<p>I’m finding that each school really does have its own ethos and a certain vibe that’s consistently picked up by many of us during these visits. </p>
<p>For me, the hardest part of this process is that my S may be attracted to a school, but because i know him so well, I worry that it may not be the perfect fit for him. For example, it became clear during our visit at JHU that it really attracts kids who are pre-professionally focused and it has earned a rep as being very competitive. My son, who wants to major in neuroscience, was very taken w/ the research emphasis and although he may end up in med school one day, what motivates him is his fascination and curiosity about the discipline, not the potential career choices. And I’m not how well he’ll tolerate being in a pressure cooker. </p>
<p>Yet, I firmly believe that the choice needs to be his. He must own it.</p>
<p>RenaissanceMom (love that name), my daughter is also interested in neuroscience. When she first started looking at colleges, JHU was on her list. However, my brother-in-law who has his PhD from there discouraged her from even looking. He really did not like the type of students there. His undergraduate degree was from Cornell. He met his wife at JHU and she agreed with his assessment of JHU. My daughter’s current list includes Brown, Wesleyan, WashU, Yale, Boston U and Pitt. Good luck!</p>
<p>^ We just went to Wesleyan yesterday for an open house. Took a tour w/ a science prof thru the science bldg/lib and my son was impressed. this prof college shopped last yr. for his daughter, also a budding scientist (she’s at middlebury), and he emphasized that compared to its peer schools (selective LACs), Wes has much better research funding and equipment.</p>
<p>My son, a junior, will also probably apply to brown. he spent 2 summers there and loved it (his dad is an alum). I was also going to take him to WUSTL but I have heard that the science kids there are cutthroat. Have you heard the same?</p>
<p>RenaissanceMom, We toured WashU this summer and really liked it. Very personable students and friendly admission office. Neuroscience at WashU is grouped with Philosophy. So I don’t know how cutthroat it is. I will say this about WashU they had the nicest dorms and they’re building new ones. My daughter also did a summer program at Brown last summer and loved it. She would do ED there but we’re reluctant due to the expensive tuition (well they’re all expensive). My husband is also a Brown alumnus. As for Wesleyan, she originally wanted no part of that school because it was not located in a city. On our way to Brown, we stopped and toured and she loved it. We liked the students, campus and the downtown of Middletown with all its restaurants. My daughter this past summer worked with a local professor from Muhlenberg College on her senior project on neuroscience. He liked all her college choices for neuroscience. He also recommended looking into Oberlin. My daughter can’t get past the idea of Oberlin being in the middle of Ohio somewhere.</p>
<p>DS knocked of Georgetown and JHU, too urban, no real campus feeling</p>
<p>Princeton —too close to the grandparents</p>
<p>UMiami—too south, and was the safety.</p>
<p>DD has knocked off anything that has no four seasons Her campus lists have remained the same, and they all vary in size of school/town, everything from large campus/small city to small campus/large city.</p>
<p>Also knocked off UMDCP, hates the look of the buildings, she says she doesn’t like the red brick buildings :eek: As you can see she is my flitter bug.</p>
<p>Colgate: out in the middle of nowhere (otherwise he liked it)</p>
<p>Maryland: way too big (& we toured on a 95 degree day, so it really felt way too big)</p>
<p>JHU: no campus housing for upperclassmen (this may have changed) & seeing a notice on a bulletin board about a student robbed at gunpoint 2 blocks from campus in the middle of the day</p>
<p>S2didn’t like:</p>
<p>Georgetown: too “gothic”</p>
<p>Tufts: campus too spread out; turned off by info session</p>
<p>F&M: too preppy & too Greek</p>
<p>W&L: too conservative & Southern</p>
<p>Every student is different & will respond differently to the various schools.</p>
<p>Interesting that so many people have mentioned being turned off by the Tufts info session–we thought it was one of the best of the many good ones we’ve been at. We were especially surprised & grateful at how frank and detailed the presenter was about how the admissions process works and how to maximize your chances of prospering therein. It seemed to me that the message was “you’ve taken the trouble to come here, so we’re rewarding you with the inside scoop on how to get admitted here.” I liked that. (I’m now feeling curious as to whether the presenter that we liked was the same person who turned others off.)</p>
<p>I also want to respond to the poster who said that Tufts was in a “boring suburb.” I think very few Boston-area residents would describe Davis Square that way. True, Tufts isn’t right in Davis Square, but it’s only a ten-minute walk away. I’d describe Tufts as being on the outer fringe of the city–and the hip outer fringe, at that–rather than in the suburbs.</p>
<p>nightchef, our presenter at Tufts was a preppy guy who’d been an undergrad at Bowdoin. He seemed pompous to us, and we wanted more about the school and less pontificating about how to choose a college.</p>
<p>Funny about Georgetown being too gothic. It was nearly as gothic as I expected. Too much red brick for my tastes! I love collegiate gothic.</p>
<p>We loved Tufts’ info session. The admissions officer was funny, engaging and helpful. I wish my d had liked the school itself more. As someone else mentioned, they push the “global citizen” thing a lot and my very liberal, politically minded d was turned off a little bit.</p>
<p>Ah–definitely not the same. Our presenter was a woman, neither pompous nor preppy–in fact, quite down to earth and funny–and young enough that we weren’t 100% sure at first whether she was a staffer or a student. Emphasis was definitely less on “how to choose” and more on “how to get chosen.”</p>
<p>A good example of the kind of thing we’re talking about here. Two different admissions staffers giving two totally different impressions of the same school.</p>
<p>Yes, I know that Davis Square (Somerville) is within walking distance of Tufts as is Porter Square and Harvard Square (both in Cambridge)–my point was simply that my D’s view that Waltham (where Brandeis is located) was boring held true for Medford as well. I think Waltham probably has more to offer than Medford. There are some great restaurants in Waltham that we visit regularly. D1 had a great experience at Tufts. She graduated in '05 and I don’t remember the information session, at all.</p>
<p>Tufts straddles both Medford and Somerville. If you want to compare with Brandeis (Waltham), Somerville should also be in the discussion instead of just Medford. You can actually catch the T at Davis Square and go all over the place, for Brandeis, you have commuter rail which is a lot less flexible.</p>
<p>S2 crossed off U VA - the tour guide said that she could have gone to “any Ivy school” but went to U VA because it was “close to home” and she could bring home her dirty laundry to her Mom every weekend - no kidding! Son selected Vanderbilt - because as he says “they had the best food”.</p>
<p>Both son and I crossed off Pepperdine immediately. My son was the only guy on a tour full of valley girls, led by a valley girl. The tour guide spoke apologetically of the school’s heritage and assured us that it wasn’t really like that. The food was awful, and the place was packed with summer-sports-camp kids. Bottom line, there was nothing we liked about the place except for the truly stunning views… and to top it all off, I got sick there.</p>
<p>My son crossed off Stanford without actually visiting. He hadn’t been keenly interested to begin with, and then I scheduled a tour that had us waiting at the airport at about 4am. He got queasy on the plane; we canceled the tour, dozed in the airport for a couple hours, and then had a fun day in Frisco until it was time to catch our plane back. Moral of the story: Plan those visits carefully.</p>
<p>He also crossed off the local state university, my workplace, where he could have made a small profit from the scholarship offerings. I considered it a viable option until the scholars’ dinner, which included a sort of whiney presentation from the dean and a very dull faculty member at our table. We left early, but not as early as my son wanted.</p>
<p>As to places we absolutely loved – that would be Harvey Mudd College. Incredibly friendly, welcoming place. Campus culture that suited him perfectly. Every time he set foot on campus, his posture would change visibly and there’d be a little spring in his step. He’s very happy as a freshman there now, despite having to work like a dog for notoriously uninflated grades.</p>
<p>Geek_mom, Harvey Mudd holds a sweet spot at our house. It was the first schools S1 fell in love with and once he visited, his goal was to find others with a similar vibe and intensity. I know some folks can’t get past the architecture, but for S, it did not matter. </p>
<p>Glad to hear your S is happy. They are really good about not letting kids fall through the cracks.</p>
<p>GeekMom, that posture change and spring in the step speaks to me about D’s experience at Smith. There was an almost audible click every time she stepped on campus.</p>
<p>I have a lot of regard for HMC. Not right for my D because of major and proximity to home, but for serious geeky academics, it’s up there with Reed, Swat, and U/Chicago in my book.</p>
<p>Our Tufts info session was conducted by a guy who could have another successful career as a stand-up comedian. At the same time, he gave a lot of down-to-earth information about the college application process itself and Tufts in particular. And he was a somewhat queenly gay guy. I adored him. I–and a number of other people-- went up to him afterward and told him that it was the best info session we had ever attended. He was the best thing about Tufts. The tour was okay. It was a very hot and humid day–well over 90F–and it felt like the Bataan Death March. (I really shouldn’t make light of that awful event, but you know what I mean!) When the tour guide made us leave one of the air-conditioned buildings I, for one, was reduced to inarticulate whimpering. :D</p>
<p>Vassar-Daughter hated it, hated the town.
Colorado College-Liked the school, but didn’t think she would fit in.
Wesleyan-Boring town, dull interviewer, weird campus.
Bard-Too remote, awful library.</p>
<p>Reed-Loved it completely and applied early.</p>
<p>Quinnipiac - the infamous freshman quad-rooms.</p>
<p>Fairfield - the kids seemed snobby, both students and fellow tour-ers. Also hated the 60’s architecture. D was wearing a loose long-sleeved shirt and jeans, and got LEERED at by two separate male students - that was the end of it for her.</p>
<p>Merrimack - campus appeared poorly maintained. Institutional square buildings scattered around, no landscaping other than basic grass.</p>
<p>The problem with Tuft’s Info Session may be that they did push their “globel citizen” concept a little hard (I thought). It seemed like they wanted everyone to become a community organizer, but then, '07, who knew how profitable it could be.</p>
Her campus lists have remained the same, and they all vary in size of school/town, everything from large campus/small city to small campus/large city.</p>
As you can see she is my flitter bug.</p>