Colleges your child crossed off the list after visiting, schools that moved up on the list. Why?

Parents Forum
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@Pheebers @JenJenJenJen

My S14 is finishing his sophomore year at Emory. He was diagnosed (biopsy) with Celiac Disease at age 10. As we explain when it’s relevant, gluten-free isn’t a lifestyle choice for him. It’s a necessity.

When we visited Emory on Admitted Students Day we met with the head of their on-campus dining services. We were led to believe that our son would have all sorts of options, i.e., that basically at both lunch and dinner there’d always be some sort of main dish that was prepared GF for kids like him. It turned out to not be the case, although he’s been able to fill in by eating grilled stuff from the burger station, the sandwich station (meats, no bread), etc. For bkfst he’s ended up eating in his dorm room – GF breakfast bars, GF cereal, etc.
One of the worst pieces has been when they open up the dining halls for late night meals during finals, etc. There have been essentially no options for him at those meals.
BTW, he’s thrilled at Emory, but eating there has been a problem. He’s lost weight since he matriculated. And he really looks forward to eating home-cooked meals when he’s home (?maybe all college students do).

On the other hand, there are great options for him in the ‘village’ immediately adjacent to the campus, and all over Atlanta. So I’d add that it might be of benefit to be in an area that’s suburban/urban enough to provide some good cheap off-campus dining options.

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Moved down: Brown- It wasn’t his cup of tea and I could tell he felt out of place. Great campus, though!

Moved up- Columbia- From the moment he stepped foot inside that square, he was in awe. Then we did the tours (one for admitted students, another a general tour) and he found everyone so friendly and engaging. I could visibly see the struggle he was having in his own mind. He had believed he would be underwhelmed after Harvard, but Columbia is currently in the lead. I can’t say enough good things about the place!

Stayed the same: Harvard- He was impressed and felt welcomed, but I don’t think it exceeded expectations. Maybe because they were already so high??

He will visit Stanford this weekend, so I’ll update afterwards.

This has been exciting, but I’m beyond ready for him to make up his mind!!

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For D13,
Moved up:
Vassar: Beutiful campus. It happened to be a freshman orientation week and the campus was full of friendly and energetic faces. My D13 was asked for a direction by a freshman and was very fluttered that she looked like a Vassar student. Ended up EDed here and got in.

Marlboro College: We didn’t know what to expect from this “GPS won’t take you there” school. Idealistic orchard-like campus. Nothing was like any other colleges we visited and my D13 liked it. Students looked odd/different in a good way. Looked down-to-earth and not pretentious. The small student body was a concern, but we all loved the school.

Crossed off:
Connecticut College: 10 minutes after walking around the campus D13 said it was not for her. Too preppy and too much like high school. I didn’t get it but it was off the list.

Stayed the same:
Hobert and William Smith: Beautiful campus. Friendly staff and tour guide. My H and I were so fascinated by the K-cup thingy in the admission office and played with it while my D13 was interviewing. Surrounding town was small and looked run-down but it stayed on the list.

For D17:
Moved up:
Barnard: It was way up on the list from the beginning, but the info session and tour confirmed that this is the school she wants. Energy was good. Friendly staff and tour guide. Easy PE requirement.

Brandeis: Actually, I didn’t like it so much. The buildings are too modern for me and the students we overheard didn’t sound smart. Staff and tour guides were nice and friendly. It moved up for my D13 because the dorm we looked at had separate bathrooms for men and women. Also, PE requirement was pretty easy.

Crossed off:
Wellesley: Too quiet and isolated feel. No young man in sight. D13 said, “I will end up falling in love with a custodian if I come here.” Me “Why not falling in love with a professor?” D13 “That’s not ethical. Hence, a custodian.”

Reed: I liked it and my D13 wanted to like it because she likes Portland. It ended up off the list because she felt that “the students looked like they took themselves too seriously”.

The Evergreen State: Didn’t like the buildings. D13 didn’t like the avarage age of the student body. Too isolated. Didn’t like the city of Olympia.

Stayed the same:
Bryn Mawr: I was really turned off by the unfriendly admission office. (someone mentioned the same thing a few pages ago.) My D13 was turned off by PE swimming requirement. However, it stayed on the list because of the beautiful open campus and the proximity to Philadelphia which we loved. It was more alive than Wellesley.

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@HiToWaMom SO funny you mentioned the swimming requirement at Bryn Mawr. My sister went there and almost didn’t graduate only because of that (well, not really, but that’s how she tells it).

@AsleepAtTheWheel That must be so hard on your son. My daughter hates feeling left out and struggling with finding food, although, like your son, she’s learned to scrounge. I’ve seen pictures of my D’s biopsy and I’m tempted to wave them in front of someone occasionally when they think one crumb of bread or picking a crouton off of a salad won’t cause any harm!

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@JenJenJenJen – My freshman S was diagnosed with Celiac when he came home for spring break this year. Total shocker – I thought the doc would give him a prescription for an acid blocker, but instead he left the office with orders for a blood test and an endoscopy! Anyway, we had given zero consideration to eating gluten-free on campus initially, as you can imagine. However, after a couple of weeks of struggling to find enough GF food to eat in the dining hall (he is at Texas A&M), he arranged a meeting with one of the nutritionists in Food Services. Wow, what a help she was! She gave him a tour of the dining hall kitchen, showed him the prep areas and lists of gluten free meal options, introduced him to the chef*, and showed him the special refrigerators with GF items that are always available. She also told him there is a GF “club,” if you will, and offered to get him contact info for one or two of the students. *The chef was fantastic – he gave my S his cell number and told him to call if he ever needed something prepared because there was nothing in the buffet line my S could eat, and then he made him a GF pasta primavera dish (“fantastic”) on the spot. So it pays to meet with the Food Services people. I was pleasantly surprised – did not expect such amazingly personalized help at a dining hall that caters for tens of thousands of students.

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You all should start a thread on GF in college. Not because it shouldn’t be here - I actually like the meandering nature of CC threads and find the discussion interesting - but because I think it would have more broad reaching appeal and interest than those who might be following here. It’s important stuff to talk about.

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@doschicos , there was one going just recently.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19501188#Comment_19501188

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@Lindagaf I just read that thread and this part scared me: “The roommate became malicious about it and would deliberately smear peanut butter on handles and washcloths in the room hoping to get D to have a reaction because she said she was “faking it”.”

Oh, great, it didn’t even occur to me to be worried about other students “testing” my D17’s Celiac! Let’s add that to the ever-growing list of things to be neurotic about. Living in Southern California, tons of ladies live gluten free lives so grocery stores have GF aisles, lots of restaurants have GF menus (or listed options on main menu), and the vast majority of people just roll with it. She wants to go to college in the northeast, so, goodbye simple life.

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We have gluten free sections in our grocery stores in the Northeast and many restaurants have gluten free menu items, too. :slight_smile: Celiac disease is most common in people of Irish ancestry which makes up a sizable group of people in these parts.

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Moved way up - Columbia -

Tour was solid. Son loves the core, liked the intensity and diversity of the students, and thought the campus in general was impressive.

Not so thrilled about the dorms and sports facilities but not a deal breaker since he really liked the food :-h

He thought it funny that 3 different students said a double major was really tough and not all that common yet all 3 were double majors ! They also spoke highly of their internship opportunities and research.

He’s going to audit a class or two today .

Another plus was the way they reached out and invited him to concerts, meet with faculty, talk to students, etc. Made him feel like they really want him to attend.

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Moved to top - Rice. Daughter loved the campus, the residential college system and the focus on STEM. Applied ED and will be attending.

Moved up - UChicago, but only initially. At first intrigued by the intellectual rigor and loved the campus, but eventually repelled by comments of others about the extreme competitiveness of the academic culture.
Duke. Really liked the school spirit and the campus. But the engineering offerings did not match her interests.

Moved down - Princeton. Perceived it as too posh, preppy and pretentious.

Scratched off the List - Northwestern. Campus had an empty feel. Tour guide was annoying and formed no connection.
Wash U. DD was very interested and planned to visit, but the admissions rep sent to her school was an alumna dance major who knew nothing about Wash U’s STEM offerings, and provided no presentation. Complete turn-off.
Emory. Hated the preppiness from the moment she walked on the campus. She never even bothered to go on the tour.
Swarthmore. Same as Emory. In truth, what her visit really confirmed was that she wanted a larger school.

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Moved up: Vassar. Daughter just got back from her overnight visit and felt completely at home there. Loved the two classes she attended, thought the campus seemed like a fun, welcoming community.

Moved down: Carleton. She went there for an overnight Friday. Her host showed her around a bit, brought her to dinner and then said she was going to do schoolwork in her room. So my daughter wandered around the campus on her own.

Based on their reputations, my daughter fully expected to fall in love with Carleton. Instead she fell in love with Vassar and will be going there.

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@delurk1, that was exactly my daughter’s experience at Carleton earlier this month–except that she was uneasy wandering around campus on her own at night, so ended up going to bed early in the dorm room. Carleton is a wonderful school (my oldest daughter went there and loved it), but the overnight wasn’t up to par. Before the visit, my daughter had high hopes, but by the end of her stay, she knew it wasn’t a good match. I wonder if your daughter and mine had the same host. :slight_smile:

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I wonder if they did, @Mary13.

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Mix of 3 years old (S1) and this year (D1) (S1 ended up Mech E at Auburn, Honors College, scholarship)
Up: (S1) GaTech great overnight - hit it off with kids, facilities, would have had instate + Hope; but progressively faded after consistent negative input on academic/college life from class of 2018 contacts.

(S1) Auburn - instant love, nice campus and atmosphere, friendly kids, just far enough away. Engineering serious but not oppressive.
(D1) Embry Riddle Daytona Beach (niche aerospace/aeronautical school). Great visit, great tour guide for aerospace. Plus location. Newer facilities. Seemed like small classes and more attention. Kids seemed motivated. Chance to be a big fish in small pond.

Down
(S1) Colo. School of Mines. Vision better than reality; -5 in Dec. didn’t bother me, but was the only trip time available
(S1) Carnegie Mellon - best first hour, slightly quirky vibe. Good meetings/classes wi Mech E but CompSci people were really overbearing. Disasterously bad overnight hosts - nothing to do on campus, we go to parties at Pitt. Strip club invite.
(S1) Lehigh - too much hill, too frat centric, felt a little dated
(D1) U Georgia and U Florida - Pretty, but too big. Tour guides focused on football and social life. Didn’t seem serious/academic enough.

No change
(S1) Clemson - just eh. Highlight was campus dairy ice cream
(D1) Va Tech - During Christmas break. Good “feel” and will go back for an overnight later
(D1) Ga Tech - may be too close to home.
(D1) Auburn - not sure wants to be at same school with S1, even if minimal overlap

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Incomplete list but, I’ll play along. I’ll mix in DS’14 and DD '17

Moved down:
Macalester: For DS, tour guide pointed out the vegan coop in the stands of the football stadium, but ignored the football coach who tried to greet the group. (DS played football for 10 years). Wife and I loved it and want to move into that neighborhood in St. Paul. Well, for maybe 6 months a year.

University of Richmond: DS (even more so myself) turned off by “Vincent” and his dad, possible father son models for Vineyard Vines. Seriously, your son wears a gigantic Rolex watch on the campus tour and mentions it? Absolutely DOMINATED the tour with questions, comments, and making sure to make “an impression” How many times do you have to ask a question and respond with “Well, Vincent would excel with that.”, “Vincent wouldn’t really care for that.” Apologies, to all of the nice Vincents out there, but “Don’t be a Vincent” is now a family thing. Also, campus is a bit of a bubble. But a neighbor attends, probably one of the nicest young men I’ve met, and loves it.

Marquette: For DD, put off by tour guide even though I hear they are well known for good tours. It was a “Milwaukee Spring Day” with snow flurries, 30 MPH winds and about 40 degrees. Tour guide wore a long sleeve t-shirt with no coat and rushed from building to building.

Moved up:

Pitt : For DS, this was a stop on the way to other places. Nice urban setting. He liked it and is attending. For DD, matched with a tour guide who participates in an important EC in college.

Wisconsin: For DS, got a lucky match with tour guides who talked about beating Ohio State at home. For DD, a department official from school of education talked in detail about Rehabilitation Psychology major and Occupational Therapy grad school.

Wash U: For DS, Tempur-Pedic mattresses in the (magnificent) dorms. This is the boy who sent away for Tempur-Pedic samples for his egg drop science project. (He has since moved on to Casper mattress lust.)

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@Pheebers and @jenjenjenjen, my D has celiac and is currently doing very well at Skidmore. We ate at several schools while she was looking, so feel free to message me with any specific questions.

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@lauriejgs @Pheebers Funny, my spouse and I met at Skidmore! A long time ago, though. Sounds like the dining options have improved since that paleolithic era. But Union (which is Skidmore equivalent) is one of D17’s three match choices now, so we’ll settle for that.

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@Dave_N Love it! “Don’t be a Vincent.” We ran into a family like that recently too. Though I wouldn’t penalize the school for it.

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Up:

University of Puget Sound. UPS almost didn’t get a visit from us but quickly became kid’s first choice once we saw it. Kid will go there. The art and music scene was great. Tacoma was surprisingly interesting and pleasant, especially near campus. The buildings and grounds were beautiful. Students were bright but not intimidating, and while there were many students interested in art and music, there also were many students who seemed more focused on the outdoors or athletics, which gave the small liberal arts college a surprisingly diverse feel.

Beloit. Beloit started as a “safety” school for the kid but, after the visit, became kid’s second choice behind UPS. The campus was pretty. Students were intellectual, diverse and amazingly friendly. The town was better than expected but still not great. Madison is an hour away.

Lawrence. Lawrence also started as a “safety” but became kid’s third choice. The art and music scenes are spectacular. Appleton turns out to be a small but real city. Lawrentians were nice and smart. For families considering places like Macalester, Wesleyan, Oberlin, Bard, Kenyon, and Bates, it is definitely worth a look. Some will prefer Lawrence once they see it.

Down:

Occidental. Oxy started out as one of kid’s top 2 choices but completely fell of kid’s list. Kid didn’t like the neighborhood or LA culture very much. Oxy students weren’t very friendly to kid. The art and music scene seemed more limited than at other liberal arts colleges.

Macalester. Mac started out as one of kid’s top 2 choices. Kid liked it ok, and thought Mac students were very smart, funny and engaged, but kid also thought students seemed to have more fun at UPS, Beloit and Lawrence. The campus is in a very interesting neighborhood in a great city, but the buildings and grounds aren’t anything to write home about (with a few exceptions). I actually liked Mac quite a lot more than kid did.

Bard. I saw it. Kid did not. Kid had heard great things about Bard from friends but had zero interest in Bard after learning that it’s literally in the woods. The town of Red Hook, which is where you have to go if you want to get a meal at a casual restaurant, is about 2 miles from campus. I should note, though, that kid decided not to apply anywhere on the East Coast.