Girlie AGDee's College Search Thread

[Sciencewoman]

Lol...but I do love it in Michigan.

Have you heard that the RC and the Greek system seem to appeal to mutually exclusive populations? That's what the RC rep. told us at a campus event. My daughter isn't as keen on the RC as she was in the beginning. In my day, it was pretty "hippy-ish" and from what we've heard, that may still be somewhat the case.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

Lol...but I do love it in Michigan.

Have you heard that the RC and the Greek system seem to appeal to mutually exclusive populations? That's what the RC rep. told us at a campus event. My daughter isn't as keen on the RC as she was in the beginning. In my day, it was pretty "hippy-ish" and from what we've heard, that may still be somewhat the case.

Which is precisely where my daughter would fit... lol. I wondered if the living in requirement for two years pretty much excluded them from greek life possibilities.

[psusue]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

Lol...but I do love it in Michigan.

Have you heard that the RC and the Greek system seem to appeal to mutually exclusive populations? That's what the RC rep. told us at a campus event. My daughter isn't as keen on the RC as she was in the beginning. In my day, it was pretty "hippy-ish" and from what we've heard, that may still be somewhat the case.

To be fair though, this is really going to depend on the chapter. A good friend of mine and I both joined Sigma at the same time and shocked pretty much all of our friends because no one expected the two hippie/hipster kids to go Greek. But Sigma welcomed us with open arms and honestly it didn't matter. I feel like there's probably a chapter that she could still fit into at Michigan, if she were interested.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by psusue

To be fair though, this is really going to depend on the chapter. A good friend of mine and I both joined Sigma at the same time and shocked pretty much all of our friends because no one expected the two hippie/hipster kids to go Greek. But Sigma welcomed us with open arms and honestly it didn't matter. I feel like there's probably a chapter that she could still fit into at Michigan, if she were interested.

I definitely think that's true at Michigan, but the Residential College does seem to be sort of a "sorority type" community where they have smaller classes together, live in the same dorm for two years, have foreign language immersion meals together and extra curricular activities set up right in their dorm. It is sort of an artsy/creative living community that you commit to for your first two years. It is designed to be a smaller college experience within the University of Michigan massive community.

I don't think being a hipster is a hindrance to Greek Life at Michigan (I think there are LOTS of hipsters at Michigan) but I think the live in requirements and additional activities might make it hard to do both.

[Sciencewoman]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I definitely think that's true at Michigan, but the Residential College does seem to be sort of a "sorority type" community where they have smaller classes together, live in the same dorm for two years, have foreign language immersion meals together and extra curricular activities set up right in their dorm. It is sort of an artsy/creative living community that you commit to for your first two years. It is designed to be a smaller college experience within the University of Michigan massive community.

I don't think being a hipster is a hindrance to Greek Life at Michigan (I think there are LOTS of hipsters at Michigan) but I think the live in requirements and additional activities might make it hard to do both.

Exactly...my impression is the RC program and students are not much of a gateway to Greek life, because they are their own family/community. The rep. that we spoke with said that some RC students do join sororities and fraternities, but not too many. She did say you could definitely go through recruitment if you want to, and some students do, but most entered the RC because they want that as their home. Most are not even going through recruitment nor are they interested: it's not that they're being rejected by the Greek groups. That's what I mean by mutually exclusive; there just isn't much overlap in interest or students. They're operating in two different spheres.

I do think the 2-year RC live-in requirement would be tricky, though, and I have wondered about that. My daughter definitely wants to go through recruitment if she attends a school with Greek life. The houses at Michigan are big and they all had a live-in requirement when I was there, unless you were living at home, studying abroad, or doing an internship/student teaching elsewhere. We really had to hold to that to keep our house filled. This could be a factor during recruitment for houses that need or require all new members to move in the next year. Maybe they wouldn't want to deal with that with an RC student. Or maybe they make an exception for RC students. This is a good question and definitely one to ask when it comes time to make final decisions!

[HQWest]

Something else to think about the RC that you and your daughter should consider. The university I advise at has a program very much like this and the students all like the idea of it coming in as freshmen. The parents all seem to want their kids to live on campus so they are moving to a system that would require all freshmen to live on campus and give them housing in these types of residential or learning communities if requested. The idea is small college group within larger campus. The problem comes up in the second year or even the second semester of the LC. Change your major or change your mind about your career focus and you can't schedule your classes to keep even one or two still with the other LC students you started with. The kids in the Honors College - that has preferred space in particular dorms and smaller class sizes, seems to do a better job of building the type of communities that are the idealized RC.

[Sciencewoman]

I heard that Wash. U. has been mass-marketing in an attempt to increase applications and lower their admission rate, thus making them look even more elite. I wish I could remember where I read this...it was a "real" article, not a internet posting. The article stated the admissions stats. and how they had dramatically decreased over the past 2 years. Also, U of C went up from 9 to 5 on USNWR rankings, and selectivity is one of the criteria. I think they're doing the same thing. I believe that my daughter received 30+ mailings, postcards, e-mails, etc. from U of C and many from Wash. Univ., too. They are great schools, but after I read that, I did wonder whether they were over-recruiting with their copious promotional materials and invitations to apply. The more Harvard brags about their 6% admissions rate, the more the other top schools have to try to compete. I'm just being cynical, but I'm ready for this whole college admissions ordeal to be done with!

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

I heard that Wash. U. has been mass-marketing in an attempt to increase applications and lower their admission rate, thus making them look even more elite. I wish I could remember where I read this...it was a "real" article, not a internet posting. The article stated the admissions stats. and how they had dramatically decreased over the past 2 years. Also, U of C went up from 9 to 5 on USNWR rankings, and selectivity is one of the criteria. I think they're doing the same thing. I believe that my daughter received 30+ mailings, postcards, e-mails, etc. from U of C and many from Wash. Univ., too. They are great schools, but after I read that, I did wonder whether they were over-recruiting with their copious promotional materials and invitations to apply. The more Harvard brags about their 6% admissions rate, the more the other top schools have to try to compete. I'm just being cynical, but I'm ready for this whole college admissions ordeal to be done with!

Yes, my daughter received more stuff from U of C than anywhere and the marketing was brilliant, likening it to Hogwarts! It did look like Hogwarts when we visited...lol.

[christiangirl]

Tell hypoallergenic my vote is for Hogwarts, wherever that is to her.

[PhoenixAzul]

Someone said Hogwarts?


That's where I went to graduate school...turrets, cloisters, etc. But don't be fooled, even though the university itself was established in 1451, the building is a 19th century Gothic revival mash-up (and it's awesome).

[Sciencewoman]

Originally Posted by PhoenixAzul

Someone said Hogwarts?


That's where I went to graduate school...turrets, cloisters, etc. But don't be fooled, even though the university itself was established in 1451, the building is a 19th century Gothic revival mash-up (and it's awesome).

Is that the University of Glasgow? I was there for a conference in July.

[AGDee]

If she doesn't get more acceptances, it will be the University of Michigan for her. Spending time on college confidential has actually been good for her. With U of M in her backyard her whole life, she didn't really realize what a well regarded school it is to people everywhere.

My cousin who brought her daughter here from Alaska to visit U of M is really glad they made college visits. Her daughter is going into naval and marine engineering and has been accepted to both U of M and Webb Institute (on Long Island). After visiting both, she has officially decided on U of M. She was happy to meet family here that she had never met before and said she would feel comfortable calling us if she needed something or coming here for Thanksgiving without her mom. I'm kind of excited about that

[WCsweet<3]

Originally Posted by AGDee

If she doesn't get more acceptances, it will be the University of Michigan for her. Spending time on college confidential has actually been good for her. With U of M in her backyard her whole life, she didn't really realize what a well regarded school it is to people everywhere.

My cousin who brought her daughter here from Alaska to visit U of M is really glad they made college visits. Her daughter is going into naval and marine engineering and has been accepted to both U of M and Webb Institute (on Long Island). After visiting both, she has officially decided on U of M. She was happy to meet family here that she had never met before and said she would feel comfortable calling us if she needed something or coming here for Thanksgiving without her mom. I'm kind of excited about that

I believe UM has an AGD chapter. So maybe your cousin's daughter will head that way?

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by WCsweet<3

I believe UM has an AGD chapter. So maybe your cousin's daughter will head that way?

They do have a chapter. I don't see her going that direction though. She's already spoken with the rifle team coach and will be on the club rifle team. And she will probably play women's club hockey. She didn't like the other school because she witnessed a lot of partying and said "the dorm was like a fraternity house.. beer bottles everywhere." I just didn't get the sorority vibe from her!

[southbymidwest]

Originally Posted by AGDee

If she doesn't get more acceptances, it will be the University of Michigan for her. Spending time on college confidential has actually been good for her. With U of M in her backyard her whole life, she didn't really realize what a well regarded school it is to people everywhere.

Should hypoallergenic decide to go to UM, UM is extremely well regarded academically in other parts of the country. This coming from a Buckeye living in Fairfax County, near DC.