<p>Please tell me that wasn’t BG.</p>
<p>Wow Toledo…that is beyond belief.</p>
<p>Got another one…1 kid rejected an Ohio school when the clerk in the school’s bookstore told my kid that she had graduated from there two years ago with a degree in business.</p>
<p>No, it wasn’t Bowling Green, but you might want to read my BGSU review from last month.
Last night, while laying in bed, I realized the smell could have been sauerkraut.</p>
<p>GC sent us to Furman in NC - gorgeous campus not a weed on the place, perfectly turned out guide, great tour but when we asked where all the students were (we honestly thought that perhaps school was still out for the summer) he said “they’re all in class!” strange, but…ok. At the student activities board said tour guide (again brightly) proceeded to tell us about the millions of things students can do to get involved - christian knitting club, newman center, christian book club… My S asks - do you have a Hillel? Stone cold silence follows and we beat a hasty retreat to the car. Never heard from them after that! We still threaten to send him to Stepford U. when he gets annoying!</p>
<p>Albright- the interviewer could tell me little about academics- only that they are SAT optional. And my SATs are my strong suit.
Ursinus- it just felt wrong! The feel was way too pretentious- yes it’s good, but not that wonderful. They had no good answers about social life for nondrinkers. Well, you could go to the drunken parties and not drink.
Rutgers- way too big & ugly for me.
Alfred- I love it, but it is too isolated.
King’s ¶- the neighborhood was a big turn off. The feel of gritty inner city, with none of the benefits.
Ithaca- I was very turned off by the appearance of the campus. After driving through, canceled my appointment.</p>
<p>These are schools that have visited. This is how it went:</p>
<p>High Point University: Loved it. Informative and a golf cart tour (fancy XD) very country club. Other kid who was with me came in an Audi O_o. Well priced though. Beautiful campus with lots of resources
Winthrop University: Had a good time. Felt like the all-american college to me. Enjoyed tour guides. very informitive
Claflin College: Mom hit it off with tour guide (went to same school), not so much for me
Bennett College: Nice all girls school. Just didn’t feel right. Mom loved it though
USC: Ok, just didn’t suit me. Too much contrast between campus and surrounding city( trust me, I live in LA)
UCLA:SO BIG!! went for my SAT’s and ended up taking impromptu tour. Got lost for an hour trying to find food court.
Clark Atlanta:Nice feel. If your a black kid who’s favorite movie was Stomp the Yard, you belong here
Johnson C Wells: Drove by and kept on going. 
Spelman College: Another all girls school. Liked but prefered Clark Atlanta</p>
<p>Thats all the ones I can think of. Hope I was helpful to someone out there</p>
<p>Illinois - S and I really were impressed and loved the tour, academics, athletics (S hopes to run competitively) everything except the SIZE! This campus is HUGE! The other thing we found amusing at first was when the tour guide talked about the underground tunnels between campus buidlings :-0 which are used heavily when there is too much snow on the ground! Being from Georgia, S decided he did not like that concept at all (eg dealing with snow!)</p>
<p>Southern Cal - thankfully my son loves my alma mater - especially the Viterbi School (he plans to major in Engineering) and it helped that four guys he knows from our little town in Georgia are there as students now. I took them all to dinner (at one of my old haunts El Cholo’s) and it was great. Hope son will get admitted!</p>
<p>Georgia Tech - this one is pretty close by and hubby came along. We enjoyed the tour and the academic programs and seeing the campus - more impressive than we had imagined. S had run there for a track meet last year so we really had only seen one aspect of it. But we were pleased with what we saw on our official tour. Hope son will get admitted…this is his safety school.</p>
<p>We will visit the University of Miami (FL) later this month - this is probably my S’s top choice (because they will give him some athletic money to run if his potential merit $ and potential ROTC don’t cover everything). Still need to be admitted but we think his chances are good!</p>
<p>S also applied to NC State but we probably won’t visit; S says he’d rather go to Ga Tech if he was accepted to both. Not sure why he applied but oh well…</p>
<p>Naval Academy - S went to the Summer seminar there this past summer and loved it; hopefully he can earn an appointment.</p>
<p>AF Academy - hubby is a grad, so we have been there a lot. We had a really great visit a little over a year ago when I was asked to come out and commission a family friend. He too was Engineering so my S got to talk to the professors and check a few things out - he really liked it and he would love to get an appointment there.</p>
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<p>This was definitely a MAC school.</p>
<p>Oh, I see you’ve been there, too. ^^^</p>
<p>That’s why I asked if it was BG (although I think BG has a little more pride than that). Toledo, Akron, and Kent would all come off similarly, I think. Less so Ohio and Miami.</p>
1 Like
<p>Franklin and Marshall. At our info session the presenter told story after story of kids who had spent their lives dreaming of attending F&M but somehow they come up short (GPA not high enough, not enough ecs, etc.) and they were DENIED. He said DENIED at least 12 times in half an hour. Come on!! It was outstandingly pretentious. When we later got a post card from F&M encouraging my son to apply we seriously considered mailing it back with DENIED written across it in big red letters.</p>
<p>When we visited Rhodes College in Memphis, we also drove around the University of Memphis campus on our way out of town. I thought it looked fine, but my wife kept saying it was in the ghetto. She must have said “ghetto” about ten times. My son wasn’t even considering applying there—we just happened to be in town and thought we’d have a look—but I’m sure her reaction banished it forever from consideration.</p>
<p>“Last night, while laying in bed, I realized the smell could have been sauerkraut.” </p>
<p>Thanks for sparing us the specifics of what it was that made you to think about the smell of sauerkraut.</p>
<p>nursekay: there are people who “spent their lives dreaming of attending F&M”? great school but… really?<br>
and given their ED acceptance rate and love of full pay kids they “DENIED” them…really?</p>
<p>Yea, would have turned me off to the school too!! Now I know why when I mentioned it to our guidance counselor she said “great school, but not a fit for your daughter”…</p>
<p>I kept notes of the tours this year. Here is a summary, Keep in mind she is from the northeast, hard-working but somewhat sheltered and preppy. Fairly conservative and at times seems shallow, but only because she loves high fashion (a bit of a dichotomy as she is extremely bright and into sports too)</p>
<p>UVA- Was high on her list before arriving. Was fairly high still until we saw 7 other schools and it is now near bottom. Reasons: Although beautiful campus and town, the dorms were old, limited food choices, and less than inticing informations session. Positive: Seemed to have good professor-student ratio and relationships</p>
<p>James Madison-Safety School. Now off the list entirely. Very friendly, amazing food choices, interested professors and beautiful Shenondoah area, she was put off by some of the ugly buildings and lack of school spirit. She could not see herself there. Didn’t help that the female tour guide was show PDA with another girl after the tour. The guide also mentioned the gay-lesbian affiliation which okay for others, didn’t make our soon to be college freshman comfortable. I have friends who graduated from that school and are wonderful, well-rounded folks.</p>
<p>UNC- Loved it, but it was too large and too many local/North Carolina students. Felt she would get lost in the shuffle. IT is still a consideration but not as high on the list.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt-First choice before and after the tour. The have a “Freshman Experience” whereby all the freshman live in a brand new $15.6M addition to the campus. These ‘houses’ have a full time professor living in them, much like the old universities in England and Harvard where they encourage debate and interaction. Liked the town, campus, course offerings and reputation. She has applied ED to Vandy. Awaiting a response. She is familiar with Nashville as had relatives living there at one time. </p>
<p>Northwestern- On the list. Mother went there. Liked the campus, knows the academics are solid and diverse student body. Likes having a big city nearby. Medium size, and has a diverse film plus heavy engineering and science side. Good mix. I think the kids seem too odd or entitled. Went there for summer school and did not like it and never felt comfortable. Again, know your child/student’s personality if you cannot make a campus tour. </p>
<p>William and Mary–Was not high on the list to start, but was a very close second to Vandy after the visit. Amazingly informative tour guide, tons of traditions on campus, small, few distractions (but Virginia Beach and Richmond are nearby for diversion) and more serious vibe. Since she will be a science pre-med I think she liked to subdued nature and great reputation as a “public” ivy. I was impressed, and think it is a great fit if you are a more serious student who is intimidated by large universities. Beautiful campus and we even were there on a rainy cold day. </p>
<p>Wake Forest- Okay stayed on the list. A bit too suburban, but I have friends who went there who recieved a great education and loved it. A bit too homogenous: Most are wealthy and white.</p>
<p>Duke- Loved the campus. The students seemed very competitive and the atmosphere more southern than even Vandy (although she likes the southern vibe). I have meet a few Duke grads and they all seemed uptight and odd, but most are doing well in life (I know this is based on my limited experience)</p>
<p>Brown- Too quirky. Great for more liberal, alternative students. Very open and free policies on campus. Safety a concern</p>
<p>Miami of Ohio-Lovely campus. A bit removed. More well-rounded students than other schools. Have family and friends who have graduated. All happy and successful thus far. Still high on the list. </p>
<p>Hope this helps. Love reading other’s viewpoints</p>
<p>North2South: Hey, I get your DD. My DD loves fashion, too, within reason (budget could not sustain it most of the time.) She isn’t shallow – her life’s work is fighting the death penalty and trying to bring about prison reform. She went to college in NYC. She is in Atlanta now but wants to come back for law school. I tease her: “Too much Sex and the City.” </p>
<p>However, she did find work in a clothing boutique in Atlanta. Haha.</p>
<p>Colleges that my D decided not to apply after visiting:</p>
<p>Ithaca - didn’t even want to get out of the car after a far drive. Didn’t like the looks of the campus and didn’t feel connected on the tour.
Emerson - liked the campus but got turned off when they told her she didn’t have to take any math classes based on her SAT score.
St. Joseph’s in Phil. - liked campus but not neighborhood, too many religion classes but they are in the midst of revamping their requirements. Was a safety anyway.
Boston University - didn’t like the location of the campus in Boston. Not enough of a campus feel for her.
Elon - beautiful campus, but didn’t like the remote area. </p>
<p>Schools with the best campus visit for her (where the visit made her want to go there)
Tulane
UMiami</p>
<p>NORTH2SOUTH-sounds like you have the female version of my S! We looked at some of the same schools as you and my S also fell madly in love with Vandy and applied ED last fall (is a VERY happy freshman now). Best of luck to your daughter. Vandy is a very special place and the “Commons experience” is fabulous.</p>
<p>north2south: you’re absolutely right; you’ve got to know your kid and more importantly, they have to know themselves. My son, who would like to become a physician/scientist in neuroscience, loves Brown and has Northwestern on his list (we have yet to visit. he’s a junior). But, after reading about and researching Vandy and Emory, he has no desire to even see them. Too conversative politically and socially, too much party/social/frat scene (he’s not a follower-- more the quirky, independent thinker type that gravitates to brown, wesleyan), too “dress-up”, too preppy. </p>
<p>What I think is most special about college-level education in this country is that the kids have a myriad of choices, and each school really does have its own ethos. There are places for everyone, all distinctive so that the student can be a fit for the school and vice versa. The trick, of course, is finding the perfect, or least “right,” fit.</p>