<p>JHS, I’m not suggesting that college campuses have a narrow-spectrum student body. I am, however, suggesting that closely-listened-to info sessions can go a long way to refining a college visit list. Great for your 2 friends of one d of yours. It certainly was not the overall impression we received, given the in-person testimonials at that info session, as to the emphasis in the student body at Vassar. Combined with other data, about Vassar, there was not enough inquisitiveness to see it as a cost-effective visit.</p>
<p>But an equally important point, I think – at least maybe for some of us realistic parents who have not sold the college experience as a must-be-Nirvana to our kids – is that it’s important to look at the big picture for any one college. If the only thing about a U (from either the parents’ or the student’s perspective) is something that can be maneuvered around, is temporary, or is superficial, it is unfortunate if a college is “crossed off” based on that one thing. When one d arrived at one U, & we had not had the time for a second visit prior, had we known that she would have to endure something unpleasant temporarily, she might not have enrolled there. But she’s hearty; she handled it; it’s over now. Ditto for my own experience at my U; had I known ahead, I might not have enrolled, which would have been a shame. I also weathered a temporarily bad situation and in retrospect appreciate it as “the perfect match” environment for me, in the big scheme of things.</p>
<p>My kids mostly enjoyed visiting colleges, with a few exceptions.</p>
<p>Both kids hated UVA (our state school). They thought the administration and students were full of themselves.</p>
<p>DS hated Syracuse and left quickly to return to RPI and spend more time there during our weekend visit to schools in NY. He ended up being turned off by RPI’s accepted students’ weekend and ended up at Rochester.</p>
<p>DD hated Tufts so much, we left halfway through the tour and didn’t bother going to info session. She loved Colgate while on campus, but hated it being in the middle of nowhere. Ended up only looking at inner city schools and going to Penn.</p>
<p>Very funny thread - I’ll add a few, with the disclaimer that these experiences are personal - obviously others have had great experiences and attend these schools happily. </p>
<p>RIT - S crossed it off the list without even getting out of the car - according to him - way too many parking lots - and what looked like a very long, windy, cold walk between the dorms and the academic buildings. When we couldn’t get a tour because we were in Rochester on a weekend, I called Admissions and asked if there was anything they thought we should look at while walking on our own around campus. The answer - “no.”
Okay - way to sell a campus!</p>
<p>Macalaster - crossed off by D after a very lackluster tour and a very awkward and uncomfortable interview. H and I meanwhile sat in on the oddest presentation - a very short young woman came in the room where mostly parents had gathered - walked up to the podium and sat down behind it! We couldn’t see her, only hear her, and she spent the next half hour lecturing to a room of mostly parents, mind you, on keeping up our senior year grades - she kept repeating - you’re better than that. We were a bit dumbfounded and not a little bit in agreement with D’s total lack of enthusiasm at the end of the visit. </p>
<p>Over all both kids did not like schools where the tour guides did not bother walking backwards - this generally led to the tour being directed to just the few in the front. All the non backwards walking guides were at ‘top’ schools - these guides one and all spent a good deal of time talking about themselves - my kids were quite turned off by this.</p>
<p>Northwestern - guide spent most of the time talking about her family and boyfriend - not what we wanted to hear about.</p>
<p>Both kids flat out refused to do any tours. The admissions folks at Smith were really insistent, but so was D. She finally got out, “My mom has bad asthma.” Admissions folks said, “Then come without her.” D was flabbergasted. She did apply, but she was waitlisted. She’s convinced the interviewer, who was a senior admissions person, didn’t like her because she didn’t want to do the official tour.</p>
<p>They toured campuses themselves, usually together. When D was a senior and S a sophomore he got hit on a number of times by young women who attended Vassar. He was decorated by a lot of facial hair, so maybe he looked like the older brother. I think it increased his enthusiasm for Vassar.</p>
<p>But it was cute to watch the two of them go off together to explore.</p>
<p>A friend of D’s just rejected my alma mater after visiting. She said it had too many stairs. I was really surprised by that observation, because I couldn’t immediately think of what stairs she’d be referring to that were so much more onerous than those on other campuses. At the time, though, I responded with “But you’re an athlete!” She said, “Yeah, I’m an athlete and my calves hurt on the tour, so what does that tell you?” Honestly, I’m still scratching my head over that one. She liked our arch rival school, though, which is notorious for being extremely hilly and hard on the calves!</p>
<p>^The GFG - thank you for that one - I came out of my morning blur reading your post - nearly experienced the hazard of this thread - ruining my keyboard!</p>
<p>I would just like to put in one additional plug for doing your homework before doing tours–you might find a dealbreaker, such as the school not really having the right program available for your kid. We did one tour–and my son liked the school–only to find out later that it wouldn’t work at all. We could have found that out in advance if we’d thought to check more carefully.</p>
<p>epiphany, it seems to me that with your method, you’re trading one set of variables for another. Relying on the personality of the person who does the off-site presentation to get a feel for the student body? How is that different from not liking the student tour guide or the senior who does the on-site presentation?</p>
<p>My d is a junior and has visited a few schools so far and is looking through college junk that she either received in the mail or at college fair.</p>
<p>so far
not visited but likes the look: Washington U, Tulane, Sewanee</p>
<p>not visited but ruled out: U of Richmond since the mascot is a spider and she has arachnophobia</p>
<p>visited and ruled out: Davidson- didn’t get a good vibe
Presbyterian- too small town, even though she visited there, she would have to go back for an interview and we are two states away and a very long drive</p>
<p>visited and liked: Agnes Scott- nice campus, very nice admissions staff
Furman- beautiful campus, informative info session, nice admission staff</p>
<p>visited and iffy- Emory- this was the first one she visited and she fell in love with its gym. WHen I was talking with her later, I asked her how she liked the idea of living in a very large high rise dorm, and she said she had never looked up and didn’t realize they were high rises. She isn’t sure she wants this big a campus although she is looking at other schools in the same range.</p>
<p>My son crossed off a very well respected LAC that offered a lot of merit money and was the perfect distance from home because they only had community bathrooms in the freshman dorms.</p>
<p>The one problem with relying on off-site presentations is that people lie. They may call it marketing or they may call it spin, but they’re going to be presenting their school in the best light possible. Six years ago when S1 was starting his search he sat in on 6 info sessions at his high school and we did three additional tours of schools known for having some expertise in the area he was interested in. All nine said they had a “Top 5” ranked program. In one particular case, S1 knew that wasn’t true given the study cited. When he challenged that statistic the presenter eventually admitted they were top 5 if you only counted public universities (not the private ones).</p>
<p>This sort of creative accounting will certainly happen on campus as well, but at least you’ll have the added input of seeing the place, the students as well “feeling the vibe”.</p>
<p>The only college my son did not like was Rutgers. He’s graduated college now. Did not like the fact that one had to go from campus to campus to take classes. I just could not convince him. I was in love with it because it would have saved us tons of money going there (we’re in-state).</p>
<p>The topic of off-site presentations reminded me that my son really benefitted from & crossed off from his list 2 colleges because of meetings with college representatives that were not on their respective campuses.</p>
<p>One would have been a group presentation at his high school, but he was the only one who showed up. The rep, who was from one of the Claremont Colleges, was very forthcoming & made recommendations based on my son’s interests & criteria, the type of education & the type of college environment that he wanted. Ultimately, the rep suggested looking more closely at one of the other Claremont Colleges, pointing out that my son could take courses at her college.</p>
<p>The other experience was a local interview with a college rep. Again, my son had specific concerns that the rep answered honestly, no glossing over. The closest to positive spin was encouraging my son to apply. She gave examples of how the college met what my son was looking for.</p>
<p>Boston University - son LOVES Boston and dreamed of going to college there but he did not like how spread out BU is and we left after the tour guide said they had to take public transportation to get to their classes.</p>
<p>Northeastern - he liked that it had more of a campus feel (and cool restaurant chains!) but wasn’t thrilled with a co-op program.</p>
<p>Gettysburg - he liked the school but hated how it was in the middle of nowhere with only Civil War shops EVERYWHERE!</p>
<p>Wheaton (MA) - he thought was campus run down and depressing: we left 5 minutes into the tour.</p>
<p>Fairfield U - he thought it was too close to home and the food was not as good as the other colleges we had been to.</p>
<p>College of the Holy Cross - loved everything about it</p>
<p>Loyola Maryland - loved everything about it, especially because we had never been to Maryland and he loved Baltimore and the inner harbor. Campus was gorgeous and students seemed really happy. </p>
<p>Fordham (Rose Hill) - loved the city feel and the Italian section nearby. Also, the President gave a beautiful, inspiring speech.</p>
<p>Providence College - us parents loved it but something about it (he wouldn’t tell us what) turned him off.</p>
<p>Holy cow! I think we had the same tour guide at Northwestern!!! (did her boyfriend write haikus?) My d ended up knowing everything about this girl and nothing about Northwestern.</p>
<p>Boy - it could have been the same one though thankfully she didn’t talk about her boyfriend’s haikus - I think that would have done me in. We sat in a dreary classroom for what seemed like the bulk of the tour listening to her talk about herself instead of seeing more of the campus - I kept telling myself, o.k. she’s young, she’s trying to relate the questions to her personal experiences (namely herself), she means well… arggghhhh get me out of here! Have to say this did not turn D off, I think she liked the girl’s rain boots… - though she did rule out Knox because they all line up and shake hands at the beginning of the semester - go figure!</p>