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

[BoroDad]

Two recent visits in VA. One fancy school. One not so fancy.

William and Mary - Way UP. Not surprising.

PROS- So many pluses. it’s a reach for my S24 And he’d be overjoyed to get in. S24 is a huge colonial history buff so visiting the #1 colonial history program made his week. Great programs. People think of the school as Liberal Arts - and it’s strong - but we also heard a lot of comp sci and data science interest from the touring students. Great internship success rate. Beautiful campus - every inch is manicured plus a Christopher Wren designed building from 1693…that’s wild. Lots of UG research. Several excellent new facilities for music, the ‘fishbowl’ labs, plus a new data science building is under construction. The dorms are showing their age but they have begun a new program to replace/retrofit all the dorms for accessibility, A/C, etc.

CONS - One…Diversity. On paper it might be reflective of the state but we were in a room with 150-200 people and <10 were non-white and that’s a generous estimate. The other VA publics are more diverse. A lot of people from NJ so it might skew the room but…we felt the same walking around.

George Mason - students - UP and DOWN. Parents - UP.
We brought two students to look at a more traditional OOS public near a city and they had very different opinions. One (LibArts) is more picky about campus style and felt it was not urban but also didn’t have much character. The other student (STEM) was fine with the location and really liked that the core academic area and facilities were very clean and modern.

Personally, I would say - while NOT a match academically - campus-wise it’s an improved version of some of the regional Public’s. it’s less out in the woods vs UConn, with less sprawl and Brutalist architecture than UMass, and more accessible to a large city than both. It has less character than UDel but is denser and more updated.

PROS - it’s growing - they said last year was the largest freshman class ever and they require freshman to live on campus for the last few years unless very local in NoVa. So they still have a commuter element but it’s seems like that have now transitioned to primarily on-campus. Proximity - the short distance to DC is great and maybe even more so to the large number of top companies and govt agencies in the DMV. The train station isn’t as walkable as some campuses which is a con but there is a shuttle. Food / gym options are good - we didn’t try the food itself but one of the cafeterias is open 24 hrs and the food court has reliable national chains like Chipotle, Starbucks, Blaze Pizza, etc. there is a gym next to each cafeteria. Maker space - there is a brand new building that includes a large maker space which larger than most we’ve seen.

CONS - Class size - the largest classes are not as large as some which is a plus but the average size is sort of average and I suspect it’s growing given that the Admissions rep mentioned several times that the student body is growing. Housing - not guaranteed. Most freshman on campus and many sophomores. They did not say they were triple-ing but they did say with the large incoming classes the housing is getting tighter and less room for upperclassmen. Academics - hard to tell from a visit but obviously it’s not W&M. However, I do think the visit confirmed GMU translates into better than expected opportunities with the proximity to employers (especially computer science and other in-demand programs). Tour Guide - we got dealt a Bad hand. He was easily the WORST guide we’ve ever had at any school across a decade for three kids - he was very entertaining but he was half awake at best and we had to pry info out of him. We couldn’t decide if he needed more CBD or less. We compared notes and crowd-sourced knowledge on the tour with other parents. Classic case of the tour guide not doing a good job of selling the positives.

Last word… We were looking for an alternative to Temple and IMHO it seemed similar in a number of ways. Making a not- perfect PA analogy, UVA VaTech and GMU play roughly the same roles as PSU Pitt and Temple. Like Temple, GMU is large, close to large population centers in NoVa, fairly diverse, close to (though not inside) a very large city, and has similar Student body (by SAT scores). So if you are looking for an alternative to Temple, maybe look at Mason.

[Greatpyrmom]

My S22 is currently an out of state sophomore at W&M. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. While I agree that they could do better on the diversity front, it sounds like the prospective students on the day you visited were not entirely reflective of the actual student body. Contrary to your impressions, I promise the school is not really 99% white people from New Jersey For the current freshman class, the breakdown is 12% asian, 10% Hispanic/Latino, 5% African American, 8% multiracial and 60%white. While New Jersey has the highest number of out of state students, they represent only about .5% of the student body.

Class Profile

[kata]

WashU – Up Up Up. Beautiful campus (South40 especially), super honest info session, welcoming tour guide, great barbeque lunch later.

UChicago – Up. The students there were actually a lot more chill and “normal” than the nerdy, stay-in-your-dorm-and-study stereotype surrounding them.

Wisconsin - Up. The people there were all just so nice and friendly.

Tufts – Slightly down. Really nice tour guide, but the campus did feel a bit lonely.

Boston University – Down. Pretentious guide who couldn’t stop talking about the honors college. Also, lack of campus was more than expected and it felt like a school next to a highway (which it almost is).

Brandeis – Down Down Down. Felt drab, stale, and lonely. And the campus is, to say the least, not the prettiest thing out there. No offense to anyone.

The number one reason WashU went up was because they didn’t use the word “holistic” in their information session (WHAT. A. SHOCKER.) They should ban that word from the admissions process.

[MollyM72]

I so agree with this. My S23 ended up at Colgate (and loves it), but SLU was high on his list.

[mle77]

My junior daughter hasn’t had a true “list” and up until last week, has been kind of neutral to negative on the few schools we toured (Lehigh, Muhlenberg, TCNJ, Barnard). We went to Boston last week and she finally has an opinion!
UP: She loved Northeastern. We, her parents, loved it too. Outstanding admissions presentation really grabbed us, and my daughter loves the idea of the Global Scholars program, where you start as a cohort with your first semester in London, second semester in Oakland, then to Boston for year 2 (while leaving options for future study abroad still open). To me that would not be an appealing way to start college, but to her it sounds like a dream, and I can really see her thriving in that type of program. She likes the co-op situation. The location in the city. The campus is defined and well maintained with some really impressive new buildings. The student presenter in the info session was remarkably well spoken, and our student tour guide seemed like someone we’d like to have as our classmate. Every single thing about the school impressed us and she will definitely apply.
BU, slightly up. The info session was underwhelming, and the tour was rushed and not especially illuminating; I think they’re counting on the school selling itself because there aren’t too many schools like it. Daughter likes the urban setting, and the array of academic offerings.
Off: Tufts. We walked there from our Air BnB and she felt like it was in a random suburb, didn’t like the setting. Tufts too did not do much to sell themselves, admissions presenter was sweet but she was addressing a room full of maybe 100 people, but did not use a microphone, and her voice was not loud. We were straining to hear, which was annoying, but what we did hear did not impress. I know Tufts has strong offerings across subjects but the presentation was very humanities focused, and that’s just not my girl. Student tour guides were late showing up, after the presentation, and the first kid who spoke said “I’m still half asleep” and that turned us off big time. I think the campus is pretty, but the whole experience felt generic at best.
Also off: Brandeis. Again, she didn’t like the setting, so no matter what they said or showed about the campus, she would not consider it. Brandeis did a great job presenting what they do well: close relationships with world-class professors, try everything, kind people. My daughter and my husband found our student tour guide very annoying, personality wise. I wish that didn’t matter, and I think/hope she could have looked past that if she liked everything else about the school, but man, she REALLY could not stand this young woman (who I thought was cute but I could see where they were coming from).
In all we learned a lot through this trip about what she’s looking for and what will not work, so I’m feeling great about this trip and truly relieved that she’s finally expressing opinions and she finally saw a school she really likes!

[u2kelly]

Salve Regina - Off the list. It was D24’s first college visit and I think she was a bit overwhelmed. It was also an absolutely awful day. That being said, the dorms were overcrowded and we saw a triple that should not under any circumstance have been a triple. They need to add some new dorms. She also felt that it was too small and not diverse at all.

Drexel - Off the list. She loved the campus and location and our tour guide was great. She did not like the quarter system and the way the internships worked. I realize this is a plus for a lot of students but just did not appeal to my daughter.

Temple - moved up. She really liked the campus and business school. So many of our friends commented on how terrible the area is and she actually felt like it wasn’t as bad as she was expecting based on their comments. The tour guide also sent a personalized note after and she really liked that small touch for such a large school. Only thing she did not like was that she was not able to see a dorm, but she does like the suite/apartment options for freshman (no common hall bathrooms).

[carpathia]

These are tours we did this year

University of Michigan - UP - Toured in February, the tour guides were informative however I did not get a great feel for the campus from the tour. I had a feeling we only saw a small portion of the campus, including the law school quad and law school library. What is the point of showing this on an undergrad tour? I want to see where the undergrads spend their time. They do have a model dorm room to tour which was nice. Information session was very informative about direct admit programs and rules such as applying to Ross. It was cold yet sunny the day we toured. Lots of students walking around in Canada Goose jackets which gave me a feeling that the student body skews towards upper middle class and higher. My daughter loved the vibe on campus and downtown Ann Arbor where we ate. I was surprised at the food prices where we ate, seemed high to me. After touring many other schools after this one, it remains at the top of her list. I was not completely sold on it as a parent.

Penn State - UP and DOWN - We were only able to do a business school tour as the general campus tours were full. Smeal has a nice building and the tour was very informative. However, they did not tell students that if they apply to Smeal that the admission rate is very low. I wish I had known that because I would have had my senior apply DUS (undecided) instead. Whether you are admitted into Smeal or into the DUS pathway you still have to meet the requirements to entry into one of their business programs at the end of your sophomore year. Most people just apply to DUS to be admitted onto the main campus and enter Smeal that way. This was not made clear. It was raining the day we were there, my one senior was unimpressed and the other senior loved it. I thought the student center was a very active area and had good food choices. Both my seniors applied there, but one under duress.

University of Maryland College Park - DOWN - We went in the spring and did not have a tour. It was a Saturday, however classes were in session this week so we thought we’d stop by and do the walking tour. We were surprised with how quiet the campus was on a Saturday. All of the academic buildings and the student center were fairly empty. We did talk to a few undergrads on campus and they told me campus was typically like this on weekends. For such a large student body we expected to see more activity. I’m not sure where all of the students were. We did a walking tour and spent the afternoon exploring the campus. There is A LOT of construction on campus making walking around difficult at times. The walking self guided tour was terrible. I wanted to love this campus due to the very diverse student body, but this school came off our list.

University of Richmond - DOWN - Lovely campus, we definitely got the feeling that the professors and students build a rapport in the classroom. There is only one dining hall on campus and a couple of other places to eat so food options are limited. The campus is fairly isolated and if you want to go off campus to access the surrounding area you basically need a car. I don’t remember the number, but a significant number of students have cars. Also, merit scholarships are limited. I just saw a lot of dollar signs when touring the campus and that combined with the isolated setting and need for a car moved this off the list. However, if you have the funds this school should be looked at closely because it has a lot to offer.

Elon - DOWN - I actually loved this campus and all of the available academic programs. It’s beautiful and well maintained. Students were friendly. They were having a weekly meet and greet in the middle of campus with snacks and beverages for the students and the guide let us walk around and speak to the undergrads. It came off our list because of the lack of diversity and the rural setting. My seniors did not like it. I personally would love to go back to school here.

[CON-momma]

DOWN - U Of Rochester, Lehigh (info sesh and tour were surprisingly lacking at both)

UP - PSU, UD, Pitt (favorite campus but decided too far)

Same - RIT, UVA, Maryland

Decided he really wants a large state school so has applied to PSU, Maryland, UD and added Rutgers (haven’t visited yet)

[JackH2021]

Pitt is a sleeper. For a large school the campus feels manageable, and the Oakland neighborhood is nice, with restaurants, bars and shopping. Not well known is that Pitt has a cross registration agreement with CMU, which is just up the street. If interested, look into their honors program.

[carpathia]

Continuing with my review of colleges we toured this year…

College of Charleston - UP and DOWN - What a gorgeous, cool and vibrant campus in an urban setting. Great shopping and dining right there, really nice buildings, friendly and informative guides. Our neighbor attends CofC so we were able to go into her dorm and see the setup. She was a freshman and the dorm was more like an apartment with a living room, full kitchen with fridge, dishwasher, etc and then two double bedrooms and two full bathrooms (one fore each bedroom). We also toured a normal dorm room which was not apartment style, but was suite style with a bathroom shared between two rooms. This was also nice. We wanted to visit the computer science building and realized that was off campus and required a car or bus to get to. It is not part of the main campus which was disappointing. The art studio spaces were in the main part of campus and were on upper floors with good lighting. We visited the beach in the evening by car, it was gorgeous and nearby. This school moved way up on our list after spending the day there. However, we noted a lack of diversity which was concerning to us. That combined with the long drive from our home in PA eventually moved the school off of the list.

Clemson University - DOWN - We did a tour of more southern schools because my senior had a strong interest in Clemson. We stayed in Greenville, SC which is a nice city albeit very quiet. The drive from Greenville to Clemson was at least thirty minutes, but finding hotels near Clemson was challenging. There aren’t many options and most places were at least 20 minutes away. The tour was very disappointing as we spent most of it standing outside listening to the guide drone on and on. We did not get to see a dorm, a dining area, an academic building, student center, etc. The only building we went into was the library. The dorms looked dumpy from the outside. This was probably the worst campus tour I have been on. Luckily we met up with some family who are alumni and live nearby and they gave us a much better tour. But by the then the damage was done. The art studio spaces were in the basement and dark. Also as we were driving away towards home, we saw a GIANT confederate flag on the highway, that was the final nail in the coffin for us. I was not comfortable with the idea of sending my biracial children to an area where some residents still unabashedly put up that flag for all of the public to see. Some research revealed it is the largest confederate flag in the state of South Carolina.

University of Pittsburgh - UP and DOWN - We live in a Pittsburgh suburb so are very familiar with this campus. Also I am an alumni of Pitt and CMU so I know Oakland well. We have done two campus tours. The first was a general tour in the fall of 2022. We were the only family on the tour and the guide was excellent and accommodating with showing us what we were most interested in. She gave us an overview of the campus and neither of my kids liked the campus at the end of the tour. The adults on the tour (my sister, my mom and I) all really liked it. July 2023 we returned for a blue and gold day so my kids could meet with representatives from different academic programs. This warmed them up to the school more. They met with the business school and school of computing. Neither of them love that the campus doesn’t really have a central green area to walk around. My daughter was disappointed that the club tennis team is highly competitive to join since the school no longer has a D1 team for the highest level of players. A visit to the art school revealed that the studio spaces are in the basement with no natural light. The business school told us that starting this fall all graduates from their program will be required to take two computer programming classes which I thought was interesting. I’d double check to see if that’s actually true. I love the diversity on campus and there are plenty of food options. I’ve heard the dining hall called the Eatery which is part of the meal plan is terrible. Both of my seniors applied, but it’s not at the top of their list.

[carpathia]

Continuing on…

University of Pittsburgh Johnstown Campus - SAME - This campus is about 1.5 hours from the main campus. It is at a higher elevation and thus it gets snow and is much colder. We visited in early March on a Saturday for a tour. The president spoke at the info session, he is very passionate about the school and is striving to make it better every year. They have a new nursing building with state of the art facilities for student practice. They also have a beautiful new engineering building so you no longer have to go to the main campus if you want to be an engineering major. If you are looking for a more rural location and smaller class sizes with personalized attention, UPJ is for your student. They have a few dining options, the dorms all look like ski chalets with fireplaces in the main lounge when you walk in. Laundry is free. Microwave and fridge is included. All of the dorms are suite style with a shared bathroom between two rooms. Class sizes are small and it’s located near a ski resort so there are buses to take kids skiing. There are also buses to take students to the games at the main campus. The campus reminded me of a summer camp. It was very quiet on the weekend and I have heard many students go home for the weekend. As far as cost, they do offer merit to students depending on their grades/test scores. They put a chart up during the presentation. This is different from Pitt main which really doesn’t give much merit at all if you are in state. My senior was not excited about the school and his feelings didn’t change. As a parent I think this would be a great choice for a student who you’d like to see go to college and gain some independence and you don’t think a big urban school with large classes would be the right choice.

The Ohio State - UP and DOWN- We did a tour of some Midwest schools in June of this year so classes were not in session. I did not expect my kids to like this school, but I wanted to show them a few different sized options. We did a general tour, business school tour and had a private tour of the art school. Everyone we spoke to was very helpful and informative. The dorm rooms are small, but students move off campus after their first year and it sounds like there is a wide price range for rentals. There are many dining options on campus and also several gyms for working out. Students can walk to areas off campus to restaurants and shopping. The art studio spaces were well equipped and the business school quad had a nice layout with tunnels connecting the buildings underneath which is nice for cold weather. I was surprised at how much green space there was for an urban campus. There is a bus system the students can use as well. The school moved way UP for my one senior and for my other one it moved down as it was too big/urban. Overall, I was impressed with the school and the programs offered.

Miami University of Ohio - UP and SAME - As we approached the school my kids were grumbling about it being in the middle of nowhere and how they had no interest and they didn’t know why I was wasting their time. You drive through farm fields and then enter the campus. First of all, it is a gorgeous, well maintained campus. We had a business school tour, private art school tour and general tour. There was some mix up where only one of my seniors was registered for the tours even though I signed both of them up. There was a retired professor running the info session for the business school and I’m embarrassed to say both of my kids fell asleep during that part of the tour. But they were very engaged once we started walking around. The art school and it’s studio spaces were the nicest we have seen and suddenly my daughter was super excited about the school. There are indoor hockey/ice skating rinks on campus which is different and fun. We didn’t get to see the town itself so I can’t comment on that. By the end of the tour, it had moved way up for the one senior and stayed the same for the other.

Indiana Bloomington - UP - Once again we had to drive through many farm fields and we saw many questionable signs along the roadside as we approached. My kids’ interest in the school dropped rapidly on the drive. However, once we arrived in town and walked around a bit their mood improved. We had a business school tour, a school of computer science tour and a general tour. The town of Bloomington sits right outside the gates of the campus and has many restaurants. It’s adorable and the options are fantastic. Surprisingly, it has a gritty element to it as well with homeless people wandering around and tents set up in the small corner parks. I was not expecting that in such a small, remote area. This gave both of my kids pause about going to Bloomington. The campus itself is gorgeous and spread out. The CS building is quite something to look at, all glass and very modern. The art studio spaces had a lot of natural light. The school offers many interesting academic programs. The student center was underwhelming and the food options on campus seemed limited. Overall, it moved up and my kids did apply.

[Schadret]

@carpathia

However, we noted a lack of diversity which was concerning to us.

I know it’s a smaller school so it may seem like less, but checking the CDS vs something like Indiana Bloomington, the %'ages are generally close (around 20% non-white) for both.

[carpathia]

That is very interesting. Walking around the two campuses, visually we saw more diversity at Indiana. But those numbers don’t surprise me.