I just found out my corner of suburbia has a population density higher than Huntsville and comparable to Birmingham. That gives me a better perspective.
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We live in a major city and my D read that Case Western was an urban campus which was intriguing. It doesn’t seem urban if you are used to big city living. She was disappointed. I though could certainly see how someone who had grown up on another landscape might think it urban.
"For one of my kids, it wasn’t so much the size of the population but whether there was easy access to Thai, Sushi, Indian restaurants from campus in addition to the ubiquitous Chinese and pizza joints. Bonus points for Pho. "
Well, being from Louisiana I can’t disagree with the importance of good food 
I’ve only ever been to Huntsville once–spent a long weekend there while my H and son were at space camp. I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of ethnic food, compared to other similarly-sized (and even larger) Southern cities. Having all those scientists from all over the world has its benefits.
This has nothing to do with college visits but as much as we like green, I admit sushi tastes better surrounded by concrete.
And Korean should be added to the ethnic food list. The inexpensive mom-and-pop Korean eateries in Ann Arbor were the best. Delicious and filling in the cold weather. I wonder if they are still there…
Coming from a big city with every imaginable cuisine, nothing gets us more excited than when we go to a college town and find a Jimmy Johns!!! We can’t get that where we live so…
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Please get back on topic, please. I deleted quite a few posts.
@Lindagaf I have been meaning to do this for awhile since you requested… Gonzaga - first visit D flew up with dad. She loved it. They are super generous with merit. Very personal, D got an email from admissions director pointing out how much she enjoyed her essay - even going over specifics about it (so not a form letter kind of thing). She had personal tour with engineering director, loved the honors house which is a charming old thing where they make cookies and hang out. Kids are the nicest people ever. Super sweet and warm all around - for the first visit. I have a nephew that went here and is now a physician, married to a lawyer who he met at Gonzaga - so I know some super successful people that loved it here. School is charming, old wood floors and stair rails kind of place. Definitely has the northwest (even if in eastern Washington) charm. Neighborhood around campus pretty clean and plenty of cute houses to rent it seems. Felt very safe around campus. So after first visit, way up the list.
Then the second visit…we drove up from Norcal - just us girls (sister came along). Up the coast through Oregon - then to Seattle and on over. Maybe it was the drive that made her realize Spokane was on it’s way to nowhere - but something changed after the second visit. Sis and I promised to remain positive throughout so it wasn’t us. We spent two days and a night there - had a ball for the entire trip, but it changed on visit two. Maybe the newness disappeared - I do think a second visit can net very different results than the first, and in this case, that certainly happened. I think she started seeing herself kindly lonely up there. River along school very pretty, but I will admit, it sorta creeped me out. (Too many Criminal Mind episodes in my head I suppose.) In the end, I just think the biggest influence was she didn’t care for Spokane or it’s location. No offense to Spokanians intended, just how she felt. If she would have loved it, I would have been happy to send her there. But after second visit, pretty much off the list. Sometimes, I still think it would have been a good choice, with river and all. Seems like a nice place.
Does anyone have any thoughts on Georgetown?
@HopefulHoya1103 you can do a search of this thread. Gtown has probably been mentioned many times. Go to advanced search.
@CADREAMIN , thanks, very helpful. I have to say that Gonzaga sounds like a great place for him, creepy river and all!
@CADREAMIN brings up a good point that schools can seem very different on different visits. That was true for one of my D’s schools - Syracuse. We visited in the summer, did the tours (general and dept) and all was well. Met “enough” of her criteria to warrant application. (She liked schools in big cities, so there the city of Syracuse itself was a ding for her, but the university has a really strong program in her major) She was accepted, got some really nice $$ - and it looked like a leading contender when we went back in April for an accepted student visit. It wasn’t the grey weather or general gloom of upstate NY in spring that was the turn off (we are from Cleveland, we can handle grey weather), but after having visiting so many schools, applications, acceptances, etc… suddenly some of the “downsides” of Syracuse became bigger factors. Downsides for HER: location (not enough city) Huge sports/Greek presence (those are not of interest to her, and she decided she didn’t want a school where something which was a PRO for others was a CON for her- she’d had enough of that in HS not being interested in her school’s state champion football team). Anyway- we left accepted student’s day discussing which OTHER school was now the top of her pile. (to my dismay, I still REALLY liked the dept, not to mention the $$… and in fact, it has become 3 year joke of mom’s secret longing for Syracuse)
@toowonderful This is exactly why we don’t want our S19 doing ED. As he sees more and more schools, his ideas about what he wants become more defined and priorities shift. I could totally see him rearranging his list of schools up until May 2019.
Right now he says he likes schools “in the middle of nowhere” but we’ve only seen those types of schools and schools in big cities. I’m pretty sure he will prefer schools in suburbs near mid-sized cities once we see some of those. My fear is that the “middle of nowhere” schools drop off of the list entirely and that’s not realistic as most of the LACs that work for his other priorities are in that category!
We are visiting Grinnell in a week or so and I’ll report back on how that goes…crossing my fingers for a good fit.
Speaking of different impressions, I have noticed how I tend to not appreciate schools I see on cloudy rainy days, while D prefers them.
@homerdog My daughter was so sure that she wouldn’t mind the middle-of-nowhereness of most of the LACs on her visit list, until she actually experienced it in person. Grinnell was a super-impressive school in many ways but it just freaked her out to see the location first-hand. Kenyon, too. She did apply to both in the end, but Macalester shot to the top of her list because it is in the middle-of-everywhere! She’s a super-happy first-year there right now. Different strokes, right?
@IBviolamom All three of those on the list! S19 loved Kenyon this summer and it was very quiet since there were no students. Our Grinnell visit will be interesting because it’s also remote but it will be the first time we see a school during the school year. Planning on visiting Mac this fall too…before it gets too cold. LOL.
@HopefulHoya1103 We toured Georgetown a couple years ago. Oldest liked it fine but not enough to apply in the end.Middle one who’s now in the college process felt the same. They liked the adjacent town of Georgetown. The campus was fine though odd that the football field was right in the center of campus. The two tour guides came across a little too self-aware “preppy,” commenting on their matching J Crew clothes and joking that not everyone has to where Crew. And in the info session they polled kids where they went to school and only two in the entire room were from public schools. In the end the requirement of doing an entirely separate application outside of the Common Core and the requirement for 3 SAT 2’s (most schools only ask for 2 if that) was enough to drop it off the list for my kids (so far, there’s still a third years away).
Would love to hear report back on Grinnell. We just went to a local presentation…the 8 colleges thing. Daughter loved the Grinnell presentation. But that being said we toured Kenyon last winter and D was turned off by the remoteness. We even saw a few Amish buggies drive by. The school was beautiful though. We would like to visit Grinnell but not sure as it is very difficult to get to from our location and nothing else in area to see in terms of schools.
@MACmiracle We recently visited a school D fell in love with and it was gray and drizzly. Despite that, everything looked so beautiful and the vibe was upbeat. That’s a test, imo. When you can love school under not so great conditions.
@citymama9 I’m sure that’s true. Our nephew visited U of Minnesota during a snow storm and still loved it.
@homerdog You’ve started pretty early. I can almost guarantee a shift. I don’t think a hs sophomore can really pin a list down yet. My kids changed tons in those 2 years. Don’t rule out ED yet. It can be a useful tool.
@Veryapparent We have visited Grinnell several times, as both our kids were interested, and one was an athletic recruit. Grinnell, Oberlin and Kenyon have a lot in common, but Grinnell remains my personal favorite, and my kids really liked it but went elsewhere.
The town of Grinnell is much more substantial than Gambier – there is a downtown of about 4 x 6 blocks, lined mostly with 2-3 story brick buildings, with retail/restaurants etc. on the ground floor and probably apartments above. There is a two screen movie theater showing first run movies, a great bicycle shop, and a grocery store with large organic and prepared foods selection, along with pizza, doughnut etc stores. There is a lovely town park, complete with bandshell, playground etc. The residential area around campus has B&Bs, some student housing, faculty homes. The town and campus are a few miles off the Interstate, and once you turn off the highway towards town, it can seem a little bleak with John Deere dealer, Walmart, gas stations – we always stayed in town, in one of the B&Bs near campus rather than out by the interstate.
Facilities on campus are gorgeous – the dorms line two sides of campus, one side is brick and older, the other side is limestone and glass and newer. Both have covered loggias (?) above the walkway alongside. Athletic facilities are gorgeous, as are Music and Dining Hall (my family loved the cozy rooms with fireplaces clustered in the dining hall). Students are a blend of everything – blue hair to Vineyard Vines and did not seem clique-ish at all, and we were looking for it when my kid was on his recruiting visit.