While a somewhat smaller campus than similar sized schools, it is still gorgeous AND there’s something to be said for campus spilling into cobblestone, gas-lamp streets steeped in history. Not to mention one of the greatest culinary locations in the world (at all price points).
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Spokane is depressing but has been trying and there has been investment in infrastructure there are some decent hotels and skiing nearby too. The kids I know who go to Gonzaga love it. And alumni I’ve known who attended undergrad were all smart and nice. I’d try and swing through Willamette (unexpectedly loved it). The Chicago winters are the hardest thing, but love Chicago and we really liked DePaul too.
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Recently took a quick trip to the South (we’re from San Francisco) to visit Richmond and Elon.
Richmond - slightly down - but it was near the top of his list and I think didn’t quite live up to expectations. But I looked back in this thread, and I’m not sure we saw the same school as everybody else! 
It was beautiful! But in my S22’s words “didn’t feel lively.” Great tour guide, but the campus felt very quiet, a little somber even. S attracted to the academics and thought all the classes the guide mentioned sounded super interesting. But didn’t love the spa and he gave me the biggest eye roll ever at the mention of the Himalayan Salt Room - it just might not be for him.
Elon - slightly up - every kid we’ve met that goes/has gone to Elon LOVES. IT. So I was super curious to see what the hype was about. To use the same rubric S had for Richmond - it was VERY lively! Kids walking in groups, no one wearing earbuds, lots of chatter, etc - a very vibrant atmosphere and the kids did in fact look very happy. Beautiful campus! But when I asked our guide “what is a hot topic or controversy students are talking about on campus?” (a regular question we ask. Always interesting answers: the need for more mental health care counselors; campus workers trying to get collective bargaining rights, new mascot, etc) our tour guide said “we don’t really have any controversies here.” Not a huge thing.
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Assuming you weren’t at Richmond in the past week, but if you were it’s their spring break and would account 100% for the quiet feel. Also, the week prior I assume would be a pretty heavy study week for midterms. Again, not invalidating what you saw at all, but would be reasons.
Our D struggled all of last year with “dead” campuses, trying to imagine what they were like in normal times. Happily, it seems like the current crop of juniors and seniors touring is experiencing much more normal environments.
We’ve toured Richmond twice. The first time, in 2019 and on a whim because we were driving through even though it was long before the real tours would start, the campus was hopping. Nice late summer day after students were back on campus, frisbee and football games going on, and what we thought was a varsity practice field was not- it was for all students, and was jammed with multiple pickup games going on.
So strange that campuses present themselves differently, almost by the day, sometimes.
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Folks notice different things/aspects when a campus is full of students versus an empty campus.
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Clearly our experience was unusual. It was in the middle of the week in the middle of February - about 60 degrees around 1pm - just luck of the draw. It’s not their job to perform for the prospectives! 
I’m sure it’s a wonderful place!
My daughter goes to school at UChicago and has not experienced any negative/competitive vibes. Her experience has been totally opposite and says it’s very collaborative snd supportive. She is extremely happy with the supportive nature of fellow students
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Yes, I agree. My daughter’s experience has been fantastic. She’s an athlete, not quirky, and has many friends on campus. The academics are definitely intense, but she finds it manageable and rewarding, while still having fun on the weekends.
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I apologize if this is not directly related to the OP question, but our D has found an extension of moving up/down lists during the actual application cycle.
When we visited initial schools, they moved up and down pretty agressively as I’ve covered here previously. But during and after application (as well as after acceptances), schools have rocketed up and down as well.
Even though waitlisted, UChicago was awesome and she went from applying because it was a great school in a great city, to really liking the school based on the things they said to her. “Thank you. You are amazing. Even though we didn’t accept you, you’re awesome and will do great things.” Man, it doesn’t take MUCH for these schools to do and say things that make 18 yr olds feel good about themselves.
UNC has SHOT up for her after acceptance. While she didn’t spend much time on it prior to being accepted because she thought she had no shot OOS, all they’ve done is inform, inform, inform since she got in. Dorms. Classes. Online seminars. They’ve laid out how her future would look, and walked her through the process. Bingo.
Michigan has been virtually eliminated for her before even hearing her acceptance. In years past they would announce in waves, which followed a fairly consistent timeline. This year they have yet to release one post-EA wave, and have been radio silent as to why. Essentially, she feels they’ve ignored her and refuse to share info. We will have limited time to visit accepted schools again next month, and she recently ruled Ann Arbor out.
UVA went up after they deferred her as well. Transparency. They told D “Here’s where you stand in the process” at every step, along with her chances and the numbers. Also provided updates on timelines for decisions. What more can you ask for? Every college should invest in a Dean J.
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Purdue went way up.
The weather was lousy, with a cold wind, snow, and temps as low as 10F. Still, we walked the campus prior to the Admitted Students Day. It seemed just right. Big enough to take the crush of people that a school with 40,000 students has, yet compact enough that you can walk the campus in 15-20 minutes, give or take. Low rise, uniform, red brick buildings are prevalent. Nothing stunning architecturally, but they have a warm presence that doesn’t overwhelm. Little to no car traffic within the main area of the campus, unlike WI. West Lafayette’s restaurants and stores are right outside the campus gates, and convenient. Easily reached by walking. Even Lafayette across the river is an easy 1/2 hour walk, though they have frequent and free bus service there.
What really got S2 intrigued was the near day long presentations by the school, especially the ones put on by the Engineering department, which is his field of interest. They nailed the midwestern, unpretentious, but smart and enthusiastic vibe. Inside of the ENG buildings was a mixed bag, but all of them were at least up to the level other ENG schools that we’ve toured(WI, MN, Waterloo, McGill), in some cases better, and certainly more extensive. Students were friendly, and upbeat, rather than downbeaten. S2 had worries about Purdue’s rep as a "grind’ school, but they were assuaged by those he met, especially a 1st year MechE friend he met later who said it’s challenging but doable.
The tours(one general ENG tour, another for his major, ECE), presentations(two short ones covering academics, housing, etc…I tuned out TBH)(two ENG ones that were excellent, and much longer), eating in one of the large, pleasant foodcourts(Ramen for him, Udon for me)all gave us a much better picture of what the school was about. Meeting with his friend and getting a private tour of dorms, buildings, meeting some other students, and eating at XXX Burgers was a more informal, but super important means for him to get an insider’s view of the school.
The overall impression of Purdue was that it is friendly, genuine, smart, dominated by ENG, easy to navigate, safe, and surprisingly diverse(important for him as a mixed race dude) and social(though in a low key way). There are frats there, but they are of no interest to S2. He does think that the school insisting that they join two clubs(one social, one academic) would be good for him. The ENG clubs are too numerous to name. Socially, he might do an intramural sport, or something else(music, eating?). Apparently there is not only a Squirrel Watching club, but a People Who Watch Squirrel Watchers club.
Overall, a great visit despite the colder than usual and gloomy weather. Purdue has now gone from being a possibility, to a favorite when he makes his decision in the next couple of months.
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First post but have found this thread helpful (and not as stress-inducing as some of the other threads) so figured I’d start here! Son (or “DS '23” I’m learning) has now toured a few schools. In general walking a campus on a weekend or doing a “walkabout” without some organization or personal touch has usually not been successful for us. For those schools where we couldn’t sign up for an official tour we’ve tried to find a student connection (friend of a friend or son/daughter of a friend that can meet us at the school) to make the visit more personalized and that has worked well. Our DS '23 is a pretty mainstream kid: not quirky, fairly social and very sporty. The main thing we got out of our college visits is that he’s pretty flexible and kind of likes most places and will do fine in multiple settings.
UCSB: flat to likely down. realizing from the visit that being next to the beach was not that big a draw for him (who knew…) and he didn’t love the architecture or feel of the campus. Also, had a negative reaction to the tour guide who he saw as “kind of a downer”. Also felt everything seemed very spread out. He will apply but likely will only go (assuming he even gets in) if some of the other schools don’t work out.
Cal Poly SLO: Way Up…DS loved the vibe and the optimistic/positive nature he noticed in the kids around the school. He liked the teaching philosophy of the Cal Poly model and the student body felt “familiar” to him, which he saw as a positive. The town near the campus is small but vibrant.
USC: Not Applicable. We were there on a Saturday. Felt super empty and not really much going on. Feel like we need a do-over. Campus is beautiful but DS did feel a little out of sorts with the surrounding area and how urban it was.
Tulane: Love it. Moved up. Liked the campus and felt the size was the right combination of big enough but not too big. The put a lot into their info sessions and the tour guide we had was excellent. Nothing like my son but was super excited and well spoken about his experience and the education he was getting.
University of Richmond: not on the radar previously but moved into the realm of possibilities. Beautiful campus and happy kids. It was a dreary day (and early) so the campus was not very active with students but he liked the layout of the campus and location of dorms and fact that the school had a strong business program within a strong liberal arts environment. also liked the D1 sports and spirit.
UVA: flat to down. parents loved the campus and the college town but for DS the college felt a little big and stressful. this would be a very far reach as an OOS student and he will likely not apply.
Washington & Lee: Crossed off the list. Again…the west coast parents thought the town and history of the school was really cool. Excellent school and academic community. The kid just flat out didn’t see himself there and didn’t even want to do the tour. Interestingly the younger brother (who was dragged along to all of our visits) really liked it.
Davidson: Loved it and moved way up. I don’t know if you’re following along, but these college visits are obviously a “parent-led” trip of colleges as our kid is still trying to figure out how to wake up in the morning and make it to school unassisted. So this school wasn’t really on his radar but he really loved the school. He liked that it was small but also connected to a town so it didn’t feel remote. He also connected with the tour guides and their story. Liked the spirit and the D1 athletics combined in such a small campus. Even liked the school gear.
Wake Forest: Moved up. beautiful campus…strong academics…happy students…decent athletics…school spirit. He liked the work hard / play hard message he heard from some of the students. Kind of checked all the boxes. He wanted a sweatshirt after the visit so that’s a good sign. On campus Chik-Fil-A made him super excited. Hey, look at this amazing building they built for the business school. Dad, that’s cool but can we go get some fries.
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Awesome report, and reminds me greatly of the tours we took with S21. We hit Richmond, UVA, and Washington and Lee over a 2-day span, and for Washington and Lee is was basically a drive-by because he decided with the wheels still moving that he wasn’t applying.
Food, man. I can’t tell you how many times the commons area of these campuses turned our S off or on based on food options. D cared SO much about the dorms. S could not care one iota about the dorms. “I’ll live where I live.” But he cared about food and food quantity, lol,
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I live in the area, and grew up in Bryn Mawr. My daughter attends a private school right across the street from Bryn Mawr College, which started as a prep school for Bryn Mawr College. That does not make me an expert, but here goes. . .
Bryn Mawr has a lovely, quiet campus, with beautiful buildings. It is a short walk from the town of Bryn Mawr, a lovely, leafy, green suburb. The town is very small, but has restaurants and shops. Haverford College is also wonderful, about a three minute train ride or one blue bus ride away, and has a slightly different vibe. By attending Bryn Mawr, your daughter can easily take classes and hang out at Haverford if that suits her. (My son did the Haverford tour, and loved it, but is opting to go farther away.)
We see Bryn Mawr students all the time, offer walking in groups. The groups are generally diverse and include students from overseas. They are always friendly with my daughter and her friends at the nearby Starbucks.
The campus is also a few steps from a train station. A five minute ride will take your daughter to Suburban Square, an outdoor shopping mall with shops and restaurants with lots of appeal for college students.
A 25 minute train ride can take you into Philadelphia, which has world-class museums, a world-class orchestra and health care.
There is a huge mall that can be accessed by bus, if your daughter needs to shop.
I would feel assured that your daughter is landing in a good place.
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Thanks so much! Can’t wait to be there in person!!
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Bryn Mawr and surrounding community are lovely. Totally agreed. One of my favorites anywhere.
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UF - down. We went to tour it today, but after driving around the campus a bit (and wow! There are a ton of roads, cars, busses, and scooters on campus), the kids opted not to stay for the actual tour. They didn’t like the layout or the looks of the buildings, and they couldn’t picture themselves going there. I know they’re doing a ton of construction, and that it’s ranked highly, but today it just looked old and run down. I think we were all really surprised since we hear so many folks love it. 
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This is great, thanks! Attending Purdue for Me 3/28, first visit. Curious to see what my D thinks of it.
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