<p>RISD- couldn’t be bothered to look up from what she was doing to give us any information; mumbled that we could look around. Very unimpressed with senior student projects/art. Was hoping this was going to be it; but crossed off the list.
Brown- people were helpful and informative.</p>
<p>DeanJ–I’m sorry.</p>
<p>DH and I visited Skidmore without either of our kids because we were in the area. Decided D1 wouldn’t like it. We went on to visit 16 other colleges, she applied to 11, including Skidmore (without a tour or interview), got accepted and at this point, it’s her top choice. Go figure.</p>
<p>“That’s funny about the negative reactions to Tufts. Both of my daughters felt the same way about the campus vibe, and this is 13 yr apart!”</p>
<p>My D felt the same way about Tufts, and it really broke my heart. We are a Tufts legacy family and arranged for a special tour of the campus for her. I was hoping that she would fall in love with it. Instead, she said, “no way.” Oh, well. She ended up making my undergraduate alma mater her first choice and was accepted ED. We visited that campus simply so she could see where I attended college. Funny how these things go.</p>
<p>Quinnipiac - the assist Dean running the info session was like a parody of a bad used-car salesman. Kept asking himself questions, then answering them, following his answer with “It’s just that easy!” I’ve been to at least 15 info sessions between my 2 kids, and Quinnipiac’s was the worst. </p>
<p>(Whose info sessions were the best? Off the top of my head I have positive memories of UConn, Providence and Elon. Elon has hands-down the best admissions video/DVD I’ve seen.). </p>
<p>Weird thing we noticed at Marist. While waiting for the info session to start, they had a lovely slide show. Lots of pictures of kids rowing on the Hudson, walking, eating, playing sports, hanging out… not a single photo taken in a classroom or lab. None of the traditional photos of a professor leading a discussion or standing near a white/blackboard, none of kids with goggles pouring things into test tubes. It kind of turned me off, it made it seem like they assumed we didn’t think academics were important.</p>
<p>(I’m a student but) UVa–too big, too preprofessional, and too many kids involved in way to many clubs. For some reason, that always turns me off and strikes me as less compelling than schools where everyone has their one club (Mock Trial, crew, theater, whatever) that they love and will defend to the death.</p>
<p>ClarkAlum - if it makes you feel any better, we saw a bunch of schools with S1, and the ONLY one that elicited a “love at first sight” reaction was Tufts. It was high on his list anyway because of their IR department, but I have to admit there was nothing special about the campus or info session that stood out to me. Something just clicked as soon as we arrived. We def. liked the fact that all the kids looked different – there was no overwhelming ‘type.’ It also didn’t hurt that several friendly students offered directions/assistance without being asked.</p>
<p>Neither S applied to our own alma mater despite both parents being alums-- and I was sort of relieved, to tell the truth!</p>
<p>University of Richmond–I dragged my daughter there because on paper it was a really good fit. She hated it. One of the reasons was the architecture. They are building alot on campus, and the buildings are rather ornate. Kind of reminded her of a Harry Potter movie. To me, it was like they were trying to impress people. I liked the school when we were there, but now I agree with her.</p>
<p><a href=“Whose%20info%20sessions%20were%20the%20best?%20Off%20the%20top%20of%20my%20head%20I%20have%20positive%20memories%20of%20UConn,%20Providence%20and%20Elon.%20Elon%20has%20hands-down%20the%20best%20admissions%20video/DVD%20I’ve%20seen.”>quote=Lafalum84</a>
[/quote]
Yes! I completely agree about Elon’s video. It made me cry. (And I was gonna agree with you on that before I saw it was you who said it. 
)</p>
<p>
I dragged my Son. Same thing; it looked like a perfect fit on paper. Son was rather unimpressed and dissed the architecture, too. He ended up applying anyway because it’s a good ROTC program and I made it my pick for for the “Mom gets to choose one school.”</p>
<p>JUNIATA!!!
My D has a medical disability. We met with their “disability” contact, what a b----!!! She actually told my D she did not have time for all these people with disabilities. She also told my D she did not think that my D could handle college!!! She proceeded to make negative comments about community college classes (my D took in HS) and students with GEDs who think they can handle Juanita. It is Juanita for crying out loud. My D was surprised that I didn’t reach out and choke her. Not worth the jail time.
My D is finishing her BA in May and heads off to Harvard Med PhD in the fall</p>
<p>Lafalum, DougBetsy: we have seen that video twice; once at local reception and once at Elon; get this one; I cried both times!..and my daughter said to me when we visited, “Mom, if you’re going to cry again, please leave the room…”</p>
<p>Tufts. I took several girls one day and we were on campus for 15 minutes when they told me that it wasn’t for them. I then drove them over to BC. They all loved the atmosphere but most decided against applying due to the large number of core requirements. The next day we visited BU and Northeastern. The reactions were split, half like BU immediately and half preferred Northeastern. And then we looked at the publics - UMass, Uconn, UVM, and PSU. And I was surprised that they all liked at least two of the publics - different ones but almost every one in the group picked one public as one of their top choices. These are girls that have the stats to go selective schools.</p>
<p>This group quickly jumped into the debate of balance between academic merit, social life, and value. To be honest, I was surprised at their maturity and the depth of their discussion.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the Tufts thing. I’ve been to loads of these info sessions & tours and we also walk around on our own and accost stray students with questions, and eat at least one meal at the dining hall while on any campus. To be honest I cannot see what bugs my daughters so much about the place — it did not seem that much better or worse than a lot of other places we have visited. It was like a visceral reaction.</p>
<p>We had a fabulous info session for the engineering tour last yr and the WORST tour ever with the kid…</p>
<p>-the kid told us how the engineering dept didn’t have enough licenses and how hard it was to access the computer programs
-the problems with the housing dept
-problems with the printing costs
-the library was too noisey to study there</p>
<p>It so ruined it–
–that try as I may–our student took it of the list with a resounding NO WAY…even a yr later it will not go “back on the list”. On paper it looks great–in person, not so much.</p>
<p>That happened with Holy Cross too–the girl said “um” every other breath and within the first 3 minutes we thought–oh snap, this is going to be a long 45 minutes. Between that and Worchester…off the list it came…</p>
<p>Our kids’ biggest turn-offs are schools with an overwhelming vibe or type - preppy or fratty, too many expensive clothes or too much focus on sports. They prefer a mix. OTOH, we have a couple relatives who pretty much sought out those kinds of places. One said her top three priorities were a Conservative student body, an active Greek scene, and Division 1 sports. No mention of academics. Our kids found it odd, but to each his/her own.</p>
<p>D1 will start looking next year. Looking for good academics with a bit of a liberal, earthy crunchy feel. Northeast preferred.</p>
<p>Great thread! I do think there is something the college counselors who say, when they step foot on the campus, they will know if they like it or not. Boy was that true—at least for dislike.</p>
<p>My D also did not like Tufts. We noticed quite a bit of graffiti on the campus–it did not seem as well cared for as other metropolitan schools that we saw. And is a like a ghost town in the summer–we visited twice.</p>
<p>Harvard: She did not like how it was over run with tourists. She could not tell who were students and who were visitors. She was asked several times for directions while there! She felt if she was studying there outside on a nice day she would not get anything done because of everyone asking for directions! It just seemed chaotic to her and a bit stuffy.</p>
<p>Yale: She had a strong dislike for Yale that I still don’t understand. I think the campus is gorgeous, but she did not like how the city of New Haven ran through it.</p>
<p>She also did not like Columbia-campus was pretty but we largely saw kids sitting alone studying. In talking to several of them it sounded very competitive (not as collaborative) and singularly focused. Kids seemed stressed and pressured, not necessarily happy or content. My D was looking for the whole package–academics, ECs, sports, research, etc.</p>
<p>Lehigh–loved the campus but the blighted community around it made her feel insecure and it was a bit smaller than what she wanted. That school has one of the prettiest libraries–we also loved grounds.</p>
<p>Wake Forest: We toured on a Saturday morning till noon. Saw about 10 students on the entire campus! it was like a morgue and this was in early November. To her it just seemed too small and like a vacant ghost town when an away football game occured.</p>
<p>She loved Boston College, Cornell, Princeton, Dartmouth, Stanford, Duke and Vanderbilt. I was surprised that she liked Vandy given that she did not like Yale–city does sort of intersect the campus there and at Duke. Got accepted at all but 1 (waitlist). Now is choosing between Cornell and Duke.</p>
<p>forgot to add NYU–daughter did not like it as it did not have a “defined” campus. She is more of a country girl, but did love Penn, but ultimately did not apply there.</p>
<p>rodney, Lafalum, DougBetsy: I cried at the Elon video also. When the admissions person turned on the light, she asked if anyone needed a tissue.</p>
<p>Here are the items that the kids didn’t like about Tufts -</p>
<ol>
<li>No wireless - only around the student center - the comment was - so, you pay $50+K to go here and there is no wireless? </li>
<li>The visitor’s center was bustling but “hushed” - lots of activity but like a library.</li>
<li>Several students said that the social life revolves mainly around the arts, specifaclly concerts and plays. The comments from the peanut gallery - hey I like concerts and plays but not all the time.</li>
<li>The kids thast were with me enjoy sports - several students told them if they like sports they will hate Tufts. In fact, two very cute sporty looking guys said they were transferring. (that’s when the group of girls I was with decided it was time to leave!)</li>
<li>There was quite a bit of emphasis on the opportnity to have dinner with your “published and famous” professors on Sat evenings. Groans from my group.</li>
<li>Even though you can see Boston from the campus, most kids don’t go into town frequently. The question was “Why not?”</li>
</ol>
<p>“Harvard: She did not like how it was over run with tourists. She could not tell who were students and who were visitors. She was asked several times for directions while there! She felt if she was studying there outside on a nice day she would not get anything done because of everyone asking for directions!”</p>
<p>Ha – this is an example of the kind of data you CAN learn from a summertime visit. It’s like that all the time, and it can be annoying. When visitors asked the info session panel what we liked least about Harvard, this was the most common answer.</p>