We have decided to do our own self-guided campus tours of some schools instead of relying on the virtual tours that schools are offering. My D22 doesn’t care for the virtual tours, and tbh, I don’t either. So it was my husband’s idea to take a drive to State College, PA to do a walking tour of Penn State. PSU actually has a self-guided tour on their website that you can print out. It takes you on the same route that you would walk on a campus tour.
My D going into this trip was certain that PSU was going to be too big for her. But since we are in-state and since she would like to be in a marching band in college, we wanted her to see it. I told her it may be too big for her initially, but to be able to compare it to other schools she will eventually see will be invaluable. We all know opinions change for lots of reasons over time, and the price point may be great comparatively when the time comes for that. I am also a big fan of making informed decisions, so we went for a visit.
My D wound up being pleasantly surprised, and she admitted that she liked the campus/school all on her own as we were doing the tour. The campus is beautiful with lots of trees and green spaces. The area of campus around Old Main is old and stately and there are other more contemporary parts of campus, too. The place is spotless and so well kept. Also, 2 alums who saw us with our map stopped to offer us help and to chat. 1 man was an alum along with his wife, and they moved to State College permanently. Another man was a retired professor who also lives there. It was obvious to us how much they love their school.
What enhanced our visit is that we arrived the night before and had dinner on College Avenue (The Tavern) that borders the school. It really gave my D the sense of the college town there. We got ice cream after dinner and walked around a bit. In the morning we ate breakfast at The Corner Room which is across the street from Old Main. It was a perfect place to start our tour.
I now think that she likes PSU, and she’ll be open to schools that have a college town and not just those that are “in a city.” It was beneficial to give her this frame of reference.
We have not had the opportunity to tour in person, but D is a rising junior so we have time. We have been using virtual tours coupled with google maps in order to pare down the list for in person tours in the spring (hopefully!!). These were the changed opinions (not commenting on ones that pretty much stayed the same):
Bucknell and Williams -OFF -too rural (google mapped the drive from about 5 miles away, as well as the main streets in town).
Lehigh’s -OFF -too rah rah, clubby/extroverted and totally focussed on engineering
Gettysburg and Villanova - off- too vanilla, not academic enough.
Franklin and Marshall -UP -great setting, liked look of student body
Wesylean - UP -edgy, nice town
Tufts - UP- loved Jumbo and how quirky they were
Was interesting to me to see how much creative effort schools put into these presentations, what they chose to highlight, and who was the narrator. Highly recommend if you haven’t done this!
@songbirdmama Thank you for this great feedback. Those were some of the schools on our list that we haven’t been able to visit. It’s great to hear from others, especially if it can save you a trip. I was reluctant about Bucknell being way to rural.
One of my D’s good college friends lives in Bucknell (a parent is a prof there) and she complains about the geographic isolation.
I have a co-worker and a cousin who attended and both liked it – both were in sororities and said there was a lot of partying back in the 80s, partly b/c there was nothing else to do.
@kanfly I think Bucknell has a very nice campus in an attractive small town. Since you’ve had an interest in it, it may be worth a visit at some point to get your own impression of whether or not it might be a good fit .
@songbirdmama FWIW I just caught up with some friends who have a kid starting college this Fall (hopefully!)
Among other places, they mentioned Gettysburg and F&M - their opinion, after in-person tours, was exactly the same as yours.
Gettysburg, not academic enough, but they loved F&M. Their kid is an athlete and they were impressed with everything F&M had to offer. It caught my attention because these are self proclaimed academic snobs (one parent and older kid went to super-de-duper colleges)
@sevmom The problem with Bucknell is that it is not even a direct flight to anywhere close to Bucknell. We are in Denver. I’d prefer my S21 to find a school with a direct flight from Denver. That shouldn’t be difficult!
Logistics are important , so if that is a concern, surprised then it was even on your list . The Bucknell grad I know was actually from Colorado . Transportation issues , cost, often come into play when eliminating schools. Good way to narrow the search, especially with what is going on right now. Most kids still stay fairly close to home , even before Covid. Good luck with your search!
Having flown into State College for work several times, it’s expensive, infrequent, and the planes tend to have propellers instead of jets. It’s “more accessible”, but not by a lot.
Comparing Lewiston and State College isn’t really fair. There is a LOT more to do in State College, given the year-round population is 7-8X.
kanfly- you will notice most major U’s across the country are not in a hub city (ie same city as a major airport). So many schools will have buses to/from major airports during times students typically travel. I certainly would not limit myself to a major airport city.
Agreed. He has schools all over the country on his list. However, most of them are easier to get to with a direct flight from Denver even if it is a drive from the airport. Getting to Bucknell would be 2 flights and 2 more hours of driving. And that is in good weather!
Visited 6 California colleges over the past week with D21. Since we are from WA, we only visited private schools and only in the SF and LA area as we had limited time. All the campuses were closed and on virtual learning this fall so we were only able to do DIY tours and didn’t meet any staff or students.
Down: University of San Francisco. Daughter was not impressed. Kind of a cold urban campus with architecture that looks mostly to have been built in the 1930s to 1950s when the institutional style was at its peak. No interesting campus neighborhoods nearby to hang out (that we saw). It is off her list.
Down: USC. The campus is in kind of a nondescript inner city part of LA. The entire campus is fenced off with big iron fences and walls with security checks to get on campus like you are entering a military base. The security guards let us on campus to explore on our own but we had to go through a serious covid screening and get visitors passes. The campus is pretty dense and concrete without the green spaces you get in more suburban places. Lots of pretty buildings and plazas but lots of institutional looking buildings as well.
UP: Santa Clara University. Absolutely gorgeous mission style campus with immaculate landscaping. Feels like it is dripping in money. I can see why they call it “claradise” The town of Santa Clara is the typical sleepy college town without much there to attract students other than a few restaurants and such. Not as affluent feeling as I was expecting from being in the center of silicon valley. Just the ordinary suburban college town like any other.
UP: Occidental College. This was daughters favorite campus on the trip. It is in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of far north Los Angeles. The campus is gorgeous and hilly with lots of natural areas and full of massive eucalyptus trees and palms and is nicely done in mission style as most campuses in CA. The campus seemed like a very cool place to go to school and the surrounding neighborhood of Eagle Rock seemed to have a lot to offer in terms of shops, restaurants, cafes, etc.
Neutral: Pomona College and the Claremonts. This was the last school we visited and were maybe a little tired. Claremont is a posh suburb about 30 miles east of Los Angeles and pretty nondescript. Seemed a lot like typical posh TX suburbs like Plano. The campus was very pretty but had a more southern flair than Occidental and was more flat. For some reason D21 didn’t take to it like she did Occidental. Of course this is just based on a walking tour of a closed campus as we didn’t meet anyone.
UP: University of Puget Sound. This is a gorgeous traditional campus in an older part of Tacoma. Lots of brick and Ivy that give it a Oxford or Hogworts sort of flair with immaculate grounds and lots of massive evergreen trees. D21 really liked the campus and the surrounding neighborhoods. It also has the advantage of being 2 hours from our home.
UP: Lewis & Clark College. This is a suburban campus in a hilly woodsy part of the hills of SW Portland surrounded by forests and parks. The campus is a little confusing. I think it was once a giant estate that has expanded into a campus so it isn’t laid out around a traditional quad like some schools but is sort of spread out along a wooded hillside. Very green and a mix of modern and old buildings tucked into the trees with views of mountains and such. The suburban location is 100% residential so no businesses within walking distance for off campus exploring. You have to take a bus into central Portland and the school runs shuttle buses to make that easy. This was the only school we visited while students were on campus last spring and it seemed a comfortable mix of preppy/jock types and casual liberal kids in t-shirts, jeans, and fleece. No greek life which is a plus for my anti-social daughter.
Our kid initially was leaning towards a large state u (probably engineering or math focus) with a fun college life and sports (spectating). After visiting LSU and Miss State, kid felt overwhelmed and like he wouldn’t be able to find his tribe. Nice campuses and lots of fun (and lots of bars), but just too much. On the other hand, Stephen F Austin and Southwestern in Texas felt limiting and small. There IS a happy medium and his in-state universities, while still big, felt more comfortable.
Down: Boston College. My son thought all the buildings were the same and “they all looked like a church” and all the people were the same. Although he is Catholic and white, he went to a very diverse public high school and preferred the other 8 colleges he toured. Wanted a city or big school. He liked BU and NEU and I think he could not have gotten the feel of BC from a brochure, so I am a big believer in visiting campuses.
Now on to my junior who wants to go south, which I know little about. Hope we can take tours.