momof4girls Daughter #2 college search thread

[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.

[momof4girls]

Originally Posted by AGDee

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

The better question is how does she feel about sorority life? I'm not sure she could even tell me what Gamma Phi Beta's colors are.

Financially we have discussed completely what we can contribute. The short of the story, if she attends a public university she will walk out debt free. If she attends a private university she will have debt when she graduates. This may absolutely play a part in her final decision, especially if she thinks she will continue to grad school. Her father and I will not pay for grad school.

Cheddar's big sister is currently attending the University of Nebraska at Kearney, so we have experience in dealing with travel. Realistically anything further than 12 hrs from home will pose all sorts of logistical challenges (think north of Ames, IA).

We officially have our first college tour set up. October 20th we are OU bound for the day. I really want to hit OU first so she can get a feel for size and the meteorology department. Our list of schools could potentially change dramatically after this visit.

[Pingyang]

Originally Posted by momof4girls

Financially we have discussed completely what we can contribute. The short of the story, if she attends a public university she will walk out debt free. If she attends a private university she will have debt when she graduates. This may absolutely play a part in her final decision, especially if she thinks she will continue to grad school. Her father and I will not pay for grad school.

The bolded is not necessarily true. It might be true if she's attending an in-state public school or somewhere where she is eligible for in-state tuition, but lots of public institutions now see out-of-state students as giant moneymakers. Top private schools with strong endowments and a desire to attract the strongest students can sometimes offer better financial aid packages, especially compared to states where in-state residency is hard to establish. If she becomes a National Merit Semifinalist or better, that might open some doors for scholarships to out-of-state schools, but be wary of front-loaded financial aid and scholarships that require extremely high GPAs to keep. (Even the best students sometimes struggle with the adjustment to college.)

Net price is not sticker price, though both are much too high these days. Don't rule out private institutions early because of high sticker price--every school will have different financial aid opportunities, and it's worthwhile to research them.

[Sciencewoman]

Originally Posted by AGDee

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

Hey, them's fightin' words!

Actually, the new AOII house next to our new house was decorated by an Alpha Gamma Delta who travels around the country as a sorority decorator (fun job!). She also decorated our new lodge at University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and she told me she was so excited to use pink and brown and mode there!

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

Hey, them's fightin' words!

Actually, the new AOII house next to our new house was decorated by an Alpha Gamma Delta who travels around the country as a sorority decorator (fun job!). She also decorated our new lodge at University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and she told me she was so excited to use pink and brown and mode there!

I only asked because she said she wasn't crazy about Brown and Gold for school colors! So, you know, Gamma Phi Beta... Brown and Mode?

Keep in mind from my son's thread- he wanted to go to a very small private school and he's loving every minute (so far) of his HUGE public university (although he's in a residential living/learning community that is small).

[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 ).

[IUHoosiergirl88]

As a mom, make sure you're okay with losing the weather gamble at least once in her years if she goes to a cold, snowy school. Never fails that at least once you're going to be racing to beat snow/ice/blizzard/whatever and changing flights on the fly--and that can be pricey

[wildcatpride]

I'm a UNC-Asheville graduate and I know they've got a good meteorology school (though I have a friend who's an OU grad and a meteorology major, and I know OU is about as good as it gets for that major). UNCA fits a lot of her requirements - small campus (3 to 4,000 students), all four seasons, has travel abroad programs. If she changes her mind about Greek Life, UNCA does have two sororities but it's not a huge part of campus life. The school may not have the big-name factor but it's a fantastic university!

[DubaiSis]

Well, it's no UC Boulder. I just had great friends there and was kind of a 5th Beatle, as it were with my chapter there and the way some of the fraternity guys behaved. The Greek system was much less structured (no house moms, as a for instance which I thought was just bizarre and wondered how they didn't burn the house down sometimes - also not helping the argument ) so it was almost like hanging out in/around apartments than sorority/fraternity houses. I don't know in the interim if it has become more structured/rulesy.

Also, on closer read, they only offer a minor in meterology, so probably not a match anyway.

[PhoenixAzul]

As a former staffer at OU, I know that it would not have been my *personal* choice to study at as an undergraduate. Don't get me wrong, there's a ton to do in terms of clubs and etc, there's infinite resources, there's amazing facilities, and if you like the weather, it's pretty much second only to football as an interest.

But for me it was too big, too football focused (I know, coming from someone from Pittsburgh, I should be used to this), and too bleeding hot. How people learned to adapt to that kind of heat, I have no idea. I was a scared wee freshman who knew nothing about college or Greek life, and I think that if I personally had gone to OU as a freshman, I'd have sunk. The Greek life there was so different from what I knew of Greek life from my tiny Ohio school that we might have been talking about completely different planets. Not even in the same galaxy.

The same was true for me for Penn State, which I seriously considered due to reputation and clout in the area. Again, living in PA, Penn State is the big blue and white elephant in the room. If you walk in to any room and ask for Penn State alum to raise their hands, I can almost guarantee you that there will be at least two. It's a huge school, and has an equally huge and rabid alum base which is pretty darn helpful. I will say this, PSU is in pretty much the middle of nowhere. Like OU, if you like the countryside, you can get it if you want it. If you want an urban campus, this is not it.

Like OU, Penn State has almost endless resources. Crazy resources. If you want to study it, club it, play it, or be it, you can find it there. But it might take you a while to find it. Again, swimming in a pool of 50,000 students was, for 18 year old me, no bueno. The fact that it was 2 hours away and 2 hours away in the middle of nowhere was not a huge selling point for me. I participated in a bunch of summer clubs and camps there, and those were fun and I enjoyed the campus and the student assistants were great..but I didn't want to spend 4 years there because of the size.

Now, all my pessimism aside: they're both great schools. For the right student. But you can say that about any school. It's worth a visit any old how. You can visit my former employer and their beautiful new building when you're at OU. If you come for a visit to PSU, make sure you get some Creamery ice cream (SO GOOD).

[LAblondeGPhi]

On a related note, also remind yourself just how many colleges the average student is applying to nowadays - 10, 15, 20, 25 schools. The common application has made it much easier for students to apply to lots of schools, and that helps drive down those record-low acceptance rates we hear about every single year.

[rockwallgreek]

Oh my. As the mom of four girls, I guess I was just clueless. We were a military family with our home of record in Texas. My oldest daughter wanted to be a nurse. Quick scan and found the state schools in Texas that offered nursing. Second scan showed which state school in Texas had a chapter of Alpha Gam. One chapter was an Annulet chapter. My oldest went there. Her sisters followed. All are Alpha Gams, although one gave me a heart attack during recruitment... All 4 have wonderful jobs and wonderful husbands and families, only the nursing major actually uses her degree. All four are forever grateful for their alma mater and the fact that they graduated without loans. It seemed to work.

[momof4girls]

Originally Posted by rockwallgreek

Oh my. As the mom of four girls, I guess I was just clueless. We were a military family with our home of record in Texas. My oldest daughter wanted to be a nurse. Quick scan and found the state schools in Texas that offered nursing. Second scan showed which state school in Texas had a chapter of Alpha Gam. One chapter was an Annulet chapter. My oldest went there. Her sisters followed. All are Alpha Gams, although one gave me a heart attack during recruitment... All 4 have wonderful jobs and wonderful husbands and families, only the nursing major actually uses her degree. All four are forever grateful for their alma mater and the fact that they graduated without loans. It seemed to work.

Your approach with your daughters would be my approach with daughters #1, 3 and 4. Cheddar is just scholastically on a different level and I can't let that fact go un-noticed.

Is the rockwall in your name in reference to rockwall, tx by chance?

[rockwallgreek]

Originally Posted by momof4girls

Your approach with your daughters would be my approach with daughters #1, 3 and 4. Cheddar is just scholastically on a different level and I can't let that fact go un-noticed.

Is the rockwall in your name in reference to rockwall, tx by chance?

Yes! I've lived in Rockwall for going on 10 years, a newcomer, I know!!

[KDMafia]

Valpo Graduate here.

I graduated from Valpo and the Meteorology program is top-notch! They have a great building that was built in the last 10 years, have excellent opportunities for Storm Chasing (both summer trips and those during the year). The professors in the program are well loved and the class always seems to have a great bond. It's smaller and liberal arts so that may suit her needs and although Greek Life is growing it's not the only way to connect on the campus. Many of the graduates go on to graduate work although there is also a cohort that are going to be on-air meteorologists (Probably one of our most famous Alumni is Ginger Zee, from Good Morning America).

The weather is definitely different than Texas but there's a lot of it and getting to track snow storms and with our Lake Effect Area it could be fun for your daughter!

Let me know if you have anymore questions? There are actually a decent amount of Valpo Alumni in Texas so have her reach out to admissions now!