I have to add my “alumni interview” story. My son interviewed last year for Penn. The alumni interviewer showed up 40 minutes late, asked him two questions, and left. The sad part? We know the interviewer. The good part? My wife and I are both alumni so it didn’t change his love for the school? The sad part? He got dinged. (We told him to go ED…it’s a big thing for Penn.) The good part? He is incredibly happy this year at another college.
Oh the fun of this process.
@SwimmingDad After the fact, did you give feedback to Penn? Sounds like an alum that doesn’t represent the school well.
@doschicos We did…in a way that didn’t throw her or anyone under the bus. I think something was going on for her…and I get that. As adults, we just forget that this whole process can seem life and death to the kids…unless we are in it at the moment with our own kids. It’s all good.
Regarding visiting schools and then not applying my D has visited 10. She will apply to 5, on the fence for 1. Four of them eliminated based on the visit.
We are having a bit of of a problem finding a safety she likes. If I had to this again, and I don’t, she is my only, I would visit safeties first!
As for college fair reps my D got nervous when we first walked in to her first when she was a sophomore. We ended up going to talk to the Bard rep because she was first alphabetically. She did such a great job selling it my D will apply there.
@swtaffy904 Start a thread looking for safeties with your daughter’s stats, what she’s looking for and schools she likes and is planning to apply to. I’m sure the CC minds can give you some ideas to consider.
Yeah, @swtaffy904 - the safeties are the easy ones! 
Finding safties that don’t feel like settling (after all, it’s only a safety if your kid wants to go,there) are the golden tickets of the college search 
My daughter found her college at a college fair. We were living in Florida and every school within 500 miles had people stacked 20 deep at their tables. The nice guy from Wyoming had…no one. We picked up a brochure, some other junk, talked to him for as long as we wanted. We also talked to the guy from Marquette and thought it looked nice but probably too expensive.
We probably wouldn’t have considered Wyoming if we hadn’t talked to the guy at the college fair even though we know a lot of people who have attended, like my BIL.
@homerdog – I’ll be interested in your reaction to URichmond. In the end, my DS applied to Grinnell and to UR. The better merit aid came from Grinnell.
UVM was one of my son’s safeties. It’s a great school in so many ways but they take a lot of kids from his high school (Boston suburb)…including kids below a 3.0. It’s one of those that just doesn’t feel like a safety…at least to my kids.
Per earlier post, reporting back on Southern swing:
William & Mary - One of the more unique school we’ve visited. Public university of modest size (6,000) with distinct emphasis on liberal arts education. Students seemed bright, happy and engaged and campus was interesting and beautiful. It wasn’t S18’s cup of tea because a bit too remote and sports scene seemed muted but I twill be suggesting it to a lot of friends whi don’t have those issues.
Richmond - We are a fairly preppy family with a lot of private schools and Ivied colleges in our backgrounds and Richmond felt like a nice boarding school to us, which is both good and bad. Gorgeous, pristine campus, tremendous resources , intimate learning environment but a bit too small, monochromatic and sheltered for high school kids who’ve been there, done that and are now looking for more. Might have been different if University were more a part of up-and-coming Richmond but everything is a car-ride away.
+1 on William and Mary. I have always said it is one of the most underrated colleges and doesn’t get the press it deserves. Wasn’t my children’s cup of tea either but I made sure both of them toured the school. I think it works well for the more serious student not looking for a big sports/frat scene. Campus is beautiful.
Just a comment. William and Mary does have a strong Greek life.
Neither of my sons would consider it even though it was instate. But, it is a lovely campus and seems like a great place for the right student that feels it’s a good fit.
I absolutely LOVE William and Mary… but it didn’t have the program D wanted… 
CROSSED OFF
WashU in STL: Beautiful campus. If Disney designed a college campus, it would probably look like this. Stone buildings, beautiful quads. But DD wasn’t sold, possibly because everyone we heard from/talked to was pre-med, which is not DD’s jam at all.
MOVED DOWN
Oberlin: It didn’t help that the day was raining and grim. We were poised to love Oberlin, but only found it ok. Some of the buildings and facilities are really dated and the We’ve Turned Progressive to 11 vibe is a bit much.
MOVED UP
Carnegie Mellon: After WashU, CMU looked pretty junky to my eyes—and I’m an alumnus. But there’s a kind of charm to the shagginess. At WashU you’d be afraid to hang something on the wall, whereas at CMU tearing stuff apart and rebuilding it would be par for the course. The mix of arts and engineering is really unique and allows for some different interdisciplinary blends that appealed to DD.
Kenyon: We had low expectations for Kenyon, but really liked the school. It’s gorgeous and has a good, easygoing community vibe. It’s really out in rural Ohio, but didn’t seem to bug us as much as equally remote Oberlin.
@odannyboySF Did your D find Kenyon to be too quiet compared to CMU? I would imagine they both had different levels of energy on campus. Thanks
@odannyboySF My S18 and I also were quite underwhelmed by Wash U. I think 10/12 tour guides were pre-med. Huge turnoff for us (and I’m a doctor!) My S18 is still going to apply but it moved very far down the list.
When I toured colleges 25+ years ago, Oberlin was my least favorite my far. Probably not helped by gray sky, gray ground, gray buildings, March wind whipping. Neither of my kids considered it at all.
We haven’t visited Wash U but, on paper, it looked perfect. Then we went to a local presentation and S19 wants nothing to do with it. The student on the panel was arrogant and dressed like a banker. S19 didn’t like the student and the preprofessional vibe of the presentation was a turn off too. I thought it was so odd because its reputation in the Chicago area is that it’s more liberal arts focused than Northwestern and that the vibe is friendly and Midwestern. We thought the school presented itself as exactly the opposite of that.
Interesting @homerdog that WashU has reputation in Chicago that you report! I live near Wash U and would think the panel you describe is a perfect representation. I would NEVER say it was more liberal artsy than preprofessional! (Not that there aren’t liberal arts folks there). I’ll let the “arrogant” stand without comment.