<p>Interesting/fun thread. I have found that my impressions of colleges match the students and/or families I know that currently attend or recently attended the colleges. I am learning as much about the posters as I am about the schools. I share some opinions and suspect I would like those people in person. If it were only about the academics many schools would be good but the seemingly trivial things DO matter- the little things that add up to everyday life. Consider all of the things that helped you decide which home to choose, same applies to colleges. There obviously would be no need for variety/diversity if âone size fits allâ. Keep the comments coming.</p>
<p>Finally read thru most of this thread, and it has to be the funniest (most honest, too?) Iâve read in a while! Hilarious. Plus, comforting, in that itâs not just your child w/the (seemingly) irrational/yet visceral responses to schools.</p>
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<p>â4gsmom: Where did this happen?â</p>
<p>I was referring to an earlier post. IIRC, the âf-cking sweetâ one was Brown and the trouble with basic math was BU.</p>
<p>Reading other responses made me remember that S also crossed off Amherst after visiting. On paper it looked really promising, but S felt it had no personality. I asked the adcom what made Amherst distinctive, and he said something like âItâs the best LAC in the country, what else are you looking for?â Turn-off!</p>
<p>D eliminated Boston College also. There was way too much talk about football from the tour guide, and none of the staff working in two different parts of the athletic complex seemed to be certain where the track and field office was. (D figured that if the sport wasnât football it didnât matter to them.) We got given wrong directions twice. Finally, we saw a young lady who looked like a runner and asked her. She was lovely and very helpful. The deal was sealed when we went to Harvard afterward and saw BC kids training there since BC lacks facilities for track.</p>
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<p>Now with nearly four years of Bard experience as a parent, including three campus visits prior to my child deciding to attend, I find this very unusual. What I might surmise is the âmockingâ was good-natured jabs at the tour guide by friends, but then I wasnât there. </p>
<p>FWIW, my DD had many choices of where to attend, many of which were far âbetterâ schools by the ratings many here choose to follow. I canât think of a better school for her, and she couldnât be happier with the exceptional opportunities Bard has offered. My oldest DD attended one of those top-ten private Uâs for a year and transferred to an âunrated-by-choiceâ non-SAT schools, felt she made the right choice, graduated and has a nice position with a good income and is enjoying life after college. </p>
<p>Fit is all-important. If that comes from one bad experience, or interpretation of one from a campus visit, itâs still a valid data point. A school has to feel right.</p>
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We actually experienced something similar on our tour. And it was definitely directed at the tour as a whole rather than the guide. It was harmless, just kind of wiseguy catcalling, but we noticed it because we didnât experience anything similar anywhere else. It probably wouldnât have made a difference in our thinking about the place by itself, but it didnât help.</p>
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<p>Our tour guide said this over and over again at Claremont-McKenna with the additional comment âthere is NOTHING like this at any other collegeâ. DD finally looked at me and said âhow would SHE know thatâŠsheâs a freshman here. Has she BEEN to all the other colleges?â DD couldnât wait to get out of that town. The only thing she LIKED about Claremont-McKenna was the rice krispie treat snack they apparent serve daily at âtea timeâ. They ran OUT of the ice tea by the time we got there. You would think they would have enough on hand BEFORE making the offer to a group of prospective students and parents.</p>
<p>We had that happen, the silly âcatcallingâ on two of our tours: UConn and Vassar. </p>
<p>It was nice to go on a tour (William and Mary) where kids did the opposite: âCome here! Youâll love it!â</p>
<p>The âfâing sweetâ was Tufts not Brown.</p>
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<p>For D -
William and Mary - tour guide acted as if she had never been in the library before, very arrogant info session
Sewanee - too far from civilization</p>
<p>For S -
Lehigh - very, very steep campus
RIT - lack of student life</p>
<p>First, this is an entertaining thread. My daughter is now a high school senior and we started touring the summer before her junior year. </p>
<p>Penn - too urban, doesnât like Philly
Duke - Thought sheâd applied there but after visiting didnât like the town or the gargoyles on the dorms.
Franklin & Marshall - Too preppy, poor tour guides.
Pitt - Very organized large tour and info sessions. D does not like schools with big time athletic programs.
Emory - Liked it although the surrounding neighborhood is not that great.
WashU - Great tour, lovely campus and really nice students. Surrounding neighborhood reminded us of our hometown.
Yale - The absolute best info session. Great tour guide.
Wesleyan - I made my daughter go for a visit. She didnât want to look at Wes because it was not located in a city. Turns out she loved it and their students. I also liked Middletown and its restaurants.
Brown - She went to a summer program there and loved it. Although they did not have a good info session. The admissions officer kept going on about her experience at Brown and their ânewâ curriculum. My husband said the curriculum was new when he was there in the early 70âs.</p>
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<p>Thatâs true to some extent, and I hope thereâs room on this thread (which Iâm enjoying thoroughly) for some âFWIWâ-style information: the strip mall is proximate to Rte 66 on the way in from New Haven and all points South, while travelers are more likely to glimpse âdowntownâ on their way in from Hartford (possibly, Rte 9, but, Iâm not absolutely sure of the highway designation.)</p>
<p>There are a number of strip malls heading toward Wesleyan, none of them special except when traffic crawls to stop during rush-hour. The one closest to campus hosts, Athenian Diner, the only all-night diner in Middletown, a laundry and a pretty good pizza place.</p>
<p>Downtown Middletown is generally considered synonymous with Main Street, which is all the way past Wesleyan as you continue down Rte 66. It is where you are apt to see every aspect of Middletown life, from the Congregational Church where past Wesleyan presidents have worshiped (as well as the synagogue where the present Wesleyan president has probably attended more than once), the County Court, and a pretty good hotel: [Rocky</a> Hill CT Hotels Accommodation | Inn at Middletown is just 8 Miles South of Rocky Hills Connecticut](<a href=âhttp://www.innatmiddletown.com/content_accommodations.html]Rockyâ>http://www.innatmiddletown.com/content_accommodations.html)</p>
<p>Main Street is just about one mile long and most visitors only see one end or the other of it (Wesleyan sits, sort of at the top of a triangle, right in-between): thereâs the newer, corporate section which is anchored by the brand new hotel (which Wesleyan helped pay for) and includes most of the bulldozed portions of Main Street.</p>
<p>Then, thereâs the Old North End which has most of the old-fashioned, mom-n-pop storefronts that struggle to stay in business. That is where the homeless line up in front of the St. Vincent de Paul kitchen for free meals; where OâRourkeâs Diner has been earning rave reviews since the end of World War II; and IMHO, it is the more interesting end of Main Street. But, that, as someone else mentioned, all depends on what you call, âa bad areaâ.</p>
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Thatâs exactly why my sonâs best friend crossed it off his list too.</p>
<p>While visiting Dartmouth with D a few years ago:</p>
<p>A dad asked the tour guide if anyone got out of there without becoming an alcoholic.
Her reply: âI donât know. Iâm only a sophomoreâ.</p>
<p>We are down a tier or two with colleges, but maybe this will help someone.</p>
<p>Carthage in Wisconsin - Loved that it is right on Lake Michigan and loved the new Business school (set up like corporation headquarters complete with a Starbucks) Library has a full wall of glass overlooking the lake. 1/2 hour drive from Milwaukee airport.</p>
<p>Drake in Des Moines - Nice size school. Big in journalism. Urban feel and a really great shopping mall. City buses are free for students.</p>
<p>Susquehanna - really liked the school, but it is almost impossible to get to.</p>
<p>Dickinson - very global in its approach to education. They have a âgreenâ option for housing and food. Hands on physics and archaeology programs. Great library. President is passionate about the school and spends a lot of time âsellingâ his students to grad schools.</p>
<p>Gettysburg - liked the school, but can only take so much Civil War stuff. There seems to be no way to go into town without being bombarded by Civil War history.</p>
<p>Kalamazoo - too small (especially with most of the junior class abroad)</p>
<p>Albion - no town</p>
<p>U of Chicago - could not tell where the campus ended, and the neighborhood beganâŠplus it was a cold and windy dayâŠ</p>
<p>âU of Chicago - could not tell where the campus ended, and the neighborhood beganâ</p>
<p>Trouble with the gray areas of life? Probably best not to go to UoC.</p>
<p>Loving this thread. Starting to get my DD (hs jr) talking about her choices. She feels she saw enough when her brother toured so doesnât need to put much effort. She is a different chickadee and different requirements but⊠gotta let her figure that one out. Last year, w/ DS we had a pretty large list & often joked that heâd pick the school if it had a âJamba Juiceâ on campus ! 
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<p>Campus visits for both parents and students are a MUST in my opinion. It may be costly but i felt it was $$ well spent. I am so glad we made the time and effort to see them all.</p>
<p>UCONN -we couldnât wait to have that tour finish. Definitely donât go visit in February.
NYU - was high on list but after visit DS agreed heâd rather wait for grad school to be in the city. Tour guide was very funny but when asked, had to admit heâd never been on the bus from downtown to campus and hadnât been to a sporting event.
UVA -Tour was great, got a warm, fuzzy feeling
GTown, GWU - DS toured alone w/ his cousins, didnât make impression
USC - became 2nd choice after tour. Did the 3-4 hour visit⊠very informative. Beautiful campus and tour guide lived for USC (âfight onâ)
UCSD - unexpectedly we loved it, a very different vibe from other âso-calâ schools, Tour guide had really honest answers to questions asked.
VANDERBILT - Curiously enough, my DS had been bugging me to visit Vandy for months. It was the only school he really, really wanted to visit so we hopped in the car and drove 14 hours. I didnât have an opinion one way or the other until the visit. As âdwhiteâ said in an earlier post âDREAM SCHOOLâ⊠We did the all day PreVu tour - very impressive. They touch upon every detail (financial aid, freshman experience, meetings w/ Deans, current student panel, etc) I CAN NOT IMAGINE MY DS ANYWHERE ELSE⊠it just is a perfect fit.</p>
<p>Applicannot, even if Brown has no problem getting applicants, if I were the head of admissions I wouldnât want to see people bashing my department regularly on these boards. Think of the people he could have had apply to the school if he was doing his job properly. Heâll never know, I guess.</p>
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<p>LOL!! I really hope thatâs a true story. That may be the best smart-ass answer to a smart-ass question ever. Good for the tour guide.</p>