<p>Brown was high on my S’s list, but he was turned off by the attitude of the tour guide and overall admissions office vibe of “we dont’ care if you’re here”
We both didn’t like Duke. Gorgeous campus, outstanding academics- but too spread out and too isolated (Durham, a city?)</p>
<p>As I recall, Brown admission office consisted of a big podium manned by some person that did not want to be there or seem not eager to help you in any way. No chairs or lounge to sit or places with shelfs for admission material you can browse and look over. Just about every school we went to, the admission offices were a lot more inviting. But their ED applications are up big this year.</p>
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<p>I think the last few posts demonstrate something that ought to be mentioned every 20 pages or so on this thread: first impressions can be wrong, and it an be particularly misleading to extrapolate the character of an institution from the impression given by a single tour guide or admissions rep on a single day. This is true whether the impressions are good or bad, of course.</p>
<p>Halopower: You should definately make the trip to U of Michigan. My son visited all the schools you did and wanted to look no further when he visited Michigan. Actually he visited twice once as a Sophomore and again as a Junior. We live far out of state. His list included U of Minn, U of IL, Purdue, Northwestern, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame.</p>
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[Quote: I think the last few posts demonstrate something that ought to be mentioned every 20 pages or so on this thread: first impressions can be wrong, and it an be particularly misleading to extrapolate the character of an institution from the impression given by a single tour guide or admissions rep on a single day. This is true whether the impressions are good or bad, of course.]
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<p>And it’s really, great, of course, when the admissions people capture and communicate the authentic flavor/culture of the school such that many current students and graduated students echoed my daughter’s perception of the school she finally and exclusively settled on.</p>
<p>Regarding Evanston- saw a bit of it and the Northwestern campus when son went for an awards ceremony for the Midwest Talent Search after 8th grade (had high SAT or ACT score), I can see why the student disliked it. It came off conservative to us, didn’t even consider it later. Coming to the midwest from CA she should have also checked out UW-Madison as well as U Michigan instead of spending so much time at those of the Indiana schools that are not in the same league- they must have Indiana ties.</p>
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<p>Seeing a college when it’s not in session is almost pointless, as we learned when we visited G’town several days apart. The facilities are one thing but the vibe from the students is very important, moreso than the buildings, I think.</p>
<p>Yeesh…no, I wouldn’t want to be driving from downtown to Chicago to Evanston, either.</p>
<p>UOP, University of the Pacific… We practically ran out Stockton and never looked back…</p>
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<p>littlefalls- if i do make a trip out to the midwest again, I’ll keep that in mind. Some of my distant family went to school in Ann Arbor and absolutely loved it.</p>
<p>Re: Post 888 and Virginia schools.
Older son went to UVa and was very happy there . It is a good one to keep on the list since you are a Virginia resident.
Re: Virginia Tech. Younger son is there. It does not “feel” huge even though it is a large school. As you note, the location is not for everyone. If your daughter wants a more urban school, this is probably not for her. However, in terms of a car being the only option for your daughter in Northern Virginia- there are definitely other options-Home Ride regularly runs buses to Northern Virginia and other parts of the state from campus, Roanoke airport has flights and there is an active ride board. Also, other kids with cars from all parts of Virginia are always going home and would probably welcome help with gas money. VT is obviously not for your daughter but other folks should not discount it because of concerns about transportation.</p>
<p>OK. We are snowed in here today. So, I spent some time going through this thread. </p>
<p>Very helpful, and very entertaining. “idiots and giggly dingbats”! Priceless quotes. How about “bumbling idiots and giggly dingbats” (better balance, don’t ya think? 
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<p>Anyway back to the serious matter. My S2, HS jr, is NOT interested in campus visit at all, so this vicarious tour is enormously helpful. Don’t worry, I am not so naive as to take other people’s first impression as a main factor for our decision. However, when certain things are repeated over and over again by many people, it becomes a pretty meaningful data point, as in “too fratty” phrase used for a couple of colleges by many posters. Something like this very meaningful since this factor is an important one for us. </p>
<p>Though I don’t have my own campus tour data to add, I have one piece of additional data source for good parents here to consider.</p>
<p>There is a web site. CC does not allow my to share their competitor’s web site. It’s a site that students (current and graduates) provide their review on the schools. Of course, this is not a scientific research. Of course, you are going to see a lot comments from disgruntled students who are not happy for whatever reason. However, if you know how to “tease” the data apart, this also becomes a very meaningful data source. </p>
<p>I especially check the negative comments to see whether there is a school specific “theme”. (just random negative comments: I ignore). If there is a repeated theme, it comes a warning sign. For instance, when I saw that overwhelming majority of the negative comments on a certain Ivy school was all about corrupt (their word, repeated over and over again), uncaring, uncooperative, and incompetent school administration, it tells me something. In another example, overwhelming majority of the complaints from out of state students were how the 95% students are coming from small towns in that state with very very insular and conservative views of the world, that becomes an interesting data point (my son was considering it on its strength and reputation of the ROTC program: it’s off the list now). Interestingly enough, in another well known state school where the % of the OOS is high, there was no complaint about the diversity issue. Rather, the main theme was “overly liberal” atmosphere where conservative students were not comfortable coming out the closet, sort of. </p>
<p>So, used judiciously, I think this type of data source is also quite helpful and gives you additional food for thought that cannot be obtained in a 1/2 day campus tour. Just doing my part not to be just a moocher ;)</p>
<p>Elon - seemed too Greek to D
Muhlenberg - just something about the vibe there didn’t seem the right fit. Guide talking about her small private high school (D could not relate at all) probably didn’t help.
Wheaton - I crossed it off when the guide mentioned they don’t have a health center or even a nurse on campus.</p>
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<p>@hyeonjlee: I agree completely. Careful use of all available information may be helpful. </p>
<p>What a school chooses to highlight in information sessions may also be informative. My pet peeve concerns the percentages of graduates who get into law school or medical school. It is a legitimate point to make once. Any more than that and it makes me wonder what the school’s mission is. </p>
<p>Several people have criticized Brown. The admissions office was certainly overwhelmed when we visited, so I can see why people sensed indifference, but one should not lose sight of the quality of the school. D is interested in computer science, which makes Brown a desirable choice. Any department that puts out students like Randy Pausch deserves a second look.</p>
<p>Coase, I second your comments re Brown. The Admissions Office needs a PR rework. It does not do justice to the opportunities and excellence that characterize a Brown education. My D is in her second year there and could not love it more, except for the fact that she is stranded in Providence at the moment due to snow. I’m seriously thinking of contacting the Admissions Director to see if anything can be done to make the info sessions more accurately reflect the Brown experience.</p>
<p>I’m amazed by how many kids seem fixated on the architecture. You’re supposed to be inside the buildings, studying, not outside looking at them. Will they later turn down a job offer because the company is headquartered in a nondescript building?</p>
<p>Saw this thread in the new posts even if I’m a still a student (senior at Union College) I felt I’d add:</p>
<p>Washington & Jefferson: Didn’t know much about it, prep school college adviser suggested it as a safety…just another check box on the common app. Turns out they gave me a huge academic scholarship package with the option to increase it with an interview. Had to go check it out as I would have been able to go to a small LAC for barely more than UConn in-state tuition.</p>
<p>Showed up for the overnight, had a great full-service dinner with the other prospectives…then quickly found the school to be incredibly insular and the students uninspiring. Everyone there seemed to be from western PA, eastern OH, Kentucky or western NY. Not my ideal. Incredibly lame social atmosphere for a Friday night. Nasty dorms. Brand new McMansion frat houses. Bizarre little city outside of Pittsburgh. Not a particularly nice campus. A little too much inflated ego for what the school was.</p>
<p>My parents joke about how they knew I didn’t like it the morning after: they asked if I wanted to walk around and see some of the campus and city. I just wanted to get in the car and go home.</p>
<p>I also disliked McGill and UVM (though Burlington was awesome) pretty quickly when I visited.</p>
<p>TELL me about it! Sigh. This seems to be my daughter’s single most important factor when looking at schools. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of colleges in CA with the type of architecture my daughter likes.</p>
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<p>Belleluna wrote:</p>
<p>I’m amazed by how many kids seem fixated on the architecture. You’re supposed to be inside the buildings, studying, not outside looking at them. Will they later turn down a job offer because the company is headquartered in a nondescript building?</p>
<p>Hate to but into you parents’ thread but I had to share that I went to SuperCamp at Wake Forest a few years ago. The dorms were incredibly small and no one in the town could give directions–for all they knew the college had gotten up and left. It didn’t leave a good impression at a college fair we went to when I explained that because they didn’t accept college credit taken in high school many students at my school would be hard-pressed to apply and they replied by saying “we would consider other factors such as the instructor’s publishing record and institutions of education.” </p>
<p>My dad is an alumnus of ECU and my brother is a current student. The entire city seems to be only focused on the school. In the end, it seems they have unchallenging courses, terrible food, small/odd dorms, but many new dorms and equipment.</p>
<p>I made a quick visit to the department of philosophy at UNC and I’ve made several visits to NCSU but every time–and I mean everytime–I go to either campus it’s storming, not raining, storming. Nonetheless, I was impressed by all of the new technology NCSU has and the feel of UNC.</p>
<p>But, you have to admit, the campus is very pretty. Looks like it belongs on the East coast rather than in Stockton. My D was accepted there, but I’m afraid that the actual city is a turn-off to her. Too bad, because I think this is a little jewel of a campus.</p>
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<p>Collegeproject wrote:</p>
<p>Posts: 25 UOP, University of the Pacific… We practically ran out Stockton and never looked back…</p>
<p>Current student= me. I went to University of Portland, and seriously was suffocated by the Catholicism. I go to a catholic high school, but it was too much. Everyone was wearing Hollister, and it wasn’t diverse. The location of campus sucks, its in a kinda crappy part of town, however its a bus ride to the city, but not a hop away, like a half an hour by bus. The biology professor I listened to really turned me off because he said “I’m not here to focus on my personal research, it takes a back seat to my teaching”. I want to spend a lot of time doing undergrad research. So that was my visit.</p>