We just returned from a mini-tour for D24 who is still learning about different college environments. We used the trip as practice for next year, so hopefully she will select strong contenders for her tours junior year.
Drexel: Down
She was apparently open to Drexel going into the tour (which surprised me, since I picked it). She’s recently decided she is interested in a film major, and she enjoyed the video on the web site about the film department. She didn’t mind the size of the student body or the urban campus (which felt much more cohesive than I expected, with a few small squares of grass/pedestrian walking areas mixed in). Although the Greek population is small percentage-wise, she noticed the two rows of houses with Greek letters on the front, which felt significant to her. We both thought the AO and the tour guide were very likeable and effective. Ultimately, the description of the coop program, with the need to find/pay for your housing for each coop, and the info that most students choose the 3 coop/5 year plan was a deal breaker for her. A few other notes: The library looked dingey from the outside, the tour didn’t even go into the library, and there was no student center as far as we could tell.
Dickinson: Up.
D24 after the tour: “I just wish they had film!” She was impressed by the library, noticed the students seemed friendly and were often in groups/pairs, liked the campus (overcast skies balanced by daffodils and cherry blossoms). Liked that the library had a coffee shop with muffins. Appreciated that she received a tote bag before the tour started and a map with descriptions of places to eat afterward. The map even labeled where you could find vegetarian and gluten free options. It all felt personal and welcoming to her. We got to peak in several classrooms, and she really liked the small sizes.
A few more notes: the art building was closed (?) and we couldn’t see it. There is a railroad track that runs through part of the campus. Yes, the guide confirmed that the trains sometimes wake up students. We had great meals in Carlisle, and Dickinson set the bar high for future LAC visits.
Notre Dame: UP for S / D never interested
We toured yesterday. The campus is wonderful— probably the best we’ve visited. Cohesive, nice layout, stunning architecture and open spaces. And the friendliest most welcoming people ever! We are not religious at all and all our concerns about not fitting in or being judged were alleviated.
The info session was unrehearsed but informative and given by a priest and a student. Our tour guide was fantastic— non Catholic and very natural and engaging. My S likes the dorm system and community, the sports scene, and the academics with traditional core curriculum. We dined in South Bend twice. Clean nice downtown on the river with good dining options. Only weirdness is that apparently students never leave campus? Is the school overly controlling? I don’t know. The rest of Indiana was blah.
If you tour I highly recommend staying at the on campus hotel- the Morris Inn. Right across from Admissions, lovely hotel with excellent restaurant and bar and friendly service.
Dickinson and Denison sorority participation are similar – 30+%. We know females in greek life and not in it, at both schools. The general sense was that it’s not necessary to participate to have an active, varied, rich social life and friend group, and that lots of students who weren’t “typical” sorority types chose to participate and had a great experience. But those who didn’t do greek life also had great experience.
Former women’s colleges, such as Conn Coll and Skidmore do not have any greek life so may be worth a look, if that’s a priority. Current women’s colleges, Bryn Mawr, Mt. Holyoke etc. do not have greek life (though as a BMC grad, we did leave gifts at the statue of Athena before exams for good luck, so not your usual “greek” life).
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University of Michigan
UP for D / S not interested before or after tour
My D really connected with UMI before we even had our tour. She loves the town of Ann Arbor and the eclectic, diverse, down to earth vibe of the students. Everything was buzzy and busy. The tour (windy cold and drizzly) was jus average IMO. The two student guides spent way too long on dorm and dining set up and not much of actual first year experience or student social life. But my D liked them and was enraptured. The campus is big, the buildings are big, but the layout seems pretty reasonable though we didn’t even get to North Campus. The Law Quad is the most beautiful but the rest is very nice as well. Not too many ultra new looking buildings and the campus was well maintained. We did get to go inside many buildings which was nice. It is definitely a public school and nothing like our recent private school experiences. But it was also offered a much better campus, town, and student life than UC Berkeley which we also toured recently. The private tour of the film/tv program and studios sealed the deal for my D. She now owns Michigan pajamas.
You’ll all now be saying Go Blue for the rest of your lives. 
This is a fun thread!
Up
Oberlin: Loved the casual vibe. Even in winter! Hipster kids. Felt very accessible and like they could picture themselves there easily. Town was seamlessly integrated and super cute.
Haverford: Campus is cozy and insular. Easy to get around. “they all eat under one dining hall roof.” D loved that sentiment and loved the architecture. Beautiful new building (maybe the library?). Also, freshman SINGLES!
Swarthmore: Again, nice and closed off from the world. No need for a car. Train is close if need to exit campus.
Bowdoin: Brunswick is amazing.
Down
Colby: Seems very sports focused. Fields are the first thing you see when you drive in. Also, town is very depressed seeming.
Vassar: Too formal. Fancy.
Wesleyan: Great on paper. Campus is not pretty. Town is run down, and campus suffers. Also, the biggest quad gets “taken over” for sporting events in fall and spring? Not a draw.
Probably the new music building.
We returned back from our Minnesota 3 school tour today:
Macalester - first stop. D and I weren’t sure she would like it because it would be too much in the city. Not the case! The school talks about being one of the few LAC’s in a major metropolitan area…which it is. But the campus is in a beautiful residential neighborhood, full of gorgeous old historic Victorian homes. It has a small town feel near the campus, you really forget you’re 10 minutes from downtown St Paul! The tour was good, nice tour guide. My D was on an athletics tour as well and the coaches and staff were fantastic! We loved the “can-do” attitude of the school. Want to do another sport? You can. Want to study abroad? Yes, you can do that too. Double major? Let’s try to make it happen! Loved the diversity of the school. Cost is high but with good merit we can make it work. Bonus is it’s less than 15 mins from the airport. Close to the cities leads to more opportunities for internships etc.
St Olaf - If I could use one word, it would be WOW. It is STUNNING. Reminded D of Harry Potter. The campus is beautiful, the athletic facilities great, place is impeccably kept inside and out. The admissions staff hit a home run - tons of straightforward info on what their school can offer, clear and concise costs, scholarship info etc. Everyone was so nice, we felt truly valued and welcome! The about 45 min drive from the airport is easy. The town of Northfield (5 mins from campus) is charming and beautiful. Definitely a small town feel but quite lovely. My D feels like there’s plenty to do there, and not a bad drive to the city for weekends you want more.
Gustavus Adolphus - another campus on a hill (like St Olaf) Campus is not as stunning as St Olaf, but is very nice! We ate in the cafeteria here which was so good, with an incredible selection (We were told it’s nationally ranked.). Admissions was busy, but spent a lot of time with us and made my D feel very wanted there. The dean of admissions even stopped by to meet her. Met with a professor from her intended major who was very nice. Our tour guide and all students we came across were great, so nice and knowledgeable. This school is located in the small town of St Peter, which was very cute, small town feel for sure. The drive here from the airport was at least an hour, the only negative I can speak of…but it’s an easy drive.
My D loved all 3 schools, what they have to offer, the area they are in. All 3 of them are on or right by the Mississippi River. I guess they all moved to the top of her list. She did get an offer to play her sport at one of them, so she’s naturally especially thrilled with that school. However she told me she felt she would thrive at any of these 3 schools, and more offers are likely after they see her play. I guess loving all 3 schools is a good problem to have at this point!
Love the St Paul area, and there are so many more great schools in the area…I highly recommend checking it out.
I have been WAITING for this review! Am so glad you liked the schools. I agree it is nice that all 3 are near rivers: Mac near the Mississippi, St. Olaf near the Cannon River (I did ecology research on this river one summer) and Gustavus on the Minnesota River. All 3 schools are in the same MIAC conference. In my own experience in the MIAC, all 3 schools make sure competition does not get in the way of academics. This is easy for them to do because so many schools close by means way shorter travel times.
Anyway, I agree that all 3 schools are terrific, and these are not the only good schools in the area either. I also like Hamline, St. Kate’s, Augsburg, and St. Ben’s, each for a different reason. Hamline is urban and does a lot for social justice and helping first gen students. St. Kate’s is urban, Catholic, and all women but progressive. They have a real strength in health careers. Augsburg is also urban, great programs for kids with autism, learning disabilities, and a program to help kids with sobriety. St. Ben’s is rural, Catholic, all women, but has brother school St. John’s nearby.
I hope you keep us in the loop when she decides!
Re Wesleyan and Haverford. I agree that it is hard to like both campuses, they are so completely opposite. When we visited many years ago, we felt the Haverford campus was just too small and didn’t have enough “historic” looking buildings for our taste.
This thread has been around so long that I might have given replies for my oldest kid (D15… would have been a year or so later though) and I know I did for the middle kid (D20). Now I’ve just finished tours with S22. Unlike the sibs, almost all of his visits were on admitted student days (and the one that wasn’t he was there for an audition so got more info on his department than in a normal tour and less on general school stuff).
So here are his/mine in chronological order -
Chapman - moved up. This was the audition school so he got a lot of info about the music department, less about the rest of the school, but we have a friend there who is a current student and we took her to dinner so got more from her. I loved the location (5 miles from Disneyland, not far from Newport Beach, convenient to airport). S22 thinks SoCal is too hot - that and no merit aid means Chapman will probably not be the final choice but if he didn’t like some of the others more he would have put up with the weather.
Lewis and Clark - moved down. This was S22’s top choice prior to visiting. The visit was ‘fine’ but he left feeling like he didn’t like it as much as Chapman. Nice campus, great location for us since S20 goes to Reed. Seemed like every professor and current student they brought in as tour guides or panelists were some flavor of sociology or other humanities, and we didn’t get any exposure to the music department (although to be fair, we didn’t go seek it out either at the time).
University of Nevada at Reno - moved up. I honestly was surprised by how much my kid and husband liked this school (I didn’t go on that tour). Hubby thinks for a school whose peers are probably Cal State-types, it’s way better funded… better upkeep on the campus and a lot of energy put into student support. Their main complaint is that housing isn’t even guaranteed for freshmen let alone any years beyond that. This would be our cheapest option although not by much and is one of S22’s final 2.
U of Puget Sound - was already high prior to visiting but solidified its place in the top 2. Great location, beautiful campus, and the admissions staff really put on the best admitted student day. They fed us breakfast, lunch, and ice cream; sent the students off to an actual class in their interest area (this was on a Friday so real classes were in session); had panel discussions with current students; had another panel (for parents) with the head of admissions, dean of students, lead faculty advisor, and a professor who has college-aged children of her own so could relate on that level. There was also an open house for the music department (plus other open houses we didn’t attend).
Whitman - I’m not sure I’d say it moved down… we kind of tacked this one on to the UPS visit since their admitted student days were back-to-back, but they didn’t give S22 any merit aid either so it would have had to really wow him to ignore the financial part and it didn’t. Great school, just not the right fit for my kid. The campus is lovely and the dining hall is quite new and had a great range of food stations as well as varied eating areas scattered throughout. They sent the kids off to a class (specifically for the prospective kids since this was a Saturday) and the parents off to a different class. I really enjoyed the one I attended on the psychology of school shooters. And the music department did also have an open house/ tour.
S22 is going to take another day or two to make the final call … he’s leaning toward UPS and I would be thrilled if that’s the final decision but UNR would be a good choice as well.
SDSU: down for D, maybe up for me. D and her BFF toured together and both have crossed it off their lists—too hot for one girl, too big for the other. The campus is very pretty and very big and there is a trolley stop on campus but it’s unclear how much use it gets. The students are highly attractive (not kidding!) and there’s a very So Cal vibe there, casual, relaxed, and happy. The campus feels busy. There’s a Trader Joe’s that appears to be right on campus. I think the dorms have a swimming pool. The university is building a new stadium a couple miles from campus and there will be additional classrooms and I think they said dorms too. Like this school isn’t big enough! Anyway I was surprised when both D and her BFF crossed it off their lists, because it feels like a vacation and they could have been there together.
UCSD: Down for all. This was a self-guided tour. D didn’t apply here but her BFF did. Neither girl was thrilled by the campus. It was so hazy that day that we couldn’t even see the ocean from the Ocean View Dining Hall. The buildings are ugly and I’m not a fan of the extensive eucalyptus. We only saw a few of the dorms and they seemed to be apartment style which might make it hard to meet people. However, students here seemed happy too, walking and talking in groups.
Willamette University: Way up for D! I was shocked because I thought she’d find it too small. I didn’t see this school as D went with her dad and sister, but they were all favorably impressed by the campus and what the school has to offer. My H said it looks as though the school has money and is well appointed. Staff of 10 in career center because parents want grads to be career ready. College Colloquium, one of 1st 4 classes in 1st semester ends at Thanksgiving break so only 3 classes for their first Finals Week. Permanent faculty teach it, but a physics prof teaches knitting. Students select their top 6 and it’s their intro to intellectual life and is one of many circles/ communities students belong to. My D attended a mock class where they did a lab experiment of some kind and said it was fun and interesting. She also befriended a few girls and they went for coffee (highly unusual for my reserved D!) And there’s a llama on campus with his own Instagram following apparently!
Gonzaga: Down for D and me. Campus is meh, buildings built in 50s and 60s when buildings were ugly, although the river adjacent to campus is very pretty. Spokane is fine too, probably better than Salem where Willamette is located. I like the sound of the Core Curriculum but D didn’t get too excited by what she learned about her major. The crowd here was super white, which we expected (and we are white too), but I think we’ve determined that Jesuit universities are not the best fit for our family. I did not vibe with the other parents and I think my D felt similarly. But it does feel kind of nice to cross one off the list!
Similar experience. We love American’s location, comms program and opportunities for internships, but felt the dorms, union/dining and the overall welcome (both from admissions and students) and tour were lackluster.
It definitely went Down from the parent perspective and stayed the same for our DD22.
We have been very impressed by our two visits to UMass Lowell. While I don’t know about other areas, the Francis College of Engineering has been working closely with industry to revamp the curriculum and prepare students for coops. The facilities are great, and it’s close to a lot of biomedical and semiconductor companies. People generally think of Northeastern when considering coops in the Boston area, but UML is a pretty good option too.
My S22 had a very similar experience on our MacAlester tour last summer. We loved the campus, the AO presentation and, especially, the coaches. Mac moved from about 5th on our list to a very strong #2. He didn’t end up choosing Mac and when he was calling the coaches to let them know he had commited to another school the Mac call was definitely the hardest one to make.
Vassar also moved up on his list. Incredibly beautiful campus and he liked the proximity to NYC.
Middlebury stayed #1. Amazing athletic facilities and postcard setting.
Wesleyan, Bates, and Hamilton moved down.
Emory stayed about the same.