DH, DD and I are back from our Spring Break road trip. DS came along, but only toured one school.
UP
Christopher Newport University: I honestly thought this one would be crossed off the list based on some negative information I had heard about the surrounding area. It was the most miserable day of the trip alternating snow and rain during the tour. We were the only people on the tour. My DD was impressed with their new science building and their partnership with two med schools that you could directly admit to without the MCAT. Even though the day was miserable the students seemed happy and were very friendly. We were struck by the fact that all the bikes we saw were unlocked. The tour guide told us that they took their honor code seriously at CNU. They also said that as a D3 school they won about 75% of their games making it a fun atmosphere. We all like the school and it stayed on the list.
Furman University: I was wrong here again! I thought the student body would be too conservative or preppy for DD. We were at a showcase Saturday and they had a student panel. The students were funny and very diverse including a young man who told about how he came out as a gay man at Furman and how the acceptance and support he got from other students is why he stayed at Furman. Pretty much the theme was they were a community of students, faculty, and staff who not only support each other but also put an emphasis on giving back to the Greenville community. This was really important to DD who is looking for a family atmosphere and thinks it important to give back. The Admissions Rep who gave the talk turned out to be our area rep and he was really down to Earth and a little snarky which is DD’s cup of tea. Our tour guide looked like he was straight out of magazine ad for a preppy clothing line. BUT he was amazingly charming and was once again so down to Earth. He even told funny stories about mistakes he had made. Greenville was hands down our favorite city. The downtown was amazing and even the airport was beautiful! Furman is at the top of our list. They also had a new science building.
Off
Elon University: We universally hated this school. There was just something about it that disagreed with us. The Admissions Rep was very stiff and serious and went on and on about their new sports arena and how they were a division 1 athletics. They seemed to want to be another school (Duke? Wake Forest?). They had a real emphasis on growing the school and it was already the largest on our list. They were building and had one of the main roads blocked off, so Google routed us through a very sketchy area which didn’t help our first impression.
Mixed:
High Point University: DD loved the school and it’s on her list. DH & I do not agree and it is off of our list. I was honestly shocked (really I was absolutely awful at predicting what DD would like) that DD did not see through the facade. I think she was dazzled by all the bells and whistles. It’s truly beautiful and who wouldn’t want to live in that luxury. They greeted her with her name in lights, gave us a semi-private tour in a golf cart and we met one on one with the Admissions Counselor who gave her a t-shirt and me a coffee mug. She felt like they really “wanted” her. However, DH & I noticed that almost every car was a BMW, Range Rover or other luxury brands. I have never seen so many nice cars being driven by young people - and we live in a golf course community! We are really concerned that the type of students that go to this school will not be the kind that DD will get along with. Although we are upper middle class, DD has always hated being judged by material measures. She said at least nobody would judge her for having parents who were well-off (Um no - they are going to judge you by how well-off we are!) We are also concerned about the rigor of the school as DD was well above their ACT and GPA averages. As a pre-med track student, she really needs rigor to prepare her for med school and also to know if she can handle med school. Additionally, we are concerned with the financials of the school because their endowment does not match their luxury and all of the new facilities. DH will be investigating the financials further.
Previously we had tour two other schools:
Trinity University (Texas): This is off of her list. She said she didn’t think she would fit with the student body here as they are deemed to be “quirky”. We visited in the summer, so I don’t feel that we had a good representation of the school. I think she is worried that the school will be too rigorous as it is the highest stats school on the list. It had an amazing new science center. I’m not sure we can convince her to give it another visit. It would have been a good reach school for her.
Rollins College: We all liked this school. It is at the top of the list with Furman. I loved their neighborhoods concept (I’m a huge Mr. Rogers fan and he’s their most famous alum). It was a beautiful campus with a new science center. The cafeteria had guacamole! The food was so good. We noticed that no one was sitting alone in the cafeteria and that there seemed to be a good mix of students. It was good to see girls in work out clothes, no make-up and ponytails. There was some commentary that Rollins was a party school with kids who were wealthy and only there for a good time. It was not the impressions we were left with. We also saw professors engaging students one on one in their offices and a physics professor tried to convince DD and another Bio major to switch to her department as physics was so much more fun and they did crazy experiments.
@sahmkc Christopher Newport is a hidden gem that many overlook or don’t really know a lot about outside of Virginia. It is a welcoming environment with caring professors, strong academics, and great D3 sports. CNU students get a lot of support and have many opportunties with companies in the area. The city of Newport News is not great, but there really isn’t much of a need to go there as there are plenty of options around campus.
FWIW -
HPU is a bit of a spa school with a lot of kids from the NE, but it does do a lot of things right. The kids that we know that go to Furman, really like it. A couple that started at Rollins left after their first year as they felt it was just like their private high school.
@lastone03 I think CNU was pretty shocked that we were visiting from Missouri. I agree it is a hidden gem.Thankfully I had done a lot of research and found it!
I could see HPU being really good for business/marketing majors. Just really concerned about an article stating that HPU had a junk bond rating on their debt. We are investigating further.
It’s good to hear opinions from people who really know students that attend. That’s sad about Rollins, but great about Furman!
I love Rollins, but do know a kid who left. It was more because the lax team wasn’t what he expected. Know one at HPU and he’s loving the life at a rich kid’s school. He’s not rich, but benefiting from the nice meals served. He’s not driving one of those luxury cars. In fact he has no car at all.
@sahmkc so glad you found it too. Paul Trible has done an amazing job transforming what used to be an extension of W&M into a thriving 4 year university.
I’ve seen both Skidmore’s and Ithaca’s campuses and I thought Ithaca was drab and Skidmore was lovely. I prefer older architecture,but found Skidmore had so much greenery that it didn’t bother me.
I’m a fan f Rollins. I know 2 fl kids who went there because of full financial,aid. I had many communications with one of their Deans. They care about their students.
@prezbucky just saw from another post of yours that you’re the dad to the exchange student, not the mom. Sorry for the wrong pronoun usage - still appreciate your reporting/shade throwing!
My daughter did not like the vibe at U of Chicago and Harvard. We met with Harvard students who admitted to us that they were miserable and found it hard to find friends. So those schools were crossed off of the list. She was bullied in middle school so her happiness is a prime concern.
She felt the students at Northwestern, Berkeley, Brown and Penn were more like her.
I think Bryn Mawr may have been the PERFECT visit.
First, when we checked in they recognized my DD’s name as an admitted students and congratulated her and ran off to get her swag.
Then a student came by with a list of classes that she could attend today and made those arrangments.
Then, they arranged a special tour for the two admitted girls who were in the group.
Then, they arranged two current students to take us to lunch and chat with us more.
Then, they said they thought the welcome packet had not yet been sent out so they searched their office so they could hand deliver it to her.
It was really a wonderful visit.
Plus, the campus looks like Oxford/Hogwarts and is just gorgeous. The girls we met clearly loved their school. The info session and the tour guides were great.
Went over to Haverford for an info session/tour.
The campus is nice, tour guide was good, info session one of the most in-depth about how they make their decisions - very interesting.
I think it would be an amazing school for a scholar athlete who wants a small liberal arts school.
We saw more athletes in two hours on campus then we have seen in the last one week of visits! They do not schedule classes from 4-7 so as not to interfere with sports practice. They have one of the only college cricket teams.
The school is small and cozy - one dining hall so that all the students share a meal Quaker style.
Haverford might be perfect, but many an athlete has been burned by Haverford. When they give a pre-read ‘okay’ it seems to mean that you are qualified for admission (as are many hundreds of kids who apply) but not that you are admitted because the coach wants you. This is very different than at similar schools where that pre-read okay means you are in barring an arrest or D’s in senior year.
@sahmkc If your daughter is a junior and Furman is high on her list, you may want to research the Furman Scholars program for merit. You may want to look soon because I think the deadline is this week and she would have to nominated by her GC if she meets criteria.
@twoinanddone After listening to the discussion of how they make admission decisions that makes complete sense. All decisions at the school are consensus based so a coach would never be able to make a guaranteed offer without the application being reviewed by the entire committee. Perhaps they need to be clearer about that with applicants.
It’s just such a different process than other schools, including the Ivies. At other schools, if the athlete passes the pre-read, he’s likely in (and may even receive a Likely Letter!). The student uses his ED on that school.
Just a lot of confusion on what the pre-read means at Haverford. What it means is really nothing except that your application is in line with everyone else’s.
@biscuithead - totally agree about CMU. Plus, relentlessly corporate. Even when questions were asked about intellectual pursuits at the college, the answers inevitably veered toward corporate connections and employment prospects. I mean, yes, I want my kid to be employable someday… but it was just tooooo much. They were even giving employment stats in the info session and low-key throwing shade at the 10% or whatever number it was that were not yet employed at six months post graduation. As if to say, you know, even at an elite university there will always be deadwood. It was… not inspiring.
Visited UPENN yesterday - HUGE crowd for the info session and tour. Smaller crowd for the College of Arts and Sciences discussion so I do suggest making that separate booking as well. I thought the Admissions person did a nice job of handling discussing selectivity. She basically said, in a nice way, we are a highly selective university and would basically be a reach for all students. However, she gave a nice explanation of the different parts of the application and how to strengthen them. The tour guides were VERY well trained, well spoken and did a nice job with a large group. Visiting a University of this caliber is VERY different than the visits we had to LACs and the visit we had to a University that was wooing my DD. So the whole things feels very impersonal. For that reason alone I think in general smaller schools are moving up our list and larger Universities are moving down.