It would be helpful if posters specified to which MSU they are referring as it is not always obvious–especially in the case of Montana State University. (Michigan State & Mississippi State are more well known MSUs while Missouri State is not).
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We are heading to Whitman next month for a visit for S23 - how is your son’s year going?
My kiddo is looking for a SLAC; we live in the middle of Portland, and ended up crossing Grinnell off our visit list as we decided it was just going to be too rural for a good fit - but Whitman really seems like the sweet spot of small campus in the middle of a good small-midsized town.
- Also headed to Carleton, St. Olaf, and Macalester.
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I have a sophomore at Whitman who absolutely loves it there.
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University of Minnesota. Liked it after a tour in the summer. Then toured Purdue, which had a boffo presentation and tour which really impressed us. Now after a revisit to MN, it has gone up again.
Just got back from a ENG specific tour. It was 65-70 minutes long, and the guide for our private tour was a 4th yr. ENG student. Terrific guy, no BS. He and S2 got along great. Wife and I were happy to hang back, and have those two talk.
We toured just about all of the ENG buildings except ChemE, and maybe one other bldg. S2’s area of interest is CS/ECE, so the bldg that houses those disciplines, Keller, was of particular interest.
S2’s summation, “I liked the Keller bldg., but it was probably my 5th favorite one we were in!” After thinking about it, I’d have to agree. The Physics building is traditional, with columns and Ivy, but has undergone a complete reno inside. It looks like a really nice museum, with modern surfaces, light, and exhibits. Aesthetically and feel wise it was our favorite. The Anderson building(MechE) was also nice, but in a more functional way. Really, really nice shops- I am a tradesman and know more than a bit about workshops. Lots of high ceilings, light, and space.
Nano tech bldg was also superb. Smaller, but very interesting shops and research (i.e. Clean rooms) taking place. There was also another bldg, whose name escapes me that had solar and drone projects in them. The Keller bldg seemed to have plenty of space, and lots of nice, curved screens and other pieces of equipment(O scopes, meters, etc.)
In general, it seems the U of MN has done a really good job of having cheery, light filled, modernized, open, study spaces sprinkled throughout their ENG buildings. Really welcoming, and important in a climate like MN when you need to be inside for much of the long winter. Tunnels and skyways between buildings are common. They have also taken care to install lots of new glass even in traditional old bldgs. that would otherwise be gloomy.
After the tour we revisited some of the buildings, and found even more really nice spaces. Also went to the CSE Walter Library, which is a beautiful old thing with super high, coffered ceilings. Even S2, who is more of a modern bldg. guy, liked it.
U of MN seems to have spent a lot of thought, money and time on upgrading and maintaining their buildings. Impressive, and makes me wonder about schools that can’t be bothered to repaint/resurface their old buildings, and still want to charge 60K/yr. tuition. Ironically, the only building that stuck out as butt ugly was the Architecture one… I mean, poop Brown- what were they thinking?
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I think I mentioned here that I’d report back on our whirlwind Midwest tour. D22 and I are waiting for our plane here in Minneapolis so I figured I’d write this while still fresh.
Some context: We found out that D22 got into UCLA (we are in CA) about 36 hours before leaving for Admitted Student Day at UMichigan, and tours at Kenyon and Macalester.
UMichigan: a beautiful campus in a really fun town. We got super lucky with the weather—it was sunny and in the low 60s. Of course we loved the Diag and the Law Quad, as well as how easy it was to get around Central Campus. The dining hall in South Quad was average—passable but nothing to write home about. Michigan kids seemed super nice as well as energetic and ambitious. We had a great time walking around Ann Arbor, too. It’s easy to see why people love it. That said, with UCLA offering a similar kind of experience at less than half the cost, this was really about seeing if we thought there was any reason at all to pay OOS tuition. The answer to that is no. So, at the end of the day, Michigan will be a “no” for D22.
Kenyon: I wrote about Kenyon a few posts above this, mostly inspired by the conversation about Ohio. But to quickly recap: Kenyon charmed us. It is a very specific experience and one my daughter connected to. It seems like a very special place, one that takes root in your heart and mind if it’s right for you. The kind of place people say “if you know you know” about. Definitely moved up in her eyes. She has a $15k merit scholarship there.
Macalester: on paper, Mac seemed very much aligned with D’s priorities but this campus was just not a match for her. It was lightly snowing and quite cold, so perhaps that influenced us but we didn’t find the campus all that pretty and she didn’t connect with the students we met along the way. I think if this is the right school for you, you will know when you are there. And if it’s not, you’ll also know 
D has $22k merit scholarship here.
All in all, a productive but tiring trip. D still has several decisions left, including a couple of Ivies. We are tired of looking at colleges though! Hopefully there will be some renewed energy in a couple of weeks for spring break.
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I think we can move off of the posts about the State of Ohio.
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Wow, we are headed to the same colleges next month (Macalester, St Olaf,Carleton and Whitman…also adding Gustavus Adolphus). I’m looking forward to comparing notes on how our students felt about them!
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So far so good! He’s doing well academically, and seems to always be busy with friends doing outdoor activities or climbing the in gym (they have a wonderful rock climbing center). The campus is beautiful and the town very accessible, although my son does not go into town all that often. But it’s perfect for him since he’s not a city person. But I don’t really consider Walla Walla that rural. Northern Wisconsin is rural, with many towns only having one stoplight. I think Walla Walla is a nice-sized, charming town. Lots of kids from Portland too.
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Thank you for the thoughtful summary! I smiled as you described AA (Mich alum here).
Safe travels and congrats to your daughter - she sounds like a superstar!! 
*Also, there are about 40,000 postponed EAs from Michigan waiting on their applications, so if she is a for sure “no” - and wouldn’t mind withdrawing her application . . . . 
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Just got back from Wesleyan and Vassar. Wesleyan went down on list. campus seemed a bit run down and generally disjointed. Vassar went up. went in knowing nothing about. Campus was shockingly beautiful. Liked how the dorms are “houses” with faculty living there. We had a lot of trouble getting a sense of the students. Welcome any input!
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D22 had the same disappointing experience at Wesleyan. It was her #1 school on paper, and is now off the list after visiting.
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@SoCalDriver Looking forward to the trip reports. Curious your comparisons of likes/dislikes about Mac/St Olaf/Gustavus Adolphus).
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My D is headed to Vassar in the fall - accepted ED 1. She also disliked Wesleyan. My impression is the kids at vassar are similarly academically inclined often but not always with an arty twist (music, film, dance) but way less hipster than the kids at Wesleyan. I don’t have a ton of experience with either school though so take my impressions with a grain of salt. Overall based on the kids we’ve either met or known who went to vassar they are friendly and interesting - overall nice kids, with diverse interests and accepting of others. My D has been in touch somewhat with a bunch of the other ED kids over social media and my impression is it’s a supportive friendly group but again that’s a pretty limited slice.
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We toured LMU with S and it was H, S, and I and one other family on the tour. The other family was a mom, dad and a girl who seemed like she couldn’t care less. It turned S off because he thought that girl was representative of those who would choose LMU. I tried to tell him that this was only one kid and she seemed totally uninterested in LMU, but oh well! That made LMU move down on the list!
He feel in love with NAU after touring it! He was pretty enthusiastic after hearing about it and looking on the website, but visiting really sealed the deal!
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We have a family friend whose SIL went to University of Minnesota (he’s from Minnesota) and he raves about it!
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Great to hear - your description of your son’s experience sounds ideal, thank you!
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Nice to hear! Do you mind sharing where else they applied and how they decided Whitman was the right fit for them?
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That’s so interesting. Most of the kids who choose Vassar over Wesleyan (judging from “Help Me Choose” posts I’ve read over the years) cite the preponderance of athletes at the latter. I attended a Bergman film (I forget the name of it) playing at one of the Wesleyan theaters shortly before the pandemic and there were barely sixty people in the audience.
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A strong sports culture was definitely a turn-off for my D for the most part, but I don’t think that was a part of her thinking in rejecting Wesleyan - there were enough other things she didn’t like right up front that she didn’t even get there! But had she applied to both (she didn’t apply to Wes) and been deciding between them she may well have seen that as a deciding factor. And you may be right- only one of the kids I know who went there actually fit the hipster film kid stereotype so not sure exactly where we got that! Like I said limited experience.