Skidmore: Student with a Star Wars R2D2 backpack walks by. D: “Nope.”
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Northwestern? Rice? Spirited and suburban.
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Yes to Northwestern, but no to Rice because he won’t consider any Texas colleges. It’s too bad because I think Rice could be a good fit; a relative of ours loved it there.
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This is one of the things that’s so beautiful about this thread. My youngest (most interested in economics and philosophy) could well have been on the exact same tour as your son, but mine heard all the talk about study sessions and student research and work over fun and such on the tour we went on, and was fairly swooning with delight (and Hopkins went way up on their list).
Which points out, yet again, the way that each student has different desires and even needs, and that’s a good thing!
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Georgetown!
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So far, the oldest 3 have picked colleges very different from each other. I think they would all be fine at one of the colleges their siblings picked. But all 3 are much happier with their own choice, and don’t really get the appeal of the schools that their siblings picked.
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We have three kids that are VERY different from each other: different academic and career interests, different extracurriculars, hobbies, and interests, different GPAs and test scores.
Child One went to School A and loved it.
Child Two was accepted at School A, picked School B, but quickly changed his mind and transferred to School A. He also loves it and will graduate this year.
Child Three is applying now and School A is at or near the top of her list.
It’s amusing. They all like the same school for different reasons.
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We had a very lively and energetic tour guide at Princeton, who gave a refreshing and surprisingly non-elitist account of the eating clubs, and also discussed aspects such as the midnight meals (not at eating clubs) that are a social event in themselves. She gave an impression of a very good balance between work and play, also describing the intensive and impressive senior research projects required of students.
On the other hand, a visit to Colgate resulted in a quick scratch off the list. There were actually a bunch of negative things that we noted, but overall it certainly confirmed the stereotype of a rich, white, frat-dominated place. What surprised me was the strangely dour vibe. It did not seem like a fun place to be at all.
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No doubt that Colgate isn’t very diverse but the university is aware and has a very detailed plan to change that. It’s a priority
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I also didn’t have such a favorable impression of Colgate. I didn’t visit but browsed the website after my daughter received an email from them - surprised by the 80K price tag and that 60% were full pay, low-ish % (24%) of students of color and 44% came from private high schools.
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With the exception of places with national academic reputations like Williams, it’s difficult to find a small rural LAC with much diversity - there isn’t much diversity in the rural world, and many suburban/urban high schoolers are reluctant to choose a school in a remote location. Schools like Colgate have to recruit extra hard to find that diversity, so good for them making it a priority.
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Pre-COVID tours for my D, who is now in her first year at Smith College.
– Georgetown: UP She loved it in a kind of awe-inspired way. The tour and campus both were so impressive. Fortunately she realized later that it was was terrible fit for her academic style and she didn’t apply.
– GWU: UP Unbeatable location and good tour. The academics and students made it seem like a solid and achievable option. She was admitted to the Honors College with a nice merit scholarship.
–American: DOWN She really disliked the location and campus seemed very disjointed. The students, while motivated, seemed like they were trying really hard to appear smarter than they were. I know, harsh.
–UPenn: DOWN She just didn’t care for Philly. Campus and tour were fantastic though. Younger D is still very enamored with UPenn after that tour and may apply next year.
–Bryn Mawr: DOWN The campus was so quiet and empty and felt like an asylum in the woods in a horror film. D was looking for a very extroverted student body and hyper active campus life. This wasn’t it.
–Barnard: UP D spent 2 weeks there at a summer program and discovered her love of LACs and women’s colleges. She applied ED and was rejected, but she’s even happier at Smith (which we never had a chance to tour until move in day!)
–Occidental: UP toured twice. She loved the students and academic scene. She hates LA though, and the campus was pretty isolated and small. She was accepted with a nice merit scholarship but it wasn’t her top choice.
–Pitzer: UP this was a surprise. She liked the campus and alternative scene. She ended up not applying because the location was so far away from the city and Claremont is not really fun for students.
–Scripps: DOWN another surprise. She said it felt like a cloister. Very quiet and studious. Not her scene at all though campus was beautiful.
–Lewis & Clark: UP we were so thankful she found a safety school she really liked. The campus is beautiful and Portland is super fun for young people. Tour guide was kinda meh but we also met with an admission office person in a nice sitting room-- private meeting and they answered all her questions. They offered her a huge merit package and I think if she has not been accepted at Smith she would probably be at L&C.
BU/Tufts/Brown/Smith: April 2020 trip canceled due to COVID. She did virtual tours at Tufts and Smith and ended up applying to both. The Smith virtual tour was really good, personalized, interactive. She really got the vibe of the school and is loving it there.
COMING SOONColleges tours for my twins! I feel like this will never end.
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Love these descriptions— keep them coming. My D had flipped impressions of Occidental, which seemed urban and part of the larger LA area and Lewis and Clark, which was tucked away in a residential area and had nothing to walk to. I think L&C is a bit larger, but they are similar size. Oxy is on her list.
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Thank you @Techno13!
D23 toured Barnard a month ago and loved it, it was a surprise, only went there since we went to tour Columbia the same day. Ironically, she liked Barnard better, will be looking at other women’s colleges!
Thank you for your notes!
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Campus tour of Columbia resulted in it being crossed off the list for my son. “Good school, but too urban” was the review. Good thing we didn’t make it to NYU. I find Columbia to be a relaxing oasis in Manhattan, but that is very much relative to the environment. The plaza on the bridge outside the Law school feels like a nature preserve in that location.
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My D has only seen 2 campuses in real life due to Covid.
Wellesley: remains up, beautiful campus and she doesn’t mind the quiet. She already attends an all female school and loves it.
Boston College: pristine impressive campus not too far from Boston. She liked it more than I thought she would, but there is the question: is it right for what she might major in? It’s my father’s alma mater, but that was a very long time ago when it only had 2 buildings!
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I don’t know if my DC consciously looked at how the other kids dressed, but I did 
Did they all look exactly alike, were they all in the name brands head to toe, did they wear school swag etc.
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What does she want to major in?
She’s not absolutely sure. She’s interested in engineering, and BC has a new building for that, but she also is very tied to her music, so she is looking for a school that is strong academically but also musically.
I know this thread is about campuses, so I’ll leave it at that.
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BornMe,
CMU is very strong in both engineering and music. Not sure if it would be possible to double major or minor.
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