@Dancingmom518 Four semesters of classroom language study does not make a person bilingual by any stretch.
^^Yes, but I can ask for directions to the library and order green beans in a restaurant. What more do I need?
@GnocchiB I hesitated to make a negative comment because it wasn’t balanced by all the good things there. Sleep well!
"Miami University- pretty brick buildings and a two block town. Felt soulless. It’s a no.
When we visited two years ago, Miami felt like it was the place a lot of high stat modestly affluent suburban students from good public HSs went when they didn’t get into where they felt they deserved to get in. Probably an unfair assessment but being from modestly affluent Ohio suburb, I know a number of kids fitting that description. They went to Miami because it was a good school for undergrad and was comfortable but not where they’d hoped to be.
@lvvcsf I think that’s accurate. Kids from affluent suburbs make up a decent part of Miami. Our GCs always suggest it as a safety with good merit. It’s a beautiful campus and highly appealing to many of these kids.
@youcee what is the “dining situation” at Cal Poly? They make them design a spear and catch fish in the Pacific Ocean or???!!
We toured Miami U last year as one of two final school visits. My son received a good merit scholarship which was about equal to in state tuition (we are from New England). We were pre-sold on the look of the campus, the small class size, overall academics and the strong business school. They did a very good job with the Make it Miami day. However, the turning point for us was the condition of the dorms, at least the freshman honors dorm we saw - crowed rooms, hall baths, not much of an activity room - the dorms were a strong negative from our point of view. The other negatives we saw were the remote location, the student population was predominantly mid - west (I know…makes sense), the seemingly pervasive drinking culture and the fact that when the students move off campus for junior and senior year there did not appear to be any modern apartment buildings - just crummy old houses around town that were rented to students. Additionally, I had made reservations for move in day in advance of the visit and the closest hotel that was available was 20+ miles away. Miami U is a fine school, it just wasn’t right for my son.
@Coloradomama It may have changed in the last few years - I’m pretty sure they are building or just built a new dining hall. But they only seemed to have 1 all-you-can-eat place when we were there and they seemed to rely a lot on fast food places where you can use dining dollars. For some that like to grab a coffee and a bagel for breakfast or some fast food at lunch that’s ideal, for others who eat healthy, not so much. In that particular aspect, it did not compare favorably to UCSB. We came away from admitted students day thinking it was good enough and doable and weren’t going to use that as a con if he asked us our advice, but he made his own decision on that.
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Those crummy old houses often end up building a lifetime of memories. And they have porches–real front porches perfect for an old couch.
@homerdog
Lafayette campus is approx 1 hour from Newark airport (and there is a bus from Newark to Easton). Campus is also just 20 min from Lehigh valley intl airport in Allentown. My S typically Ubers to Allentown airport and then gets connecting flight through Newark or philly. Except for Thanksgiving the prices have been reasonable.
@Mac001 the honors students next year get to stay in a newly renovated dorm hall, they have built and are building brand new apartments for juniors and seniors that look amazing and are right on campus practically.
Of possible interest: My D17 visited Miami (Ohio) three(?) years back, with D19 in tow. D17 found it to fit all the negatives people here are talking about, and it came right off her list; D19, who has a really incredibly strong design focus, looked at the repeated quads-and-brick layout the campus uses and fell absolutely in love with all the things (well, except the not-sure-if-it’s-accurate perception of the student body) people here are listing as negatives—yes, even what’s arguably the sterility of it all!
Which, of course, is part of what this thread is about—diff’rent strokes and all that.
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@TomSrOfBoston I know four semesters doesn’t make you bilingual, that’s why I was skeptical. But that’s the word the Columbia tour guide used. Maybe he meant four semesters after four years in high school in the same language?
Sorry about the unfortunate typo on “frat” a few pages back.
Sorry?!? That provided more entertainment than 99.8% of the posts on this entire site!
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No worries. I will always think of Dartmouth in a special way going forward.
I’m with @barrons on the crummy old houses. A billion years ago at Penn and Michigan (grad school) that is where fun happened. Stupid pseudo-intellectual conversation, parties, watching TV, hosting dinner parties (pasta for everyone!)…it was all good. Luxury accommodations not needed. 
I have two daughters in college and visited many schools during their searches. Arizona State surprised the heck out of us. The tours are great, the whole experience is so organized, the facilities are fabulous, the programs, the programs, the programs. It’s just all done very well. My oldest is there and is graduating in a couple weeks. She’s a journalism major and had fantastic internships. She already has a job waiting in the city of her choice. She got an all-tuition scholarship while at ASU. My second daughter is a freshman at Notre Dame. I didn’t think I’d fall in love with a school, but WOW. My daughter was crying, she loved it so much, too, when we visited. She applied early and didn’t get in. More tears. Then she got in at regular admission. More tears. The academics are really, really hard, but she’s quickly made what I’m sure will be lifelong friends and she still loves the school. Don’ rule out ND because of the cost. I’d describe our family as upper middle class and daughter got decent $.
@homerdog I believe another option is to take the Trans-Bridge bus from Easton to Newark Airport.
" I didn’t think I’d fall in love with a school, but WOW. My daughter was crying, she loved it so much, too, when we visited."
Now THAT is not something we’ve seen on any tour yet. Probably for the best.
Oldest DS is more of a reserved, uptight, introvert type. If another member of a college tour group burst into tears of joy his actions would be to raise an eyebrow, take exactly two steps back, remove a pen from his pocket and make a note in his notepad, “Not this school.”
Younger DS is a caring nurturer type and would have probably tried to comfort the crier.
I wouldn’t have been sure what to do other than be grateful I don’t have daughters so don’t have to deal with much crying.