Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think of friendly/nurturing/supportive as a place where you can take risks and put yourself out there with no guarantee of success, feeling comfortable that no matter what happens it’ll be okay.

Want to go on stage for the first time? People will cheer for you even if your voice cracks. Founding a herpetology club? Not only will no one mock you, they’ll say “what a cool niche interest.” Taking a class that’s completely out of your comfort zone, whether physics or dance? People will remark it’s cool that you’re trying something hard, and they’ll offer extra help of you need it.

No pride in weeding out, or in having sharper elbows. Just a community that’s more in it together than not.

This sounds good. What colleges would fit this description?

I recommend reading Colleges that Change Lives. Just flip through it and start reading about different colleges. The author talks a lot about supportive atmospheres where students are encouraged to explore and branch out.

Anonymous wrote:I haven't read other replies but to me it's code for not over dominated by a greek/sports culture. Bros and bro-ettes don't dominate. Which I have one of my kids this will be a priority for.

Any school that has 20% or less involved in Greek life will fit this criteria.

I haven't read other replies but to me it's code for not over dominated by a greek/sports culture. Bros and bro-ettes don't dominate. Which I have one of my kids this will be a priority for.

Colleges that we've toured and researched that seem to have a particularly friendly vibe have been Carleton, Kenyon (my D26 said it was "aggressively friendly" and Dickinson. I think it depends a lot on your tour guide, too.

I think if you are looking for this vibe, you need to consider a tier or two down from what DCUM tends to consider “top.” Looking outside the Northeast isn’t a bad idea, either. Unlikely locations tend to attract students who are inherently open and non-judgmental. In this way, an off-the-beaten-path setting isn’t all downside.

FWIW, Whitman and Carleton both struck our family as being unusually friendly. But one should be careful of n=1 or n=2 sample sizes, mine included.

In my opinion, the culture of the students matters more than faculty and admin in determining the nurturing, supportive vibe of the school. For example, if a school attracts a huge percentage of pre-professional types, the school culture skews more competitive.

Anonymous wrote:I think of friendly/nurturing/supportive as a place where you can take risks and put yourself out there with no guarantee of success, feeling comfortable that no matter what happens it’ll be okay.

Want to go on stage for the first time? People will cheer for you even if your voice cracks. Founding a herpetology club? Not only will no one mock you, they’ll say “what a cool niche interest.” Taking a class that’s completely out of your comfort zone, whether physics or dance? People will remark it’s cool that you’re trying something hard, and they’ll offer extra help of you need it.

No pride in weeding out, or in having sharper elbows. Just a community that’s more in it together than not.

This sounds good. What colleges would fit this description?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The above said “may be less likely” to get support, not that you “will” be less likely.

Undoubtedly there are professors at larger schools who will help students during illness and other difficulties.

These discussions always involve generalizations about types of schools. Of course one’s experience will depend on the individual school.

That said, I know a family whose child was at a larger (state) school and had health issues, and they very much felt like their child was treated as a number and did not receive much support at all. But I’m sure that isn’t the case with every large school.

It boggles the mind that some parents actually think a *university* is going to check in on your kid. Seriously? What kind of health issues did this kid have? Sounds like they should have attended college very close to home.

I’m not sure exactly what the health issue was but it was something that arose after the kid was in school there, not before. He missed a lot of class and the school was not very responsive when he was trying to overcome that. So the parents were frustrated.

I think of friendly/nurturing/supportive as a place where you can take risks and put yourself out there with no guarantee of success, feeling comfortable that no matter what happens it’ll be okay.

Want to go on stage for the first time? People will cheer for you even if your voice cracks. Founding a herpetology club? Not only will no one mock you, they’ll say “what a cool niche interest.” Taking a class that’s completely out of your comfort zone, whether physics or dance? People will remark it’s cool that you’re trying something hard, and they’ll offer extra help of you need it.

No pride in weeding out, or in having sharper elbows. Just a community that’s more in it together than not.

Anonymous wrote:The above said “may be less likely” to get support, not that you “will” be less likely.

Undoubtedly there are professors at larger schools who will help students during illness and other difficulties.

These discussions always involve generalizations about types of schools. Of course one’s experience will depend on the individual school.

That said, I know a family whose child was at a larger (state) school and had health issues, and they very much felt like their child was treated as a number and did not receive much support at all. But I’m sure that isn’t the case with every large school.

It boggles the mind that some parents actually think a *university* is going to check in on your kid. Seriously? What kind of health issues did this kid have? Sounds like they should have attended college very close to home.

The above said “may be less likely” to get support, not that you “will” be less likely.

Undoubtedly there are professors at larger schools who will help students during illness and other difficulties.

These discussions always involve generalizations about types of schools. Of course one’s experience will depend on the individual school.

That said, I know a family whose child was at a larger (state) school and had health issues, and they very much felt like their child was treated as a number and did not receive much support at all. But I’m sure that isn’t the case with every large school.

My DC attends a large school and had to miss a week of classes last year due to having the flu. DC emailed all professors and every one of them was helpful, understanding, and sympathetic. They moved deadlines up to accommodate DC’s illness and sent class notes via email so DC wouldn’t fall behind.

It’s silly to claim that you won’t have supportive professors at larger schools.

To the PP who mentioned what happens when a kid gets sick, what exactly do you mean? I assumed you meant a more serious illness. If a college freshman has a cold or a sinus infection, of course he should be able to go to the campus health clinic and talk to a nurse and get a prescription without any help from anyone else.

However, if the same kid has a serious illness and misses multiple sessions of a class, I would expect a “supportive” school to have professors who will (1) notice a kid hasn’t been in class and (2) be willing work with them to the extent they can make up missed work etc. so they can pass the course.
A big school where the kid is a number / more anonymous may be less likely to get support in that scenario.

FWIW I went to a SLAC and if you missed more than one class in a row, chances were good you’d get a call from the professor to find out why you weren’t there.

Anonymous wrote:Why would you assume that there's only one person posting about CTCL? None of my kids are at one, but we toured a couple and were really impressed. Do you get bent out of shape when people post about WASP / Ivy / HYPMS / NESCAC / SEC / whatever groupings? Do you assume that there's "the SEC poster" or "the NESCAC poster"?

Yes. There are certain people who only post about their favored school or grouping of schools. There's also the Jesuit school mom.

Anonymous wrote:Why would you assume that there's only one person posting about CTCL? None of my kids are at one, but we toured a couple and were really impressed. Do you get bent out of shape when people post about WASP / Ivy / HYPMS / NESCAC / SEC / whatever groupings? Do you assume that there's "the SEC poster" or "the NESCAC poster"?

To be fair, there is The Bucknell Poster