Occidental
Bates
Juniata
Bard
Whitman


Full pay sociology/political science major

Anonymous wrote:DS wants to major in Physics and Math

In-state options are between:

GMU Honors
Virginia Tech
W&M
UVA waitlisted

Vtech

DS wants to major in Physics and Math

In-state options are between:

GMU Honors
Virginia Tech
W&M
UVA waitlisted

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are people’s thoughts on Reed College? The open drug policy is concerning to me… but seems like a solid school otherwise.

It’s an outstanding education. One of the best. Your kid will work incredibly hard and will be a deep thinker. Every Reedie I know is unbelievably smart and has been able to carve a really interesting path.

Can someone explain the open drug policy?

And for pp, has every Reedie you’ve known been able to support himself financially?

The reedie I know is a college professor.

I know multiple college professors (at elite schools, fwiw), a specialty physician, and a few others who are (and have been) gainfully employed/ self-supporting in other paths. I don't personally know any who aren't self-supporting, but my circle isn't enormous.

This has been posted elsewhere, but Reed is #5 on the NSF's list of top colleges for STEM Ph.D.s, adjusted for size of school. https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22321 (table 6) -- only CalTech, MIT, Mudd, and Swarthmore are ahead.

Can't speak to the open drug policy, but it is in Oregon, which might have something to do with it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Davidson
Middlebury
W&M (OOS)

No question for me—Middlebury. The most beautiful campus I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of them.

Totally disagree, last on that list but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are people’s thoughts on Reed College? The open drug policy is concerning to me… but seems like a solid school otherwise.

It’s an outstanding education. One of the best. Your kid will work incredibly hard and will be a deep thinker. Every Reedie I know is unbelievably smart and has been able to carve a really interesting path.

Can someone explain the open drug policy?

And for pp, has every Reedie you’ve known been able to support himself financially?

The reedie I know is a college professor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rutgers
JMU
West Virginia
Hofstra
Towson
Hood

Kid struggles with ADHD. Does not want to be too far from home. Does not drive. Is very social and wants an active social life (which makes me want to choose the least expensive school in case they struggle academically).

Music business - or possibly some other type business. Very outgoing, people oriented person.

Is cost a factor and which are in-state options? I think a kid like this could do well at JMU, but I might pick Towson if it’s cheaper and closer to home.

We are in DC so all we have is the DC TAG (10K grant). Kid has maintained a B average in high school, so some of these options are quite affordable with that 10K off and the merit aid offered.

Costs with 10K DC Tag and merit aid:
Rutgers - 40K
JMU - 33K
West Virginia 26K - B average gets you 8K in merit automatically
Hofstra 50K (25K in merit aid)
Towson - 24K - B average gets you 10K in merit aid
Hood - 33K - 30K in merit aid

50K / year is our outer limit. so I just worry at choosing Hofstra - if kid goes off the rails there's not as much of a chance of paying for a 5th year. On the other hand, Hofstra might be a better choice considering NY internships and smaller size/support structure.

I put mine out here because there are always the questions of where can B-average kids go. AND, I've become a big fan of that idea of buyer/seller schools. Was so surprised at the merit aid offered.

If you want to be able to check in on your kid, it seems Towson or Hood are the best options as they are closest.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Denison University
Grinnell
Vassar
Union College
Gettysburg

Intended major - Computer Science

If a dork/adorkable, Grinnell

If normal, Vassar

There was a thread a while back about how few straight guys there are at Vassar. Try to google to find it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Miami Ohio - in engineering school $50K
York College of PA - guaranteed EE major $34K
Loyola Maryland $50k (ABET engineering department)
CNU $30K instate (ABET EE major)

Electrical engineering with interest in business/economics.

Engineering is not engineering without ABET accreditation, so if your options are truly just Loyola or CNU and money is not an issue, I'd go Loyola MD.

Miami and York are also ABET.
OP, I'd visit them and focus on student experience as well as grad placement (in addition to cst, vibe etc)

Anonymous wrote:UNH honors program, engineering direct admit, merit scholarship, OOS

UMD in state, freshman connection, L&S, Carillion, full pay

SMCM, merit scholarship, recruited, best social fit, in state

Oberlin, recruited, merit scholarship, least social fit

Seems all over the place. How can you be considering both SMCM and UNH Engineering? You're talking St. Mary's College of Maryland, correct? What does kid want to study?

Anonymous wrote:Miami Ohio - in engineering school $50K
York College of PA - guaranteed EE major $34K
Loyola Maryland $50k (ABET engineering department)
CNU $30K instate (ABET EE major)

Electrical engineering with interest in business/economics.

Engineering is not engineering without ABET accreditation, so if your options are truly just Loyola or CNU and money is not an issue, I'd go Loyola MD.

Anonymous wrote:Kid accepted Duke, UPenn, Columbia (also Dartmouth but not considering). Leaning Duke but wants to visit UPenn and Columbia before committing.

Of these, I’d pick Duke as it has reputation tor happiest undergrads on this list.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Davidson
Middlebury
W&M (OOS)

Davidson for the win. It's a wonderful school in a moderate climate with outstanding resources. The undergrad experience is truly amazing.

Actually more info needed as the student’s academic interests are relevant. Middlebury and W&M could also be “truly amazing” depending on student and field of study.

These are all great choices w very happy undergrads. I’d pick Davidson for location but can’t go wrong here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA OOS
NYU Cas
Full pay
Major economics

What would you chose?

do they want to do grad school?

Great options and can’t go wrong. Depends on vibe student wants and whether they want more of a classic college experience (community and such at UVA) or more of an urban NY feel. I’d personally prefer UVA.

Anonymous wrote:NYU-Stern
UMich-Ross
Canadian schools -UofT, Western, Queens
Kid is dual and Canadian schools are so much cheaper for us.

Well this one has me genuinely stumped.

As a Canadian, Ivey at Western definitely has the best bang for the buck. Really good recruiting for IB/MBB. But it's in London, Ont. And no one in the US that resides more than a mile from Wall Street has ever heard of it.

Queens is also good. Kingston is much nicer than London. And by Canadian standards it seems to be an enjoyable place to go to school.

Unlike U of T. Kind of a cold school. And enormous. And not the bestest for finance/business.

But if the goal is New York, it really is hard to beat Stern. The doors are wide open. Everyone recruits from Stern. The downside is that it's not exactly known for its warm, kind, and empathetic students - if that's important to you. Like Wharton, there's some selling of the soul going on.

Ross of course is very well regarded. And certainly a more humane place to go to college.

Ultimately it depends on finances and aspirations. I'd probably drop U of T, but otherwise four very good choices.