Crossed off list after visiting:
USC–The campus itself was beautiful, however when we looked outside the “gates” of the campus to where students lived off campus, that was a hard no. It looked very unsafe and my daughter was not at all interested in living in that area. It was pretty much locked out after we accidentally met a track & field coach who gave us a full tour of the facilities (my daughter runs track). He was amazing and the facilities were nice. When he asked why my daughter would not just go to University of Illinois instead of USC for engineering because we live in Illinois and UofI is a better engineering program, we were taken aback. It made us think…yes, why? no reason besides weather. Took it off the list that night.
RPI–Rensselaer was very eye opening to the fact that she did not want a technical school. The tour showed us that not having a variety of majors and interests in students was not the right fit for a student who loves diversity in majors. What if she decided to switch majors from engineering to writing? we wanted a top school for both. She also typically hangs out with kids who have vastly different interests. While a great program, not a fit.
School that moved up/down:
Northeastern–It was not even on her list to visit, but we were going to see BU and it was right there. No knowing much about this school, she really enjoyed the campus. It was surprising that it could have such a college campus feel in the middle of the city. The draw was really the fact that there was so much to do right there and having a train stop in the campus made it very accessible. BU on the other hand was much more open to the city and that made a negative impact on her, which got it crossed off the list.
Stanford–This was the dream ever since 6th grade. Yes, my daughter was thinking about college then! She was obsessed with Stanford for years. When we visited, we thought the campus was clearly the most beautiful campus we had ever been too. Absolutely amazing. However, the living areas and the general feel around the campus really turned her off. It felt so much more graduate studies focused. She wants the experience of having a college town to go out to and having parties to enjoy, etc. It felt like Stanford really wanted to have everything right on campus and not have you ever leave. It stayed high on the list at number 2.
Cornell–Not knowing much about this college until we visited, we had no expectations. Visited and every single thing just clicked. The kids had the same vibe as my daughter. She liked the mix of buildings. The program was amazing. She saw herself living here. This was the fit we were looking for. It easily moved up to first choice. She applied ED and I’m happy to say, she will be attending Cornell in the fall!!!