Girlie AGDee's College Search Thread

[Munchkin03]

For what it's worth, I come across my college classmates who have pursued careers in writing/journalism ALL THE TIME. Were they English or Comp Lit majors? Some were, but most weren't. The important thing was that they were active in the school papers, had great internships, and developed amazing connections while they were in school and immediately afterwards. It's harder to get national level (or international level) connections at a regional school. I'm sure everyone has stories about someone who went to Podunk State College and is now vice-president of international markets at UBS, but that's really the exception and not the rule.

As someone with a liberal arts undergrad degree, who now works in a technical field , I've noticed that my colleagues who have professional bachelor's degrees are extremely competent, but are not as well-rounded as those who have liberal arts degrees who went to graduate school for their professional educations. The liberal arts folks are also much better writers and public speakers.

Oh, and College Confidential really creeps me out.

[AnotherKD]

I have to chime in and second DC schools. If you want a school with a good reputation, Georgetown and George Washington can't be beat. They also have fantastic grad schools and internship programs that you will be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. Especially since you want to work for the UN!

I would agree that American could be a safety school for you. However, even though I may get flamed for this, I don't see George Mason as a good choice for you. It is still coming off of the *perception* that it is only a commuter school, and while I will agree that it has come leaps and bounds from where it was, say, 15-20 years ago, it just doesn't have the type of fantastic programs and notariety that other DC-area schools have.

[Munchkin03]

http://www.usnews.com/education/arti...reaks?PageNr=1

This article discusses the regional agreements that can reduce tuition for students if they go to public schools in the region. There are only a few states that opt out (Florida, Texas, NC, NY, NJ, PA), and the District of Columbia. The Midwest program appears to be very lenient in that you don't have to be in a specific major to take advantage of it.

DC schools are great--and I'm also suggesting Emory and Stanford.

[groovypq]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

http://www.usnews.com/education/arti...reaks?PageNr=1

This article discusses the regional agreements that can reduce tuition for students if they go to public schools in the region. There are only a few states that opt out (Florida, Texas, NC, NY, NJ, PA, DC). The Midwest program appears to be very lenient in that you don't have to be in a specific major to take advantage of it.

DC schools are great--and I'm also suggesting Emory and Stanford.

Pardon the slight hijack, but... grrrr. Way to go, PA.

[AnotherKD]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

http://www.usnews.com/education/arti...reaks?PageNr=1

This article discusses the regional agreements that can reduce tuition for students if they go to public schools in the region. There are only a few states that opt out (Florida, Texas, NC, NY, NJ, PA, DC). The Midwest program appears to be very lenient in that you don't have to be in a specific major to take advantage of it.

DC schools are great--and I'm also suggesting Emory and Stanford.

I WISH! (See bolded.)

/rant over

[MaggieXi]

My co-worker and her daughter are looking at schools and your situations sound similar, except she is planning on majoring in psychology with a minor in communications. She wants a location either in the city or close to the city, diverse population, solid study abroad opportunities, and well enough known to help her get into grad school.

So far, in their trips, they have really liked Fordham, American, George Washington, Villanova, Saint Joseph's, and Northeastern.

A few schools that she thought she would like and didn't: Hopkins, Univ. Maryland, Penn State, Univ. Delaware, Syracuse, Cornell and Drexel.

[hypoallergenic]

Originally Posted by Psi U MC Vito

Out of curiosity Dee junior, (I know, not your name, but still) why didn't you like the Village? I know a lot of NYU who love living there.

I just didn't like the lack of a campus. I can't do city 24/7. It sounds like I'm a Barnard/Columbia representative when I say this, but it honestly feels like you're not even in NYC when you're inside either campus. Both of them have this quaint, quiet feeling, and they were both gorgeous. NYU was just too much for me.

To everyone else who's giving suggestions, thank you so much. All of this means a lot.

And to the people suggesting Georgetown and American, those were both on my list but I crossed them off. I honestly couldn't tell you why, but it was probably just because I got sick of having such a big list to narrow down. (A few days ago, I was at 27 school possibilities. Pretty overwhelming.) But I'm going to add both back, they sound wonderful, and the possibility of an internship at the Smithsonian (or just going there all the time, since, ya know, I don't plan on doing anything with museums for my career) is very intriguing. ;D

[Senusret I]

Originally Posted by hypoallergenic

And to the people suggesting Georgetown and American, those were both on my list but I crossed them off. I honestly couldn't tell you why, but it was probably just because I got sick of having such a big list to narrow down. (A few days ago, I was at 27 school possibilities. Pretty overwhelming.) But I'm going to add both back, they sound wonderful, and the possibility of an internship at the Smithsonian (or just going there all the time, since, ya know, I don't plan on doing anything with museums for my career) is very intriguing. ;D

Yayyyy *fingers crossed for Georgetown*

[Gusteau]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

Also consider George Mason University in Virginia (suburban DC). It's cheaper than Georgetown and AU and is more diverse than both.

I could kiss you right now!

I agree with everything Sen said here, I think Georgetown and American would be good fits based on your criteria.

-----

George Mason (my alma mater) is a great place. It is ridiculously diverse, and this extends beyond being ethnically diverse. Something you might be interested in is the combination of a strong liberal arts curriculum with a strong research base. Access to DC is available with Fairfax being at the end of the orange line, but the campus is decidedly suburban. Many students take advantage of the location for internships. We have a somewhat significant population of adjunct faculty that are a great internship resource. I have friends who have interned at Meet the Press and The Washington Post, which
might be of interest to you. We've experienced tremendous growth in the past few years that has lead to increasing recognition. I would I imagine it would be a safety for you despite increasing popularity.

Student life is typically a concern for students interested in Mason. Do not believe the antiquated rumor mill. It was considered a commuter school, but this has changed significantly. Mason was classified as a primarily residential campus in February, and by 2012 will be the largest residential campus in Virginia. With over 350 student organizations there is a lot to do. I obviously recommend Greek Life, but it is not the end all or be all of student life.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

[Gusteau]

P.S. Apologies for the messy post, I'm typing from my iPad, which makes editing difficult. I'll clean it up when I get to a computer!

[als463]

Originally Posted by MaggieXi

My co-worker and her daughter are looking at schools and your situations sound similar, except she is planning on majoring in psychology with a minor in communications. She wants a location either in the city or close to the city, diverse population, solid study abroad opportunities, and well enough known to help her get into grad school.

So far, in their trips, they have really liked Fordham, American, George Washington, Villanova, Saint Joseph's, and Northeastern.

A few schools that she thought she would like and didn't: Hopkins, Univ. Maryland, Penn State, Univ. Delaware, Syracuse, Cornell and Drexel.

What? How could you not LOVE Penn State or Syracuse? Obviously a little bias...

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

As far as majoring in Journalism, as a person who did just that, I will both agree and disagree. I think learning the journalistic style of writing is helpful in a lot of careers because it teaches you how to write in a clear and succinct way, which is extremely helpful in all career fields. It's also a common undergrad for people going on to Law school (at Iowa, anyway). But you would get a lot more help in becoming a professional news writer by working for the Daily Iowan.

This. If your daughter is interested in becoming a journalist, I recommend a major in communications - it doesn't have to be journalism specifically, but a journalistic style of writing is completely different than the literary style of English majors. Even if she changes her field post-graduation, she still will have picked up a writing style common in the business, law, political and journalism worlds. Many professions use more of a journalistic/Associated Press style of writing. I work in PR, and I constantly have to re-write press releases, Op Eds, bios and articles written by English majors. Most of the English majors I knew in college wanted to be teachers.

[MaggieXi]

Originally Posted by als463

What? How could you not LOVE Penn State or Syracuse? Obviously a little bias...

Her reason for not being in love with Penn State was because it was "too big". She had grown up going to very small parochial schools and a small catholic high school. Although she did say that she loved the sports aspect, THON, and alumni involvement.

[AGDee]

Updating: I talked about this in the Random thread but this is the thread that I should have posted in.

We visited Brown last weekend and loved Providence. It was really hot when we were first walking around campus and we both got kind of cranky which was affecting our perception. It was move-in weekend so it was tough to get around campus. We took her picture with the Brown Bear and looked around in the student center.. loved the gaming room in there! We stopped in S. Stephens church because it was open, they were serving lemonade and cookies to welcome students back and well, I love old churches. We talked to the pastor there who told us the history and took lots of pictures. We did some shopping along Thayer Street and then went for a long air conditioned drive around Warwick. We had lunch and went to a small but very New Englandy art festival in East Greenwich. Then we went back to drive around campus and explore downtown Providence a bit. She liked the campus a lot better the second time we went. We parked and walked around by the memorial park at the bottom of the hill along the river where they do Waterfire. We were disappointed that it wasn't a WaterFire weekend. She loved that park. She's into photography so she was taking a lot of pictures of that area. We loved the historical yet artsy feel of that area. She said "If I go here, this will be my spot". Then we went to the mall nearby because we weren't quite ready for dinner but wanted to eat at WaterPlace. She was thrilled with the mall (she's a shopper) and liked that there was one so close.

She feels like she liked the Barnard and Columbia campuses better but did end the visit with "I could see myself here" so Brown is still on the application list.

The biggest irony is that for a long time I was encouraging her to give Barnard a shot. As of this moment, it is her first choice school but she also really enjoyed Columbia and Brown a lot and could see herself at either. The obstacle to Barnard before was that she didn't want to go to an all girls school. The biggest appeal of Barnard now is that there is such a focus on developing independent women.

It is marching season now so our next college visits won't be until mid-October when we head to Chicago. We probably won't get to visit Wash U or any DC schools before early acceptance/decision deadlines but she doesn't think she is going to apply anywhere early decision right now. Early acceptance isn't binding so she is going to apply to the schools who offer that option.

She's taking the SAT again on October 1st and hoping to raise her math score. With 3 of her 5 classes being AP and it being marching season.. plus her babysitting jobs, I don't know how much time she'll be able to put in to preparing. Calc is a lot review right now though so hopefully that will help. Geometry is the subject she really needs to review. It's been 3 years since her Geometry class. She was working on her essays over the summer some.

[XAntoftheSkyX]

Originally Posted by Gusteau

I could kiss you right now!

I agree with everything Sen said here, I think Georgetown and American would be good fits based on your criteria.

-----

George Mason (my alma mater) is a great place. It is ridiculously diverse, and this extends beyond being ethnically diverse. Something you might be interested in is the combination of a strong liberal arts curriculum with a strong research base. Access to DC is available with Fairfax being at the end of the orange line, but the campus is decidedly suburban. Many students take advantage of the location for internships. We have a somewhat significant population of adjunct faculty that are a great internship resource. I have friends who have interned at Meet the Press and The Washington Post, which
might be of interest to you. We've experienced tremendous growth in the past few years that has lead to increasing recognition. I would I imagine it would be a safety for you despite increasing popularity.

Student life is typically a concern for students interested in Mason. Do not believe the antiquated rumor mill. It was considered a commuter school, but this has changed significantly. Mason was classified as a primarily residential campus in February, and by 2012 will be the largest residential campus in Virginia. With over 350 student organizations there is a lot to do. I obviously recommend Greek Life, but it is not the end all or be all of student life.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Plus DChi is there. Just saying.