<p>Probably the kid’s parents are paying, not the kid, so the kid has no idea how much anything costs. Mine certainly doesn’t seem to know.</p>
<p>A tour guide is not the bursar,they are very well trained but there’s a limit to how much they can reasonably be expected to know.</p>
<p>Achilles heels of RPI</p>
<ol>
<li>The gender ratio is somewhat imbalanced (a concern not just for the boys, but for girls worried about a too male dominated campus)</li>
</ol>
<p>“You know a lot of the boys never come out of their rooms, so it feels a lot more balanced”</p>
<ol>
<li> The weather</li>
</ol>
<p>They arranged a beautiful sunny spring day for accepted students day.</p>
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</p>
<p>What kinds of extras are you talking about that you expected the tour guide to know the cost of?</p>
<p>We found that there was a big difference when you totaled up the nickel and dimeing – not just the cost, but the hassle and attitude involved.</p>
<p>It certainly didn’t play a huge role in ultimately deciding where to attend, but made a difference in the feel of campus life. I don’t recall all the specifics, but when considering one Ivy there was a veritable laundry list of costs and fees that were tacked on that included printing and gym use, and a bunch of other things you would likely want to be using as a student. </p>
<p>It was a distinctive contrast to a LAC, known to “run like butter” , that offered unlimited free printing, weekend brunches and late night snacks in the dining facilities, unlimited gym use including free classes and p.e classes that covered a very wide range of fitness options that did not cost extra, many subsidized off-campus trips and events, free personal music lessons, house cleaning in the individual dorm rooms etc. The LAC felt like an all-inclusive resort whose sticker price was nearly identical to nickel and dimeing Ivy.</p>
<p>Again not the deciding factor, but a palpable difference.</p>
<p>Was the LAC you are thinking of Grinnell by any chance?</p>
<p>On one hand, I agree - who likes nickel and diming? OTOH, you might have someone who really is struggling to be able to afford a place and is put off by hearing that so many extras are included (private music lessons for a non-music student? cleaning of dorm rooms?). </p>
<p>My niece attends an LAC that provides free clothes laundering service and while that is a nice perk, I can also see a student / family on the poorer side resenting that their tuition is going to be used to subsidize that.</p>
<p>@PG nope, not Grinnell, West Coast school.
Agreed that all the extra perks and pampering can be viewed as unnecessary costs, but since tuition for the “top” schools are by and large virtually identically, they do contribute something to quality of campus life.</p>
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<p>I liked this. To me it demonstrated a level of safety.</p>
<p>Food was a consideration for my older daughter who is just now finishing up her freshman year. We looked at small LAC in Iowa and visited several times. They raved about the Sunday brunch being the best meal of the week, how kids waited for Sunday and even got up to eat after long nights. We happened to do a visit on a Sunday and they took us to the brunch. Oh boy, it was terrible! Even my dd could not eat much. While it was not a deal breaker, it was a mark in the negative column and ultimately she ended up not attending that school.</p>
<p>Younger DD is now looking at school and we went to a Big 10 school and had lunch during the tour, and it was the very poor. There is even a blog online about how the students are begging the University to change the food service. No fresh veggies, no fresh fruit. Few healthy options. We asked the tour guide about the reputation for poor food and the poor thing just sort of waved it away. We were told that the athletes did not eat in the dining halls, that they had their own food eatery and they had more healthy options and fresh food. I had to laugh when they told us that it was because they were special. That was a negative in my book…but I said nothing about it to mydd.</p>
<p>We have visited colleges where the food was good to even outstanding. When you are eating 2 or 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, poor food gets old very fast. Not a deal breaker, but a negative that can swing the vote overall.</p>
<p>Re Cornell - it wasnt me asking - someone in our tour group. This was a few years ago and it was well known at the time that Cornell had a reputation for nickel and diming their students. I think there may have even been an article written about it?
Google found this which was around the time we visited: [Cornell</a> Assemblies | SA / Cornell Dining - Administrative Fee Discussion browse](<a href=“http://assembly.cornell.edu/SA/20061109A1]Cornell”>http://assembly.cornell.edu/SA/20061109A1)</p>
<p>Speaking of food one of the funniest things I ever heard was at Harvard. It was at the end of the long weekend for accepted students and the first and only event for parents to ask questions of the staff. They had the guy in charge of food service on one of the panels. One Mom, whose son had complained that the Sunday offerings didn’t seem too healthy, asked what healthy options were available for early risers on the weekend. The guy explained how there were all sorts of healthy things, like waffles, bagels, sweetrolls etc. When asked about options during the week he talked about pasta, rice and potatoes. (Or at least that’s the way I remember it!) I remember looking at him (roly poly would be a kind way to describe him) and thought, boy you are not selling this place! I know from reunions that the food - especially in the freshman dining hall - is mediocre at best. (But you get to eat it in a place that looks like Hogwarts!)</p>