I did not get a hippie feel from Amherst at all. Maybe slightly sporty and preppy.
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Went to Boston last weekend.
Moved up: Northeastern. I thought I understood their well-known co-op program, but hearing the nuances of implementation, combined with the very intentional annual calendar, and their “pillars” concept really impressed us! They also checked multiple boxes with regard to foreign travel experiences in places D is interested in. The campus was great - felt cohesive and central, and often quite quiet, despite being right in the city. Went inside a handful of buildings, tour guide greeted some friends along the way. 4 T stations on campus makes all of Boston just minutes away. We came in a little tired, and left energized - how often does that really happen?
Moved down: BU. Just 1 mile away from Northeastern, and a really lovely location on the Charles River. The info session was meh and the tour was painful. It’s a long skinny campus, but we walked a tiny section at a snails pace to stop and hear about some specific buildings for specific majors. We didn’t learn anything about the buildings in between or around the focus buildings. The Arts & Sciences building takes up a whole block, but the entire time we walked past it, the guide spoke of gen ed classes and an auditorium. D is going into sciences…. No building entry and no talk at all about the parts of campus we didn’t get to. Also, MIT frats are nestled in the BU perimeter, which I understand but also find a bit weird.
There were multiple minor negatives here (for D), but the big one was vibe. D pointed out that there were multiple BU staff that passed us without acknowledging us - no smile, nod, or even eye contact. Normally, that would be fine and normal in a city. But the day we were there, the school was hosting a 2020 graduation make-up ceremony, and two alumni events. We walked right past the tents! The employees were dressed in BU gear, with name tags, and we were clearly on a BU tour. We have been to nearly 30 schools now - we’re not new to tours, including city school tours. We also live near enough to Boston that we feel comfortable there, and “know” the general vibe. It was weird.
I know it’s supposed to be some amazing school, and it probably is, but compared to the energy and enthusiasm we felt at Northeastern, it really fell flat.
Saved another $75 app fee. I’m good with that.
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This is great feedback about BU and Northeastern. We are taking my S23 there in 2 weeks and are visiting both schools. We are also going to look at Tufts and Babson. I’ll report back!
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We had a quick NY, NJ & CT tour with our D23 this week. Visited 6 schools in 3 days - we will try to space things out a bit more in the future. She is undecided Major (leaning into Sociology) & Flute Performance Major/Minor/Certificate or concentration, depending on school. This was our first “real” college tour AKA outside of our home state trip to see different schools in different settings. We visited a lot of schools almost 10 years ago with our S15, but he is CS major and his list was completely different.
To get this our of the way - yes, we visited three schools that are extreme “reach” for almost everyone, especially for a public school student from the South. We had not travelled since March 2020 and it was a lot of joy to be playing tourists at Princeton, Yale and Columbia. So we indulged ourselves. Yes, we already toured her match and safety schools in-state:).
Princeton she liked the most - a lot of great energy, happy students, everyone talks in groups and smiles to each other. Great school spirit, connections seen and felt everywhere we went. Our tour guide was constantly saying hello to people we met on the way, felt like a great and diverse community. Loved that 90% of students live in 1 mile radius around the school. Great academic options with the Certificate in Flute performance and different concentrations to choose. Dozen of clubs she was ready to sign up for on the spot, lol. Seemed to have great study/life balance and support for students - unexpected in this case.
Bard College is off the list now. D had very high hopes for Bard and their Conservatory Double Major program. Location is very remote, beautiful, especially now in October. Contrast of bold architectural ideas/art and some of the older buildings in need of maintenance updates and new equipment. Academic vibe coming from students was mixed, and a bit underwhelming. Star professors were part of the appeal, including one of her flute idols. Glad we went, sad it did not work out. “I just do not see myself here”. Too small, too remote, too rural, too slow paced. Less diverse than she expected too.
We went to Yale after Bard and it was a lot of contrast as far as setting and energy. D figured she wanted to have community around, so college town is great. Loved residential colleges, felt like it provides support and smaller community feel for students in academic colleges and University overall. We arrived to New Heaven late at night, but took a long walk around the campus - glad we did. There are a lot of things happening, lots of lights in libraries, but also parties (gasp! And on Wednesday night!), students running, eating out, socializing, it was great to see kids having real college experience. Had a tour in a.m., our tour guide was amazing and from the public school next door in our county - so her insight was great! She said it was hard work getting admitted, but there is a lot of support once you are at Yale and a lot of opportunities.
Off we went to NYC:
Barnard went up on the list by a lot - she did not have women’s colleges on her list, we added Barnard, since we were visiting Columbia. Ironically, she like Barnard even more than Columbia, which she also liked. Barnard has cross-registration program with the Manhattan School of Music. That one flute Professor from Bard she LOVES is teaching at MSM too! So…
Liked Columbia, which for her still had a cohesive campus feel, even in the middle of NYC! Tour group was huge, but the tour guide did a great job! Very excited about Columbia/Julliard joint programs - will be researching and considering those. But both schools are super competitive. We walked around Julliard too, but they do not have organized tours at the moment.
Loved NYU - exited about their dual degree opportunities and took masterclasses from a couple of NYU faculty members in the past - saying they are all brilliant and it would be a dream studying there. Observed that depending on where we were on campus, felt it was different student crowds. Did not mind the big city setting - loved the energy and being in the heart of NYC. NYU is going up on the list.
Going to Boston soon, and driving out to see Vanderbilt too - a day trip for us from ATL - will post our updates.
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We visited schools this past Summer so we would not have to deal with that when school was in session. We visited UofM Ann Arbor (we live in SE MI), Purdue, Carnegie-Mellon, Pitt, Case-Western, and my son attended STEM camp at Rose-Hulman. None of the experiences knocked a school off the list, but our perceptions of schools did change based on the visits.
UofM: My son, J, was not enthralled with the campus. The main issue is that they have a separate engineering campus that is far removed - around a 15 minute drive - from the main campus. Unfortunately, their math and physical science departments reside in their humanities college on the main campus. It didn’t help that we could not tour inside any of the engineering buildings. J will still apply, but we will get more information about how they handle students traveling between the two campuses, and we’ll try to get inside the engineering buildings before making any final decisions. This is disappointing because it is a highly rated school just 1.5 hours from us that is strong in both engineering and the physical sciences, and we would pay in-state tuition. Did I mention the in-state tuition?
Purdue: We came away very favorably impressed. The school obviously has resources, with new buildings and old buildings that have been recently renovated. (Purdue is what UIUC would like to be if they were not starved for funding.) Despite being a huge state school, most of the engineering and science buildings are in one quad, giving it a more manageable feel. The students who gave a presentation and answered questions were impressive, and a professor graciously stopped to help us and answer questions when we were obviously lost on campus.
CMU: This is a long reach, and J, is apprehensive about going there because of its reputation for being a grind. We had a current Junior ChemE from my old fraternity give us a private tour, so we were able to get into academic buildings and see labs. The school is awash with money, with new and expanded buildings, current construction, and brand-new equipment in the computer center and labs. Our tour guide was wonderful, and regaled J with information about research he is doing on delivery systems for medicines. J also liked the Oakland neighborhood in Pittsburgh, which might have had something to do with our visit to Primanti’s. Before visiting the campus, I think J was not really interested, but now he is wondering if he could handle it.
Pitt: We were both pleasantly surprised. The campus was nice, and the science and engineering buildings were close together. The school has an honors program in all its majors where students get priority for class registration and better access to professors. This is one of J’s safeties, and if accepted he would explore the honors program. It is right next door to CMU with the same access to restaurants, bars, shopping, etc.
CWRU: This was another pleasant surprise. Before going there, we included Case because we wanted him to see a medium sized school to contrast with the extremes of large state schools and tiny RHIT. J loved it, mainly because of the flexibility they provide for students to have double majors and minors in unrelated fields. The campus was also very nice, located in the cultural center of Cleveland and surrounded by nice neighborhoods. It went from being a space-filler to a top contender.
Rose-Hulman: We were hoping J would fall in love with RHIT, but he had a terrible experience at their Catapult STEM camp. The projects they assigned the students were disappointing, and very few teams got their respective projects to work. They engaged in “enforced fun” more appropriate for a grade school summer camp than a STEM program for future engineers. On the plus side, the professors were terrific and supportive. J had lots of downtime and he helped a biology professor with his research. Another downside is the school’s location in Terre Haute, IN, though the campus itself is quite nice. J is still very interested mainly due to the quality of the professors, the focus on undergrad teaching and flexibility in choosing majors.
MSU: This is J’s second safety. He has visited the campus in the past (Mom is an alum), and he plans to meet with a rep from the engineering school in the next couple weeks. Like Pitt, MSU has an honors program to which J would apply.
Kettering: J has been to Kettering a couple times with his school’s robotics team, and we toured the campus. Though we love the co-op program, J will not apply to Kettering because 1. the campus is under-resourced and run down, 2. the school is not highly ranked, 3. it is in beautiful, scenic Flint, MI, and 4. it is primarily a feeder into the auto industry, specifically GM.
So, after campus visits and research the favorites appear to be 1. CWRU and 2. RHIT, in that order. This may change after we learn more about logistics at UofM and touring their engineering facilities.
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Buses run every 10 minutes +/- and the bus ride takes about 10 +/- minutes.
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momtofour12, We also toured CMU and Pitt. At CMU we were lucky enough to have a current Junior in ChemE we know give us a private tour of the campus, including inside science and engineering buildings. The campus and resources there are nothing short of amazing and beat all the other schools we have seen so far. I am an alum, and CMU has never been known for being a student friendly environment. Interestingly, it is far harder to gain admission to CMU’s engineering school than it is to more highly ranked programs. My son is interested in MechE, and is applying to UofM (#6), Purdue (#8) and CMU (#8), among others. Purdue is a target, UofM is a slight reach, and CMU is a very long reach.
Pitt is one of my son’s safeties, but after doing a tour there I would not be unhappy if he ended up there. The campus is not too daunting for a large state school with all the engineering classes close to dorms, and like you, we had a great tour guide. If your son is interested in Pitt, have him research their Honors Program, which they offer for all majors. Students selected into their department’s Honors Program get preference for classes and better access to research opportunities. And while it is technically an “urban school”, Oakland is a nice neighborhood.
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I think a private or personalized tour is the way to go at CMU (unless they open campus up). His applications are all in and we’ll see where they land…he’s in at Pitt and like you, I wouldn’t be unhappy if he landed there! I think honors notifications come out several months from now. Good luck to your son!
Correction: CMU is #9
Two thoughts sprung to mind…
Michigan / RHIT / CWRU … you have schools of 2,000, 12,000 and 45,000 students. Maybe the cost/benefit of size is causing some indecision?
Our East Coast LAC engineering daughter took a job at a start-up in Ann Arbor after graduation. No prior ties. Our family now owns a lot of Michigan swag. She never attended a school with a football team (HS or college), so she adopted Michigan football as her own (despite having Big 10 grad parents from another school). Football season tix, hockey games, a few field hockey and soccer games…Ann Arbor is a really nice town, and if you want to engage with the UM sports and arts scenes, there is a lot to do.
Size was one thing that didn’t matter to my D at all. She had schools of 45K and schools of 2K on her list. She wanted a career readiness engineering program first and foremost, engineering design of some kind in the first year, strong career center, a 4 seasons climate, and not in a city. Size was irrelevant ; )
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While CWRU may have 12K students only about half are undergraduates. CWRU and CMU are similar in that they both are an amalgamation of two schools combined in the 1960’s. It gives them a very liberal arts/tech feel. Pitt was interesting as it feels more like a college city than a college campus. A quote we heard at RHIT was that if your a guy looking for a date it can be rough. If you’re a girl the odds are good but the goods are odd 
. We had the same concern for Michigan about the location of the engineering campus. Purdue feels very engineering centric. The Engineering school is pretty much in the main part of the campus.
Bigger schools can offer a lot of opportunities, however, what they won’t do is lead you to them. You need to be proactive. Attend the job fairs, talk to the professional practices office, talk to professors about research opportunities etc. If you just go to class you’ll still get a degree but you won’t make any connections. Good luck.
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The main attraction of both RHIT and CWRU is that students have the flexibility to explore before deciding a major, which is important to J. RHIT has the added benefit of concentrating on undergraduate instruction with small class sizes, professors who would rather teach than do research, and access to professors.
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After seeing different size schools, I don’t think J has an issue with a large state school, as long as it is not a logistical nightmare getting from class to class, which is the source of our concern with UofM. The Lovely And Talented (that would be my wife) went to MSU undergrad, and still tells horror stories about running over a mile between classes. In contrast, I went to grad school at UIUC and the buildings where I took classes or did my work were all within 75 yards of each other. Both Pitt and Purdue seem to be quite manageable, despite the overall size of the schools.
I agree that the larger schools will have more resources and extracurricular activities. Everything is a tradeoff.
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D has never had an issue getting between classes in the allotted time at Purdue. As you noted, the engineering mall is very centrally located and it’s easy to get around. FWIW, my D had the same reaction to UM’s split campus.
I also making the mad dash between classes when I was an undergrad at Cornell. I still have the occasional nightmare about being late.
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One thing you mentioned was Kettering Universities Coop program. If that is something that would interest your child look into that at the universities you are most interested in. For my D a coop was a deal breaker. In the end she attended Purdue. They have a tremendous Professional Practices office. While they don’t require coops they do strongly support them and have both 3 and 5 term coops. She did a tour at Vanderbilt and was told at the Engineering session that they did not support coops. She left after the session and said there was really no reason to tour the compass.
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Hilarious, and I’m guessing it’s so true! My D22 really likes RHIT. We loved the tour we did earlier this summer. They had personalized packets for each student that included course maps for their intended major. It’s a sweet little campus and felt very much like a place where these kinds of kids can just be themselves and thrive. The 75/25 gender ratio is definitely a downside for my daughter, though. We understand that all CS programs are going to skew heavily male, but at least at other schools the general student body will be more balanced. Still, it remains on the list as a top choice for her because we know it’s somewhere she won’t fall through the cracks.
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FreshCoastal, I’ll give you the sales pitch I give to every other parent with a STEM daughter looking at schools. Carnegie Mellon now has a policy of making all their incoming classes in STEM majors gender balanced. Their overall acceptance rate for their engineering program is around 15%. Since far more men than women apply to engineering programs, what this means in practice is that the acceptance rates for men and women might be 10% and 30%, respectively. Because of this policy, a female applicant might get into CMU and be rejected by a less competitive school.
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Yes, I did hear about that! We visited CMU and Pitt earlier this year, and my D fell in love with PGH. She’s hoping for Pitt at the moment. I encouraged her to consider CMU because of their push for gender balance, but she was concerned it would be too much of a meat grinder atmosphere. I don’t know how accurate that perception is, though. I’m hoping that across the board her being female gives her a slight boost with her intended major being CS.
FreshCoastal, CMU and Pitt are both in Oakland, which is a nice neighborhood for students, with lots of bars and restaurants. Pittsburgh is a great town, and it has really experienced a renaissance over the past couple decades.
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