<p>Just toured Harvard yesterday. The vibe we got was the place felt more like a tourist attraction than a school.</p>
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<p>Nope, itâs really about squirrels. You can tell a lot about a campus by the quantity, color, fluffiness, and demeanor of its squirrels, and the quality of squirrel-human relations.</p>
<p>This sounds like a joke, but itâs not.</p>
<p>Seriously? Could you give me an example of a type of squirrel observation and what I could infer from it? I know you said this isnât a joke, but I do sorta feel my leg being pulled⊠:)</p>
<p>Yale. New Haven is a dump and the university itself is too big with crumbling architecture. Didnât feel at home at all.</p>
<p>University of Toronto has about 70% brown squirrels and about 30% black squirrels. They seem to be very territorial and donât mix much.</p>
<p>Chardo, I was in Boston yesterday too. Itâs tourist season. The whole place feels like a tourist attraction, even streets that H walked down every day for 15 years to get to his office were full of tourists, trolley/bus/duckboat tours, etc. Iâve no doubt Harvard felt that way because it IS a tourist attraction - itâs HARVARD, people want to see it. That said, I bet it feels a lot different on a weekday in November when classes are in session than on a Saturday in July.</p>
<p>(edit - yes, I know, Harvard is in Cambridge, not Boston. Iâve lived here 20+ years and know that Cambridge is just the name for Boston on the other side of the river as far as tourists are concerned though!)</p>
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I would be surprised and disapppointed if a university that wants me enough to possibly offer me a full-tuition scholarship (meaning that they would probably accept me, right?) wouldnât also invest a couple hundred dollars in a complimentary plane ticket.</p>
<p>Crossed a few more off of the list (fortunately, we also found some that my daughter likesâI was beginning to despair).</p>
<p>Western Washington University: Beautiful area. Didnât see too much of Bellingham, but what we saw wasnât impressive in terms of activities. Nearest city is Vancouver, BC, though with the border crossing it might take as long as getting to Seattle, 90 miles away. Recreational activities for students seem to consist of outdoor activities and not much else. </p>
<p>The newer buildings on campus are nice, with open space and large windows. Older buildings, including the dorms and a building where one of my daughterâs possible majors is taught, were dark and felt cramped. Looks like it could get pretty depressing in January after four weeks of clouds and rain.</p>
<p>Academics didnât feel terribly rigorous. This was the only school that got a âlameâ adjective from my daughter. I donât think that they were actually below that of other schools weâve seen, and I suspect that she was looking for something not to like about WWU. Somebody who really loves outdoor activities and doesnât mind the rainy spells might find this campus to be heaven on Earth.</p>
<p>Lewis & Clark College: A gorgeous campus, with lots of trees, reminiscent of UC Santa Cruz. Our overall impression was influenced by the tour guide. She was rather brusque, and seemed to be just going through the motions. To be fair, it was her third tour of the day, but I did also get a strong sense of arrogance. Outdoor activities were a prominent point of discussion, both during the tour and information session. The tour guide even said that if you donât like the outdoors you shouldnât go there. My daughter likes the outdoors, but it isnât the be-all and end-all of her existence, and so she probably wonât apply.</p>
<p>University of Washington: We just did an informal walk-through of campus. Many of the buildings are a beautiful gothic style. The campus seems to have designed on a monumental scale, as if designed to make you feel small. My daughter said that she felt like Alice after eating from one side of the mushroom. Still, she kind of liked the campus. Itâs off the list only because they donât take part in the Western Undergraduate Exchange program, and have almost no scholarships for which non-residents qualify. It certainly doesnât feel like anything worth going to on a full-pay basis.</p>
<p>University of Oregon: They do take part in WUE, but specifically exclude our state, though there are scholarships for which non-residents can qualify. It was on our route, and so I decided to tour it to see if it was worth applying to. On the tour, however, it just seemed very generic. Nothing worth going out-of-state for.</p>
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Even when there are hundreds of people competing for the same scholarship, and therefore the cost of all the complementary plane tickets might easily exceed the amount of the scholarship itself?</p>
<p>But aside from that, I find this way of looking at it puzzling. Thereâs certainly no shame in asking a university to give you some money to help you attend (as the father of a kid getting about two-thirds of his way paid, I would be a hypocrite to say otherwise). But isnât there something just a little over the top about asking the university to pay you to come ask them for money? Especially in the case of a merit scholarship?</p>
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St Bonaventure has black squirrels and grey squirrels, and they were running about everywhere during our tour. We also saw 2 woodchucks playing on the lawn about 30 feet from us. They didnât seem disturbed by our presence. Fully expected to see deer wandering through at any moment. It really does feel like a place set down in the middle of sherwood forest.</p>
<p>If you are applying for the scholarship, I see no reason that the school should pay for related expenses. But, if your picked to be a finalist, and selection requires an on-campus interview, IMO, the scholarship fund should pay for the plane ticket and related expenses.</p>
<p>Itâs a shame that this thread changed from simple what kids or parents liked or didnât like about a college to mini-reviews of lotâs and lotâs of colleges. Itâs so nice to be able to get the reviews in one place - [CampusVibe</a> - Recent College Videos, Photos, and Visit Reports](<a href=âhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/]CampusVibeâ>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/) and I would like to really encourage everyone to post reviews on that forum, or maybe just double post here and there.</p>
<p>S just had his second cross-off.</p>
<p>The info session officer spent the first half hour talking about all the activities they do for the surrounding community, they help with this, they help with that, they do their taxes,⊠very nice of them Iâm sure, but I felt like we accidentally stumbled into a church outreach group or something. The student assistant was wearing pearls, definitely not Sâs league. They spent a lot of time talking about how the 25% of the student body who were D1 athletes got all their work done. Son does not currently hang out, or get along well, with the contingent at his school who are future D1 athletes.</p>
<p>It seemed like it might be a great place for someone who wanted it, but he wasnât buying what they were selling. He wouldnât let us go on the tour. Too bad, looked like they had a nice campus.</p>
<p>At least we hit a farmerâs market on the way out of town.</p>
<p>His first cross-off he was completely unable to articulate why, and neither were we. This time we understood.</p>
<p>^^^ can you share the name of the school?</p>
<p>⊠think toothpasteâŠ
Just remembered, it started out wrong from the outset because evidently the school address doesnât get you to the right place using a GPS, and the substitute address they gave didnât work perfectly for us, made a wrong turn somehow. Drove there from Cortland on these piddly little country roads the whole way, that together with getting a bit lost to the point where we were nearly late for the info session made it seem really isolated/remote to start with.</p>
<p>It was the last stop on a W. NY tour, and sad to say no place really seemed to be calling his name, except maybe the one where he probably wouldnât get in. He didnât see himself at the one I liked most for him, and the one he liked most would have been the least attractive option to me. Heâs visited seven colleges so far, and that last stop was the only one he actually made us leave.</p>
<p>Snapdragonfly, between two kids, I think weâve visited every school on your list. OU was pretty amazing. Oklahoma City U gives a lot of merit aid - it would have cost less to send Son there than to SFA.</p>
<p>I talked to a mom who had a disasterous tour at SFA. It was pouring down rain and the security officer wouldnât let them park on campus because her insurance card had expired (she had insurance, but the card she had with her was not current.) Iâve never heard of campus security checking your insurance card. Anyway, little things can really make a difference with respect to your impressions of a school.</p>
<p>The most depressing part of UNT are those dorms that are way on the other side of 35.</p>
<p>UCSB (U.C. Santa Barbara):</p>
<p>Iâm currently attending UCSB and I absolutely love it. The faculty are wonderful and extremely helpful and kind; the school also is conducting leading research; and the surrounding area is truly a tropical paradise. I love it here!</p>
<p><em>However</em> The drinking and drug culture here is much worse than you might believe. According to our school paper, the Daily Nexus, âLast spring, 1,000 UCSB students took a survey responding to questions about using intoxicants. According to the study, 79.4 percent had consumed alcohol in the past month. 13.5 percent had tried cocaine, 20.6 percent had used prescription drugs that they were not prescribed and 2.5 percent had tried opiates.â (Iâd recommend reading the full article: [Under</a> The Influence: Alcohol and Drugs-The Daily Nexus](<a href=âhttp://www.dailynexus.com/2010-05-10/influence-alcohol-drugs-feature/]Underâ>Under The Influence: Alcohol and Drugs | The Daily Nexus) And while youâre at Daily Nexusâ website check out the dominance of drinking/sex/drug related articles throughout the issues). And the marijuana use is ridiculous as wellâŠitâs as easy to access as alcohol. Please note that in my opinion these statistics are not just students trying alcohol/drugs out once but they are regularly using these substances. Which means that if you send your child here, they will be presented with endless opportunities to try and eventually become addicted to drugs and alcohol. </p>
<p>Now before all UCSB alumni/current students jump on my back, I will say that itâs possible to get through this school without partying. But with statistics like the ones we have, just realize that it wonât be the norm. I donât know why the administration hasnât made much stronger efforts to change this atmosphere and culture of partying. Our reputation of being a âparty schoolâ is far-reaching and unfortunate given the faculty, level of research, and other wonderful opportunities here. There are just far more interesting things to be discussing, thinking about, and achieving than partying all day and all night.</p>
<p>Another problem to note is the sixties âfree loveâ-type of culture. Rarely are relationships cultivated in a meaningful way. Rather there is a predominate hook-up-at-the-party or for-the-weekend expectation among the students. I understand that this happens at many colleges, but my point is that at UCSB it is far beyond excessive. </p>
<p>Bottom line: If you send your child to UCSB, they will become a well-educated young man or woman who will be addicted to alcohol and/or drugs and unable to thrive in a traditional relationship.</p>
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Yes, because if the university canât afford to transport all the finalists, then they donât need to name so many finalists.</p>
<p>I see the situation from a different angle than you: Iâm not asking the university for money, rather, the university is offering to give me money because they want me to attend. (Need-based financial aid would be me asking. Merit-based, IMO, is the opposite.) If they want to give me money, they shouldnât be putting financial barriers in front of that moneyâmeritorious barriers, certainly, but paying money for the chance to get money that is supposedly a gift seems backward to me.</p>
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But they donât want to give you money, not yet. Theyâve only said that you are one of a large group of people they may want to give money to. </p>
<p>Anyway, itâs up to the university how many finalists they name and what conditions they set for pursuing the scholarship. No merit aid is an entitlement. Itâs a gift, even if the recipients are chosen for their achievements. In that sense, I think the term âmerit aidâ is misleading and really should be retired; âscholarshipâ is better, because it has more of a connotation of something that is awarded and accepted, rather than earned.</p>
<p>But I realize I am swimming somewhat against the CC tide in taking this view.</p>
<p>nightchef, itâs not a matter of entitlement, it just seems like horrible PR. The kids the school is inviting for the merit scholarship are presumably its top applicants. If these kids cough up for a plane ticket and then donât get the scholarship, what is the chance that they will attend anyway? --probably zero. Itâs an anti-recruitment strategy. Either the school could invite fewer students, or it could make its decision on the basis of paper applications without a personal interview.</p>
<p>UVA has a very, very selective full-ride Jefferson Scholarship program. Finalists must come for a weekend of interviews, dinner with the donors, and so on. Their whole weekend is paid for. Most of them donât get the scholarship but quite a few end up attending UVA anyhow because they have had a good experience.</p>