Embry-Riddle Prescott far surpassed my expectations… Fantastic little school. Well-structured engineering department, high quality labs and facilities, friendly faculty, well-mannered students, nice vibe on campus, and the location is absolutely beautiful.
This technically doesn’t count, but I loved Portland, Maine on a visit to Bowdoin, Colby and Bates
I went to Boston U recently and thought I would hate it. It was actually nicer than expected, and I enjoyed the student vibe there. Seemed a good mix of kids. The location is great for college kids if they want an urban environment. I liked their presentation.
Conversely, I also went to BC for visit last fall and just was not feeling it. Too many of the same kind of kid. Not as much action I guess.
As, a student I would have not like either place, I prefer less busy environments.
Allegheny College. D17 has a definite preference for bigger schools, but I put it on the list anyway, and after her APUSH teacher talked it up, she seemed to be a little more open to it. I was still dubious that she would like it, but decided to visit during spring break (mostly to test the assumption that a small school wasn’t going to be her cup of tea) and we both just really loved it a lot. Very high-touch (which I thought would scare D away), and very much unlike most of the schools at the top of her list. Since the visit, she’s tempered her view a bit and seems to be reverting back to her original preferences, but I’m pretty sure it will make the final cut of schools she will apply to.
@CHD2013, I felt the same way about Burlington, VT when we went to check out UVM. Already planning my exit strategy so I can retire there (haven’t shared this with the H, yet, though).
Burlington, VT is a near perfect city, if you don’t mind cold winters. if you get the hankering for a day in the big city Montreal is an easy day trip.
We visited Champlain College in Burlington with my DS in 2014…I agree, I was ready to retire or do whatever odd jobs they had available to let me move right in! It was heavenly up there. My DD doesn’t want cold weather but I told her we are visiting anyway just so I can visit again! lol!!
Cal Poly. We didn’t know anything about the campus nor the ‘learn by doing’ approach. Much nicer campus than I had expected and a great engineering tour.
It surprised me that my daughter was all pumped up about the Fargo/Moorhead area. She wanted to stay in Minnesota, but didn’t want to be in the Twin Cities. I had not been there in over 20 years and I was surprised how much it had grown. She’s living out there and loves it. We’ve enjoyed visiting her out there too.
Actually, one was the university my D will end up attending, in the fall!
Neither D and I were really enthused about visiting Ball State - I didn’t know anything about the school, except nobody in southern Indiana (where I grew up and attended college) ever seemed to want to go there, if they could go to IU or Purdue. I heard Muncie was “run down” and awful.
Because it was on the Midwest Student Exchange list AND it happened to actually have some of the not-as-popular majors she was interested in, that other smaller state schools did not (Classics, Anthropology) we decided it was worth a quick visit on our way to see other schools.
We drove onto campus the night before our scheduled tour, and we were both exclaiming “Wow”. The entire campus is very nice and clean- nicely landscaped, a nice mix of new and old buildings… On the tour the next day, I was really impressed with what I heard about academics and campus life, and so was D. It immediately went to a top position on her list.
The next day, we drove around Muncie and while there is a run-down slummy area on the south side of town, it’s far away from campus. The downtown is actually very nice, and there is a nice, refurbished area just off campus called “The Village” where the college students hang out with coffeehouses, bookstores, restaurants, bars, etc.
The residential area around campus is nicer-looking than where I live in the Chicago 'burbs.
Arizona State’s Tempe campus and honors college. I has rocketed up on S’s list along with Cal Poly SLO (which others have said is a very nice campus and area.) We were vacationing and touring schools in Arizona. ASU and UA were on the list because of their generous scholarships for National Merit. I expected to like UA and dislike ASU (because I have it in my mind that Phoenix is too big and hot). We all were really impressed by the ASU campus and especially the Barrett Honors College campus. It’s a gem. Plus we liked Phoenix more than we expected to. It is very green and manicured. The UA campus was very pretty and old southwest, but I find Tucson rather unappealing, kind of dusty and dingy, as a city.
This is from 2005, but my DD loved University of South Carolina-Columbia. We only went ther because we were touring other southeast schools and happened to be visiting friends in Columbia. DD was not interested in a large school…but we wanted her to at least see one. So we signed up for their tour.
It was fabulous (even though it was in the 90’s.
DD applied, was accepted, and got a huge scholarahip as well. She ended up going elsewhere, but the school still rings positive to her.
Gorgeous campus, lots of options for majors, nice facilities. Very friendly people.
Totally Case western. You hear so much negativity about Cleveland but we were so pleasantly surprised by the eclectic green campus, the beautiful university circle area just adjacent and even liked downtown. It was a big contender for DDs heart and we thought she’d end up there tho she just committed to a small LAC at the 11th hour…
@mtrosemom we had the same experience at ASU. Their facilities at Herberger (music) and the opportunities via Barrett blew D away. It went from being a relative safety to a top choice.
Cornell University
We had a day to kill during our Northeast college tour and my brother in New Jersey suggested we drive up and check out Cornell. (We were thinking of dropping it from our tour due to its relative isolation.)
It was a beautiful day in late July.
The campus and surroundings were majestic and breathtaking.Hogwarts and Sound of music rolled into one. We applied early decision.
Son will now be attending in the fall.
Columbia - I was initially very negative as I recall visiting it when I was in high school and thought it hadn’t much of a campus and was all concrete. When we visited it on my son’s college tour, we loved it. The campus was beautiful. Son loved it (and the relative proximity to Times Square).
University of Pennsylvania - visited it twice, once in late November when it was grim and grey, and again in early summer when it was spectacular. The city was much nicer than I had expected too.
University of Chicago - Along with my D, I was initially inclined towards Northwestern–until we visited University of Chicago. The gothic buildings are amazing, the new dorms are great, and the campus was alive. We also both loved the way the parks run all along the lake from the Museum of Science and Industry down to the city. And Lake Michigan was beautiful as well.
re Tucson. Decades ago I visited a friend who lived there then while H attended a conference. Daytime driving on city streets was horrible for senior citizens driving far below posted speed limits. Tampa has plenty of old people, but most usually drive up to 10 mph above the speed limit! Wonder if the newer older generation drives faster in Tucson?
Cal Poly SLO. We already knew that the central coast is mile after endless mile of breathtaking beauty, so the great location was no surprise. What struck both S and I was the genuine niceness of the students we met, the academics, and just the overall vibe of the place. It was a place he said that he would be happy attending. Most telling (and shocking to me): when the acceptance came in February, son’s first reaction was “Yes! Now I don’t have to go to UC!”
would love to bring this back, as it is very helpful and interesting to read other people’s experiences!
University of Alabama in Huntsville.
For some reason I loved this school, and the city of Huntsville!