For the last few nights Liz and I have been helping our oldest son, Andrew, fill out his application for the S.A.T. exam in March. Andrew is a junior in high school and is running a B+ average.

The hard part was deciding which colleges to send the scores to. Because he is a junior, the choices aren't critical, but still, we want to direct the scores towards the schools he might want to attend. We intend to go to the schools this spring/summer/fall, and between now and then we will do some research. So far Andrew thinks he wants to go to a school in the northeast, and one in a city. His first choice is New York University. Second is Rutgers, third is Boston University and forth is Temple. Actually, he is only relatively sure of his first two choices.

I went to the City University of New York. It was purely economics. I couldn't afford a big tuition, and my four years at CUNY cost a total of $400. In those days the City University was called the "poor mans Harvard". While not really up to the standards of Harvard, it was a fine school and a fine education.

Liz went to NYU. She went on full scholarship and lived downtown anyway. For her it was also a question of economics.

My question is this, what criteria did you use to evaluate the colleges that your children (or yourself) applied to and/or attended. How did you make your choice? There are a great number of fine schools out there, why did you pick the one you did? And, which one did you pick? What should we look for?

We (Andrew, Liz and I) appreciate your feedback and any hints/tips. Thanks.

 

I alwasy understood that you never sent your scores directly to colleges. That way if you got a bad score, they wouldn't have to see it. You always have the option to send it in after the fact. I've taken both the SAT and ACT more than once, and that's the way I was told to go about it for saftey's sake. As for college for me, it has to be an in-state state school for financial reasons. It's looking like OSU because I'm a city-kid at heart and Columbus appeals to me more than OU in Athens.

 

I first went to Los Angeles Valley College (a Jr. College) for my Associate in Arts, and then transferred to California State University, Northridge (CSUN) for my BS in Physics. Same reasons. Cheap. Also, I lived at parent's homes the whole time and worked part-time, while at CSUN. Criteria used was, "What will mom and dad (recently divorced) pay for?" Never intended to get a BS but didn't want to work at McDonalds either. Just plugged away.

I have a daughter who is now a senior in High School and has taken the SATs and is in the process of applying to colleges. I am not helping her with applications. She wants to go, "Where ever Brandon goes." Her boyfriend of over 2 years, is two years ahead of her, and is ready to transfer from Jr. College to a 4-year. We can afford to send her to a good school but her interest is in Brandon, not a school. She has a very high GPA, over 4.0, but we believe in her, and letting her make her own choices. (Need I say she is smart and has always been a good girl?) I don't know where she'll end up going but I know she'll go to college and get at least a Bachelors and that is good enough for us. I hope she is nearby so we can see her. It brings tears to my eyes thinking of her leaving this house where she's been all her life.

Our son is in 10th grade and in a much better private high school. We will probably have more input with his choice of colleges. (Our daughter should have gone to the same school but we didn't insist since it's a Catholic school and we aren't Catholic.)

 

I 1st went to a 2yr community college, Erie Community, (didn't know if I could do 4 yrs & wanted something to show for it after 2), then went to Buffalo State for my 4 yr degree. Couldn't afford out of state.

 

A fellow physicist!!!! What made you choose that the finest of all of the sciences?

When I finally went back for the last time, I chose Widener for two reasons. They would work around me work schedule to allow me to pursue a "day cirriculum" while taking most of my courses in the evening. And it was truly a matter of convenience. It was half way between my office and my home.

 

My choice was dictated mostly by my choice of major (at the time) which was astrophysics. Local Case Western Reserve University had one of the best programs around, and being local, I could commute and save on rooming costs. I don't know how much of a consideration price was for my parents, but Case was pretty reasonable back then, for a private university.

Luckily, Case also had a great program in Computer Engineering, which I changed my major to after about a year and a half.

So, based on my experience, the choice needs to be greatly influenced by the specific university's strengths in the areas your son is interested in. Balance that by cost and location, and I guess you'd end up with a decision.

(If it were only that easy...)

JonasM

 

I can't really remember the thought process that went into my choice of a college, except that I spent alot of time in North Carolina growing up and UNC was/is a great school. So I applied for Chapel Hill, but they only accepted a few top out-of-state students, and I didn't get in there. I ended up at UNC in Greensboro, planning to transfer after two years, but Chapel Hill was such a big school (I think 11,000 at that time), I decided to just stay at UNC-G. It worked out well. They had a great language program (my major was French; I also took Russian). As for graduate school, I went to the school locally that had the Master's degree I was looking for (Information Management), which turned out to be Catholic University.

 

Good Luck. There are so many choces. My dad went to Rutgers and is still an avid Scarlet Knight. They now have so many campuses. Most social I've heard is still in New Brunswick. Up stream Red team!

 

I pick mine based on who will give me the best salary, benefits, and research package.

What I advise students to do is to pick a school based on the major being sought. It's important to pick a major as early as possible as floating through the first two years of school as an "undecided" doesn't work very well these days and carries the potential of wasting a lot of money. I also tell students that once they've narrowed their choices down to a few schools, they should contact the prof's at those schools that are conducting research in the area of the student's interest. It is very advantageous to the student to get to know (and to make him/her self known) to prof's rather than remain a nameless face in the crowd. Of all the students that I've taught over the years, it has invariably been those students that have made themselves known to myself and my colleagues who have done the best both academically and career-wise. Generally speaking, we prof's have a much wider network than most students are able to access, and we can open doors for students that they may not ever become aware of otherwise.

The community college option that has been mentioned is a good idea economically and can also function as a great transition point from high school (or "real world" for non traditional students), but there are a couple of possible disadvantages. Most CC programs cover all the basic liberal arts courses that are required for a four year degree. Once those courses have been taken, a student going on to a four year school can be put at a disadvantage by being unable to balance his/her courses each semester by mixing LA and major courses. I've known quite a few Biology majors in this situation that have been put in the position of having to take such courses as Physics, Organic Chemistry, Calculus, and Anatomy & Physiology all in one semester.
It's much less stressful to be able to mix in some "easier" LA courses with the tougher more advanced courses. Secondly, if a student is planning on going on to grad school (particularly a more competitive one), the fact that the first two years of school were taken at a CC can be held against a student applying for grad school. It's not right, but that's the way it is.
Aside from those disadvantages, one of the big upsides to attending a CC is the fact that many state university systems have reciprocity with the CC's within that state. If a student successfully graduates from a CC, then they are automatically accepted into most state universities.

I hope this makes some sort of sense. I haven't had my coffee yet.

Dean

 

I agree with you Dean about the Community College's benefits and downfalls. I found myself taking all the hard classes once I transferred since all the liberal arts were out of the way. It wasn't all bad though because at least I enjoyed classes in my major and didn't have to gag on history or english any more.

I liked my Jr. College teachers better than the ones at the four year. I felt like they were more caring and down to earth for math and physics classes.