<p>Occidental - beautiful green landscape and even more beautiful trees, but once you get off campus it’s just ugly L.A.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd - really wanted to like it, but it just felt odd.</p>
<p>To be fair, summer tours do not give a true picture, just an overview.</p>
<p>nyc: Is that the Queens, Charlotte Anne Shirley attended?</p>
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<p>Definitely not. The info session does not give the idea that there is a difficult workload, and in fact my S was turned off because the school seemed far too bland and unintellectual, especially compared to the U of C, which he had visited for the first time the day before.</p>
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<p>I don’t know either, but I have noticed that it is the one info session that a number of us have mentioned was a distinct turn-off. If anyone here has Northwestern connections, they might want to mention it to them! I think that Vicariousdad is right that covering the basic facts about all of the schools within the U takes too much time and leaves little for color or questions. </p>
<p>I’d say ditch the PowerPoint and get someone with some personality. (I was also very turned off by the fact that the ad officer bragged that recent grad Maisie Gummer was in a movie that had just come out, but failed to mention that one of the stars of the movie was her MOTHER, Meryl Streep. It just seemed dishonest to me. S didn’t notice. He was too busy being bored stiff.)</p>
<p>Another bizarro thing about my kid’s reactions to schools: he hated the whole Princeton eating club thing, he reacted very negatively to simply SEEING a couple of frat houses at Cornell, but he ended up at Darmouth, which numerous other kids have rejected for having frats! 
I think that he discerned during Dimensions weekend that the frat scene at D is a bit different: more inclusive than at most other places. Or maybe not! It’s all a mystery to me. :D</p>
<p>Funny about the Northwestern comments. It reminded me that last year I went with my son to an info session for Northwestern at a local hotel. It was incredibly boring and dry and the admissions officer spoke in a very quiet voice with no microphone. Outside the room was a lot of noise and most of the attendees had trouble hearing what was being said. At least 3 times an audience member requested that the admissions officer speak a little louder, to no avail. My son had a lot of homework that evening and the info session was worthless, so we slipped out. Truthfully, I have attended over 40+ info sessions with my kids over the years and this one was truly the least interesting. It’s too bad, because it definitely impacted my son’s decision to ditch Northwestern – he didn’t even want to visit.</p>
<p>I’m a kid. Here’s my idiosyncratic reasons for liking/disliking colleges after visiting, in roughly chronological order of visit:</p>
<p>Bradley University- initially on, then came off after visit because I realized that it wasn’t academically strong and the neighborhood was a dump.
Occidental- drove around there, but no formal visit. Didn’t get a strong feeling either way, but didn’t like the surrounding area. Off my list.
Beloit- after visiting, on. Later taken off for rumors of lots of drinking, then put back on when a student there informed me that drinking really isn’t a huge problem there.
Cornell College- after visiting, off because it was too rural and the classes bored me. Came back on after I realized that I like rural colleges after all, but will probably come off again, due to the boring class I experienced there.
Grinnell- Uncertain before visiting. after visiting, on. Met a student there who loved it, the town seemed okay, and I just got a good feeling from it. Still on.
Carleton- Expected it to be a top choice before visiting. It was- the town was great, the campus was great, and it just seemed good. Still top choice.
Macalester- On before visiting, off after visiting. The tour guide focused on the gym too much and emphasized that most students there are athletic, which turned off unathletic me. It seemed too urban (my first hint that I don’t really want to go urban), and it felt wrong. It was hot out and the tour guide wouldn’t let us stop and sit much, which didn’t help.
Brandeis- Uncertain before visit, on after visit. The campus seemed nice, and the train station made up for the lack of excitement in Waltham.
Brown- First choice before visit, off after visit. While sitting in an info session held in an auditorium with most seats filled, I decided that the school was too big and too full of itself.
Wesleyan- Uncertain before visit. First choice after visit, but couldn’t really pinpoint why. Later taken off my list.
Vassar- On before visit, off after visit. Great tour guide, but most of his entertaining stories were later discovered to be urban legends, which annoyed me. The parlors in the dorms turned me off, as I felt they were too Victorian-era. It was raining, which may have contributed.
SUNY New Paltz- Uncertain before visit, drove around without making a formal visit. School seemed too large, too boring, and too dreary based off the architecture. Off my list.
Green Mountain- Uncertain before visit, on after visit. The town was tiny, but I thought it was cute and quaint. The tour guide and admissions counselors were enthusiastic and did everything they could to encourage our interest in the school. The farm on campus caught my attention (I love animals), as did the new, fancy honors dorm. They showed us a lot more of the school (dorms, dining halls, etc.) than other schools, and were proud to note the many things done to help the environment around campus. Beautiful area. Seemed great.</p>
<p>Northwestern appears to have a tradition of poor presentation. When I was in high school so many years ago, my dad and I went to a info session in our city. (I wouldn’t have gotten in had I applied, but I don’t think either of us realized that then.) They showed a video in which one professor said, “I don’t give A’s, because an A represents perfection, and I have yet to have a perfect student.” What kind of college would use that to promote itself? I remember myself and the other students at the session saying, “Well, I’m not applying there.”</p>
<p>Crossed Colby off after visiting…many things about it turned me off, but in particular the fact that pretty much everyone has a car because theres nothing within walking distance, really isolated area, the town didn’t look that nice, and the snowfall is insane.
The tunnel system between buildings was pretty cool, though</p>
<p>Brown was also off, I didn’t like how the campus intertwined with the neighborhood…to urban</p>
<p>Williams won me over, it was an easy favorite, along with Middlebury</p>
<p>I did an on campus information session at Northwestern and loved it, loved the campus too, though the tour guide was a little…valley girl- ish?</p>
<p>Son disliked:
NC State (“if I wanted a state college just like this, I might as well stay in my own state!”)
Swarthmore (first college we visited as HS soph because it close by – didn’t like the small LAC thing)
WPI (tired at visit and admin receptionist was dismissive and borderline rude … no one said hi in the admiss dept as we were kept waiting and barred from entering an info session because we were 10 mins late (after driving frantically several hrs from another college))</p>
<p>Marist - Too preppy, jocky, bad tour guide</p>
<p>UCF - liked a lot, great facilites, lots of construction going on, very big in size and population</p>
<p>University of Miami - loved it, beautiful campus like a resort</p>
<p>SUNY New Paltz - liked it, artsy and funky, fun town, everything walking distance</p>
<p>S went to University of Miami for 2 1/2 years then transferred as a Junior to SUNY New Paltz. He liked UM but found a lot of the people self centered and shallow and wanted a different experience. He is enjoying New Paltz.</p>
<p>I was shocked to find myself reviled and horrified on my visit to Brown. It was at the tippy top of my list but about 15 minutes into the info session, I could tell it wasn’t the place for me. I threw it off the list immediately.</p>
<p>I’m not saying my impression of Brown is necessarily true about what Brown is really like, but this was the impression I got: The admissions office people were rude and cold. While most of the colleges we visited were very hospitable and welcoming, Brown seemed to be indifferent and even annoyed at us being there. No brochures or course catalogue in the admissions office. Instead of giving us directions to how to get to auditorium where the information session was located, they grunted and told us to “just follow those other people,” who had left about a minute earlier heading for the same place.</p>
<p>The information session was horrible. There was more than a little arrogance on the part of the admissions people, and the questions from parents and potential students included things such as, “What are you average SAT scores?” “Is it really as hard to get in here as people say?” and “Hypothetically speaking, if I as to apply here ED and then back out, what would you do to me? YOU WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO ANYTHING, WOULD YOU?!” No joke.</p>
<p>Though there was over 100 people in the info session, they decided it would be OK to take us on one massive tour. I had schools that broke up groups of twenty into three different tours, so this was ridiculous! We ducked out and never went on the tour. I had already made up my mind that Brown was REALLY not for me.</p>
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<p>On the other hand, the very next day, I was totally impressed by Wesleyan. At Wes, there was a mix-up with my interview. Apparently, although I had signed up for one and gotten a confirmation, they had somehow forgotten to put me into the schedule. They were really nice about it though and went out of their way to get me a new interviewer. They usually use student interviewers, but they let me interview with a regular admissions officer, and they figured it all out really quickly, apologized profusely for the mix-up, and it was no big deal. I was very impressed by how they handled the situation, and I had loved the tour and information session for the school, plus my interview was so great and informative about the school. I left there skipping and giddy, contemplating ED and spending the next four years in Middletown, CT.</p>
<p>This goes to show how incredibly important those ‘first impression’ people are (secretaries, receptionists, etc.) in the admissions offices. I’m not sure why colleges – who are often asking families to pay $120k over 4 years – would not realize this and provide stellar training/high salaries/thoughtful employee selection. The attitude of these people has been a make/break factor for lots of students!</p>
<p>PS Though I had to give points to VA Tech (high percentage male applicant pool) which had beautiful, friendly young ladies staffing the ‘first impression desk’ and often serving as tour guides. LOL.</p>
<p>“No brochures or course catalogue in the admissions office.”</p>
<p>We were surprised by this as well at Brown. They offered us a map; that was it.</p>
<p>4gsmom: This sounds impossible. As a recent hopkins grad, I can tell you that the quads are always hopping. The “beach,” especially, is packed with students on a beautiful day. It is true that Hopkins is competitive, but absolutely not cut-throat. If your daughter is able to get in, then she can handle the work, and have fun. I surely did!</p>
<p>I would agree with the horrible reception we had at admissions at Brown. It was definitely rude… I didn’t really know where I was going and parked in this very limited parking spots just outside the door. When we went in and asked where a longer term parking was the receptionist didn’t look up while handing me this map of campus. I was like… umm…er. But as I remembered my own college visits and life, it’s not often you need ever go back to that office after you get in. Still… while I liked the school, my son absolutely did not.</p>
<p>I crossed off Columbia after visiting. I also didn’t see Brown before I applied ED and only visited after I was deferred. Kind of a letdown, I’m not that bothered anymore by the fact that I was eventually rejected. Rutgers I visited and after I stepped foot on the campus I knew it was not the place for me, but still applied since it was my state school.</p>
<p>Oceansaway: I agree with your assessment. Geez…my parents would have been appalled if I had such a snarky, ungrateful attitude about these wonderful schools. I am beginning to wonder, though, who is more spoiled…or has higher expectations…the students or the parents? Awful!<br>
One more thing. If the listed are the true reasons that the kids do not like the schools, and it is not really a defense mechanism for feeling as though they would not be accepted, it is probably best for them not to apply. I am sure that the feelings coming back at these students would be more than mutual.</p>
<p>Oh, and I’d forgot about Amherst. I visited and it felt so isolated. I would probably have gone crazy if I spent four years there. Everything was all foggy, snowy, and cold, and the campus was so tiny.</p>
<p>D crossed off Gettysburg, her first choice before visiting campus. Too “superficial” and “fratty” and she hated their food. The plus to the visit was she got to visit Franklin & Marshall, a school she hated on paper but loved during her visit and is on her short list.</p>
<p>University of Richmond: Same “superficial” comment as above. However, they had great food.</p>
<p>Denison: We visited here a few years back with my son and found that the only problem was their Admissions staff, primarily the way they treat you when you walk in for a tour or visit. It feels like being at the DMV. My D wanted to visit and it was a disaster. The same rude woman was behind the desk and she managed to offend every parent there. During the entire tour, we did not see one person, student, professor, faculty, staff, etc. smile or acknowledge the tour. We left feeling we had inconvenienced them. </p>
<p>Overall D liked more colleges than she disliked and it proved to us that nothing beats a campus visit.</p>
<p>Do note, however, that the less than impressive front offices/presentations of Northwestern/Brown presented here seems to not have any negative effect on the number of applications. As long as the applicant numbers are increasing, who’s to say anything is broken? </p>
<p>I’d be curious to know how many visitors these schools get on an annual basis. I suspect the vast majority never visit prior to application.</p>
<p>I didn’t really visit any of my schools before I applied. I visited Northwestern only after I got in (SO COLD). My experience with their presentations wasn’t negative, maybe they treat accepted students better? I applied to some far away places without realizing the amount of travel it entailed.</p>