It made him look about 70 and his presentation had the energy of someone that old. Know your audience!
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The science building is a major highlight. I’m sorry we never made it to Williams, though we did hear an online talk from a professor there on the 6 College site - very impressive. Another gem. The hardest decision is choosing between the good universities and the LAC’s!
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Should have had a pipe, too.
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I dunno. It still sounds like it could have been an old guy in a cardigan 
:
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Our D visited A LOT of schools. Ended up applying to a lot, too, but several of the places visited didn’t receive an app, and she also applied to a few that she didn’t see. I may have missed a few in the below. As an aside, I would advise most people that, unless they have a child who has struggled with making decisions her entire life and has absolutely no idea what they’re looking for in a college (like ours), you really don’t need to visit 20 different schools. See a couple of each size in different settings, and then narrow the focus based on the feedback you’re getting.
Down/Off
UCLA - felt too big to her, and other than the one quad that’s in all the brochures, lacked the sort of architectural consistency she wanted (and had a lot of pretty ugly buildings from the 1960’s and '70’s)
Davidson - consistent with her impression of every other LAC she visited, she felt it lacked energy. Pretty much the same results at Holy Cross and Claremont McKenna. She did like the campus at Richmond a lot, physically, but still came away convinced that mid-size was best for her personally
Georgetown - this surprised me, as she’d been on campus previously, and on paper it just fits her so well I would have guessed 2 years ago this would be her No. 1 school. But the compactness of the campus, combined with a sense that (unlike every other Jesuit school she’s seen/heard about) it’s hard to find your community there turned her off somewhat. Much less touchy-feely and much more “We’re not actually really interested in you” impressions from info session and tour
BU - the narrow, high-rise campus without any real central quad feel to it just didn’t appeal to her. Too urban for her tastes
Dartmouth - contra BU, too remote for her tastes, despite the campus’s prettiness. Tour guide was over-scheduled and intense enough that D got the impression she couldn’t hack it there; also got the impression everyone there was in fact as stressed out as Ivy school kids are rumored to be
UNC - D thought it was pretty but she’d just seen the more manicured, less eclectic version at Duke the prior day. D was concerned that it felt like literally EVERYONE had a Carolina accent - she’d be OOS and had no idea how she’d fit in
Neutral
USC - beautiful and impressive campus, despite lingering D reservations about going to school on the West Coast instead of East
W&M - D wasn’t sure about the town and the historical stuff. Thought the kids they met/saw seemed friendly enough and liked the campus generally, but wasn’t blown away by anything in particular
Up
BC - perfect manageable size; D liked the hilliness and architecture; felt like everyone there was relatable to her
Duke - gorgeous Spring weather didn’t hurt; gardens were in full bloom, campus was really busy with baseball and lacrosse games/fans all over the place; D was really impressed by the food offerings and the Chapel
Wake Forest - primary thing D said about it was it just felt like every single person loved being there. Cohesive campus and architecture, really friendly atmosphere
UVA - somewhat surprising in that it’s not terribly different from Chapel Hill in terms of very high percentage of in-state kids. I think D just liked the campus vibe, which felt to her both more academically inclined and friendlier at the same time
Michigan - extremely cold but D liked the Diag and Law Quad, was impressed by some of the new areas in the student union; loved Ann Arbor and could see herself hanging out there; not from Michigan but being from the Midwest made the OOS thing feel less daunting somehow
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Thank you for this list. Your daughter has good taste! Which schools did she use as safeties?
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I wanted to throw this out after a tour today of George Washington. Really unimpressive entire tour. It began in admissions (about 200 parents/kids), with a college senior doing the intro. The poor girl was reading from a script, talking a million miles an hour and we could only understand bits and pieces (and we were in front row). Our tour was a “small” group of 30 led by another nice girl, but she had a language barrier. She did not know the answers to most of the questions asked by parents. We were not allowed in any buildings but one in which we were taken to a basement in front of a wall to discuss housing. We had just gone through college tours with our class of 22 son so this was truly the strangest tour we had taken in the past few years.
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NMSU: Up
Went to an “Aggie Experience” open house day here today. Here’s a bunch of info, highlights, and general thoughts:
- there were about 700 people at this open house. Started in the basketball arena with a 1 hour Q&A session with a student panel. That was very informative.
- the day was VERY well organized.
Schedule:
- 9:00 am - check in & breakfast
- 9:45 am - welcome & student panel
- 11:15-11:45 am - choose from 7 different panels: Financial aid overview, pre-health majors, housing & residence life, student involvement & leadership program, Descubre, How to become an Aggie, Aggie Pathway Program
- 11:45-12:15 - choose from 7 different panels: financial aid overview, exploring majors, honors program, student involvement & leadership program, Air Force & Army ROTC, 1st year initiatives, info for school counselors
- 12:15-1:15 - lunch in Taos cafeteria. Food was provided for free. D26 gave the pizza an approval rating. D24 thought the food was fine. DH thought the food sucked.
- 1:15 pm - “Choose your own college: Experience where you will be taking classes and hear from faculty and staff in each college about future classes, research opportunities, etc.” Options were College of ACES, College of Arts & Sciences, College of Business, College of Engineering, or College of Health, Education & Social Transformation
Then starting in the 2:30-3 pm time frame (going through 4:30 pm), there were 6 other things to choose from:
- application assistance - for HS seniors or transfer students
- resource fair
- traditional campus tour (45 min long)
- recorrido tradicional por el campus (campus tour in Spanish)
- student activities tour
- residence hall tours
There were also other live demonstrations and general “stuff” you could choose to participate in:
- wind symphony rehearsal
- university singers rehearsal
- criminal justice - explore a mock crime scene, learn about criminal justice, criminology, and forensics majors
- flambeed desserts - put on by the Hotel, Restaurant, & Tourism Management dept
- nursing demonstrations - there’s a nursing program at NMSU (didn’t know this before today!)
- College of Arts & Sciences
- driving range practice (golf)
We did not stay for the whole day because D26 was antsy and wanted to stop for ramen at our favorite ramen place in Tucson on the way home (we live in the Phx area). D24 was also tired & cranky by 1pm. So we left early and skipped the general campus tour, didn’t even see the dorms either!
However, despite that, it’s definitely on D24’s list. Like our prior tours at ASU & U of A, I made D24 pick a couple of things she liked. She mentioned 3 off the top of her head:
- “the teachers/professors seemed nice”
- “they have New Mexican food here, and New Mexican food is better than Mexican food.”
- “it’s not cold here in the winter.”
Other plusses for us:
- it’s cheap. Since D24 will be an AZ HS grad, she’ll be able to attend NMSU for same tuition as in-state students pay. That’s only $8408/yr.
- the room & board cost for on campus is about the same as just the room at U of A.
- some of the bio professors are working on biomedical research that D24 is interested in
- fewer students, so slightly less competition for research participation than at ASU or UofA.
- the 5 hr drive from where we live didn’t feel far. And El Paso airport is about 45 min-1 hr drive from campus.
- They have an “Osteopathic Medicine Pathway Program” with their DO med school on campus.
- there’s also a early assurance pharmacy program w/UNM’s PharmD program…which would be an option if D24 decides to pursue pharmacy instead of PA.
- they also have masters accelerated programs, where you can earn a bachelor’s and master’s in 5 yr for certain programs and you pay undergrad tuition rates for the master’s portion.
We went to the pre-health info session & the honors college info session. The pre-health advisor was very helpful, very approachable. D24 liked her.
The dean of the honors college did the honors info session presentation. That guy was awesome - Dr Phame Camarena. Seriously, he was great. Talked about how he interviews every potential new professor at NMSU and asks them if an honors student approached them asking to do an honors contract for the professor’s class, what would he/she propose to the student. If the professor says, “Oh, I’d just make them do a 30 pg research paper on top of the regular assignments for the class,” then that applicant is not hired.
The dean talked a lot about enrichment in the honors program and honors classes and how that’s valued over extra busy work. He talked about the 6 unit freshman experience class(es) that all 1st year students have to take and why you should take it as an honors class if you’re in the honors college…then connected that to living in the honors LLC and doing off-campus activities for the 1st year freshman experience class and then pretty soon, you’ve got yourself connected to a community on campus.
This professor was very dynamic. Great speaker. You could tell he really loves what he does. I could see D24 fitting in well in a place like this.
New freshman applicants are eligible for NMSU honors program with 1 of the following:
- ACT composite score of 26 or better OR
- SAT or 1240 or better OR
- 3.75 or higher HS GPA
Must maintain 3.5 min cumulative GPA to continue in the program.
Graduating w/honors @ NMSU requires 18 honors credits. Less than UofA. Perks are the same as at other big schools: early registration, extended library check out times, extra advising, use of honors college building on campus.
He also said that if you don’t get auto-admitted to the honors college but would like to be admitted to it, you can petition him to ask for an exception. And then he said, “And by ‘petition the dean,’ I mean send me a good thoughtful email explaining why you think you’d be a good fit for honors and then I’ll say yes.”
He also said, “It’s not where you go that matters. It’s what you do when you get there that matters.” That is almost spot on with what they say on the ‘Your College Bound Kid’ podcast.
He, too, was very personable, very approachable. Nice guy.
Everybody we encountered… all of the staff, professors, etc…even the dining hall workers…everybody was genuinely nice. Not fake nice, like they had to be this way because it was a big open house day. But the real deal.
Everyone came across as genuinely wanting to help students exceed at NMSU. The student panel at the start of the day talked a lot about that, too. Lots of school spirit. Greek life exists, but it’s not a huge part of the college, so there’s plenty of opportunities to find your own crew of kids if you’re not into joining a sorority or fraternity. This is also an important factor for D24…by comparison, Ole Miss would end up an approximate price per year as NMSU, but Greek life is a major turn off for D24, so we’re not even considering that college.
The admission requirements to get in here are not high. It is not a highly ranked school. But this is honestly a place that I could see D24 doing really well at.
Las Cruces is a quiet college town. About 100,000 people, I think. We went Sun evening to this “Rad Retrocade” place downtown that’s full of 80s and 90s arcade games…that place was fun. It’s not a big downtown. There’s a Walmart and a Target in Las Cruces. Also a Dillards department store and Ross. Many students end up with internships in El Paso. Some professors live in El Paso. The mountains nearby are really pretty.
FYI- NMSU has the same campus safety stuff that other big colleges do…there’s an evening/late night ‘walk you home’ service available.
NMSU is a Hispanic-serving institution. There are a LOT of Hispanic students here. UofA is as well. There’s also an international student LLC. They have scholarships for students from Mexico.
I think this would also be a great school to attend if you’re into veterinary science. They have an animal science major and a LOT of animal science facilities (we drove past them…cattle, goats, horses). Pretty sure there’s also an equestrian team…saw students decked out in equestrian gear on horseback when we were looking for a place to park.
Other fun facts:
- Comp Sci major has something like 5 or 6 different concentrations to pick from
- Electrical engineering major can choose from 5 concentrations
- they also have an aerospace engineering major
- there’s a separate Cybersecurity major that’s different from Comp Sci and also different from IS majors.
- this summer, they’re offering a NMSU professor-led class in Tuscany that’s all about food tourism in Italy. 4 weeks in Tuscany eating Italian food. I’M READY TO SIGN UP RIGHT NOW!
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Meant to also add:
Right now, we’ve gone on 3 college tours. After those, D24’s order of preference are:
- Univ of Arizona
- NMSU
- ASU
Am very glad we went to visit NMSU. Vibe of the ASU campus tours and all of the ASU staff was…busy, a bit frantic, stressed out. They tended to talk really fast, like they had all had a lot of caffeine for breakfast.
U of A vibe - way more relaxed than ASU. But that’s the general vibe of Tucson. Totally different town than the Phoenix metro area.
NMSU vibe - also relaxed. Very down to earth. People really seemed happy here. I can see why a good buddy of mine went to college there.
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Can I ask you about the U of Arizona campus? We visited UT Austin and I felt it was too concrete- very little green space to relax on unless you venture off campus. My daughter didn’t seem to mind this and loved the energy there.
I was wondering if U of Arizona is similar or if despite the desert climate they somehow manage to create a lot of green space for lying out, playing frisbee and spikeball…
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We just got back from touring Miami University and Ohio State University.
Miami University
We flew in to Cincinnati and then about an hour drive to Oxford.
We were there for “Make it Miami” their admitted students day.
Our day started with a Honors College Breakfast where you could interact with Honor college students and faculty including the Honor College Dean. They were all very open and willing to answer any questions you had.
The main presentation started at 10am. First the introduction, College President some videos from successful alumni a student panel talking about their experiences etc.
Next they broke you up by accepted college and they had Professors or Chairs from each major, in your accepted college you could interact with. We talked with Professors from Biology and Microbiology, and the head of the Pre Health Advising.
Then it was time for lunch, when you were done taking with professors, they walked you over to one of the dining halls for lunch Food was very good. They had a Mardi Gras menu, my favorite, at one of the stations, that had Shrimp and Grits, Gumbo, Jambalaya, Crawfish etouffee, and Alligator and a beignet for desert
After lunch the schedule was flexible with many options
We toured the Biology, Microbiology building, we saw the classrooms and labs plus research labs
Then Toured a dorm
and finally a walking tour of the campus
The day started about 8;30am and ended about 3:00pm
After dinner we went back to campus for a Hockey game
D23 really like Miami, moved way up and if was in driving distance it would be her number 1 choice.
The campus is rural, located in a quintessential College town, beautiful campus with 17,000 undergrads with many students out and about campus when we were there.
Ohio State University
The next day we drove 2 hours to Columbus.
The campus couldn’t be more different then Miami
Urban Campus located right next to expressway.
We went to the Student Union and picked up the self guided tour at the info desk.
There were students out and about on campus and in the union which was nice for a Saturday morning
The self guided tour was good, hit the highlights of some of the main buildings.
We saw the Honors building looked more of an office for staff. Mirror Lake nice little oasis I’m sure nicer in spring when flowers start to bloom. Library 11th floor reading room awesome views of campus.
We ate lunch in the Diner at the Union which was good and well priced for students.
Then walked down High St off campus.
Overall Daughter wasn’t feeling it , nothing bad, just basically I can go to a big State school in Florida, nothing different to pull her to it.
Ohio State did have an admitted student presentation the day we were there. However, we decided to go a day after reservations closed for it. Reservations closed on the 9th and D23 got her scholarship in the mail on the 10th.
It started at 2pm and we saw groups on campus tours around 3pm and recognized some faces, actually the letterman jacket, from Miami the day before. So i don’t believe it was as thorough as Miami University.
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Look for a post from me from Oct 2022. I posted all about our U of A visit. U of A has a lot of green space and shaded places under trees to hang out…enough that D24 commented on it. One other reason she didn’t like ASU was because there weren’t enough trees.
…but NAU in Flagstaff had “too MANY trees.” 
Go figure. Haha!
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A bit of a set up: This is my 4th kiddo, and I finally did my first PNW set of tours. We have seen a lot of colleges, mostly on the East Coast. D25 is leaning hard towards LACs, so that was the focus of this trip. Overall, these 4 schools had a more similar vibe to each other than what I have picked up at similar schools on the East Coast. The PNW personality definitely comes out. Students we talked to, both tour guides and other random encounters, all seemed pretty friendly and chill. None of these are tippy top places, so that may be part of it. But I think that the schools all reflect the area, which provides a contrast to the East Coast schools we have visited. They all draw somewhat nationally, but there is definitely a geographic imprint on them. And D25 is my chill kiddo. So really this trip was her vibe, more so than the East Coast schools we have seen (although a few of those remain high on her list).
Also, tour guides are so important to the impression the kids get. It shouldn’t be, but can really be a make or break factor. I always prep them about this, and all 4 of them still get suckered in a bit to liking/disliking the school based on the tour guide.
University of Puget Sound - same
This went in as a super high choice, and remained there. The only way for it to move up would to be a clear #1, and it didn’t do that. D25 has always loved the PNW and Seattle in particular, even though she has only been there a couple of times before this trip. Since she is focusing on LACs, this is a logical choice.
Tour guide was really good. Not the most knowlegeable or polished, but just a real down to earth kid who D related to, even though they probably don’t have a lot in common. I do think he was probably a fair representation of the students there, which is nice. The campus is fairly flat and compact, with a large amount of nature present. There are nice residential neighborhoods, sketchy neighborhoods, and a new waterfront mixed use development all within walking distance.
Willamette University - down
This may be one where the tour guide had a negative influence. She was trying a bit too hard I think, and D just wasn’t feeling it with her. Oh well.
This is a great school for a couple things that D doesn’t care about. It is literally across the street from the state Capitol, you could go there between classes easily. Lots of kids who are interested in politics and policy take advantage of the location. They also have an extensive relationship with a University in Tokyo, with 120 students from each campus switching spots for a year.
Pretty campus, less so than the other 3 on this trip but still probably top 1/2 of what we have seen overall. It still probably stays on the list, but only because she really wants to end up in this part of the country, and her LAC choices are pretty limited.
Lewis & Clark - WAY UP
So this was always in the hunt because of the location, but for some reason she has really preferred Seattle over Portland, and the fact that there is literally nothing within walking distance from campus made this a tougher sell. But once she saw the campus she did a 180. It feels like they only cut down the trees that were absolutely necessary to remove. You are walking along paths between buildings in the clearings. You are living in the woods. D, who has not been my biggest nature kid in the past, was loving it.
Good guide, not the best but fine. It feels like a nice compromise between a secluded campus and one that is in town/city. You can’t walk to anything, but you are a 15 minute bus ride away from Portland and all of it’s funky neighborhoods. Same friendly and chill vibe. She probably won’t ED there because it isn’t necessary, but as of today (which may well change) if she can go here and the cost is similar to her other options, she would gladly sign the papers and be done. It’s actually probably a co-#1 with Smith in her book right now.
Whitman - down
This is a cute campus in a cute town. We had a great tour guide. It seemed a bit more academic and serious than the other 3, but that’s just by comparison. Still a lot of friendly and chill kids. This school checked all of her boxes and seems like a great fit.
Except for one huge problem. It is 4 hours from anywhere. We are already likely looking at a non-direct flight to get to Portland or Seattle, and then a drive from the airport to our house. Adding 4 hours to that trip just seems like a bridge too far. Otherwise it would be high on the list.
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Oh this is very helpful to see! Thanks for the write up. My D23 is in at Puget Sound (still waiting on merit but we expect it to be substantial) and has an offer from L & C with very good merit and the potential for more via a music scholarship (we’ll hear next month). She hasn’t had a chance to visit either yet, so I might DM you with questions after I run some of your observations by you. L & C being in a forest sounds lovely and a little bit like UCSC where it feels like you are on a walk through the redwoods!
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Absolutely. I abbreviated my observations for this thread, but can answer more in depth questions via pm. Definite differences, but I am guessing most kids who like one would also like the other.
We were just at Lewis and Clark yesterday and I remarked that it reminded me a lot of a smaller UCSC!
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We had the same experience. Our pre-tour presentation and the tour at GWU were underwhelming, and the tour guide was not as knowledgeable as we have had at other schools.
Having said that, it’s still near the top of my daughter’s short list. She just really likes the school, as well as DC. I guess it’s good that she was able to see past the tour/tour guide?!
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We are a PNW family with one older kid now a sophomore in college in CA, so our second time doing this but looking at mostly different schools this time around. This write up is about two trips to tour 4 SLACs in WA/OR.
Whitman - WAY UP. Visited last October, it’s about a 4 hour drive from home. D24 loved the pretty campus, close knit community, outdoor opportunities, lovely green main quad/field and feeling of being with kids who are also smart, interested and engaged. Beautiful new-ish commons/dining hall, many study abroad program options, and strong academics but still laid back in feel. Kids seem happy, lots to get involved with on campus and community. Nice residence halls. Liked the town of Walla Walla, a few cafes and walkable from campus, also liked as well the rural surrounding area (this is my kid who volunteers at a CSA/organic farm so rural is a positive). Currently the front runner for her.
Lewis and Clark - UP. Visited yesterday. A lovely surprise, exceeded expectations by far. Beautiful wooded campus, students looked happy sitting in groups, walking with friends. We were early for the tour so hung out drinking tea in the commons and people watching, helped with getting the vibe of campus. One dorm is being completely gutted/renovated, there are a few older ones, more newer nicer ones. Extremely LGBTQ friendly, a plus for D24, and we also found the whole Portland area to be so. D24 got a chance to talk to a student one on one for quite some time about outdoor program and get a personal tour of gear garage, huge warehouse of outdoor gear for all students to borrow. Removed from the city so D24 might want a car, at least after first year. A lot to like here.
REED - OFF the list
Visited today. Probably the worst info session I’ve ever been to (and I’ve been to 15+ now). Dry presentation, too focused on academic minutiae. This is a place for students who want a pure academic experience and maybe not a lot else. Although the admissions officer said “This is not a place where fun goes to die,” it sure seemed to be exactly that based on the presentation. We held out for the hour info session and then escaped before doing the tour (to be fair, we had all toured Reed with D21 3 years ago so already knew the campus, the only reason we went back was that D24 had been an 8th grader at the time and wanted to see it again to make her own assessment). Might be great for a certain type of student, not for either of mine.
WILLAMETTE- OFF the list
Also visited today. This one was recommended by D24’s school college counselor, she suggested we check it out. There were a few other kids from our small private school also touring so we figured the counselor must have suggested it to all her advisees, lol. The good: academic departments seem intimate, engaging and supportive. Interesting 3-3 Law and other combined BA/MS programs. The bad: aging facilities, exterior of buildings looked almost run down (interiors were better). Dreary place, Salem is not a place D24 could imagine spending 4 years.
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4 posts were merged into an existing topic: Off-Topic Discussion from “Colleges Crossed Off List or Moved Up After Visiting”
Reminder this is a no reply thread so the discussions about traveling to the PNW were moved to the "Off-Topic Discussion from “College Crossed Off List…” thread linked above. Please use the thread to comment or PM. Thank you!
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