<p>F&M - we had our own personal tour guide, as did the other familes that day.
U of Richmond
Pitt - good info session and tour guide. Urban, but with a lot of “green”, more like Tulane than George Wash. U.
Elon</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd. S ended up not applying because he changed his idea about a major, but he fell head-over-heels in love with Mudd. It helped that we shared a tour guide with one other family and so we were given personalized attention. My S found this tour guide to be very clever and extremely humorous, and he also liked the other students the guide interacted with during the tour (such as students working in labs we entered and also just the guide’s friends we passed by). Also, we were able to chat with an assistant to the director of admissions and with a math professor who were both very warm and generous with their time.</p>
<p>sally - My guy almost applied to Nova Southeastern anyway even with it not being on the water. The school is newer (esp for undergrad), but they seem to be doing things “right.” They have ALL small classes. They have great merit aid for scores like my guy had (and it sounds like your d might have). The dorm was terrific (newer construction can do that). The campus was gorgeous. The kids were friendly. The profs we talked with were knowledgeable AND knew all of their students by first and last name. The fact that they started with grad school(s) and worked down to undergrad seems to be a plus in the classroom.</p>
<p>I’m really surprised we don’t hear more about them here on cc. I’ve filled our guidance office in about them. Many students could be able to find them an affordable option.</p>
<p>We only visited as a last minute thing (literally - prior to our flight out later that day), and ended up quite impressed - except that their Marine Bio/Science stuff just isn’t on the water like Eckerd’s is. It’s also not as established yet. Eckerd is very established with that major.</p>
<p>Again, thanks! It is literally 10 minutes from where my sister lives. We will at least drive around the campus when we are there next weekend. After what we’ve had so far of this winter, it will be especially appealing!</p>
<p>I wasn’t surprised that my daughter loved Scripps, but she was. She immediately said, “This is where I’m going.” I convinced her to consider other women’s colleges to have some choices, and she ended up at Wellesley. She also loved her two Mount Holyoke visits and really agonized about turning them down.</p>
<p>My son was only a freshman when we took the family on the Claremont tour, but he was really impressed by Claremont-McKenna and may apply there next year.</p>
<p>It would be interesting to compare the quality and elaborateness of admissions events with the net cost of tuition at each college.</p>
<p>For my kids, the university with the best-organized admissions events and the most free food ended up having the highest net tuition price, by far. Someone has to play for all of that free food.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, some of the public colleges didn’t put much effort into their admissions activities because they knew they had a plentiful supply of applicants because they were affordable. One public university made it almost impossible to schedule a tour on a saturday, and didn’t offer any tours during many weeks of the year.</p>
<p>Interesting, charlieschm. On our tours, our state flagship had vouchers to eat in their dining hall (the food was great). The state flagship, unfortunately, was more expensive for us vs. any other school our boys applied to. Our hometown college, which is a small Ivy, had a terrible tour and no food as did Amherst College. So it seems to vary from place to place.</p>
<p>Surprising likes for my son, who is interested in the sciences:</p>
<p>Northeastern: Expected it to feel too big, but had a really great day here during a fall open house. Our tour was mediocre, but having a chance to talk with the science department and academic advisors helped make it a surprise top choice. We liked that it is in the city, but still has a defined campus. Their information sessions were really good, and their check-in process was superb. They handled a huge crowd of visitors with ease.</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins: Thought we’d be turned off by the location, but the programs and “fit” currently make it a top choice.</p>
<p>Williams: Lots of smart, interesting kids, and he loved the tradition of “Mountain Day.” </p>
<p>F&M: Had a really good tour and liked it, and a good interview, too. Their admissions staff is doing a great job of keeping in touch. We’re on the fence about where this college stands, though. The elimination of merit aid and some concerns about the campus social scene knock this down a few pegs. Not sure this is worth sticker price.</p>
<p>Stevens Institute of Technology: Visited once in the summer and liked it, so we came back for a visit when school was in session. The director of the co-op program is a dynamo, very impressive. Spectacular setting, and my son feels like he could be successful here.</p>
<p>We visited more than 20 schools, and really enjoyed the experience. Each visit taught my son something about what was important to him, whether we liked a school or not.</p>
<p>We liked tours at both of the schools they eventually chose, but my favorite event was at The Evergreen State College.
Really interesting buildings, including a longhouse,beautiful setting, I liked the size ( about 4,000) and I enjoyed the group discussion ( without kids) held for the parents.
[The</a> Longhouse Education and Cultural Center at Evergreen](<a href=“http://www.evergreen.edu/longhouse/]The”>s'gʷi gʷi ʔ altxʷ: House of Welcome | The Evergreen State College)
TESC also held a special event at Safeco in Seattle for students offered merit awards.</p>
<p>Wrote this in September and wanted to reprint instead of rewriting.–</p>
<p>Hi. I thought it might be helpful to put a review of Indiana U-Bloomington for those who might be wondering if a visit there is worth it.</p>
<p>In a word – UNQUESTIONABLY!</p>
<p>We recently returned from a six-college road trip purposely planned to visit schools that were in session while my D hadn’t started her senior year of HS yet. Previously, our formal and informal college visits were done in the summer and winter breaks when it was convenient for our family to go, but few students were on campus. What a difference!</p>
<p>Indiana U. was without a doubt the most welcoming, friendly, beautiful campus we’ve ever visited. Directions to park in the empty football stadium were easy and a shuttle bus was waiting to take us right to the admission bldg. This gave us another opportunity to see some of the huge campus (greek row, stadiums, etc.) while on the bus. Admissions was well-marked and the check-in was easy and they were genuinely happy to greet us.</p>
<p>The slide show wasn’t working (aaarrrrrgh! MS Powerpoint fails again…) but the ad com did a great job winging it. After the slide show they introduced some students who would be leading the tours and then they offered us snacks and bottled water! D was quite impressed. Mind you, it was 96 degrees outside and neither of the schools we had visited in similar temps the previous two days offered any refreshments or water before their walking tours–including a 90-min outdoor walk at Purdue in the blazing sun. Ugh! (Ed. comment: For all the incredible amounts of $$$ schools spend on fancy brochures and marketing pieces to woo students, you can’t believe how cheap and effective it was to offer a 25 cent bottle of water with the IU logos on them to hot parents and prospective students!)</p>
<p>Our student tour was lead by the most bubbly and fun guide we’ve had at any school. She threw in lots of anecdotes and witty banter, instead of just spouting a rehearsed script. She was also not a male engineering student and that was refreshing for my creative, non-STEM D. Nothing against male STEM students, it’s just my fashionista was able to connect with someone more like her.</p>
<p>The campus is gorgeous with it’s stately trees, streams, grassy knolls (who knew you could find that in S. Indiana?) and D felt right at home with the student body population (something you can’t gauge during a summer or winter break visit). D noticed that everyone was wearing IU clothing. Kids were friendly and the student union where we ate was bustling. It probably helped that we sat right next to a 6’ 10" guy who was getting a whole lot of attention (I’m guessing he’s the star center on the basketball team?!)–Hoosiers obviously love their basketball players!</p>
<p>Greek row was impressive and I found my sorority house (different school) and was dying to go in and say hi, but time didn’t allow for a visit.</p>
<p>D left impressed and excited. As a result–this is a no-brainer–she’ll be applying to IU this fall. (Update 1/2/14: D was accepted last week!)</p>
<p>Bottom line: If you can afford a visit to a far-away school either before acceptance or afterward, I highly recommend it. There are so many small factors that can make a huge difference to a 17-year old. I had to keep reminding myself that selecting a college is really about where my D feels comfortable and will thrive, because, in the end, that’s all that matters.</p>
<p>Cheers!</p>
<p>Villanova. Hadn’t planned on touring, were scheduled instead for a Temple, following AM Drexel tour. s1 turned to me and said ‘don’t want an urban school’. Given we were in Philly for a day trip, I thought quickly and said ‘ugh…Villanova is nearby’. We pulled out smart phones to determine tour times, driving distance and called to make reservation. </p>
<p>Had amazing tour guide. The girl seemed to know everyone on campus. It also didn’t hurt that the weather was gorgeous.</p>
<p>I visited nearly 20 schools with my two. The oldest and I loved Virginia Tech–tour was excellent, campus beautiful, and lots of school spirit. He ended up at Duke, though VT was the last school also in the running. Insisted that my younger child look at VT and booked at tour at UNC-Asheville for the same trip because it was on the way. Well, we both loved UNC-A. Absolutely gorgeous campus, knowledgeable tour guides, really sold itself as a public liberal arts college. She hated VT and just finished her first semester at UNC-A.</p>
<p>Had amazing tour guide. The girl seemed to know everyone on campus. It also didn’t hurt that the weather was gorgeous.</p>
<p>Oldest had her overnight @ Reed in November. We arrived on a nasty rainy & windy evening.
She still loved it.</p>
<p>Ohio University ~ Beautiful residential campus w/Div 1 athletics. Good transportation (campus bus pick-up) from a major airport. Manageable drive from the DC/Va/Md area. Excellent value/reasonable oos cost. Better ranked than George Mason (Va) and many of our other instate publics.</p>
<p>Gettysburg had a very different approach to the info session. It was all Q and A and became a group discussion. The Admissions counselor really got each prospective student involved. By the end of the session she had covered everything that is in every other info session but it felt like only ten minutes had passed.</p>
<p><a href=“Ed.%20comment:%20For%20all%20the%20incredible%20amounts%20of%20$$$%20schools%20spend%20on%20fancy%20brochures%20and%20marketing%20pieces%20to%20woo%20students,%20you%20can’t%20believe%20how%20cheap%20and%20effective%20it%20was%20to%20offer%20a%2025%20cent%20bottle%20of%20water%20with%20the%20IU%20logos%20on%20them%20to%20hot%20parents%20and%20prospective%20students!”>quote</a>
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Too funny. The most generous school we visited was UW-Milwaukee. We got to the information session check-in and the woman working behind the desk asked what size my daughter wore. They gave each prospective student a really nice t-shirt. She was shocked and delighted. Then they asked what each of us wanted to drink–we had our choice of bottled juice, water, etc. from a small refrigerator. The info session leader at UW-M was fantastic too.</p>
<p>Illinois Institute of Technology passed out umbrellas to everyone on a rainy day that we got to keep. They provided a nice buffet meal too.</p>
<p>Wheaton College in MA and Connecticut College were two schools that my kids didn’t think they would like and changed their minds after visiting. Tour guides at both were great as were information sessions. Visit was a positive one at both schools. D1 applied to Wheaton and got in with merit award, however, she opted for Tufts. D2 was accepted at Connecticut College but decided to go elsewhere.</p>
<p>The water bottles are always appreciated! That reminds me of a visit with S to Capital. When we walked into the admissions office there was a big screen that said “Welcome Ohmomof2’s S!” - that was really weird and impressive, until we realized it was scrolling through all the kids visiting that day and just happened to hit his name as we walked in :D</p>
<p>S was ready NOT to like it but it wound up being his first choice, largely because of that tour. The tour was private so there was no info session, our tour guide knew everything, it seemed. </p>
<p>Columbia was a nice surprise. After having a so-so tour of Barnard a year earlier (guide didn’t SHOW much, more talked at us near buildings), Columbia’s info session was engaging and interesting - the ad rep didn’t read notes or a Powerpoint or anything, she just spoke, and spoke well). The tour broke up our very large group into 5 different groups. Assigned by where we were sitting but also allowed to switch if the guide’s major was more in line with what we wanted. (Contrast to CMU where 60+ of us walked around with 3 guides…I felt we could have split up).</p>
<p>Good question … </p>
<p>For FirstToGo … mostly a reaction to her fit to the schools … Barnard, Chicago, and (probably Yale) stood out among the 20 or schools she saw.</p>
<p>For SecondToGo … again mostly a reaction to fit … Bowdoin, Cornell, and UVM stood out.</p>
<p>For both kids there were definite patterns to the schools that drew them in … and patterns to those that did not.</p>