Colleges your child crossed off the list after visiting, schools that moved up on the list. Why?

Parents Forum
6873

OK, round two, Amherst and Dartmouth . . . .

Amherst–UP. S24 wasn’t sure about LACs in general, responded very positively. Information sessions led by Associate Dean of Admissions covered why LACs, why Amherst, and admissions process. Why Amherst boils down to open curriculum, Five Colleges (we bought that as a powerful combination), and the fact Amherst is actually well-located generally. Lots of explicit references to competing peers, which is fine with me. Admissions discussion was very frank. Emphasized holistic review but also that transcript is at least slightly more important than other factors, because mostly you need a strong enough transcript to get to full committee. Tour guide was great–like a natural walking conversation. Campus setting was beautiful, mix of traditional and modern architecture worked well for S24. Definitely felt to S24 like a good fit all around.

Dartmouth–DOWN. S24 really wanted to love Dartmouth due to professor connection. But it just didn’t click. Only a tour. Felt isolated and inward looking, except for access to outdoor recreation opportunities which S24 doesn’t much care about. Campus felt least homey and interesting of four colleges on this tour so far–kinda like an old 19th-Century military base. Academics were basically positive, but “Dartmouth Plan” (unusual term approach that is hard to quickly describe) initially seemed interesting, but with thought actually seemed less than ideal as it seemed to disrupt ongoing student relationships. Biggest issue was how important Greek life remains to social activities. Not really S24’s ideal social scene, and while reportedly some people “opt out” of Greek life, it seems like that has more implications at Dartmouth than at the other places so far.

Bottom line–Yale, Brown, Amherst, and Dartmouth all led to a reasonably specific image of what sort of student would really thrive there. Yale and Amherst seemed like best fits so far (easy for S24 to imagine loving it there), Brown a little less so but still attractive, and Dartmouth the least.

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6874

Absolutely. One of the big winners so far is the idea of an open curriculum. So that is likely to become a bigger consideration going forward.

S24 actually did an online information session with Vassar while I was driving us from Amherst to Dartmouth.

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6875

I was a traditionalist at the start of all this, and wanted my children to attend a school with a formal and wide-ranging general education curriculum. Both of my children ended up with open-curriculum schools. As my son told me: “I did my gen ed in high school.” - true enough, especially compared to what I did (or didn’t do) back in the 80s. Our over-scheduled kids really do so much more in high school … And both of the open curriculum schools did not accept all those high school “gen eds” (ie, all the AP and dual enrollment courses that would have added up to three semesters of college in State U.). So makes sense to me now :slight_smile:

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6876

All right, final visit this week–Rochester.

Rochester–SAME (so good). Very well organized info session and tour. Info session highlights included giving good overview of how “river campus” (main campus) interacts with city and other venues, and an excellent explanation of flexible curriculum. S24 and I agreed the latter was pretty cool. It is not a fully open curriculum, but also not a generic distribution system. Basically, non-engineers would have a minimum of a major in one of of natural sciences, social sciences, or humanities, and “clusters” in the other two, which are like mini-minors of three related courses. At least one cluster could easily be elevated to an actual minor (six courses), or possibly a second major. Engineering majors require more courses so they can do just one cluster in social science or humanities (engineering is in natural sciences). Seems like a very good balance of exploration and flexibility.

Tour guide did a good job answering questions in a direct and informative way. River campus was definitely separated out from city, again could be good or bad. For us, lack of charming walkable commercial district next to campus was a mild negative, but there is an excellent free shuttle system for nearby shopping and downtown. Campus had a generally cohesive feel but leaning toward eclectic. Very thoughtful student spaces–communal study spaces were a highlight. Student vibe was once again right on brand–very engaged in academics, but collaborative approach and lots of participation in clubs. Greek life present but not dominant.

Rochester reinforced the appeal of curriculums on the more flexible end, but showed maybe a totally open curriculum is not necessary. Campuses with a strong identity but also some eclectic architecture seem to be appealing to S24. At least near major cities/towns, but not necessarily integrated into them, is very desirable.

Next week, we head to Virginia for William & Mary, Richmond, and UVA. Should be interesting to compare.

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6877

UConn

UConn has a nice, big campus in Storrs, CT. Storrs is in the middle of nowhere so if you like a rural setting, this may be a place for you. Prior to starting the tour, we ate breakfast at a really good cafe/restaurant across from the school.

We started off with the information session, led by 2 students. Since there wasn’t an admissions officer, the students did not discuss the application process. Not sure if it’s because school is over or if that’s the norm. The students did a good job explaining UConn’s overall selling features. They talked about the usual: student life, abundance of majors, diversity and inclusion, clubs, and of course, UConn basketball.

One thing I noticed was UConn’s most common employers - manufacturing, healthcare, mix of Big 4 accounting firms and insurance companies. It reinforced the fact that companies recruit regionally.

The best part of our tour was our tour guide. He was hilarious. “There’s a sign in Calculus that looks like a crow bar (integral symbol), and after taking calculus I wanted to crow bar myself.” Another great quip: “I wanted to go to California until my strict Asian mom said this magical word - NO”.

The campus has a nice mix of traditional and modern buildings. We got to see a dorm room which was relatively decent. First year students must live on campus. You can get a student parking pass after 54 hours of credit. It’s a seniority based system - the more hours you have, the better choices for dorms, classes, pretty much everything. If you have a lot of AP, ECE credits, you have a huge advantage.

UConn also has an Honors college and a Honors college dorm. The Honors dorm is in “downtown Storrs”. I have no idea where downtown Storrs is since UConn is pretty much Storrs.

We saw several buidings including the student union, performing arts center, a big classroom auditorium in one of the general studies buiding, main library and the business school. The campus buildings were all nicely updated. The business buidling was good, not as impressive as U MIch or UT Austin but better than Boston University.

The University has a nice relaxed feel with great walking paths. It’s very spread out but also accessible. Afterwards, we went to the UConn dairy bar for ice cream. Behind the diary bar, you can see cows. I assume they were the cows that were providing the ice cream ingredients and not actors or props. The tour guide told us you must get the Peach ice cream because that’s the best flavor. Most of us got peach. One of the visiting moms said “I’m getting peach and if it isnt good, Im coming back for the tour guide”.

There’s definitely a huge disadvantge of visiting a state school without students. No energy and no real school vibe. But overall, the school is nice.

My D liked it but doesnt want a rural campus and 100% does not want to live in CT following graduation. Those are the only real negatives.

In Person Updated Rankings:

Rice (tie)
Brown (tie)
UT Austin
SMU
U Mich
U Conn
Boston Univ (will not apply)
U Florida (will not apply)
Boston College (will not apply)

Hoping to make a North Carolina tour - Duke, UNC, Wake Forest but timing may not work out.

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6878

I have never toured U Conn, but I am guessing the cows are legit.

Cornell, the NY state Land Grant school, also sells ice cream made from milk collected from cows on campus.

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6879

I love the in person updated rankings. Did you consider visiting Tufts when you were in Boston?

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6880

Our region sends a lot of kids to Tufts. It’s a great school but not sure if it’s a good fit for our D. Also, since they yield protect, we didnt want to waste our time or theirs by applying when it’s not going to be one of her top choices.

Re: The personal rankings. We havent seen a single school that she disliked. Boston College was her least favorite because she thought the kids looked alike, dressed alike and had a “preppy boarding school” vibe. Plus we’re not religious and D thought she wouldnt fit in at a school where 70% of kids are Catholic. After visiting BC, we also crossed off Notre Dame for obvious reasons.

However, BC’s campus is stunning and their information session is fantastic. It’s probably a great fit for many other kids.

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6881

Yeah, we had many of the same issues with the school. That said, it was one of the few visits where we liked the town better than the overall school/campus vibe. During our Sunday lunch at the local pizza place/bar and subsequent stroll around Somerville, it was her primary ED2 candidate. Toured the next day. Ultimately, she didn’t apply. The town was great, the school might be a better fit for someone else.

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6882

UP

SUNY Purchase - visited for arts info session & tour in the fall and went back in the spring to watch the Theater conservatory production of Twelfth Night. D was already favoring this school before these visits, but only more excited after tour led by a great guide from the Acting program and then an excellent show. This is her current top choice alongside or possibly edging out Ithaca. Purchase is both a reach (very selective conservatory) and a potential safety (non-audition BA)

SUNY New Paltz - we went on a summer weekend, so no tour and a nearly empty campus, but we were able to visit a cool art museum on-campus and sneak into some theater buildings (even got ourselves up on the catwalks.) Between photos of old productions on the wall, stage crew graffiti up by the catwalks and the relaxed vibe of the town, D was sold. This was one she kept saying she wasn’t sure about previously, but is now a place she feels she’d be happy to attend if her preferred programs don’t work out. Very nice that there is a legit town by campus (unlike the more isolated Purchase) and it gets her farther from home without being too far. At this point these are the only two SUNYs where she plans to apply - Geneseo which we had toured up-thread was deemed on more reflection to be just too far for a place she’s not excited about.

Western Connecticut State University - This was more going to see a musical an hour from home than a typical college visit. But the show exceeded her expectations in terms of performance and especially production. This is a nearby public conservatory (with New Yorkers given in-state tuition) with an applicant pool that is more regional than national. So it represents an affordable and somewhat less difficult admit than some other MT conservatories - seeing the talent and production were there helped her feel comfortable with putting it on her list for real. Danbury is a place I liked living in for 7 years prior to D’s birth but it’s undeniably meh and not much of a walking town or a young person town. Though we did find some really great pho a few minutes from the westside campus.

DOWN (but not out)

Montclair State - Went to their Theater Day event in November which was billed as an info session followed by an afternoon performance of Pippin. Instead the hour before the performance had a camera crew broadcasting to a screen on stage, roving around the crowd to try and coax audience volunteers to enter a raffle to participate in the show. This was actually an elaborate hoax to help set up the show and the lead coming out of the audience. A clever enough, fun stunt but it felt chaotic getting your theater student audience’s hopes up and it was a wasted opportunity for those expecting a program overview in that time. There was a student panel discussion afterwards, but questions were split between topics about the performance, the program, performing arts in general. A large chunk of the audience were there on a high school trip to see the show and not particularly aware of or interested in the program. The event didn’t seem very well thought out. These are my complaints though. D has a different gripe - she is having the hardest time getting over the California mission style architecture in New Jersey. A school should know where it is, she argues. That said, it’s a very well regarded theater program near home with in-state tuition available - remains on the list.

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6883

Had a similar experience at Conn College. It started out as a “will likely apply” and ended up as “will not apply.” Just a dud tour all around.

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6884

JBSeattle, I have asked S24 to pm you, I don’t know if he did as he is kind of at the state that when I recommend something related to college… he might either takes his time to follow up, or totally ignore me.
Kid these days… :expressionless:

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6885

4 posts were merged into an existing topic: Off-Topic Discussion from “Colleges Crossed Off List or Moved Up After Visiting”

6886

A post was merged into an existing topic: Off-Topic Discussion from “Colleges Crossed Off List or Moved Up After Visiting”

6887

Reminder that back and forth conversations about specific schools need to be in the Off topic discussions thread, not here. A number of posts moved. Any further posts here about TCU will be deleted. Thank you.

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6888

D24 crossed Pitt off the list after visiting. Our tour guide was great, and the Cathedral of Learning was amazing. She liked what we saw of the city.

I was surprised, because she had previously been saying she wanted to be in a city. However, the campus feel as a whole was…disjointed mish mosh. What she really wants is to have a clearly defined campus (with “city” for her really meaning enough stuff to do on campus or nearby).

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6889

This is precisely the same thing that knocked Drexel and Temple off the list for my D23 (which was similarly surprising to me).

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6890

OK, hitting Virginia. First up, William & Mary and Richmond:

William & Mary–UP. Lovely campus, very traditional, came across as academic but fun-loving, really nice job in both info session and tour creating a good tone. Definitely moved up S24’s list–we’ll have to see how places like UVA (coming soon) and Wake Forest (coming later) compare.

University of Richmond–DOWN (sorta). Really tough one because the campus is gorgeous. But definitely came across as a place where students looking to study and succeed in business were very prominent, which is not really S24’s thing. Social scene also did not click (like, Greek life is obviously a big deal for many). Obviously could be ideal school for some, just not S24 (despite truly loving the campus).

Tomorrow, UVA . . . .

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6891

OK, finally UVA . . .

UVA: SAME (so not so good). S24 was always leaning against larger state universities, but we thought it was worth giving a really good one a visit. UVA does have a nice campus, albeit maybe not his favorite style. Everything was fine with visit, tour guide did a nice job, but things like a lot more larger lecture classes, most upperclassmen living off campus, Greek life being pretty big again, and so on were all not a good fit. Obviously UVA is extremely competitive for out of state applicants, so not much point in applying.

And that’s probably it for such universities, except for our in-state likely option.

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6894

A reminder that @momofboiler1 is the nice mod and, as a newer mod, full of youthful energy and willing to move ioff-topic posts to the other thread

I, however, simply delete them, which is what I have done.

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