momof4girls Daughter #2 college search thread
 

I completely enjoyed follow AGDee's college search threads and thought I would start one for my daughter. There is so much wealth of information here and I think I am really going to need a place to talk through this adventure.

Background:
Daughter #2, Cheddar (name changed to protect the innocent), is a sophomore in high school. She is most definitely my brainiac child. Cheddar is currently ranked in the top 5% of her class and has a goal to graduate top 5. When class rankings were posted she looked at me and said "I didn't realize I was that smart". Her father and I have continuous told her how smart she was over the years and in typical daughter fashion it was in one ear and out the other. She took her SAT in 8th grade (without any studying) and scored higher than the national average high school senior for that year. She will be taking her PSAT this fall (for national merit purposes) and I will also be signing her up for her SAT again this fall.

Cheddar is a second year varsity softball player and the varsity mascot this year. She's also involved with key club and crime stoppers club. She will be talking with her German teacher about joining the German club. Her algebra II teacher is talking about starting a math club. If that comes to fruition she will most definitely sign up. If she hasn't missed the deadline, she's decided to become active in student council as well. She has been in all AP classes since she started high school and is taking 5.0 classes for electives.

Personality wise, this child has an amazing poker face. She shows no outward emotion when she truly enjoys things. This frustrates me! I often refer to Cheddar as my absent minded professor. Intellectually she will blow you away, but every day, simple activities she forgets. Examples... Paperwork that is sent home from school will never make it into my hands, ever. Her cheer sponsor texts me to make sure she's at practice; otherwise she will forget to tell me she has practice. She often forgets to zip her zipper. :rolleyes: What is this?! Simple everyday stuff and she will forget, but throw the quadratic equation at her and she'll solve it perfectly and quickly in her head. Mind boggling. :confused: She's friendly, outgoing and funny. Definitely has a great group of friends. Not awkward or shy on any level. She is very blunt. She'll tell you exactly how it is and not sugar coat anything. I'm working with her to tone that down some. ;) Loves, loves, loves to read. She would stay in her room and read continuously if I let her. We have no volunteer work and will be working on that. Getting her to be active and not sit in her room and read can be challenging at times. She’s rather simple in her everyday living. She never asks for anything and it doesn’t matter to her if her clothes are from Abercrombie or from Wal-Mart.

Since she was 7 she has said she wanted to attend OU and study meteorology. Meteorology is still her first choice of majors, which knocks out a long list of schools. She wants to study atmospheric meteorology and not oceanic. That knocks out even more schools. Her dream job would be working with the national weather service.

Her requirements for college:
She wants a good school. Nationally ranked high is how I read that, but she hasn't elaborated. She would prefer a small school, less than 10,000. Cheddar is very disenchanted with the thought of having hundreds of students in her classes. She wants climate change and cold weather. We live in Texas and she hates the heat. She has no issues traveling far away from home for college. She's a People to People alum and loved that experience. As such a travel abroad program is certainly on her radar. She has no interest in joining a sorority. Big sister and I are diligently working to change her mind. :)

So our current list based on all the above:
OU - it is a large university, but it's the best for atmosphic meteorology

Texas Tech - have to throw a state school in the mix, just on principle

Creighton - we will be visiting this school in December

Valparaiso - I don't know anything about this school

Marshall - they offer a BS in Geology with an emphasis in Meteorology. She's intrigued by this degree plan.

Cornell - just know it's a great school

Western Kentucky University - no knowledge

Western Illinois University - no knowledge

Honorable mention that do not offer meteorology:
Duke
Vanderbilt

Scholastically I think all these universities are definitely in reach. I’m worrying more about her extracurricular activities.
I’m open to any and all words of wisdom. I’m thicked skin, so don’t sugar coat anything. She will take physics next year, so there is the possibility after she takes physics she may not be interested in meteorology. She’s also a math whiz! So, if there were a school that absolutely blew her away that didn’t offer meteorology she might consider a major change. She is not interested in engineering, so a major change would more than likely lean towards a math major or perhaps statistical sciences.

Wouldn't get much of a seasonal change, but leaves do change color and fall off the trees, and I was sitting in a intro. to meteorology class(to fulfill a science requirement) way back when and it started snowing, so it can happen. Anyway, here is a link (Meteorology is ranked in the top 10):

http://www.fsu.edu/highlights/FSUhighlights.pdf

Statisticians make a very good living. Has she looked into Actuarial Science? They also make a very good living.

Valpo (as it's known here in the Midwest) and Western Illinois would definitely offer a meteorological ;) change for her. Both are in small towns; Valpo is about an hour from Chicago; Macomb is about 2 1/2 hours (I think). I have friends who were in sororities at both and really enjoyed their experiences. Western Illinois is known here as one of the "directional" schools that kids from the Chicago suburbs go to if they don't get into one of the "easier" Big 10s; it seems like an outlier on her list. I don't think it's all that academically challenging compared to the other ones. But specific programs could be different.

Good luck!

A dark horse university candidate: University of Maryland. It's probably too large, but it is near Goddard. I have a friend who works in atmospheric meteorology there.

It might be too large, but Iowa State has a great meteorology program. Campus is beautiful, we definitely have four seasons here, and Ames is consistently named in top ten lists of places to live. There would only potentially be a few gen ed requirements that could have large lecture formats, most of the major-specific classes will be smaller. Greek life is thriving, but there are a gazillion other opportunities to be active on campus if she chooses not to go through recruitment. Besides, what other school has a mascot named after an atmospheric weather phenomenon? ;)

Penn State
 

Though Penn State has something like 40,000 students, it's cold, highly-ranked, and has a meteorology department. Please consider it. It also has one of the largest dues-paying Alumni Associations.

http://ploneprod.met.psu.edu/academi...aduate-studies

Western Kentucky University is a great school. Mid-size, nice town, don't know anything
about their meteorology program. If she's looking for a major change, as a former high school math wiz (so I know where of you speak), computer science makes a great
choice for someone who likes math but not looking to teach.

One of my sisters works for the national weather service with a meteorology degree from Embry-Riddle Univ. in Prescott, Az. This is a very small private university but has
great programs.

Also, my brother-in-law teaches meteorology at a small school in Texas. I can ask him, if you'd like, what schools he would recommend.

Further Grist for the Mill
 

In case this blog hasn't already hit your daughter's radar. Hah. Radar. ;) The comments are informative as well.

http://freshaj.com/top-5-universitie...in-meteorology

Bam! Number 1 is Penn State! See, I knew PSU had a great program! It also has the cold like your child wants. Trust me. 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.

If we're going there, you may as well throw Wisconsin into the mix! http://www.meteor.wisc.edu/students/index.htm

Another big school, but Madison is consistently voted one of the best cities in the country, not just for college life, but life in general. The atmosphere on gameday is fantastic, and in terms of academics, the students are bright and come from all over. Once you get past the large general education requirements, I would think the upper level classes would be pretty small.

We've visited Penn State a few times (daughter works at a camp near there in summers - she attends Mizzou) and it's lovely there. Has all that school spirit. The college and town blend right into one another, so a car is not a "need". Well respected.

Given these pesronality traits: "absent-minded professor," loves to read, not interested in joining a sorority, wants a smaller school, etc., I would strongly suggest looking at liberal arts colleges. She sounds A LOT like my daughter, and I know a big school would not have worked well for her. I have met all of the professors in my daughter's major, and they look out for her. At a big school, she would have been in a "sink or swim" setting. That's just not a good fit for many students. My daughter did join a sorority, and she loves it. The "right" school is out there.

You might have a hard time finding her major at a smaller school, but it's worth investigating.

You also might investigate ADHD testing. My daughter was just diagnosed this summer with "inattentive" subtype. My daughter's big sister was the one who came across an article about "high IQ college women whose ADHD has gone undiagnosed until college." My daughter read it and it sounded exactly like her. In high school, these girls still do well academically, they're not disruptive in class, and the "absent minded professor" symptoms aren't as problematic when mom, coach, teacher, etc. is still there to oversee and remind.

Valpo is an EXCELLENT school for meteorology. I grew up right down the street--I can't say I would have chosen it (too small, etc.) but I know many students who are happy grads. She might also look into Ball State--not academically up there, but has a good meteorology program. They have a 3 track program--general, professional meteorologist, and broadcast meteorologist.

Western Illinois Grad
 

I graduated from WIU in the 90's, and my stepson is considering going there. I don't know much about the program your daughter is interested in, but they have a good overall science program. It's a beautiful campus and I loved my time there, but Macomb is in the middle of nowhere. We're visiting in 2 weeks, so if it stays on your radar, PM me and we'll talk. Best of luck to your daughter.

As far as volunteer work, if she loves to read, she could volunteer at a nursing home to read to the residents or at an elementary school to read to the kids. It would be able to combine something she loves with something she needs. :-)

Also was going to mention Ball State's meteorology program. It is a medium sized campus, but doesn't seem that large, decent sized Greek system.