My D loved UMass Amherst as well, even though she swore she’d never go to a big state school (and she didn’t). But it was one of the only big schools she really liked. The other was UPitt.
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I have never posted before, so here’s my attempt to summarize the tours we’ve been on in the last 3 weeks. I have twin D’s who are 22. We are NC residents.
Way Up: UNC Asheville–beautiful campus, has D1’s programs, kids seemed like people she would like to hang out with. Honors program a good match. She will likely get into UNC-CH (although who knows these days) but it’s not a good fit, so we’re trying to figure out a more LAC feel for her.
Up: U of Richmond–D2 loves this school. Would definitely be ED for her if not for the unknown twin thing with finances. She is also a “match” for UNC-CH (again, who knows) but she is looking for something different. It’s hard to stomach paying Richmond tuition if she is accepted to UNC-CH though.
Up: NCSU Dad is an alum. Kids thought they knew the campus and liked it okay. Both think it is too big, but wouldn’t mind it. They now realize there’s more there that they like than they realized from their dad talking about his “good old days.”
Down: Elon. D2 Pretty campus, nice school, but…Burlington. Ugh.
Down: Davidson. Neither daughter was enthused, and with as selective and pricey as it is, it was an easy one to let go of from a parental point of view. Town was too small for D2 and D1 didn’t like the way the guide described the eating houses and the social scene. Neither saw themselves there.
No change: Guilford D1. Again, more of her people. The honors program graduation rate is significantly better than the overall grad rate, so that was good to hear. I would hope that she would get a nice amount of aid. We are a little worried about the colleges finances and if her major got dropped, she’d want to leave, so it’s complicated there.
No change; UNC Wilmington. D2 Honors college a good match, loves the coastal setting. Will go there happily if nothing else works out and it is affordable.
Still to visit: UNC-Charlotte, Furman, Stevens Inst of Technology (the dark horse, emerged from an email they sent her that she happened to open and saw the video about internships in NYC)
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Have you looked at AppState @BlueCoffee? My D22 (also in NC) has dismissed it saying she knows too many people that go there, but she does love Boone. Just curious what your kids thought. I don’t think mine will change her mind on it, but I kinda liked it when we did the tour pre-Covid.
Your D1 might like Warren Wilson if it’s not too small for her. If she likes UNC-A and Guilford it’s in that ballpark, maybe a little further to the funky/edgy/hippie side. Good scholarships.
I am totally with you on Elon. That is way too close for us and I just do not get the appeal of the surroundings. Burlington/town of Elon, big big ugh. It’s funny to me how it is so popular with OOS kids.
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@BlueCoffee they are graduating HS in 2022…right?
Yup–class of 22, traditional college age 
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@Sweetgum Sooo…App State is too big for the daughter who likes the mountains. Would be more appealing to D2, but she says she will not go somewhere that cold (of course, she’s also considering a school in NJ, but I know better than to point out that inconsistency) Both know quite a few kids who have gone there and they don’t feel like they’d fit in (another inconsistency, but again, I avoided pointing that out) . I saw your earlier post about Warren Wilson and was intrigued–looked it up and D1 said “maybe” in that tone that implies “nope” around here.
Now that both have a choice in-state school that they like that is affordable (UNC W, UNC-Charlotte, and UNC A) I feel less inclined to insist on adding state schools to the list. That being said, I told D2 that if she really liked Richmond, we needed to visit another private that was more of a choice school. We came up with Furman, but I’d love more suggestions. She likes schools with proximity to a “real city” where she can get internships.
And yes, I’m glad Elon has built in so many great things, but I can’t fault my kids for not wanting to spend their college years in Burlington…
Maybe because it’s just “southern enough” without being too far south? Northern families can kind of dip their toes without going full on moonshine & pulled pork? 
I agree, one of the most beautiful campuses and great school - couldn’t get either kid to consider it.
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Well if you head back up to Asheville anytime might be worth a pop in at Warren Wilson. Our tour guide at UNC-A said she did both the same day like we did and WWC didn’t do it for her, but she really liked UNC-A so that might be how it is for your D1 too.
If you have Furman on your list are you going to look at Wofford too? Both of those are probably too preppy for my D22. She’s pretty unconventional.
If your mountain-loving D might be interested in a women’s university she could check out Hollins in Roanoke.
@CollegeNerd67 Elon just doesn’t appeal to D22 or me personally, but I am happy for the people that like it. Elon is the exact kind of school my D22 is NOT interested in — preppy, greek, in the middle of nowhere, too close to home, and in Alamance County! FWIW, we have way prettier campuses elsewhere in NC, UNC-CH for example! I think Guilford is prettier, too, but I like campuses with old historic buildings and Elon doesn’t have many of those. More power to ‘em for bringing in those $$ though. They are doing well for themselves and I did like how they have good placement services, etc. I’ve been on the campus for events with my kids’ high school, but couldn’t get either to even entertain the thought of going there.
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@Sweetgum and @BlueCoffee wait what’s ugh about Burlington?? We’re one of those OOS families looking at Elon but haven’t visited. What’s wrong with Alamance County? please say more! (also, while I have some reservations about going back to the south (I’m originally from Memphis) the pulled pork is not one of them! Excellent bbq is a giant plus!)
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To get to Elon, you leave the highway and drive down a long country road. It is like the longest driveway in the world. Then bam, a college with a tiny little main street town.
I had one who loved her 4 years at Elon. My other college kid is a short train ride from NYC and hasn’t gone in once. I find many college kids are very happy to remain mostly on campus with 5k other students to do activities with, and do not spend much time at all off campus. I like the campus-centered focus.
None of us liked UNC-CH, but YMMV. I will say my Elon kid, and her friends, ended up in their dream jobs. Still too early to tell for the other kid.
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We viewed google earth/google maps of campus areas before we went to visit in person. One can see a lot from dropping your pin on the main road into town about 2 miles out and virtually “driving” in to the center of town and exploring the streets around campuses. Made D22 feel better to know what things looked like 2 blocks from campus, since when we visited, we generally were focussed on campus itself.
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We are from OOS and flew into Raleigh-Durham. It’s not a far drive to Elon, I think it was 40 minutes. My D will apply to UNC CH but less than 1% of their student body comes from my state so we are not holding our breath. We were very impressed with many things on the Elon tour and their campus is lovely, so the fact that our D might have to drive a bit to get to more exciting or interesting places doesn’t seem like a big deal. They seem to encourage study abroad and internships so my D may be getting pretty far off campus.
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There are a whole bunch of people who live in Burlington who would object to my “ugh” so take it for what you paid for it. The stereotype is that Burlington is the town a visitor might go to in order to hit the outlet malls and then eat in a chain restaurant. But of course there’s a lot of outdoor beauty and we saw a little downtownish area in Elon that looked to be, well, trying. It’s growing, as is most of the I 40/85 corridor, but it seems to me to be much less interesting than the cities to either side (Greensboro and Winston-Salem to the west, Durham and Raleigh to the east). NC is growing rapidly, but the growth is concentrated and Alamance county is not one of the top 20 counties. Not many young professionals are moving to Burlington unless it is for affordable housing for a long commute for those starting a family.
All that being said, one of my D’s may end up at Elon (the other won’t even apply). She’s the one who is most likely to content herself with life on campus and not care as much about the town. She will also just want a small group of friends.
Politically, Alamance county is part of the red of the NC purple, while the counties/cities on the east & west borders are blue. That could be an asset or a flaw, depending on your preferences.
Time to move on from Elon. If people would like to continue the discussion of the pros and cons of Burlington then start a thread in the Elon forum. Thank you.
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We visited Elon, and my kid felt it was a gorgeous campus that war really way out in the boondocks. My kid wanted something way closer to a real urban area. Elon didn’t meet that criteria.
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Per the title, this thread is supposed to be about your kid’s / your experience after visiting a school (s). No need for anyone to chime in. Not about their opinion of your opinion (probably been guilty of it myself but will do better).
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A few impressions from a visits a couple of years ago (mostly pre-covid):
Moved up:
Iowa State – no expectations, but kid 2 was really impressed with the beauty of campus, the great food in the cafeteria, the friendliness of the tour guide, and the personal touch of everyone involved in the process. Even a surprise midwestern thunderstorm during the student guided tour didn’t dampen the enthusiasm. Definitely made it into the final group based on the visit.
University of Minnesota TC – Kid 2 really liked the campus (both Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses) and how different they were. Liked the access to city activities but that there was a defined campus. Became a finalist choice.
Appalachian State – Kid 1 loved the location and setting, and the student tour guide was great.
Western Carolina – Kid 1 said it felt very cozy and liked the setting a lot. Students were very friendly and approachable; one asked if we needed any help navigating after we finished our guided tour.
Moved Down:
Texas A&M – visited in July. Weather was hot, but the campus felt cold to my kid – huge area, nondescript architecture, way too much school spirit for kid 2 (a lot of focus during the tours on the yells, Corp, traditions, etc.). Immediately fell off the list as not a good fit.
UNC Wilmington – We were in the Wilmington area and stopped by campus. After driving through, kid 1 didn’t even want to get out of the car to walk around, saying the campus was boring and looked like a community college.
UNC Charlotte – Kid 1 did a tour but just wasn’t feeling it. Too far away from the city center and also some kid from HS they didn’t like was going there, so it came off the list.
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Hahaha, that sounds just like my D22! She won’t consider App State because she knows too many kids there and doesn’t like some of them. I think it seems like a great school.
You said this was from a few years ago. Are your kids in college yet? Wondering where they decided on if so.
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Did my kid go for a ride with you? S didn’t want to get out of the car for UNCW, and he has dropped UNCC for some mysterious reason.
He does love App State, though – it rocketed to the top of his list.
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