<p>^sorry,meant to write “too conservative”. Also forgot to add that he’s looking for more socio-economic and ethnic diversity than can be found on the Vandy or Emory campus.</p>
<p>^^May want to check out William & Mary. Southern, public version of Brown.</p>
<p>RenaissanceMom: And getting the school to agree!!</p>
<p>University of Cincinnati–is definitely on son’s list for many reasons, but if we were to judge just on the campus tour, it might be on shaky ground.</p>
<p>My main peeve is the lack of color on campus. There are many fantastic new buildings, but most of them are brown brick, glass, and battleship gray metal…inside and out. (Except for the Conservatory and Design/Art/Architecture colleges, which of course have their own art, posters, & decorations.) We toured it in the summer, and I can’t imagine what it’s like in the depths of winter. Just not very inviting.</p>
<p>I’ve been to campuses that had banners hanging in their atriums–either school colors, or flags, or artsy colorful things–and the effect is cheerful and spirited. I love UC (H and I both alums) and I think I’ll start an interior decoration committee or something. :)</p>
<p>Hey Mythmom- My D is into prison reform too. What did your D major in, if I may ask?</p>
<p>I don’t like CMU largely because of the STEM focus, but if I were into STEM or computer science, based on the visit alone I would definitely attend. The Student Center is F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C. It’s huge, colorful, open, clean, and active, with cafes, dining facilities, a game room, fitness facilities, gathering places, hang out spots, study spaces, the book store, everything a student needs (like a bank and the post office), and a great view of campus. The facilities, especially for engineering and the arts, were out of this world. The dorms could have been better - a lot better in my eyes, but for someone who is not so opposed to off campus housing, not too bad - but the campus is top notch.</p>
<p>Hi oceansaway!!! She majored in American Studies, with a concentration in Law and Literature. It was a wonderful major for her. She loved the interdisciplinary aspects of it, and wrote her thesis on lynching and vigilante justice.</p>
<p>Thanks mythmom- My D is considering American Studies too! I’ll pass on your info.</p>
<p>I’m in the midst of college apps, but I started visiting colleges during the summer of Sophomore year.</p>
<p>I didn’t visit a ton of schools, but I crossed Sweet Briar College off my list. It had the tight knit community I wanted, a good core curriculum, and all the things I was looking for, but it was TOO small and it was really rural. It was about an hour and a half from the small airport needed to take to the main airport, and I decided that an all girl’s school wouldn’t be for me. It seemed like an interesting community, and everyone was warm and friendly, but I wouldn’t be able to deal with the complications in getting home from there.</p>
<p>Renaissancemom - your son might really enjoy Rice - ;)</p>
<p>S crossed off UC Santa Cruz the minute we arrived there. (I kept my opinions to myself because I had been there previously and didn’t think he would like it.) But, because he wants to attend a UC and they have a great program for him there, he added UC Santa Cruz back on his list and said he’d go. I would like him to visit again if he does get accepted. </p>
<p>He liked all the other UC’s we visited, especially UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara, but crossed off UC Merced right away.</p>
<p>I’m a prospective student, not a parent, but I’ll share my (possibly irrational) reasons for immediately discounting schools.</p>
<p>Columbia: Off the list after much consideration. Main (only) factor is that I have lived in NYC my entire life, only about 30 blocks from Columbia and think it is a little close to home. Also not so sure I really like the idea of going to college in a big city. Might still apply because of legacy, but definitely not one of my top choices. </p>
<p>Williams: Took off immediately, didn’t even want to stay for the whole info session. Way way way too rural and isolated for me. It might have just been because it was a bleak winter day, but the whole campus just seemed dead and shabby. Decided I liked Amherst/Dartmouth better.</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins: Liked the campus, but it seemed much too competitive and much too focused on science/pre-med which I have no interest in.</p>
<p>Princeton: Didn’t like the whole eating clubs thing. Was the only school that actually seemed noticeably pretentious and overly preppy to me. The suburban locale was also a bit of a letdown. </p>
<p>Cornell: Campus seemed way too big and spread out and not all that walkable. Also the town seemed pretty dumpy and lame. Social scene was a little frat heavy for me.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt: Seemed genuinely too Southern. What I mean by that is a little hard to describe, but I just genuinely felt like I didn’t really fit in coming from the Northeast. Decided I liked Duke much better and didn’t need both.</p>
<p>Schools I was very pleasantly surprised by:</p>
<p>UPenn: Came in with a bias against for some reason, but absolutely loved the campus, loved the location, loved everything about it. Went from being last on my list to about 3rd.</p>
<p>Georgetown: Was very pleasantly surprised by the campus/surrounding area. Seemed like a great size and a great environment and also the idea of strong school spirit appealed to me.</p>
<p>I applied ED to Brown. I spent six weeks there this summer and really felt at home on the campus. I love the academic freedom. It’s a beautiful well designed campus, has “the happiest student body in America,” is not a competitive pressure cooker but still fosters intellectual spirit, and also seemed the perfect balance between big city and middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>If Brown doesn’t work out, my top choices are UPenn, Duke, Yale (bit of a reach), and Northwestern.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who responded to my post; i’ll have my son check out the schools you mentioned. Jackpot, your voice & considerations sound a lot like my son’s (in fact, he’s also a student at a NYC high school). He’s experienced summer school at Brown and Columbia. Absolutely loved Brown; liked Columbia too but like you, it may in the end be a little too close to home. Visited JHU this summer, and while he’ll be a science major and is really attracted to the research opportunities, he’s concerned about the pressure-cooker reputation. He’ll have to do some due diligence w/ that issue. Your other top choices, Penn, Duke, Northwestern are on his list to visit (he’s junior so his list at this point is a “first-look” and not a definitive application list.) He also wants to visit Cornell and some of the LACs you mentioned. It will be interesting to see what makes his ultimate list. As a parent, it’s a fascinating process to watch. Indeed, it was really interesting for me to read your post for the same reason. BTW, my husband, and all of his college friends, truly loved Brown for all the characteristics which attract you. Good luck w/ your ED app.</p>
<p>And mythmom ^: ain’t that the truth!!!</p>
<p>Can’t say I crossed this one off the list, but my jaw dropped today on a college visit when we the tour guide was talking to us (a group) in the lobby area of a dorm and I glanced over to the wall where a very large bulletin board had “facts” about why sex was a good thing!!! </p>
<p>Things like “if you are experiencing mild depression sex can help you feel better”, “sex is scientifically proven to reduce stress” etc. These did NOT appear to be there as a joke, just presenting the facts!!! Yikes! I looked around our group a bit and I think I saw another parent or two with their mouth open!</p>
<p>Hm. I’m a renegade from the sixties. ^^^^^^ Sounds tame to me.</p>
<p>Much as I wish I had a Scandinavian-style open and progressive mind, that kind of thing still bothers me.</p>
<p>petzia…just curious as an alum, what was it about UCSC that turned off your boy?</p>
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<p>I guess I don’t see the problem here (must be a generation gap!). I was at the Claremont Consortium and there were an obnoxious number of signs advertising an event about the female orgasm.</p>
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<p>mantori, you always crack me up.</p>
<p>So tame compared with our stuff which were slogans not just notices. My favorite was: Girls say yes to boys who say no.</p>
<p>But there were graphic ones, certainly.</p>
<p>But as will I happen, I was wild and my kids are nice and tame and “appropriate” to the dismay of their grandmother. Seems like I’m never going to get that punishment and suffering she promised me.</p>
<p>Oh well.</p>