Gentrification is a friend to older cities.
But not to long-time residents who are forced out due to rising rents.
@lindagaf great reviews! can you tell me more about Syracuse? I wanted my D to see both Syracuse and U of Rochester, because both seem different from the schools she has loved so far,but both seem like very vibrant, fun schools. I was just wondering whether you thought Syracuse had a pretty campus( quads, nice landscaping, lots of greenery) and what the avg class sizes are? Thanks so much!!
@OHMomof2 Ultimate frisbee didn’t start at Amherst, or any other college! It started at my high school alma mater, Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. It’s one of the school’s very few claims to fame, so I need to correct that record. 
Only other claim to fame that comes to mind: graduates include Roy Schneider from Jaws, Lauren Hill from the Fugees and Elizabeth Shue from…from a movie I forgot.
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citymama9 I will share Syracuse came directly off DS list due to the city of Syracuse. For him, it was just very, very unappealing. He didn’t think any qualities the campus might have had outweighed Syracuse itself. For me, I thought the Dome with basketball and concerts was a pretty cool thing to have on a college campus. But I had to agree, we didn’t see what the hype was about in terms of the school. We have not seen U of R but a friend showed me photos from her visit and the campus looked beautiful.
@citymama9 , my son wasn’t bothered by the town. His comment, on a bitterly cold morning, was that there were plenty of people walking around. He liked that. We didn’t see much of the town, but it seemed fine to me. The campus was a big surprise. It was lovely. Beautiful quad, interesting old buildings, decent new buildings, lots of students everywhere who just didn’t seem phased by the cold. I am pretty sure I was the only one who cared, haha! We saw kids wearing slippers, and shoes with no socks! It had snowed a little too. Hilarious.
Now, Rochester does have a very nice campus, and the city is fine. Plenty of restaurants and things to do. But here’s what both my daughter and I didn’t like. We visited Rochester twice, in April both times. And both times, the city was a ghost town. Cars were driving around and parked everywhere, but we never saw people walking outside. It was just kind of creepy. I vividly remember my daughter, on our second visit, saying “where are the people?” I live in NY, and I know how cold it is here, but it did leave us with a strange feeling. Having said that, Rochester made it to my daughter’s final three. It’s a really great school with smart, passionate students.
They are both nice, but very different. I probably preferred Syracuse’s campus, as there was a lot of variety in the buildings. As for the cities, pretty equal, but I give the nod to Syracuse. I think there are probably not so nice areas in both cities, but I don’t care about that. I don’t judge colleges by the towns they are in, unless it’s down-right depressing. But I do think those two colleges are extremely different in terms of feel. Syracuse definitely seems to have a sporty, relaxed vibe that gelled for my son. Rochester has an intellectual and somewhat nerdy, but also friendly vibe that appealed to my daughter. Rochester, IMO, is a better school academically.
…and the guy who started it at CHS learned the game over the summer from a guy who went to Amherst 
Here’s a timeline:
https://app.box.com/s/dli7m86lijd7yce014wh
Jared describes the early game: https://vimeo.com/album/3003040/video/103959202
Joel confirms learning it from Jared and bringing it to your high school: https://vimeo.com/album/3003040/video/103960573
Both schools have an important place in the history of the game. CHS had the first official game but the game was developed at Amherst.
@Empireapple and @Lindagaf Thanks so much!!! We definitely need to go see these schools. I feel like all the schools my D likes are very similar so I think it’s important to see if something a little different will appeal to her.
DD does not like big cities but went to visit BU and Simmon College any way. It confirmed her belief that she is not made for a big city. Took her on several campus visits.
Wellesley - very organized, beautiful campus, offers a major of her interest. Likes it
Middlebury - good presentation. Student tour guide was good and pleasant. The campus is in the middle of nowhere but DD likes it.
UVM - nice campus, tour guide was nice and informative. Burlington is a bustling and artsy city. Likes it.
Mt. Holyoke - beautiful campus. Impressive presentation. Student tour guide was informative. No major of DD’s interest. Off the list.
Have a friend working at Cornell who suggested DD looked at Cornell. We planned to visit Cornell and stop at Skidmore on the way back.
Cornell - very large but beautiful campus. Peach school has its own quad. Students and professors were friendly. DD fell in love with the campus and numerous interesting courses Cornell could offer. The Dairy Bar, Cornell’s own ice cream shop is a good attraction, too. Top on DD’s list. DD did not want to visit Skidmore so we skipped it.
Fortunately, DD got accepted to Cornell. Cornell’s dorms for freshmen is separate from the campus by a beautiful gorge. It takes at least 15-20 mins to walk from a dorm to a classroom. Turn out, it is a great exercise for a non-athletic DD. They do have buses. Don’t get discouraged by a large campus. It could be a good thing.
If you would like to visit Mt. Holyoke, look to its Focus On Ampdmission Day in early Aug. youand your child will spend half a day their. Breakfast and lunch are included. High school juniors and senoirs are encouraged. They teach students how to write a college essay and conduct an interview. Parents are informed anout how college financial matters work.
Holy Cross offers a similar event called July Advisory Day, each year. If you or your kids are interested in touring these colleges, try to attend those events. It is informative and worth your and your childpren’ time.
If anyone has questions about Syracuse, feel free to PM me. I’m the parent of a freshman, and also an alum. The city has changed a lot since I was a student, and so has the area surrounding campus. Now that Uber has arrived (started in August) it will be interesting to see if more students leave the campus area. My kid has only gone downtown once so far, other than when we visited and took her out to eat.
@itsreallymia my D is a sophomore at Tyler and we were also pleasantly surprised when we visited Temple. It wasn’t even on our radar at first. She loves the atmosphere at the school and enjoys Philly as well.
UNH was my DD’s first choice until the tour, which was very STEM-focused (they were shown the newest science buildings, labs, told about research assistantships, and the group then bypassed the entire arts building and those programs weren’t discussed). The guide was frazzled when my DD asked about art programs and resources, and that was enough for DD not to consider it at all.
I accepted her decision because I, as a prospective undergrad, refused to get out of the car when we arrived at University of Chicago. Turns out cities are not for me! DD at least gave her schools a chance!
“But not to long-time residents who are forced out due to rising rents.”
Those residents replaced other long term residents who fled increasing crime and decline. Now their grand-children are just moving back. It’s a natural cycle. And the only one I know that allows cities to return/continue to prosper.
There is room for both long-term residents and newcomers. Rent control, rental subsidies and right-to-counsel in housing court to prevent illegal evictions are proven methods to reduce displacement.
@OHMomof2 Okay…I won’t argue with you, but I’m also not telling any of my friends from high school about that. We don’t have much has it is.
My D19 toured a bunch of northeast colleges with her class last week, it was a whole big thing her school does every year for juniors (we live in Los Angeles). She saw 7 colleges/universities. The only one she completely hated (and none of the kids in her group liked it at all either) was UConn. The others that she saw, she won’t necessarily apply to but she could see both positives and negatives. So, UConn is off the list! She thought it was too big, the undergrads were not intelligent, but snobby or "jerks and clones,’ etc etc. When her older sister did the tour two years ago, UConn wasn’t even an option! My D17’s favorites from her tour were Syracuse and Union, two very different schools – although she ended up not applying to either in the end. D19’s favorite from this trip was Wesleyan, followed by Boston College.
@JenJenJenJen Wow. Both of your D’s liked two very different types of schools each. What did your D19 like about Wesleyan and BC? Thanks!
@citymama9 - And! My D17 HATED Wesleyan! they are different people, that’s for certain. D19 learned on this trip that she prefers smaller campuses (so, a small uni at most, but probably a LAC). She had never been to Boston before and her school had little tours set up and she just loved the city – the class also did an escape room activity called something like Broda Borg (?) that everyone loved. We aren’t Catholic, but she loves the “Jesuit Lite” form of religion at Boston College, focusing on community and giving and service and acts. The campus was pretty and the tour guide was a great young lady and D19 liked the programs. She loved Wesleyan but wishes there was a more hopping town to go with it – she is not a party girl/drinker, she loves theater and is a theater kid through and through, and loved the artsy feel at Wes.
I’d wanted her to be on the bus that toured Boston University and Emerson, as people tell me she’d love Emerson (and it’s not a crazy reach like Wesleyan, le sigh). Her friends that were on that bus liked them both. She “had to” tour Tufts and Yale, because they were paired with schools that I thought she’d like: SHe’s seen Yale before and looks at it as if she’s going to a museum, look at all these great, amazing things you can look-but-not-have. Tufts she didn’t like, at all, mainly because the tour guide wasn’t good…but she wouldn’t get in anyway, so, whatever.
She could probably get into Northeastern because it’s all tricks there (apply EA to play the game there) but while she liked the idea of the co-op system, the campus was ugly and the tour guide a robot. She won’t apply.
She didn’t especially like Brandeis, it just felt “meh” to her. Truly, the two that really struck her fancy were BC and Wesleyan. Her friends who were on the bus to UVM and Middlebury apparently were of two minds about them, in that Burlington is fun and Midd so remote, so the kids on that bus either liked one or the other but never both.
It was a very useful trip, and I’m glad she participated. Over spring break I might take her back to Boston, to see this Emerson everybody’s always going on about. 
We can maybe see Skidmore that way too.
@JenJenJenJen I love how colorfully opinionated your daughter is about the schools and your equally bold commentary. I don’t know these schools at all but enjoyed the read! It’s fun when this thread is on track. Thanks for sharing.
@CADREAMIN Please. I love the slams, except when my alma mater gets slammed, then I’m like, all these people are idiots.