Colleges you/child crossed off the list after visiting

Parents Forum
1521

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Certainly, the university can do whatever they like with their money. I, in turn, can do whatever I like in choosing where to attend, assuming that I am admitted. It’s also a logical assumption that a university would like all of its finalists to attend, with or without a financial enticement–jingle has it right, not paying for transportation is a great anti-recruitment strategy. It would work perfectly on me; unless a school was already my first choice, I would not look favorably upon a school that says, in effect, “We might want to give you money, but you’re not that important, since we’re not willing to spend some money upfront to interview you.”</p>

1522

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I kind of think I see where you are coming from - it’s kind of like you are interviewing for a job position with a company. You have earned the qualifications to be considered for the position, and your “job” would be to be a good student and a good ambassador for the school, improving their reputation by having and getting good grades and participating in and leading activities. I would imagine schools sometimes pay to fly in athletes they are recruiting?</p>

1 Like
1523

<p>Only D-1 athletes. D-3 get zip. Some companies pay to fly out for interviews some don’t. You have to decide which is worth spending money on. If a school is only giving out 10 scholies to 20 prospects maybe you fly them all in. But if it’s 200 people for 50 scholies–that’s a lot of money. Quick way to find out who is really interested or who just wants a free trip.</p>

1524

<p>D’s college has a large “Fellows” program, which actually encompasses a wide number of honors programs, which come with a variety of benefits including scholarships of up to $5k and money for study abroad. Students apply for the program, the applications are winnowed down to finalists, then the finalists come to the college for a weekend of interviews and activities. The college does not pay for the students’ transportation, because there are a couple hundred kids who come for this weekend.</p>

1525

<p>“If a school is only giving out 10 scholies to 20 prospects maybe you fly them all in. But if it’s 200 people for 50 scholies–that’s a lot of money.”</p>

<p>That was my point. SLU invited 500 students to fly to St. Louis to interview for 20 scholarships, but the students had to pay their own way!</p>

1526

<p>I’m a student, not a parent, but nonetheless, I hated:</p>

<p>Vanderbilt - As a MNPS student from Pre-K-12, I got dragged to Vanderbilt far more often than I would ever like to admit. Going on an official tour didn’t change my first impression of blah. Vandy did nothing for me…and it was just way too close to home (I didn’t even have to get on the interstate to get there)!</p>

<p>Middle Tennessee State - Stuck in a god awful 1970s time warp. Total commuter school (which, admittedly, I already knew). I ended up being one of only a few people from my high school that chose to attend elsewhere.</p>

<p>UT-Knoxville - Campus? Don’t even start, hahaha I also just got the overwhelming feeling that the unofficial motto was “Go Greek, or Go Home!” Needless to say, despite being from the Volunteer State, I decided to forgo being a Vol.</p>

<p>Emory - I actually really liked Emory…I visited on a school trip that I got special permission from a teacher (and my mother) to skip out a day on. I didn’t go on a tour or anything, just walked around and observed. However, even though I liked Emory, I HATED Atlanta. I dunno why, really, but I just HATED it. Four days was enough, I didn’t need four years there.</p>

<p>UNC - I’m not from North Carolina. 'Nuff said.</p>

<p>Duke - Too intense and too in the middle of nowhere for my liking (I know that it’s not actually in the middle of nowhere, but for some irrational reason, it felt like it to me).</p>

<p>Rhodes - Too small, and Memphis is…not my idea of an improvement on Nashville (I also think that the mild antipathy between Nashville and Memphis may have played into this decision somewhat).</p>

<p>[EDIT]
DePaul - It’s my parents (and just about everyone else in my family’s) alma mater, so my mother scheduled a tour/info session when we visited family. I liked it, but I felt like it was too overdone in my family, and I wanted my “own” school. I also hate to say this because I feel like a horrible snob because of it, but I wasn’t particularly impressed with it’s academic reputation or its reputation as a commuter school (especially being an out-of-state student).</p>

<p>I ended up just applying to random schools in the Northeast because I was so dissatisfied with everything that I’d seen/decided that getting out of the South might be a nice change of scenery. I’m a junior at GWU now, and I love it. Took a big risk not even visiting the campus, and got really, really, really lucky when I showed up for orientation and fell in love with it.</p>

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<p>Most of us here in the Northeast don’t consider DC the northeast, but glad you’re happy and your risk paid off so well.</p>

1528

<p>^Once I asked a young man from Maine how far west he had traveled, and he said DC! Being from Texas originally, I had to stop and think, “Wow, so DC is west of Maine? I guess so!” I guess it’s all relative.</p>

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<p>Mythmom, I hear that all the time, and it surprises me! New York and Boston, although different (and perhaps busier, one could argue) feel far similar to DC than Nashville, Memphis, or Atlanta. At first it really shocked me, too, because no one from Tennessee would consider DC to be the South, haha</p>

<p>To be honest, when I first arrived, it was a huge culture shock. I felt like I was some sort of illegal alien in another country or something, lol</p>

1530

<p>^^Funny. </p>

<p>After moving every 2-3 years as a youngster, I ended up in Maryland for about 5 years. In my first week of college (in a rocky mountain state), I told a big group of people that, for a time, I grew up in the South. “Where?” they asked – “Maryland,” I said. People just ROARED! And I was so embarrassed! After Massachusettes, Indiana, Florida, Arizona, and New York, to name a few … I really THOUGHT I was growing up in the South! (Hey, it’s south of the Mason-Dixon line, right?)</p>

<p>Funny that Tennessee girl thought it was in the Northeast. It’s all relative …</p>

1531

<p>Well, I didn’t mean to be a pill. Just reflecting. I <em>do</em> think there are official regions, and DC/VA/MD aren’t northeast. DC does feel a bit southern to me (native NY’er) but just a bit.</p>

<p>However, there is the East Coast corridor from Boston to DC, so I guess it’s kind of a megalopolis including DC.</p>

<p>I live on the north shore of Eastern LI and it feels very New England, clapboard and shingle houses and all that, but we’re official “Mid Atlantic.”</p>

1532

<p>I’ve lived in Maryland for 12 years and consider DC/MD/VA/DE/PA all Mid-Atlantic. I think NY is in a special class of its own and then everything north of that would be New England. </p>

<p>I also feel that DC has a southern feel (mostly architecture) but I don’t consider it the South. For me South is like Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, North/South Carolina, and Georgia. Florida isn’t included because its too touristy for me.</p>

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<p>I grew up in northwest New Jersey, went to college in central New York, and have lived in Boston since I was 22. Now my son is going to school in a Baltimore suburb. Depending on how I’m looking at things, I can see all of those places as belonging to the Northeast, or I can see Baltimore as separate and Southern, or I can see Baltimore and Boston as alike in being urban and coastal while my NY and NJ homes have been rural and inland. There are so many subtly distinct flavors of regionality even just in this relatively small corner of the country.</p>

1534

<p>“Wow, so DC is west of Maine? I guess so!” I guess it’s all relative. </p>

<p>No, it’s just geography. The east coast is more slanted than most people think it is. Detroit is farther east than Atlanta.</p>

<p>What I think you guys are missing in the flying-scholarship-finalists-to-campus discussion is that at most colleges (SLU, fo sho) most of the students are within driving distance, so expecting a student to foot the bill for a tank of gas isn’t outrageous. And perhaps they think if a student is going to go to a school 1000+ miles away, he/she’s probably has the resources to buy a plane ticket. </p>

<p>Also, these scholarships you’re talking about are almost all merit-based, right? If the applicant was from a family that would have trouble affording a plane flight, wouldn’t he/she generally already be getting need-based aid?</p>

1535

<p>Merit-based scholarships can be and are regularly awarded to students with significant need. (Whether the scholarship benefits a high-need student at all, is another matter.)</p>

<p>I would, at the very least, expect a “local” school like SLU to offer transportation reimbursement to those finalists who demonstrate financial need.</p>

1536

<p>“Most of us here in the Northeast don’t consider DC the northeast…”</p>

<p>huh?</p>

1537

<p>Bowdoin- They seemed a bit arrogant and kept blabbing about how prestigious their institution was. </p>

<p>Colgate- The tour guide annoyed me. She kept using awkward phrases. The admissions counselor did the same thing. </p>

<p>MIT- God I hate math and science. Don’t even know why I visited. </p>

<p>Reed- weird professors and grade deflation? No thank you.</p>

1538

<p>As long as people have been digressing about geography here’s something I just learned recently. Wausau, WI, in the center of the state, has one of 4 unique geographical points in the world. It is the center of the northern and western hemispheres at 90 degrees west and 45 degrees north- the other 3 comparable points are located in China and oceans. No major colleges there (Wausau), however.</p>

1539

<p>I thought DC was sort of placed where it was because it was neither north nor south. Sort of the Ryan Seacrest of locations.</p>

1540

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<p>Schmaltz: Thank you for my CC laugh of the day. Now I can get some work done!</p>