the school my kid chose has a unique "core curriculum" where you take courses in all 3 areas: STEM, Humanities and Social Sciences. Your major covers one, and then you take 12 credits in each of the others in the SAME discipline. They want you to focus in depth on something you love. That really appeals to my dancer kid. They will be taking 12 credits of dance and 12 credits of Psychology and their freshman writing course. That is it---no history, no theology, no philosophy, no literature, etc. Instead they do their history with the history of dance along with actual dancing. They don't have to take courses they don't like/don't want to take to just check boxes.

Really from the moment they set foot on campus first time, I could see something different in my kid about the campus. At first I thought it was because the previous day had been two campuses they absolutely did NOT like (Troy NY is not a nice town). They had immediately found the place they really loved and was a Target school (so achievable and not single digit acceptance rates. Thankfully it all worked out

What school is this? My dancing DD would love to check it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Things that swayed my kids one way or another...

Variety of housing options
Quality and variety of the food
Extracurricular activities -- could they continue specific ECs, how competitive is it to join clubs
Rec centers - does it have good equipment, how crowded is it (can you actually get in to use it when you want to)
Extended visits where they could meet with several students and get a sense of the "vibe"
Surrounding area - does it have places they want to go, how hard is it to get around
Academically - how many required general ed classes are there, how flexible is the curriculum, what kind of supporting research centers or other facilities do they have to support experiential learning.

Vibe is a key factor for my kids. As you walk campus, talk to students and tour guides, does your kid "feel at home" and see themselves fitting in. Some campuses, my kid really saw it, others it helped them to see, while the academics are great and it's an amazing school, they will do better at the other choices

+1 DD had a clear take on the "vibe" at schools that to me seemed pretty darn similar. In the end she picked the place where she felt at home. IMO, you don't argue with the vibe assessment.

At the school my kid ultimately picked, they just felt at home from the first tour. Ironically, each tour we did (2) they had multiple guides and you could pick one. So they had an engineering major (STEM), a premed (but humanities major), humanities/social sciences (not premed), etc. Well my kid picked the engineering major both times, and got not just an engineering major, but a Chem E major (my kid's chosen major) both times. So it really helped to see that the tour guides were interesting, engaging kids that are similar to my "non geeky" engineering kid.

Then the school my kid chose has a unique "core curriculum" where you take courses in all 3 areas: STEM, Humanities and Social Sciences. Your major covers one, and then you take 12 credits in each of the others in the SAME discipline. They want you to focus in depth on something you love. That really appeals to my dancer kid. They will be taking 12 credits of dance and 12 credits of Psychology and their freshman writing course. That is it---no history, no theology, no philosophy, no literature, etc. Instead they do their history with the history of dance along with actual dancing. They don't have to take courses they don't like/don't want to take to just check boxes.

Really from the moment they set foot on campus first time, I could see something different in my kid about the campus. At first I thought it was because the previous day had been two campuses they absolutely did NOT like (Troy NY is not a nice town). They had immediately found the place they really loved and was a Target school (so achievable and not single digit acceptance rates. Thankfully it all worked out

What school is this? My dancing DD would love to check it out.

It was shared on the prior page. University of Rochester.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's what I did not factor in...and it caused me to transfer.

I went to a state flagship with a great football team in a rural area. A big school. It was thought of as a wholesome and fun school. The campus was lovely and it had 150+ majors. My aunt and uncle had gone there. I thought it would be great.

When I attended, I quickly figured out that the Liberal Arts college was the least prestigious/least rigorous college among the set. I couldn't find classmates interested enough in their coursework to discuss it. Everyone around me was more interested in just getting a degree vs. getting an education.

The other thing that really was a downer was the amount of regular alcohol abuse going on. I don't drink much and don't really care to, and hanging around with excitable wasted, vomit-prone people in loud environments is not how I make friends. It was way too prevalent. My dorm security was compromised due to this as well.

I took a year of straight A's and GTFO'd to the then less prestigious rival urban school where Greeks and NCAA athlete culture were less dominant. And city amenities abounded. And I could get a single room so no messed up roommate to deal with either.

So, I'd definitely advise checking out the true social vibe if possible. My sibling and their spouse were both offered drugs at their Ivy admit weekends. It left them questioning whether the school was a good fit (mainly because breaking the law in front of random underage seniors you don't really know is a bit gauche as well as legally risky). But at least they knew what to expect. I had only been on a 1 hour campus tour and walked around for a couple hours at the school I chose. I relied on other people's perceptions of what is "fun" and that was a big mistake. One of the biggest I've made in life so far.

Penn State to Pitt, huh?

That was my guess too before I even finished the diatribe.

[Anonymous]

The only way to know is to set foot on campus. A school might check all the boxes on paper but once on campus my DD had clear opinions. You have to start visiting OP. We started sophomore year.