<p>This was his first overnight and he did like the current student, who was his host. His problem was primarily with the other accepted students and a few of the current students. I don't think "best behavior" could be interpretted as being nerdy, but I guess you can't rule it out. </p>
<p>Did anyone read the post about "love at first sight" in regards to college campuses? I confess that I was the original poster. My son has seen at least a dozen campuses and had a strong positive reaction to only one of them. I was surprised by the number of people who had had similar experiences. It seemed totally illogical to me. Maybe this could be the real problem here and he's just not articulating it.</p>
<p>So, maybe it IS he is looking for a reason not to go to that school! I have to admit, I fell in love with our flagship school the first time I went there. On top of it being generally awesome, it has one of the best Engineering programs available. I applied to many schools, some smaller, some more prestigious, one Catholic. I needed major scholarships to go to some of them. I didn't want to tell my parents, but to be honest, I was almost relieved when I didn't get the big $$ because in my heart, I know I belong at the flagship.</p>
<p>toledo, I think that could be it. If he fell in love, at first sight, then any other college visit starts behind the 8 ball, even if he doesn't verbalize it. That's gonna be a tough thing to get past. Is the "in love with" school the one that's second best for his major?</p>
<p>When I was deciding on colleges, I was invited to a prospective student weekend where just 12 of us were flown in for a weekend (for a scholarship interview). I ended up enrolling, as did a few of the others. What made a big impression on me is the way that these people ended up being pretty different people than I thought they were based on the 48 hours we were guests on campus. First impressions are not always reliable.</p>
<p>When I worked in admissions, I definitely saw a tendency for students to latch on to specific (and seemingly shallow) flaws to justify scratching a college off their list. Either because another one was their true favorite, or because they were desperate to have a less complicated final decision to make. I see it here, too--I'm sure we all have.</p>
<p>hoedown, when you got to know these kids, did you opinion go in the positive or negative direction? I usually have more positive first impressions. Negative first impressions are very hard to shake. I don't think he's being "shallow", but I was hoping his impression may be skewed because the group wasn't typical.</p>
<p>bandnerd and 2331 may be right about the other school (without the major) having too great of an influence.</p>