@wisteria100 He’s having a great experience. He was just approached by professors to help them develop a new course over the summer and offered a paid fellowship and free room and board to do it. Didn’t seek it out or apply – they came to him. No way that would ever happen to a Sophomore at a major university. He also has a steady campus job working for an activity he would have volunteered for even if it didn’t pay (and the school guarantees jobs for any students who wants one).
@homerdog One of my oldest son’s closest friends is a Freshman at Middlebury. He was one of 7 kids (or some insane number like that) who came off the waitlist last summer. He’s a great kid (big interest in debate) and I’m sure he’d be happy to answer any questions.
Thanks @SwimmingDad 
Thought I’d add to the Midd/Dartmouth conversation. S1 toured both. One as an athlete(Midd), the other informally, with the tour given by Aunt and Uncle who are Profs there.
We were all impressed, but not knocked out by Midd. S1 went on a separate tour of the athletic facilities and loved the weight room/workout areas. Not so much the baseball field, but apparently a new one is being built. Presentation was very good. Very well kept up, and I have no doubt that a great education could be had there. Ultimately, the relative isolation( if I hear what a great city Burlington once more is I’m gonna scream “Bird Bedan!”) and it being beat out by Carleton in most respects took it off our list.
Dartmouth was another story. It has the history, charm, and the romance of a great school. Loved the old woodwork in some of the buildings. SIL showed us the murals by Jose Orozco in one of the libraries, as well as a bunch of labs and classrooms. The town was quaint…nice river nearby, good restaurants, much ice cream eaten…very walkable campus. S1 would’ve gone there in a flash, but there was no interest from the coach there(he is reputed to like big guys, S1 is 5’9"), and he had other very nice options, so he didn’t even bother to apply. The negative to Dartmouth is that it also pretty isolated. There is also the rich, spoiled, drunken fart kid syndrome, but I would suspect that is overblown. S1 has a bit of the social climber to him, so the “rich” thing could actually be a good thing!
moved up: loyola marymount university - tour guide was so cheerful and helpful. she seemed to really love the school. i asked about financial aid and religion issues (i don’t exactly have a lot of money and i’m not of Jesuit religion) and she told me she also got a lot of financial aid because she couldn’t pay for it herself and that there’s a lot of people not of this religion who attend! campus was gorgeous. got to see the dorms too by a different guide and they even pointed out few cons to be fair (the cons weren’t bad… just the dorms don’t have an AC so its hot in summer)! everything was beautiful, students helpful.
@depressedteen Loyola Marymount is a Catholic University. Jesuits are an Order of Priests in the Catholic Church TI couldn’t tell from your post if you were aware:)
I lived in Southern California without a/c. There were about 3 days a year that were sort of unbearable, usually in September. On those days we ate out and went to the movies. We had fans.
My inner 8 year old must have come out because that typo just cracked me up.
@CADREAMIN I actually texted that quote to my son at college…overblown fart kids. :))
Hmmm… maybe that whole classic “clam farts” thread was really supposed to be about calm frats. (Not that one is a lot more plausible than the other!)
@aquapt LMAO!!
Finally done with the process for second D. Thanks to all on this thread for keeping it humorous. Some of our visit reactions:
Indiana University- old and cold. Pretty grounds but it felt like an institution not a learning or collegial environment. It’s a no.
University of Arkansas- surprise of our list. Campus is not the prettiest but a very welcoming vibe from students and faculty. They need to change the name to Jerry Jones U given all the buildings he has contributed towards. Sam Walton trust also a large contributor to the business school. Fayetteville is a neat town. This is a good choice for students who want school spirit and a large university feel. It’s a bit remote if your from the east coast so it’s a no.
Miami University- pretty brick buildings and a two block town. Felt soulless. It’s a no.
Penn State- thought it would be big and impersonal. Nope. Nice campus and great student vibe but it’s just too big.
Elon- great tour guide. He wanted to be an actor but he should go into sales because he sold Elon big time. Unfortunately the reality in front of us didn’t support his thoughts. It’s a small version of Miami U but a bit more creepy.
Virginia Tech- liked the campus, admissions presentation, campus tour guide(s), student vibe, academics and options for study. It just felt like a good place to go to college. Only shade is not too many Hokie stone buildings on campus
@MDtheatregirl What was it about Elon that made you think it was creepy? Thanks!
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That Elon comment is so interesting. I want to maybe consider it for our D21 but I get the creepy feeling from it as well even though we haven’t visited. On paper it seems like a contender but I keep hearing about how it doesn’t feel l
“real” somehow. Like it’s trying to be something it’s not.
Good to see the nice report about Virginia Tech!
@homerdog We’ve seen so many campuses and Elon was one of the happiest places we’ve been. I remember we saw it on a rainy and gloomy day and the students looked cheery and the campus was stunning. Maybe some people prefer schools that are a little more rough around the edges. Everyone sees things differently. I’m just curious what was creepy about it.
We just visited Elon this weekend and didn’t think it was creepy at all. When we first pulled up I thought everything looked too new, but it turned out we were just coming in by the newer dorms. Once we walked through campus we saw that they do a nice job keeping up the older buildings so the whole campus looks nice. I did read on here somewhere that someone thought it wasn’t kept up well, we thought the opposite. The grounds were well kept, everything looked clean and neat. I think they mentioned the campus is a botanical garden or has one so there are all sorts of different trees and flowers that are labeled and you can get a map to do a walk around campus and see it all if you want.
In keeping with this thread I would say it went up on the list for me and I think it went up for D19 (she is hard to read!) We also drove through Chapel Hill on the way to the airport. I wasn’t sure we should do it because it is probably out of reach for D, but both of us had heard such nice things and she knows how hard it is to get in there and still wanted to at least see it. It was pouring rain, windy and cold, we couldn’t even get out of the car - and we still both loved it!! She didn’t think she would want a school that big but the campus didn’t seem too gigantic and the town was perfect size. So, I guess you could say it moved way up on our list, but really it probably won’t be on our list at all unless she wants to try for a super reach.
2 more to report on
Hamilton – Down but not off. Info session did a good job of selling the liberal arts philosophy but did not do a good job of selling 'Hamilton" or what makes it unique/special. Shout out to the lovely ladies that work at the admissions desk - they were friendly and welcoming. Tour guide was a sweet girl, who loved her school and we appreciated the fact that she tried to personalize the tour and get to know us. But coming off a slew of tours at other schools in the past month or so, she couldn’t hold a candle to some of the other guides (who seemed like they were minoring in tour guiding) who were more polished and informative. The ‘light’ side of the campus is lovely. Nicely landscaped, good layout, it looks just like you would expect a liberal arts campus to look like, but better than a lot of them. The ‘dark’ side not so much - kind of had a white elephant feel to it. Impressed with the depth and breadth of student artwork in the art center. Like the focus on writing. Climbing wall was also cool. I have toured Hamilton before, so know it has a lot to offer, but on this day it just kind of came off a little generic and low energy. Sometimes you happen to be at a school and it’s a time where kids aren’t changing classes, so you don’t see so many kids, but we were on campus for almost 3 hrs and it that time we saw perhaps just a half dozen kids on the pathways outside. Even the dining hall at lunchtime was a little subdued, with several tables housing a lone student reading or working on a laptop. Town of Clinton is small but cute but not walkable from campus.
Colgate - Up. Got there the afternoon before and D decided to go for a run on campus. Came back and said there were a lot of kids out running and they seemed friendly and smiled/nodded in her direction. Score 1 for 'gate there.
Info session was a little forced, but student on hand to help the admissions person seemed accomplished and smart and had a lot to say about opportunities he had gotten in pre-med. We had 2 tour guides who complemented each other nicely - 2 different types of kids. Campus was very pretty and scenic. Gave off a very friendly, upbeat vibe with lots of hustle and bustle. Great athletic facilities and lots of housing choices.This is going to sound strange, but we saw more ethnic diversity in students at Colgate then at any other tour over 2 kids. The common data set stats wouldn’t necessarily support that, but that’s what we saw that day. Talked a lot about strong alum network and interdisciplinary approach. Town is just down the hill from campus, so convenient, but not all that much going on there.
I happened to mention these 2 tours to a Colgate alum, and they said Colgate kids are always out and about outside and Hamilton kids stay indoors. I’m sure that’s a biased view, but kind of lines up on what we saw.
@wisteria100 I’m going to have our S19 go for a run on every campus now. LOL. He ran at William and Mary last week and, just like your daughter at Colgate, got a really good feel for the campus. It’s important to him to be able to get out for a run while in school. Nature is a box he needs to check. Now he will go to a class AND go for a run when we visit campuses!
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UMBC - Off the list after yesterday’s visit. D19 went into it with an open mind despite all the criticism she heard from others. It was very crowded and poorly organized which didn’t help matters. We were sent out on a tour with probaly over 100 people and 1 tour guide. The information tables for the various departments were swamped and you couldn’t even get close.
The campus seemed to be in need of some much needed repair and maintenance and there is really nothing around the campus for the kids on the weekends.