<p>I think the off campus sessions are subject to the same judgements as the on-campus. D went to the admitted students presentation for Tulane, and although it seems like a great school, she wasn’t impressed by the alumni and students who were chosen to speak. The twenty minute video didn’t show any campus shots, yet I’ve heard the campus is quite beautiful! These presentations are mainly to encourage the students who were accepted to go there, but we left not having any better picture of the school, so it got crossed off.</p>
1 Like
<p>This is a little different, but it’s a story I like to tell.</p>
<p>We visited Gettysburg the Thursday before Easter, and I immediately felt at home in their Admissions Office. But I was little concerned about their small campus, because DD doesn’t want to go some place too small, and we needed this place as a match. Then the info session started with, “Tell us your name, where you’re from, and a question you want answered.” DD looked at me for help on the question. We detest this approach, and each suggestion I gave she rejected, and they were getting dangerously close to her turn. I don’t remember what she asked, but after going around the room, and making each person ask a question, which wasn’t answered at the time, by the way, he then asked the whole group <em>again</em> for questions! Just start talking for god’s sake! I was so frustrated.</p>
<p>They finally started with the presentation, and began with the stats. I wanted to scream, because we didn’t want our daughter to hear that the average SAT scores were lower than hers. My husband and I thought we were doomed. But DD didn’t seem to be too upset. Our tour guide was great, though, and even stayed to answer our questions after the tour had ended.</p>
<p>After the tour my husband asked our daughter what she thought, and she loved it! I couldn’t wait to get home and pull my husband into the bedroom (no, not for that!), and ask him why he thought she liked it. We never came to a conclusion.</p>
<p>The following Monday, I picked up our local paper (we live 1 1/2 hours away), to see an article about the student who was murdered the morning of our visit. Now I know why the Dean handled the info session the way he did. He was trying to find out if we knew something. Apparently none of us did!</p>
<p>Anyway, she’s going to spend an overnight visit there next week, and it has stayed on her list. She even had an interview and another tour in June.</p>
<p>My feeling is, if she liked it that much on the day of such trauma, it’s a good fit for her.</p>
<p>According to son:</p>
<p>Lehigh - too hilly every step you take is either up or down (but great programs)</p>
<p>Wheaton (MA) - small student union, really weak info session, so-so campus </p>
<p>Stonehill - heavy emphasis on “shovel collection,” no access to library on the tour</p>
<p>Muhlenburg - too small, with heavy emphasis on new performing arts theater, no emphasis on sciences, boring info session</p>
<p>Bucknell - really nice campus, but weak presentation, presenter just read the powerpoint presentation to the audience–yawn.</p>
<p>Bates - lots of curriculum requirements, limits students’ choices, but no limit to meals on plan (you can go to as many meals a day as you want–ex. 2 dinners)</p>
<p>Laughing at the Univ. of Richmond post. </p>
<p>The very first school that contacted D for athletic recruitment has a camel for a mascot. D said absolutely not, she couldn’t compete for the Camels. I laughed and told her about the CC thread that lists the dumbest reasons kids eliminate colleges. As we were discussing the mascot issue, younger D (elementary age) asked “Is there a college which has a spider for a mascot? I love spiders!” We said we doubted it. But lo and behold, a few days later D got recruiting mail from the Univ. of Richmond. Little D was delighted and now knows where she wants to go to school. LOL</p>
<p>^^^^Ha ha. S wanted to go to U of Chicago because their mascot is the phoenix. He did get accepted, but chose the purple cow. He did hesitate though, strictly because of the mascot. I don’t blame him. Phoenixes are awesome. He is not only a Harry Potter fan (Faulks) but a Classics major as well.</p>
<p>D hated the dancing bears from her school, but Barnard’s athletes all compete at Columbia, so they are actually lions.</p>
<p>@mythmom: I have to correct you on Fawkes name. Dumbledore’s phoenix was named Fawkes after Guy Fawkes.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Yup, I have a feeling my 16yo son would base his decision on this alone!</p>
<p>U of Chicago mascot is a ‘maroon,’ the exact appearance of which is unknown. The phoenix is on the seal but is not otherwise paraded about.</p>
<p>from the chicago admissions website
<a href=“https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/studentlife/activities/traditions.shtml[/url]”>https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/studentlife/activities/traditions.shtml</a></p>
<p>The Phoenix</p>
<p>The phoenix, the mythical bird that is born young from its own ashes, is the official mascot of the University of Chicago’s athletic teams.
Maroon</p>
<p>Though the phoenix is our mascot, our teams go by “the Maroons,” maroon being one of our two official colors (the other is white)</p>
1 Like
<p>Friends, thanks for the correction and the correction of the correction.</p>
<p>I suspect they’re called the maroons, even though the Phoenix is the mascot, because phoenixes is just too hard to say.</p>
<p>Neither of my kids have any artistic talent or they surely would have applied to RISD. They’re the “Nads” so the kids can say Go Nads. At least, this is what my kids told me. This is probably wrong.</p>
<p>They also told me Hampshire has the rainbow, which both disdained as too sixties.</p>
1 Like
<p>Just checked the Hampshire web site and couldn’t find any info on the name of the school team - guess intercollegiate sports are not big there.</p>
<p>I confirmed your info on RISD - from their web site -
</p>
<p>What is a nad???</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Ditto with my D. Officially off of her list.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Probably the same young woman (recent Bucknell grad) we had on our first visit. Horrible public speaker. Luckily the tour guide was great. Much better presentations on second visit. Yes, it is a really nice campus.</p>
<p>I may be in trouble. I just set up a tour, where the college’s mascot is a Muskie (I think it’s a fish), the school has an odd name, and the colors are magenta and black. I’m hoping D likes the magenta.</p>
<p>fendrock: It’s just a joke so they can say “gonads.”</p>
<p>I’ll bet someone has lost interest in Centenary after finding out they are the Gentlemen. (Wouldn’t it be funny if they were the Fighting Gentlemen?)</p>
<p>On topic, I am a little disappointed that my son’s interest in DePaul hasn’t been rekindled. He actually liked it a lot when he visited, and I think it would be a blast to live and study in that area of Chicago. He just feels that it’s not worth investing in a school that isn’t more highly regarded academically. I think he’s probably right, but I think of all the fun he’s probably giving up. Oh, well.</p>
<p>My youngest son refused to go on the tour at Bucknell because the day we were there the campus smelled like fertilizer. Yes, there are farms near campus–it’s rural/small town.</p>
<p>He called the coach he was supposed to meet with later that day to say he would not be applying in Bucknell.</p>
<p>My daughter and I visited Bucknell when school was out of session. I thought the campus was beautiful and everyone I knew from the school has been bright.
My daughter hated the location and was uncomfortable with fraternity row, not wanting to attend a frat/ jock school, no matter how selective.
We later visited Johns Hopkins when it was out of session, and she loved the school, because it is in a city with restaurants, museums, etc. I pointed out the security guards in front of the freshman dorms, reminding her that Bucknell didn’t need gates and guards.
After these two visits, we have only visited colleges on official tours. I think tours and sessions present schools in a better light than self guided tours.
She also doesn’t want to go to Rutgers instate, because she has visited when her school’s model UN trip went there. We did visit SUNY Geneseo on a hot summer day, and she like the school, so she might apply to a school that we could easily afford.</p>
<p>D nixed Princeton after the tour. Something about the tour guide totally turned her off.</p>
<p>It was a very rainy day, but we toured Princeton in the morning and Penn in the afternoon. Hated Princeton, loved Penn.</p>
<p>It made absolutely no sense to me…</p>
<p>We were the “maroons” in high school. As I recall, a “maroon” is some kind of little devil.</p>