The College Search

[Vanquisher]

This will be my official thread to come back to as we check out colleges and try to figure out where to send Ryan and where he wants to go.

Tomorrow, we're heading to Miami for a visit.

So, college moms, guide me with your wisdom.

[peggyfromwastate]

Lol. I could not get my dd to even consider looking at colleges until well into senior year.

I'll be watching this thread with interest!!!

He still wants to do medicine right?

[Vanquisher]

Yes. He still wants to do medicine. Sigh.

Anyway, Miami has a BS/MD honors program. So, anyway, we're looking at it and the college as a whole.

[Pollyanna]

Awesome!!! I LOVE the college search process. There are several websites to check out. My fav is college confidential. They have a good college search as well as great forums (for most schools). We talked with both kiddos about what they were interested in, what region of the country, size of school, scholarship potential, and if they wanted to be close to home. I will tell you that University of Alabama is really generous with their scholarship and we are pretty impressed with them as a whole (downside for DS18 is a lack of film dept).

We don't do visits until the acceptance letters come. It's just too expensive to visit a place you either can't get into or can't afford. Of course, in state schools we do visit simply because it's easy and doesn't require a plane trip or overnight stay.

Let him drive this bus as much as you can. Some kids need a lot of pushing and some will take care of it all on their own. Just feel him out, give gentle reminders and see where he lies on that continuum. Try not to act stressed out about the whole process (even though I know it is so scary), and most importantly, really enjoy this time. While it may be stressful, there is a lot of fun and excitement too

ETA: DS18, applied to Miami. Let me know what you guys think of the campus

[L.Jane]

no experience as a parent, but as a college searcher, I definitely needed time sans parents on campus to be able to experience it for myself and ask questions and see what was put on for the parents by the campus and what the campus was really like. An overnight with a student really helped that. The school I thought I was going to for certain turned out to be nothing like I had thought and the overnight stay showed me I was not right for the school. Maybe I just got a bad experience and had I gone there with out it I would have done OK but I really think had I gone with out knowing the "real" social atmosphere of the school I would not have done well..

My college counselors really helped me narrow down what I wanted in a school and helped me find schools I would have never thought of.

[Sheherezade]

I personally liked the a Open House or Visit Days more than just a regular tour. It seems like you get a more organized program and better quality tour/info on specific programs. I think a few regular visits to area schools will give him an idea what he likes and doesn't in general -- and then he can wait and see where he wants to apply. I think 8 schools is more than enough, in retrospect. My kid did 10 and it was too many to sort through when he needed to decide.

Register on College Prowler with a fake email address because colleges will spam the hell out of you. On Prowler you can pick yes and maybe colleges and make a huge comparison list. They have decent stats and will give him an estimate on his chances for each just based on grade/test scores alone. They have student review articles in every aspect of a college, too so it's good to check out.

College Confidential is also a great info forum for specific questions, but the parents can make you nuuuuuuts. It's total tiger parent worry monster zone, so keep it in mind. Oh, and everyone on there is a humble brag addict.


Angie

[oceanchild]

I'm sure you've already thought about this, but... my alma mater ended their BS/MD program a few years ago. They didn't come right out and say this, but in my experience with the BS/MD students, they were all these ridiculous overachievers, and they all applied to tons of other med schools. I can't think of a one my year who actually went to the med school, even though they were guaranteed admission. All of which is to say, I can't imagine the BS/MD is going to be much of a benefit to a good student like him.

[JDAZ11]

The College Search

I'm sure you've already thought about this, but... my alma mater ended their BS/MD program a few years ago. They didn't come right out and say this, but in my experience with the BS/MD students, they were all these ridiculous overachievers, and they all applied to tons of other med schools. I can't think of a one my year who actually went to the med school, even though they were guaranteed admission. All of which is to say, I can't imagine the BS/MD is going to be much of a benefit to a good student like him.

I was thinking the same thing. I know someone that did that Miami program and then ended up in med school with my DH.

[diggitydot]

Yup, definitely let him drive this bus. It's important that he be the one to pull the trigger on which school to attend. There's a lot to be gained by him taking ownership in the choice.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

I'm sure you've already thought about this, but... my alma mater ended their BS/MD program a few years ago. They didn't come right out and say this, but in my experience with the BS/MD students, they were all these ridiculous overachievers, and they all applied to tons of other med schools. I can't think of a one my year who actually went to the med school, even though they were guaranteed admission. All of which is to say, I can't imagine the BS/MD is going to be much of a benefit to a good student like him.

Or the ones in DH's med school who flunked out because they got in based on their SAT scores but couldn't do college-level work. Out of the 4 people who left DH's med school class for academic reasons, 3 were from the BS/MD program.

[Sheherezade]

Regardless of everyone's reviews of BS/MD programs, if he is interested in going that route, make sure he's double checking application dates. My son was straight up engineering, but I remember from all our visits that several schools with various accelerated advanced degree paired programs had different dates for them. They were mostly gunners applying through, so I'd guess they were all aware of the special schedules!

I'm sure whatever he decides, he will excel. He has a good head on his shoulders.

(With the drive to get employed and acquire as little debt as possible these days, I think there are more of these programs, not less. I think we encountered the option in about 30% of the schools we saw. They also had the b school ones and the l school ones.)


Angie

[diggitydot]

I keep misreading that as BSDM, which COMPLETELY changes the context.

[MrsSz]

I keep misreading that as BSDM, which COMPLETELY changes the context.

Nothing to add here but ditto DD!

[Vanquisher]

Yeah, Albany med had a ton of them. It was fine. They were just done faster.

[corn poffi]

So exciting!! My dude was a BS/MD and I think he's doing pretty okay for himself.