College visit plan - wanting input

College Search & Selection
1

We are from flyover country, but D21 is looking everywhere, probably in the Northeast most likely. This fall I will be in upstate NY for a few days, unrelated to her college search. Was thinking about taking her and visiting Cornell, Rochester and Hamilton.

She doesn’t know if she wants small, big, or in-between, which is the reason for these 3 visits. She does want open curriulum, which is why Hamilton and Rochester make the list. I’m in Ithaca anyway and Cornell is bigger, which is why it makes it. I’m kind of hoping she has 1-2 that she dislikes because it could make the process a bit easier if we could narrow down.

I know all 3 are tough admits. She should have the grades and test scores for them and has good EC’s, so I think she is at least in the hunt. We will definitely have matches and safeties too. Mostly I am wondering if people think the plan on trying to find some contrast with these 3 types is good. The fact that all 3 could be on her final list too is just a bonus at this point.

2

Sure. Why not? Note that many students don’t care whether the school is small, medium, or large. Size might not be one of the differentiating factors for her. The only advice I have is to check the tour schedules NOW and sign up. Cornell’s schedule will be your limiting factor. They are very stingy with their tours and info sessions.

3

Yikes @brantly you are right about Cornell. Seems like Cornell would have several tours for every one Hamilton offers, not the other way around. Thanks for the heads up. If I put this together I will do that part first. Fourtunately there are a couple days that I can make work when they have tours.

4

I think those are three very different schools so great to hit to see what she likes and what she doesn’t.

I agree that Cornell tours, especially in the summer, are few and far between so schedule that one first.

5

Any way you squeeze Ithaca College in there?

6

She’d see an Ivy, a UAA school and a NESCAC. That’s a great sampling for an initial trip.

7

I agree with all the comments above that you will see an ideal variety of schools.

Cornell is so darn annoying with their tours. They just don’t seem to try, and I say this as an alum and parent of a recent grad.

If your D is uncertain about what she plans to study, you may want to attend an info session at more than one college. Best of luck!

8

All three might be tough admits, but what’s more important is that the OP’s daughter is getting to sample three types of schools. Let’s say that she falls in love with Hamilton. Great. That means that you should find other LACs that she could also potentially like, including those that might be easier admits if D needs safeties and matches. Ditto for Cornell. Syracuse, for instance, would be a nice comp that’s easier to get into. In other words, visit the schools; the visits will help shape her ultimate list.

9

I agree three great choices. Depending on timing you could stop at Colgate too, but Syracuse and Ithaca college are great suggestions as well and it doesn’t sound like you have enough time for six visits!!

10

I’m pressed for 3, but this is probably my NY trip. Maybe a few more further east this summer. I’m really hoping she finds something she hates or something she can’t live without. At this point her list is pretty eclectic and huge. I guess the good thing is that she thinks there are 50+ schools that are good fits.

And for her maybe there are. For her brothers it was the opposite. They really focused in on exactly what they wanted. Fortunately it worked out for both of them. One brother is transferring, but that’s a completely different story.

Thanks for your input everyone. Even when I think I have it figured out like now, I really appreciate having a sounding board to confirm I’m not missing something. Because sometimes I am!

11

She may be able to do a tour of a school while you are in your business meeting too, like Ithica. That may give her a different experience too, “solo” touring.

12

I think it is a very good plan, as these three schools are very different although all very good. This is similar to the approach we took in trying to narrow the field. Our S19 loved the Cornell campus and college town when he spent a couple of weeks there for summer sports camps, but he wasn’t at all interested in studying there (or UC Berkeley or UCLA, so the big schools were clearly out). As the Rochester equivalent, we looked at Rice, and that was also “too big.” So we were able to narrow our focus to small LACs pretty early on. We did not visit Hamilton, as he was very put off by the people who represented the school at our local college fair - they weren’t very knowledgeable about the history of the school and they made it clear they regarded it as a lower NESCAC. I read so many good things about the school on here, but it’s easy to form a view based on the few people we meet during these initial encounters.

13

We saw both Cornell and Rochester with our S20 this summer. Hamilton (or any LAC) was not on his radar at all. I found the vibes of the two presentations to be very different, as were the campuses.

Cornell is big…yup. And not only big, but grand. Each building has its own unique style, yet they all knit together well. But you can always tell where you are on campus as the buildings are quite different. And it blends very easily into Ithaca. You can see how students can easily spend time in town and find a lot to do.
Rochester had a very cohesive look to it. It is as if the school was built all at the once, and they planned how all the buildings would connect and flow into each other. Don’t miss the library. Amazing. It has a smaller footprint than Cornell, but didn’t feel small. However, U of R students pretty much stay on campus all the time. There is nowhere for students to easily access hang out spots (school is bound by a river, Mt Hope Cemetery and a large road). Rochester is bigger than Ithaca, but not nearly as edgy or quirky.

The presentation at Cornell was all business. Warning, we saw the engineering presentation at Cornell, but the general one at Rochester. Cornell: ‘This is our curriculum. It doesn’t have much wiggle room. It will be hard. If you are struggling, we will help you. Please apply ED. We like that. Thank you. Goodbye.’

Rochester was the opposite. Was held in a conference room and the admissions rep had a nice casual style and stressed the many options for students, and the flexibility of all options. We did tour the engineering facilities and they were impressive.
My S20 hated the flexible approach of Rochester , and loved the ‘this is it, take it or leave it, but we will still like you’ attitude of Cornell. Go figure.

It took my S20 5 more school visits to start to understand the notion of ‘vibe.’ But once that light switch went off, it really made all of his decisions easier.
Politically active student body? No.
Faith-based? Nope.
Filled with student body presidents? Nah.
Students like to hug a lot? Definitely not.
Serious kids who really just want to finish college and get on with things? THAT’S IT!

So you are smart to get some visits in. Gotta get past the big, medium, small and urban/suburban/rural thing so she can start noticing fit. College marketing is for a reason. They want to attract certain types of students. Try to find schools who will love her for who she is.

14

Ended up having to fly out of Newark and add a day. So the trip expanded slightly.

In the spirit of trying to get as much variety out of this trip as possible, added Bryn Mawr. Personally I think Bryn Mawr or MHC would be great for her based on what I know about them, although I haven’t been to either and don’t personally know any alums. She is a bit leery of a women’s college, but is willing to visit to check it out. I’m guessing this will either be the top or bottom of the list after that visit, and honestly I don’t know which way it will go.

Also, a side note on Cornell. Besides having few tours, The choices Cornell gives for when you want to start attending are Fall 2018-Fall 2020. And this is for an October 2019 visit. They really just don’t seem particularly interested in having prospective students visit. Makes me half wonder if anyone will actually show up to make the presentation. You have to think some people are turned off by how hard it is to visit, and by the fact that they haven’t apparently updated the sign in page for 2 years.

15

@dadof4kids We had a lack luster summer Cornell visit too (and it was two years ago). My H and I are active alum and gave the admission office a lot of feedback. I’m sad to hear they didn’t take it to heart.

16

As an alum, I’m sorry to hear about Cornell dropping the ball. My niece was unimpressed when she visited a few years back. I didn’t push my daughter to visit or apply because I knew Cornell’s setting wasn’t what she wanted. And funny how a lot of young women I know are resisting Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, and Mt Holyoke.

17

I’m a Cornell alum and am disappointed in the way the university handles prospective-student visits. It’s hard enough as it is to travel to Ithaca, but then they make it even more difficult with their tour date stinginess. I don’t know what’s up with that. It was like that five years ago too, when my older child was looking. Cornell needs to take a page from Colgate—which is even more rural and more difficult to reach than Cornell. Colgate offers tours six days a week, three a day on weekdays.

18

My plan with my son is to visit as many colleges as possible. Mostly to give him an idea of what every type of college might feel like: Small, medium, large, hugemongous, urban, suburban, rural, gothic architecture, modern architecture, every range of the diversity spectrum, various levels of average SAT scores.

We visited Richmond and Washington DC this past weekend. We toured VCU, Virginia State, American University, Catholic University of America, Howard, Georgetown, George Washington University, and Randolph-Macon. We missed U of Richmond, but we have a tour planned there soon.

What he’s discovered is that he can’t actually narrow his choices by choosing “types” in a vacuum. Some of the schools he likes are urban, some rural, some with little diversity, some with incredible diversity, some public, some private, some with average SAT scores over 1400, some somewhat lower. So far the only “type” he thinks he wants to avoid is a campus with fewer than 2000 students. Other than that, there are no silver bullets, no automatic reasons for dismissal.

He’s not serious about all of these schools. He’s certain that some were not for him before and after our visit. Some that he thought he wouldn’t like at all are now on his list, like American. And some that he thought he might be okay with, he now LOVES.

We hope to continue this for the next few weeks. We’ll hit the Philly area, Atlanta, NY, Boston. I can’t say if this the right plan for everyone. I don’t know if it’s the right plan for us. But he and I enjoy the process. We get to spend a lot of time together, walking campuses, talking about the present, my past, his future. And he’s getting a great idea that no one college is THE only best option.

Hopefully, it will end well with the perfect offer in Dec/Jan.

19

@dadof4kids, My son didn’t consider Rochester, but Hamilton was one of his top undergraduate choices and he went to Cornell for graduate school. Though Hamilton and Cornell are very different schools, one defining characteristic that they have in common is their insular, rural location. For my son – Eagle Scout, outdoorsy, snow sports enthusiast – this was a BIG plus. For others, it may be a big negative. For that reason, visits to rural colleges are essential. If your daughter reacts positively to Hamilton, she’ll have several other options with similar environments in the northeast and midwest. If, on the other hand, she isn’t attracted to the natural beauty and closeknit community that rural colleges offer, then it’s better to find out early in the list-building process.

20

Keep in mind that Hamilton offers easy access to suburban amenities (within 6 miles).

https://www.hamilton.edu/campuslife/transportation/the-jitney