Ursinus is at the top of my D23’s list and she applied EA. I asked her to apply to Roanoke, but her app isn’t submitted yet. I wouldn’t mind having your impressions.
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Pitt was “too city” for my kid as well. She’d gotten her admit coincidentally the day before the tour (last year). They did a nice presentation (to a crowd of hundreds) and then a gazillion ambassadors came in and split folks up for a tour. I was shocked that my DD hadn’t realized it would be a real city school, especially after having done a virtual tour first, but oh well. Seemed great for one wanting a city vibe (though I couldn’t help shake the feeling that the buildings had a “soviet bloc” vibe to them). She ended up at a rural school 
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We live in a small rural town and so D thought she wanted Urban for college - until she saw actual urban schools and now she wants lots of people but suburban or rural with a cool city close enough to get to.
The only exception is U of Washington because it’s in state and we are proud alums and she grew up visiting and going to games.
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It’s amazing to see the fantasy of the ‘college dream’ meet the reality of college visits. Students who think they want big school might find the shuttle buses that run through many of those huge campuses off-putting. Students who think they have to be in a city see the pros and cons upfront and might be more open to other locations.
We found visits helped so much in piercing the fantasy each of our children had in terms of what they thought they wanted in a college versus what they ended up wanting after visits.
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Roanoke gave me Ursinus vibes interns of academics and campus aesthetics. Our Ursinus visit happened during summer so can’t comment on what it felt like with students present.
Our Roanoke tour happened over our spring break, so students were on campus. It definitely had a small, quiet feel to it. Did not feel “high energy” although the tour guide talked about Friday night dinners in the green space during the fall and also about the football games–so clearly there are student activities.
Housing is guaranteed and majority students live on campus entire time. Our tour guide was a senior and was living in campus housing. Campus was pretty. Felt to be same size, maybe a bit smaller, as Ursinus. Surrounding town probably equivalent.
I think Roanoke would be a good choice for a student looking for a smaller, low-key college
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Monica - why did Ursinus fall off the list?
too small. student body at ursinus is just about same as her high school. as it turns out, 5000-6000 is her bottom end student body size. otherwise, I really loved Ursinus and I think she liked other aspects of the school. But size was definitely a negative for her
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Thanks. That’s what I figured. My own D23 has been long resistant to small LACs for the same reason, but is starting to warm up to them (she was very impressed on her visit to Lake Forest College). Ursinus is also on her list. She still prefers the bigger places, but is open to the small LACs now.
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I have a senior at WCU. I tell people all the time that they will be pleasantly surprised at how nice it is
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We felt the same way. Too small! Microscopic.
Good sandwiches in town though. Yum.
I also accidentally drove into the Colgate President’s driveway. 
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Talk about demonstrating interest!
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Well, how else were they going to drop off the homemade cookies?
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That ISU acceptance email is great!! My husband & I are ISU grads so were biased, but I have been so impressed by the communications from ISU since my son was accepted. They should re-send those emails right about now when all the select school applications were due to remind kids how excited they are about them!
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Interesting…we had a Vandy rep visit our school and she did an excellent job of presenting the university (did not feel woke at all…no substantial talk of race or gender). S23 was on the fence and decided to put it on his list.
After visit moved UP
Wash U
Wake Forest
Tulane
After Visit Moved down or off
Vanderbilt (off list -
Lafayette (off)
Georgetown
American (off)
GW (off-lack of a traditional campus)
Neutral
Lehigh
Most of daughter’s impressions were due to how personalized the visit to the campus was. If she really connected with the tour guide or admissions staff or knew and met with someone on the campus that greatly influenced her impression.
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What did you think of the Lehigh campus & the overall Lafayette experience?
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We visited Vandy, the admissions briefing states they support BLM.
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We visited Lehigh on Thursday for an info session and general tour. The campus is drop-dead gorgeous in my opinion, but left us feeling a little distanced and cold. She probably won’t apply (sophomore now, a lot will change I know).
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I loved Lehigh’s campus when we visited, and I felt the students looked happy.
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The Lehigh campus was gorgeous. We visited in the summer months, so not really anything going on on campus at the time. I found myself wondering how difficult it might be to traverse the steep hill that the entire campus sits upon in the snow/ice in winter. We both really disliked Bethlehem.
Lafayette was beautiful, a bit small, but we liked how the campus really centered around the quad. The buildings were consistent architecturally, which we found appealing. The school itself was just too small for my daughter to consider.
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