momof4girls Daughter #2 college search thread

[AGDee]

When you refer to OU, you're talking about Ohio University in Athens, right? At one point, my son was very interesting in broadcast meteorology and was sure he would go there because they have a great meteorology program and a great a broadcast journalism program.

[momof4girls]

Caveat: For the purpose of this thread, OU will always refer to The University of Oklahoma. The Texan in me always forgets about Ohio having the same designation.


Second Caveat: Midwestern schools seem to be front runners due to their proximity to tornado alley. She loves those tornados and would jump in a car to storm chase at the drop of a hat. The cold weather climate is an added bonus.


PennState - she is very aware PennState is rank #1 in meteorological schools, but has show zero interest. Not sure why, but nothing about the school seems to strike a cord. My brother lived in Pennsylvania for over 10 years. If she should change her mind we have a great knowledge base to pull from.




FSUZeta - FSU is out. She has no interest in a warm weather climate.


BlueCarnation and/or IUHoosiergirl88 - if either of you can elaborate on Valpo more I'd appreciate it. What's the campus environment like?


ISUKappa - we haven't looked at ISU, but it may be added to the list. Size would certainly be a factor. A quick glance at the website and I see some positives. The campus looks pretty. Ames is a nice size. We're from a small town, so Ames would be considered large by our standards. They have great study abroad locations. They have a chase team. Bonus for mom: a Gamma Phi Beta chapter .


AZ-AlphaXi - I would love to hear more about Western Kentucky. She would qualify for their honors college and get a full ride. That may keep this school in the running. We have a local weatherman who is a Western Kentucky alum, which is how I was able to find the school.


Sciencewoman - interesting reads about high IQ and ADHD. From the check off lists, I don't believe this is her, but I will continue to be aware of this possibility.


IndianaSigKap - great idea about reading in a nursing home! I will check into this immediately.


This gave me a chuckle. Cheddar hates dresses. She is most definitely not an SEC girl.
"Football games in the SEC bring out cute school colors dresses. Football games in the Big Ten (especially Penn State) bring out the sweatshirts and jeans. "


Does anyone have any good information on Marshall? The geophysical information courses in their curriculum really seem to have struck a cord.

I will say, I'm torn about how to advise on schools. She has the "it" factor scholastically to qualify for amazing universities, but that scholastic achievement will also get her into the honors colleges at public and lesser know universities. There are full ride possibilities. Ultimately this is her decision, but she's going to rely heavily on my guidance. Do I guide towards a full ride or do I guide towards top ranked?

[NorthernMom]

My daughter is at Mizzou. Midwestern. A crazy variety of weather. They have an atmospheric science program and a storm chase team, though no idea how they rank?? http://weather.missouri.edu

Mizzou is 3rd year in SEC, but they are not dressing up
game day. Columbia is a great town/small city. She/we love it there!

(Also have Gamma Phi Beta....just in case).

[indygphib]

Valpo was in my top two back in the day when I was choosing schools, but small schools are not for me. Plus, it was pretty expensive even with financial aid. Purdue has a great program for meteorology and atmospheric sciences. OOS tuition isn't that horrible, and they tend to be more generous with financial aid packages. Greek life is growing - right now we have 17 NPC sororities and KD is colonizing this fall.

[DubaiSis]

For what it's worth I don't think the prestige schools would offer her what she needed and the cost, if she didn't get a free ride, would be ridiculous if a perfectly fine school was giving a free ride. If she chose a school where automatic acceptance is likely/a strong possibility, think how much less stressful her senior year will be!

And remember, even at the large schools it is easy to shrink them down to size. Honors programs is one way. Sorority membership is another. At schools where quota is less than 50 she might feel less like she's being swallowed up.

While I am a Hawkeye through and through, it is a very different environment from Iowa State. And ISU has a long proud tradition in the sciences and tech. So even if she changed course en route, she would still have some great programs from which to choose. And I think that's an important consideration since we know how often kids change majors.

But somehow, wanting to stay in tornado alley and not too far from home makes me put my money on OU. As you narrow down your choices, you should consult your favorite travel agent (me) on what flight times and costs will be. Marshall might be a great school, but omg what a huge hassle for her at holidays. Ames would also suck pretty bad unless she's open to LONG car rides. Valpo would be much easier because of its proximity to Chicago. And there will always be someone heading to O'Hare or Midway from campus.

[BlueCarnation]

I don't actually know a ton about Valpo, other than it's a smaller school that quite a few people from my high school class went to (10 out of 790, so...). Seems to be a very nice campus, good reputation, close to Chicago.

Now that I'm reading this, though, I really actually have to second Iowa State. My dear friend from birth was a Gamma Phi there (as were two other girls from our high school class) . The advisor for my sorority's chapter here went there, and she is someone I admire greatly. Everyone I have met from our chapter there is impressive. My sister-in-law's sister went there too. To a person, everyone I've met who went there, or who has a child who is there currently, just loves it. The academics are excellent, you don't have to be Greek, but if you want to, the opportunities are wonderful, and it's "midwestern casual." I think it's big but can be made small enough---I've never heard anyone complain that it's too big.

My brother went to Purdue; it sounds like he was a lot like your daughter. He was in the engineering program, and not Greek, and it was a wonderful experience for him. Definitely worth considering!

[IUHoosiergirl88]

Obviously I didn't go to Valpo, but I know a decent amount about the school.

-As a freshman you do take what's called the "Valpo Core" in both the fall and the spring--it's basically the equivalent of a freshman seminar.
-VU is lutheran. You also are required to take 2 full-semester theology courses, so if that's not appealing to your D...might be better to know that now. They're not strictly Bible focused (I know a friend took one on Islam), but that's still not appealing to some students.
-VU is small, only 4500 students including graduate+law. Subsequently, classes are also small and rarely, if ever, taught by grad students.
-65% of students come from Indiana or Illinois, so she should be outgoing enough to find friends that may already have established friend groups.
-Dorms are meh, from what I've seen. Sororities live in Scheele Hall, along with other upperclass women.
-Very welcoming campus, small to medium greek life
-Sports...SEC they are not. Valpo basketball can be OK, their claim to fame is the Bryce Drew sweet 16 shot.

In terms of the surrounding area, Valpo is the more white-collar area of the area colloquially known as 'The Region.' There's a cute little historic downtown with restaurants about a mile from campus, and campus is within walking (although I personally would drive) distance of a shopping area with Target, Kohls, Best Buy, Starbucks, Noodles & Co, etc.. There's more shopping out in Hobart/Merrillville, but you'll definitely need a car to get there. Hobart/Merrillville is more truly 'Region,' but as long as she stays in the US 30 corridor, she'll be fine. Getting to O'Hare or Midway should be pretty easy--she can either get a ride up to the South Shore commuter line into Chicago and navigate Chicago public transportation into either airport, or she can catch a coach bus to either airport for roughly $30 leaving from some of the neighboring towns.

ETA: I forgot to mention the weather. Having grown up here, winters can be BRUTAL. Assume you'll need a winter coat from late October through at least March, usually into April. The weather doesn't truly break until late April, early May. Lots of snow and cold since Valpo is not far from Lake Michigan. It's something she'll get used to, but the first winter might be a really rough transition

[33girl]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

And remember, even at the large schools it is easy to shrink them down to size. Honors programs is one way. Sorority membership is another.

The only problem is that neither of those things are a sure thing. Penn State is a great school and all, but I know lots of people who've gone there and gone down the rabbit hole because there is just too much there. You need to be focused and shut out a lot of temptations. I'm sure it's the same at any very large school. If distraction is an issue for her, Valpo-like places are probably her best bet to succeed - the initial $ outlay stings but it's worth it if she's in a place where she can excel.

[momof4girls]

Originally Posted by IUHoosiergirl88

Obviously I didn't go to Valpo, but I know a decent amount about the school.

-As a freshman you do take what's called the "Valpo Core" in both the fall and the spring--it's basically the equivalent of a freshman seminar.
-VU is lutheran. You also are required to take 2 full-semester theology courses, so if that's not appealing to your D...might be better to know that now. They're not strictly Bible focused (I know a friend took one on Islam), but that's still not appealing to some students.
-VU is small, only 4500 students including graduate+law. Subsequently, classes are also small and rarely, if ever, taught by grad students.
-65% of students come from Indiana or Illinois, so she should be outgoing enough to find friends that may already have established friend groups.
-Dorms are meh, from what I've seen. Sororities live in Scheele Hall, along with other upperclass women.
-Very welcoming campus, small to medium greek life
-Sports...SEC they are not. Valpo basketball can be OK, their claim to fame is the Bryce Drew sweet 16 shot.

In terms of the surrounding area, Valpo is the more white-collar area of the area colloquially known as 'The Region.' There's a cute little historic downtown with restaurants about a mile from campus, and campus is within walking (although I personally would drive) distance of a shopping area with Target, Kohls, Best Buy, Starbucks, Noodles & Co, etc.. There's more shopping out in Hobart/Merrillville, but you'll definitely need a car to get there. Hobart/Merrillville is more truly 'Region,' but as long as she stays in the US 30 corridor, she'll be fine. Getting to O'Hare or Midway should be pretty easy--she can either get a ride up to the South Shore commuter line into Chicago and navigate Chicago public transportation into either airport, or she can catch a coach bus to either airport for roughly $30 leaving from some of the neighboring towns.

ETA: I forgot to mention the weather. Having grown up here, winters can be BRUTAL. Assume you'll need a winter coat from late October through at least March, usually into April. The weather doesn't truly break until late April, early May. Lots of snow and cold since Valpo is not far from Lake Michigan. It's something she'll get used to, but the first winter might be a really rough transition

Fabulous information!

Since Creighton is on her list, we have had discussions about a biblical education. She was very open and ok with having to take classes in faith.

I will say she is totally not impressed with Valpo school colors.

[momof4girls]

Originally Posted by 33girl

If distraction is an issue for her, Valpo-like places are probably her best bet to succeed - the initial $ outlay stings but it's worth it if she's in a place where she can excel.

Distraction is not an issue. Large masses of people, on the other hand, annoy her.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by momof4girls

Distraction is not an issue. Large masses of people, on the other hand, annoy her.

Ah. Well, then, she would spend 4 years being hella annoyed.

[ChioLu]

If she wants to specialize, here are 2 kinds of meteorology degrees and the the best universities:
Operational Forecasting (basically ... so, you want to be a meteorlogist or storm chaser) -
http://freshaj.com/top-5-universitie...in-meteorology (5 schools listed in article)
Atmospheric Sciences (basically ... so, you want to work for the National Weather Service or be an Expert in Climate Change) - http://colleges.findthebest.com/d/o/...ology,-General (63 schools on list)

One of my friends is married to Mike Morgan (OKC chief meteorologist for the NBC affilate since 1993). When there are tornadoes in Oklahoma, I don't turn on The Weather Channel, I get on my computer and watch the stream of KFOR's coverage -- it's exponentially more detailed.

[IUHoosiergirl88]

Originally Posted by momof4girls

I will say she is totally not impressed with Valpo school colors.

They are definitely hideous, haha. But brown goes with a lot...right?

Personally, I'd rather have brown than green or purple, but that's just me.

[ISUKappa]

Ames is only about 30,000 people once you take away the student population. I grew up in a town of 4,000 people and Ames was manageable for me. The nice thing about Iowa State is it's kind of out on the west side of the town, on its own. The campustown area just south of campus is going through a big renovation right now, too, to refresh its look and add more amenities.

The Iowa Storm Chase team are mostly Iowa State meteorology grads and they have a tornado vehicle (Dorothy). It might be worthwhile for your daughter to contact them and find out their experiences in the program at Iowa State. At the very least a campus visit couldn't hurt, right? And then you could visit the Gamma Phi chapter house (it's a gorgeous house and a strong, established chapter, plus it's right next door to the equally as gorgeous ADPi house ).

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by momof4girls

I will say she is totally not impressed with Valpo school colors.

How does she feel about Gamma Phi Beta's colors?

As for the financial aspects- you really have to figure out what's best for your family and what you can afford. Paying a little more for a better fit might be worth it, but only if it won't put a massive hardship on all of you. It's a balance only your family can figure out. I'm paying a little more for my D's "dream" school than we would have paid at the local state flagship, but she is having tremendous experiences in NYC that she would not have had in Ann Arbor.