<p>frugola: we are not even visiting QU based on the continuing report of triples and quads…there are plenty of other schools in that category to look at…</p>
<p>My younger son is not considering QU because the package offered to our older child was so poor!</p>
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<p>NYU–dorms in Chinatown? Duke, Vandy–the girls in full make up at 9AM, carrying designer clutches made my DD crazy.</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins: Not-so-nice area and intense research focus both were unappealing.</p>
<p>Tufts: Nothing my daughter saw there changed her mind about not wanting to be at the third-best university in the Boston area.</p>
<p>Brown (originally dream school) I did not like anything about the school or the area.</p>
<p>U Penn (originally 2nd choice) loved half of the campus, disliked the other and the surrounding area.</p>
<p>“JHU - too perfect and sterile. The campus was neat and beautiful but all buildings look the same, to him, not a lot of characters.”</p>
<p>My daughter’s problem with Johns Hopkins was that the day we visited it was the first beautiful spring day and there was not one student outside on that lovely quad. The library, on the other hand, was filled to the brim. While she wants a competitive school, she doesn’t want that kind of atmosphere.</p>
<p>D - after visiting, D crossed off Drew and Rider. Also visited, applied to and accepted at Siena, Hartwick and Univ. of Scranton. Chose Scranton, loved it and graduated 4 years later.</p>
<p>S after visiting, crossed off Elizabethtown, William Paterson, Champlain. Also visited Siena (loved it, but did not have major he was looking for at the time, so did not apply), Hartwick (visited twice, but chose not to apply). Visited, applied to and accepted at Misericordia and Univ. of Scranton. Started at Misericordia - too small, other issues. Transferred to Scranton for spring semester freshman year and is a very happy junior now.</p>
<p>Yep, S was tougher than D.</p>
<p>Lehigh–quote"If I have to go here to college, I am not going." Aaargh. The campus was not well marked and we spent quite a lot of time driving around town.</p>
<p>Bates</p>
<p>Both were in old manufacturing towns and then she ended up in Pittsburgh. UVA was too southern.</p>
<p>Hmm. I visited the Air Force Academy toward the end of my sophomore year, and crossed it off my list, after thinking it over a bit.</p>
<p>There were a lot of things that I liked about it, but I decided that I wanted college to be a time of relative freedom where I could learn to be independent and to structure my own life, rather than a time in which my environment was heavily regulated and structured for me.</p>
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<p>During a pre-acceptance trip during the summer, D liked Berkeley, but during post-acceptance visit while classes were in session the sheer number of people on campus turned her off. She is quite happy as a sophomore at a small LAC in southern CA.</p>
<p>From DD’s original list:</p>
<p>Boston University…there is no there, there.</p>
<p>Syracuse - but only after touring Cornell the next day.</p>
<p>Tuffs - too hilly and the food was bad.</p>
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<p>Northwestern - after possibly the worst intro session ever, D refused to even go on the tour!!! U of Penn - didn’t like the urban part, but loved the old campus.</p>
<p>UIUC, wanted to love it, it’s our state flagship and DS had the numbers to get in, but the admission/tour people really seemed to not care one bit if we liked the place. There was a vibe of “most of you can’t get in here so let’s just go through the motions.” Dirty run-down buildings, awful parking for the visitor’s tour, and the shining star, someone cleaning up vomit in the hallway during the dorm tour. Went from a definite apply to a “no way!”</p>
<p>As we can see, the tour guides have a little something to do with the appeal of a school to a kid. Funny was that son thought the tour guide at the school he now attends was a little bit of a tool. Imagine his surprise when the guy turns up as an FYI (first year intern) on the floor below him! And actually, he now sees that he just tries very hard but is in fact very genuine. The tourguide at Tufts had chosen the school for all the reasons son was looking for as well. He also really liked all the tradition of that school. Upon closer inspection after being admitted, he got the feeling there was a real divide between academics and athletes. Considering he easily could fit in either camp, he went for something where the lines blurred a little bit more. </p>
<p>Full make up by 9am? I can barely get there by 9pm on a Saturday night!</p>
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<p>Thank you folks - Our Long list is (have not visited any so far)</p>
<p>Rice
Vandy
Emory, GTech
Santa Clara, USC
CMU</p>
<p>Maybe
UT, Trinity
U of Miami,UCF
Tulane</p>
<p>Son is interested in Math/Physics/Comp Sc, warm weather, rounded college experience. Not a partier but likes to hang out and meet new people.</p>
<p>According to the kid…</p>
<p>Columbia: just too urban
Princeton: eating clubs, boring tour guide, etc
Amherst: “campus too new” (That one continues to puzzle me 
I guess he is put off by construction.)
Cornell: campus too big
Northwestern: tour guide not intellectual, too fratty, too Big 10, info session unimpressive (only one with Power Point we ever saw, very whitebread and pre-professional in tone)</p>
<p>“Northwestern - after possibly the worst intro session ever”
“Northwestern: tour guide not intellectual, too fratty, too Big 10, info session unimpressive (only one with Power Point we ever saw, very whitebread and pre-professional in tone)”</p>
<p>Northwestern is my alma mater and I completely agree with both of you. Terrible info session for such a great school. Boring, boring, boring. Not an ounce of humor, levity or excitement. And then the worst tour in the history of college tours (but I had a huge thread about that here this summer…)</p>
<p>When son was down to picking a school we went to visit and son went to the library and hung out and we went to a game… it was in these places (vs the tour guide) that son really saw he would fit and find a lot of friends - both seem to be true. I agree that the overnights make a big difference or even if you spend a day, a night and maybe the next morning without staying in the dorm (because you never know who you might get stuck in a room with). Look at all the first year roommate issues kids face and that’s after they know they want to go there!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Then I certainly wouldn’t send him to Tulane.</p>
<p>Cornell – too big, spread out.
Bates
Middlebury
Tufts – that same feeling of REALLY not right.
Lewis & Clark --worst energy and feeling of any college we have ever visited.
Bowdoin – too preppy
Whitman – way too isolated (4 hours to the nearest airport???)</p>
<p>Northwestern was also crossed off. We stayed downtown and took the subway out to the campus passing through a lot of rough urban stuff. I liked the tour, but my S seems to loose interest from the start and maybe a little intimidated by Chicago.</p>
<p>While we are on the subject, the best tour we had was WashU. I know a lot of people here on CC really hate WashU for their seemingly marketing crazy admission office. But we registered for a tour online 3 days before we fly over. They FedEx us a package including all kinds of travel info and a parking permit with map. We get there, and there is another package with our names on it and all the itinerary for the day spelled out and free lunch voucher at any of their dining hall. The tour guide has a special amplified speaker microphone, all colleges should have this device because we always had hard time hearing tour guides at other colleges. The engineering professor they had at the info session was impressive even if it sounded a little scripted. The new dorms and student center were very nice and definitely a big selling point.</p>