If you could send your daughter anywhere...

[madoug]

My daughter is a HS Jr and we are currently considering her college choices. Greek life is a must have for her based on her own choice. Also she strongly prefers campus' with Sorority housing and is interested in Graphic or Interior Design. This has limited our options and so far I find that my alma mater is the best match, but I'm not pleased with that. It is too close, my chapter is gone and was not selected in a recent expansion, and it is too urban. However, my oldest son is there and I am thrilled with that.
So does anyone know of a medium sized school, with good Graphic Design program and a strong greek life that is east of the Mississippi?

[DGTess]

Originally Posted by madoug

My daughter is a HS Jr and we are currently considering her college choices. Greek life is a must have for her based on her own choice. Also she strongly prefers campus' with Sorority housing and is interested in Graphic or Interior Design. This has limited our options and so far I find that my alma mater is the best match, but I'm not pleased with that. It is too close, my chapter is gone and was not selected in a recent expansion, and it is too urban. However, my oldest son is there and I am thrilled with that.
So does anyone know of a medium sized school, with good Graphic Design program and a strong greek life that is east of the Mississippi?

Carnegie Mellon. Greek life is not a must there, but is strong. Graphic design program is very challenging.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by DGTess

Carnegie Mellon. Greek life is not a must there, but is strong. Graphic design program is very challenging.

It might be too urban (depending on what madoug means by that).

madoug - if your alma mater is the best match, please don't shoot it down just because YOUR chapter is gone. Your daughter can still participate in Greek life there, and it may be less stressful for the both of you to not worry if her legacy chapter is truly the best fit.

[ISUKappa]

Originally Posted by madoug

My daughter is a HS Jr and we are currently considering her college choices. Greek life is a must have for her based on her own choice. Also she strongly prefers campus' with Sorority housing and is interested in Graphic or Interior Design. This has limited our options and so far I find that my alma mater is the best match, but I'm not pleased with that. It is too close, my chapter is gone and was not selected in a recent expansion, and it is too urban. However, my oldest son is there and I am thrilled with that.
So does anyone know of a medium sized school, with good Graphic Design program and a strong greek life that is east of the Mississippi?

I was going to recommend Iowa State, but it's *just* west of the Mississippi. Otherwise, it has all the other requirements: student body is around 25,000 (but feels smaller), the campus is beautiful, it has a great Greek community with lovely chapter houses, and its Graphic Design program is very well regarded.

As far as my own kids go, I'm already working on guiding them towards Iowa State. My son seems very interested in engineering (like my husband) and loves going to visit campus. I would also be okay with them going to my husband's alma mater (Rose Hulman Institute of Technology) even though I'd probably have to start selling off major organs in order to afford the tuition by the time he gets to college.

[barbino]

Colleges -- Miami of Ohio or Ohio University, Monmouth (IL) (Pi Phi was founded there), Marquette (WI)

Universities -- UTexas- Austin, UWisconsin-Madison.

If I had a daughter, those would be my choices. But if you actually have a child, you have to consider what is best for your child and I feel that every child needs to make his or her own decision on where to go to college. My niece wants to go to Duke (she is obviously influenced by my one brother) and my nephew's dream school is Notre Dame. Another consideration of course, is economics, so they may end up going to a state college. Gulp- even Illinois.

[Smile_Awhile]

Madoug- I will say Arkansas has an excellent interior design program (unsure of graphic design), but it's west of the Mississippi.

Back on topic-

Since I'm not sure I would have joined a sorority at a very Greek university, I probably wouldn't choose to send my future daughter to a very old, Southern school. I'd probably head in a more liberal arts direction- maybe some place with old, established locals like Otterbein or Cornell College. That would be neat to see their culture.

[PhoenixAzul]

Originally Posted by Smile_Awhile

Since I'm not sure I would have joined a sorority at a very Greek university, I probably wouldn't choose to send my future daughter to a very old, Southern school. I'd probably head in a more liberal arts direction- maybe some place with old, established locals like Otterbein or Cornell College. That would be neat to see their culture.

@ the bolded!

If my (never going to happen) children went to my alma mater (Otterbein!) I would love it if she went Greek. I'd be absolutely over the moon. Plus, I hope it would still have a community feel. That's what made me go there. I went on this massive college tour with my mom where we drove to Ball State in Indiana and I had a terrible visit. We stopped at Otterbein on the way home and it immediately felt like putting on a pair of slippers, like I had always BEEN there. And it still feels like that today. I can't wait to visit next weekend and to spend time with my Tau Delta sisters . Yes, I'm getting a little misty!

Where my brother went, Bethany (West Virginia), I'd be happy because it is a really small school that gives individual attention, and it is a really safe environment, and that kid would be a third gen Bethany kid (grandfather went there, and my bro and sister-in-law). While there are only three sororities (Alpha Xi, ZTA and Phi Mu), there's a very strong Greek Tradition amongst the women AND the men. Plus my brother and SIL were both Greek.

Other schools I'd like them to consider: Smith (if they were women), Carnegie Mellon, Kenyon, Dennison, etc. But I'd hope that wherever they decide to go, they're HAPPY.

Also, I'd encourage them to look to Britain as well. I'm a University of Glasgow alum, and the curriculum is extremely rigorous, there's lots of tradition, and a very international student body. No Greek life, but lots of activities.

[PetitChou]

madoug- have you considered Drexel University? I personally have several friends who have graduated from their Graphic Design program, and Greek Life there has a significant presence. There is independent Greek Housing, as well as lots of school-sponsored student housing and individual apartment options, so no matter what kind of living situation she ends up wanting, there's sort of something for everyone. I'm actually a graduate student at Drexel right now living right near the main school buildings so I've gotten to observe the Greeks in action- they're very spirited and proud of their identity- lots of letters everywhere everyday (on t-shirts, bags, bumper stickers, etc.)! It is in an urban setting, but University City is somewhat separate from the heart of Philadelphia; with University of Pennsylvania right next door, it's a real hybrid of city living and tight-knit college community. Just thought I'd chime in

[psusue]

My (imaginary) children must all go to Penn State. Must. All. Go. !!!

Just kidding. I would want my kids to go wherever they felt the most comfortable and had the best program for their major. I am a little too far away from parenthood to know whether I'd want them close or far from me, it would also depend greatly on their personalities/interests/how freaking expensive college will be by the time it's time for me to send my own kids off there. But I would love it if they went Greek at Penn State. They would be 4th generation Penn Staters (my grandmother went there) but it's up to them. To me, they should go where they'll grow best, and if that's at State, then excellent, if not, then I wouldn't want them there.

[aggieAXO]

no plans for kids but playing the what if game-they must go to A&M must keep the cult alive

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by psusue

My (imaginary) children must all go to Penn State. Must. All. Go. !!!

Loved this - it's THE reason I didn't go to PSU!

I would want my daughter to go to a school that she would enjoy, really learn a career, and have a shot at greek life. My first choice would be William and Mary (since I blew off my own scholarship there), but it would depend on her interests.

[alum]

I never thought my alma mater would be a good fit for my daughter. She wanted to study some sort of gov't related field and there are many schools with better programs than mine or her dad's. Almost everyone in our family studied math/science/engineering and went to schools in the northeast that were strong in those disciplines.

D went to a nationally-ranked southern LAC and majored in Politics. She did 2 different intercollegiate sports all 4 years, became a Pi Phi, lived in the dorms and the house, and in short, enjoyed her 4 years there Her school is rampant with legacies. Lots of current students there have relatives who are alums. It will be interesting to see if her kiddos (none yet!) will end up following in their mother's footsteps. My brother and father graduated from MIT but I think my brother's choice was based on the reputation of the school rather than the lure of going where Dad went.

Based on her intended major at the time, I think either Georgetown or George Washington would have been a good fit as well. If GW had been higher in the rankings or if G'town had had Greek Life, they would have been serious contenders for her.

The younger one is entering his last years of high school. He wants to major in cs and business but doesn't want to go up North to college. Ironically, he has become enamored with a tiny LAC as well despite their emphasis on liberal arts majors vs tech ones.

[psusue]

Originally Posted by honeychile

Loved this - it's THE reason I didn't go to PSU!

My mom was sort of like this when I was in HS. She backed off a little toward junior year though, which made me start to think about it more seriously, and then I applied and got in and the rest in history. Honestly it was just a great fit for me-- I wanted to big school experience (coming from a smaller high school) with lots of tradition and a lot of majors in case I changed my mind (which I did). But in all honestly any Big 10 type school would have given me this experience, I just need blue and white in my life.

[aephi alum]

I'd love to see my hypothetical daughter go to my alma mater. But since that option was expressly prohibited, and she may not want to study science/engineering anyway, I'd be happy seeing her at any Ivy+ school except Harvard - even if the school had no AEPhi chapter or no greek life at all. What would matter is her happiness.

[AGDee]

Any of her dream schools are fine with me.