Anonymous
Post 04/20/2022 11:42     Subject: What were your DC’s top schools they were deciding between and where are they committing?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Down to Brown and Northwestern. Still deciding.


Brown, definitely. Not even close.


Northwestern, without question. Not even close.


hahahaha. they are both great and both have something the other doesn't.

NU offers way more in content and industry connections for the major. Better food and dorms. BUT, that music school restriction is killing her. She'd have to declare a 2nd major just to take theory classes and still wouldn't get faculty instrument lessons. She'd have to audition, get accepted and do a 5 year dual degree to get the lessons, and that would come w/ extra ensembles and classes. If there was a way she could do the BA Music as a double major and be allowed to get lessons, that might sway her. NU outranks Brown on some lists.

Brown was her dream school. LOVES the open curriculum. Major offerings are meager, and hers is the one (or one of few) department they don't let UGs take grad courses. But, she would definitely double and possibly triple major there. And, Brown is probably better for her secondary interests. She has many interests! So, now she needs to find out if/how she can supplement the main major w/ study abroad or summer programs, and if Brown will help financially w/ that. Brown has been better on FA so far. Not jazzed about the dorms/food there. Students seem more deep thinking and less superficial at Brown, but that is just casual observation. She would find her people at NU as well. And, then there's the Ivy status. DH and I are from no-name schools, so we're thrilled w/ all the choices, but having a kid at an Ivy would be cool. Not gonna lie.


As a former music major and an amauter musican now, when looking for a place to study music, its all about the teacher you will study with, and becoming a music double major just to take theory classes isn't worth it. Also important is playing the music school ensembles. If NU will not let her study with the music school's professor for her instrument, or let her play in the school's main ensembles (which I suspect is the case) without being a one major music major, she should think twice about choosing NU if she really wants to continue to pursue music in college. Even if she does the double major, the scheduling of classes could be difficult between the requirements for the 2 majors. An alternative is to see if the music professor has a private studio she can join, or find another teacher in Chicago and take lessons outside of college- there are lots of musicians in Chicago offering lessons. And there are plenty of summer music program for college students to supplement ensemble playing.
Both schools are excellent- congrats to your DD and good luck with your choice.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2022 11:25     Subject: What were your DC’s top schools they were deciding between and where are they committing?
Anonymous wrote:

As a CS academic for the past three decades, I am intrigued by whether these choices are made with good information. Needless to say, a CS from anywhere is just fine for employability. And both UMD and NEU are good programs. But, UMD is actually a blue-chip CS department that is constantly knocking on the top-10 door for the past three decades. NEU is relatively unknown in CS. It has recently made some advances in publication-oriented rankings (CS rankings). But, reputationally for high-end employers and grad schools it won't hold a candle to UMD.


This is a great question. UMD has superb facilities and faculty. However after acceptance, we ruled it out and selected a "lower ranked choice" becasue all those great facilities seemed great for graduate students, not used as much by undergrads. UMD has lots of "extra general education credits" that seemed like the "filler" classes that my child was tired of from the high school years. Also, the class sizes were large and it appeared that getting into needed CS classes was difficult. Finally, when we talked to students directly we heard several times that they didn't feel safe on campus at night. It also seemed like a heavy emphasis was on sports, greek life, and a party culture. It wasn't one specific thing, but a lot of things together.

We choose a school with smaller class sizes, a more intimate feel, and a more open curriculum so you're not stuck taking classes you don't want. Curious, what about this is considered mis-information? I would like to know. It is hard to get past all the marketing brochures admissions provides and getting past the rankings to figure out what is a good fit. My child is super motivated in CS. I won't list out things accomplished for privacy reasons, but in the end we decided DC was motivated enough to make it work anywhere so the ranking of 10 or 20 places probably didn't really matter.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2022 10:50     Subject: What were your DC’s top schools they were deciding between and where are they committing?
Loyola Marymount, College of Charleston, Colorado College, Santa Clara, University of Montana, University of Colorado, Middlebury, Washington University in St. Louis, Carnegie Mellon, University of Utah, VA Tech, UVA, W&M, Middlebury, Monana State

Got into all schools. We were hoping a VA state school for in state tuition.

Top Three choices: Loyola Marymount, College of Charleston, University of Colorado/Santa Clara (tie). Chose University of Colorado. As you can tell, my son is a skiier and surfer lol.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2022 10:34     Subject: What were your DC’s top schools they were deciding between and where are they committing?
Anonymous wrote:DD choosing between UMD and Case Western for engineering. I'm pushing Case because I fear she will be swallowed up by a huge school like UMW, but many of her friends are going to UMD, and it's closer to home, and she's a homebody! We'll see. She's waiting until the very last moment to decide.


Keep in mind that the engineering school itself is large but not huge -- a total of 4000 undergrads. My DS is in CMNS for physics and CS and it hasn't been overwhelming to him. He's more of a homebody, too.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2022 10:02     Subject: What were your DC’s top schools they were deciding between and where are they committing?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:DD choosing between UMD and Case Western for engineering. I'm pushing Case because I fear she will be swallowed up by a huge school like UMW, but many of her friends are going to UMD, and it's closer to home, and she's a homebody! We'll see. She's waiting until the very last moment to decide.


We were in this situation and went UMD. All schools have baggage, but dig a bit on Case and you'll see the DOJ began investigating sexual assault there last year and how it's been managed. There's also an editorial from the Case newspaper where the students gave the pros and cons of the school - it just didn't give the vibe we were looking for, but there are of course very happy people there.


DD is a sophmore at UMD in MechE and has been extremely happy with the program. She does not feel lost at all and she's somewhat of a shy type.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2022 09:31     Subject: What were your DC’s top schools they were deciding between and where are they committing?
Anonymous wrote:DD choosing between UMD and Case Western for engineering. I'm pushing Case because I fear she will be swallowed up by a huge school like UMW, but many of her friends are going to UMD, and it's closer to home, and she's a homebody! We'll see. She's waiting until the very last moment to decide.


We were in this situation and went UMD. All schools have baggage, but dig a bit on Case and you'll see the DOJ began investigating sexual assault there last year and how it's been managed. There's also an editorial from the Case newspaper where the students gave the pros and cons of the school - it just didn't give the vibe we were looking for, but there are of course very happy people there.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2022 09:18     Subject: What were your DC’s top schools they were deciding between and where are they committing?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:UVA, Ohio State (with merit), Case Western, Clemson, UW Madison, All OOS. Undecided major. Chose Ohio State



Why?


Why not? T50 school. And merit.


The merit is a good reason.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2022 09:03     Subject: What were your DC’s top schools they were deciding between and where are they committing?
Anonymous wrote:DD choosing between UMD and Case Western for engineering. I'm pushing Case because I fear she will be swallowed up by a huge school like UMW, but many of her friends are going to UMD, and it's closer to home, and she's a homebody! We'll see. She's waiting until the very last moment to decide.


Is money an issue? I would think UMD would be much less expensive.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2022 09:00     Subject: What were your DC’s top schools they were deciding between and where are they committing?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Down to Brown and Northwestern. Still deciding.


Brown, definitely. Not even close.


Northwestern, without question. Not even close.


hahahaha. they are both great and both have something the other doesn't.

NU offers way more in content and industry connections for the major. Better food and dorms. BUT, that music school restriction is killing her. She'd have to declare a 2nd major just to take theory classes and still wouldn't get faculty instrument lessons. She'd have to audition, get accepted and do a 5 year dual degree to get the lessons, and that would come w/ extra ensembles and classes. If there was a way she could do the BA Music as a double major and be allowed to get lessons, that might sway her. NU outranks Brown on some lists.

Brown was her dream school. LOVES the open curriculum. Major offerings are meager, and hers is the one (or one of few) department they don't let UGs take grad courses. But, she would definitely double and possibly triple major there. And, Brown is probably better for her secondary interests. She has many interests! So, now she needs to find out if/how she can supplement the main major w/ study abroad or summer programs, and if Brown will help financially w/ that. Brown has been better on FA so far. Not jazzed about the dorms/food there. Students seem more deep thinking and less superficial at Brown, but that is just casual observation. She would find her people at NU as well. And, then there's the Ivy status. DH and I are from no-name schools, so we're thrilled w/ all the choices, but having a kid at an Ivy would be cool. Not gonna lie.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2022 23:49     Subject: What were your DC’s top schools they were deciding between and where are they committing?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Down to Brown and Northwestern. Still deciding.


Brown, definitely. Not even close.


Northwestern, without question. Not even close.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2022 23:48     Subject: What were your DC’s top schools they were deciding between and where are they committing?
DD choosing between UMD and Case Western for engineering. I'm pushing Case because I fear she will be swallowed up by a huge school like UMW, but many of her friends are going to UMD, and it's closer to home, and she's a homebody! We'll see. She's waiting until the very last moment to decide.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2022 23:43     Subject: What were your DC’s top schools they were deciding between and where are they committing?
Anonymous wrote:Down to Brown and Northwestern. Still deciding.


Brown, definitely. Not even close.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2022 20:43     Subject: What were your DC’s top schools they were deciding between and where are they committing?
Anonymous wrote:
Tell us more about reports of drug culture at Brown. Was this recent? We did not hear about this from other current students, and it would be a big turn off for DD.

Thanks again for all the detail!


I know tons of people going to Brown. This is just one of those stereotypes (liberal, pot-smoking, whatever..) that has no basis in any sort of reality. There are pot smokers in all colleges. In fact, Brown probably has less than other colleges I know well. It makes no sense to make college decisions based on stereotypes. I went to Princeton myself and I used to hear that everyone in the eating clubs drink a lot. Obviously true for a small group of students, but really not true in general. No impact whatsoever during my days there.
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2022 20:35     Subject: What were your DC’s top schools they were deciding between and where are they committing?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Down to Brown and Northwestern. Still deciding.


We were also down to Brown and Northwestern (and Johns Hopkins as well, but that quickly fell out of the running). Went with Northwestern and couldn't be happier!


PP here. That's great! I am having a poke bowl in Evanston right now! Right now, we are struggling with trying to access music classes if not a major. The school of music does not make it easy as most classes are restricted to majors. What did your kid study?

Love the quality of life-- dorms/food and coast, but worried about not being able to take music classes.


Interesting, yes, I do know that typically it's pretty easy to take classes across schools with the one exception of Bienen, the music school because they require certain prerequisites and such. That said, I'm not sure if it would be impossible? I'd definitely try reaching out to the admissions office and/or a Bienen advisor to see what the feasibility there is. DC didn't study music so we're unfortunately not of much help there.

DC went in undecided but knew they likely would study something closer to the humanities or social sciences. Ended up majoring in art history, minor in computer science, and a certificate in integrated marketing. The quarter system really ended up being a huge boon here since they were able to dabble in so many different fields and then sort of tailor their academic experience based on what made the most sense to them across their interests and potential career paths. It can be intense, but DC loved how never a moment felt dull. Loved the campus, extracurricular culture, town (though I heard downtown Evanston was hit quite bad by Covid, but hoping it'll bounce back shortly), and proximity to Chicago, a truly excellent city. Cohort were all very smart and hardworking but seemed more well-adjusted than at other campuses. DC spent one summer quarter in Evanston and LOVED it. Overall great experience, though Covid did put a damper on things the tail end.

Brown was also of course a fantastic option, but DC was a bit turned off by the drug culture (not passing judgment, just wasn't super appealing). Providence is a beautiful little town, but felt sleepy compared to being in the Chicago area. Student interests/potential career interests comparatively also didn't seem to align as well as it did at Northwestern. Open curriculum seems like a dreeeeeam when you're a high school student, but we decided a bit more structure would be beneficial, which it ended up being. If your kid feels its suuuper important to have the Ivy label, I suppose Brown gets an edge here.

Overall, both options are great and you can't go wrong!


Thanks! This is very helpful. We were in the music office today, and it truly is major, not pre reqs. So annoying. She was admitted early to und for music performance then changed her mind for rd admissions, so has the skills. People were nice, but essentially she'll have to declare a music major and then either drop it or just do a BA which would let her take theory but not study with violin faculty. So bizarre. We might try seeing if they would do private lessons.

Tell us more about reports of drug culture at Brown. Was this recent? We did not hear about this from other current students, and it would be a big turn off for DD.

Thanks again for all the detail!
Anonymous
Post 04/19/2022 20:12     Subject: What were your DC’s top schools they were deciding between and where are they committing?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:UVA, Ohio State (with merit), Case Western, Clemson, UW Madison, All OOS. Undecided major. Chose Ohio State



Why?


Why not? T50 school. And merit.