I think sometimes kids are able to verbalize only the reasons that sound silly, shallow, dumb, etc but there is probably more to their reasons that can’t be easily verbalized. If they loved a school then the little things wouldn’t interfere with that love.
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Love this thread, fascinated at the amount of east coast posters v. west coast. Still laughing at the comment about “then getting into stop light purgatory in Brentwood.” Welcome to California, see it all while sitting in your car.
There’s a fit for everyone. I’ve yet to see anyone say they ended up deciding not to go to college (at all) due to a poor tour guide. If they opted for Choice B instead of their original Choice A, that really doesn’t matter. As has already been stated, one has to prune the list somehow. It might as well be hills or flatness or too many squirrels or _______.
If anyone is looking at this list and keeping score, good luck! The same school loved by one is knocked down by another - amazingly enough - the same as pretty much anything else in life from fashion choices to selecting where to live.
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These threads are entertaining. I have a friend from Southern California whose daughter really didn’t want to visit Eastern schools but she moved them way up because the boys dress well compared to the West coast. Not sure if it’s true or not.
Off the list: Chapman University for our oldest. As we toured the campus, dd noticed a couple fraternities had misspelled their signs. That was it for Chapman. Not a good fit for her major, anyway.
UCSB: There was a talk of heavy duty partying at the restaurant the night before the tour and just before the info session, which we barely made it through. The adcom was unorganized and the presentation was loud, crowded and offered nothing that wasn’t on the website. DD couldn’t wait to get off campus.
Claremont McKenna for our youngest. A long, boring powerpoint given by an arrogant AO in a dark, crowded conference room followed by a tour with a lovely but very quirky young woman who reminded DS of a cult member. He now refers to CMC as Jonestown.
Lived up to expectations but didn’t apply due to fit: Harvey Mudd and Caltech. We enjoyed both tours although Caltech was the best. Very quirky but fitting for the school and its students.
Moved up the list:
Chapman for the youngest: Ds was very impressed with the head of the Econ department, really likes the campus and commented on all the pretty girls. 
He plans to apply
Gonzaga: DS didn’t expect to like GU since he’s not a fan of Spokane, but he was impressed with the campus, the tour and the AO. Will apply.
Originally cut but back for a second round of consideration: Occidental
After a day of touring two other colleges, our oldest refused to get out of the car at Oxy when she saw the steep hills where the freshman dorms are located. Six months later we toured the school ( they don’t take you up the hills) and she loved it. Just finishing her sophomore year and she’s walked up those hills many times a day.
OK, I’ll play, even though S is almost finished with his freshman year. We only toured two schools – UT Austin and Texas A&M. I attended UT and was sorta hoping for a third generation Longhorn rather than an Aggie. At UT, We attended a well-organized prospective student visit event and I was blown away by the cool additions the university had made since I was there in the Dark Ages – honors programs in many departments, freshman research opportunities, LLCs designed to make the Big State U experience smaller and more personalized, etc. All the students we interacted with were knowledgeable and enthusiastic. My S was completely put off by the Admissions presentation – it was clearly geared to recruit families/students who were seriously considering top tier schools, and it came across as snooty and “you’ll never get in here unless you are likely to get an Ivy League offer, too” to my S. He applied because I had gone there but had zero interest in attending.
Needless to say, he’s an Aggie now. (I was much more impressed when I attended his New Student Conference than I ever expected to be…I admit it!) So you never know how things will turn out.
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I agree that it is a fun thread to read and of course, should be taken for what it is, each one’s individual experiences and preferences, certainly not as hard and fast advice to consider or rule out any particular school. I find it very interesting to hear about the things that one student finds appealing, another finds a turn-off, sometimes even among siblings in the same family. Each student is unique and different and looking for different things, just as one person mentioned, comparable to house-hunting. I think it’s also interesting to hear about the influence that info sessions and tour guides have upon families’ perceptions and impressions of a school. Schools should be taking careful notes! 
We completed over 30 college visits with our twins between end of Sophomore and Senior year and both S and D now recognize the value the visit provided in determining if it was the right “fit” for them (sorry to sound cliche, but that really is what you need to discover) and if they could ultimately see themselves there. As with everything, there will be pros and cons (for both the student and the parents) and the family should keep a notebook of those details for each visit. In the end, they just have to decide what is best for them. Good luck to those in the admissions process and just know that you have discover for yourself what feels right.
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@mom2twogirls , you hit the nail on the head.
I started this thread. What I left out was that I contacted Bowdoin admission about our experience and did not hear back. At Mount Holyoke our tour guide was not only one of the most impressive girls I have ever met, we had a tiger parent ask a ton of questions almost debating her on her answers, and she held her own. She also wrote my daughter a hand written note thanking her for coming on the tour. We had such different experiences of being welcome on different campuses, I thought I would bring them up. I am certain If we went back to Bowdoin tomorrow, had a different tour guide, different admission info and asked a different person to see the dance studio, we most likely would have a better impression. But we are not driving back there 4 hours, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.
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I forgot one that came off the list: Seattle U. The tour was going fine until we saw the dorms. The walls were painted battleship gray with a mustard stripe. Beyond depressing. And the halls were very dark. In Seattle, where it’s gray and or raining 300 days of the year. What were they thinking?
Our best college visits:
Lehigh Lovely campus
Penn amazing student guide, happy students
Tufts lovely campus
Cal Berkeley lovely campus
Wisconsin
Cornell
Washington U@STL
Our worst college visits:
Yale - Comically bad. Have an emergency back up presenter who was not prepared. Did not discuss any reasons to choose Y. Only talked about what Y wants. Asked a student about campus safety and the student described a shooting right outside her dorm that she saw happen. Asked another student about engineering and they said it is really a humanities school, and they would go somewhere else for engineering.
Harvard - Guy repeatedly prefaced responses to DD1s Harvard Qs with, “If you are lucky enough to get into Harvard, …”
DD1 detested the arrogant tone.
For both Y and H I tried hard to convince her that that is not my experience with H and Y people, but she was too stubborn. I did like her moxie that she viewed it as their lost opportunity. lol Their loss was Penn’s gain.
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@Akqj10 We visited 3 times and had an experience similar to yours all 3 times - arrogance/feeling uninvited. There is a lot to like about the school and one child actually applied but the admissions office experience was not a positive factor. Definitely not worth driving back for.
I owned videos of approximately 30 college tours and I used to watch them while working out on a stairmaster.
I enjoy reading about people’s experiences with the tours.
I did not go on any of the school tours with my kids because I did not want to influence my kids. I wasn’t the one going.
This wasn’t an issue because my kids didn’t really want me to go with them.
I liked the Michigan video. I didn’t have to say anything. My daughter and my wife visited and my daughter eventually chose Michigan.
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Knocked Off The List:
Amherst: Facilities seemed surprisingly aged and not well-maintained; Seemed to push for enrolling an outsized number of URMs and had no need for/want of middle-class WASPS like my daughter (an accident of her birth); the info session appeared to be an intentionally low-tech presentation (white board) and the admissions official came across with a "take-us-or-leave-us" attitude. Students seemed muted, rushed and not happy. The campus felt space-constrained.
Wesleyan: A very stiff and cold prospective-student interview by a foreign student; Admissions rep had odd speech characteristics that made me feel I was not visiting the right place. Campus felt crowded and a mish-mash in places; Students seemed a bit quirky and self-absorbed and entitled. Left campus knowing we would never return.
Swarthmore: Too many students take off a semester due to the tradition of deliberate/unnecessary work-overload that, to our view, does not foster true learning. The admissions dean at the info. session admitted that fall-term freshman really DO get graded despite Swat's no-grades-given policy to allow incoming students a chance to adjust to the workload (these "shadow grades" Swat does provide when students apply to grad/professional schools). So this talk of no-grades-given comes across as intellectually dishonest. A noticeable passive-aggressive/cynical strain showed in the student body. Chinese students ate in a group separate from others in the cafeteria.
Washington & Lee: Less geared toward the sciences, and a culture that felt "too Southern" to our DD. W&L seems to be in an odd cultural circumstance right now: It prizes its non-politically-correct historical connections to both George Washington and to Robert. E. Lee -- George being a slave-holder: Robert owning slaves, fighting for the Confederate flag and now entombed in the college chapel because he could not return to his ancestral home which was taken over as a Union soldier burial ground/national cemetery (Arlington). Our senior student tour guide cited a short May-session theater class as his favorite class and his worst as a math class (his major). That left us not feeling great about the teaching there. VMI being on a side yard of W&L left us with a uneasy feeling.
Stayed on our list: Carleton, Haverford, Middlebury, Princeton, St. Olaf, UW-Madison, UM-Twin Cities, Vassar and Williams. Our daughter has enrolled at Carleton.
Off:
Rice: Info session started at earlier time than our confirmed confirmation said so we missed it . At first admissions claimed we were wrong, then when presented with the confirming email shrugged and said rudely “well what do you want me to do I guess we changed it” No apology. No nothing. Most outrageous experience hands down.
Northwestern: The unfriendliest front desk we saw. Kept us outside in the Cold for most of tour showing almost nothing of inside of buildings. Stunningly boring and inept presentation at info session.
Upenn: Admisdions officer talked about God. A lot. Just bizzare.
UVA: held info session in chapel and claimed there was no religious imagery connecyted with the chapel so everyone should be comfortable with it . Except there was a large cross on building. Having the session in the building was ok. Being ignorant of how people view a building with a cross on it was not. .
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This reminds me of a thread a few years back " Stupidest reasons your child didn’t like a school" or something like that. Just finishing the second round of college tours/applications/admissions flurry with child number 2, I also enjoy these types of goofy first impression college tour reports. Mine are all in California.
Moved down:
UC Santa Cruz - with my older daughter a few years ago, her comment, “Ugh, it’s like camping here!” Beautiful redwood forests and bucolic pathways was not her thing. Literally could barely get her out of the car.
Sonoma State - we wanted to like it, an LAC type education at a Cal State price. Another beautiful campus but the centerpiece of the tour was their very nice all suites dorms. And they were nice, but even my daughter commented, “they didn’t say anything about academics!” Off the list.
San Francisco State - what a disappointment! Small, cramped visitors office, staffed by a student who could barely answer questions. They didn’t yet have a current admissions brochure, in August. Combined with very gray Bay Area weather, concrete buildings, confusing parking and $400 hotel rooms, SF fell off the list with a thud! My daughter’s close friend went at a different time of year and loved it.
Moved up:
UC Irvine - fun campus tour. Student guide told the story about Obama’s 2014 commencement speech and how he mispronounced their zot, zot, zot cheer. Got the whole group to cheer, loudly! My daughter was enticed by all the boba tea stands along the way, causing Irvine to climb up in her personal rankings. It’s the little things that make or break a campus tour.
Sacramento State - a pleasant surprise. Well balanced presentation from admissions office and best guide of all our college tours, bright, articulate and engaging. She gave thoughtful, genuine responses to questions and knew how to refer when she didn’t know the answer. Sac State was a true safety that my daughter would have been happy to attend. They’re working hard to improve their rankings and student support but I wish the retention and graduation rate was higher. And that California paid more attention to their Cal States, including the one down the street from the State Capitol!
Stayed the same:
Toured UC Davis twice with both kids, they each liked it for different reasons and neither got in. During the most recent tour I couldn’t shake the image of student protestors being pepper sprayed. Went down for me…
SDSU - went on an admitted students only tour. Nice tour guide but very somber group, if daughter hadn’t been admitted already it might have fallen off the list. I hadn’t noticed the tour group dynamic before, but it had an influence on this one. Campus was also very quiet during Spring Break, it’s hard when that coincides with visits.
The contrast in money spent on visitors/admissions between campuses was eye-opening.
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Daughter # 1’s teenaged impressions. Not mine!
Off: NYU - Stayed with her best friend (a film student) in a very tiny dorm, with no common area interaction. Went to a party and was asked her SAT scores by three separate students. Did not like the spread-out campus - wanted a more traditional campus. Did not like the “slick” info session.
On: Fordham at LC - Liked the apartment-like dorms near Broadway. Liked the idea of waking up and walking the short tunnel to class - and staying in the studios late and being able to walk the tunnel back to her dorm at any hour.
Off: Amherst - Young admissions rep who visited her high school got her very excited about this school. During visit she met with the theater department head, and he confided she could maybe do better elsewhere. She felt the campus lay-out seemed too much like a boarding school, and, as a result, she wanted to cancel our next day’s trip to nearby Williams.
On: Williams - visited during a snow storm and she loved it. Loved the passion of the department head and the students in class and play she attended. Liked this college so much she started to seriously question her first-choice school.
Off: Smith - She REALLY wanted to like it. Liked the beauty of the campus and town, but nervous about the strong “sisterhood” vibe and lack of boys in the theater class she attended. She told me, for better or worse, boys added a dynamic to class that was important to her.
On: Barnard - Liked the set up with Columbia, and the enthusiasm of the Barnard women. There was a free campus cook-out the day we visited. Also, she pal-ed around with her older cousin at Columbia and liked that.
Off: UVA - Prof told her he was surprised the admissions office knew that his department existed.
Off: William and Mary - Department admin asst confided that department had been grossly underfunded for years. Mistakenly visited during the summer and campus was quiet.
On: UNC Chapel Hill - Professor teared-up when she talked about her past students.
Met expectations: Brown, Northwestern
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“…professor teared-up when she talked about her past students…”
^^ this is the sort of “testimonial” that gets me every time. I’m always taken by the testament of people on campus who speak sincerely about their experience, tears or no tears. I find that evidence of an impact life experience trumps nearly other factors when I visit a school. This helps me connect with the school on a personal level. To me, it is the most powerful single factor that sways decision-making.
When I was 18, I was at a new student orientation at which current students shared their college experiences. It was a diverse group of kids - racial, social (preppy and hippie), religious and nonreligious. One of them, a boy from the midwest, shared how he found courage to come out of the closet on campus. I was struck by his confession that his mother was his best friend (we shared that in common, though I wouldn’t admitted it at that time). Although we came from completely different backgrounds, his story moved me in unexpected ways. I, too, aspired to find my true self, independent of my provincial upbringing, and I knew at the moment I had lucked into the perfect school for me.
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So I should add to my earlier response, which was only about St Lawrence moving down, then up.
Moved down: Conn Coll – wanted to love it, really did. But the tour was filled with families talking about their visits to Yale and Wesleyan and how this was their kid’s safety. My kid did not like the campus layout at all, with playing fields in the middle, but athletic center separated by a busy road that you had to take a pedestrian bridge to get to – very isolated feel for a prospective athlete. Student body seemed way more homogenous than my kid expected.
Moved up: Knox College – the Poli Sci class my kid attended there was one of his favorite classes anywhere, he loved the energy of the professor and the students were very active, engaged in class. All kinds of kids, no single, dominant type, great support for sporting events, gorgeous new fine arts building going. The school seems energized and on the move.
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@Midwestmomofboys We really developed a soft spot for Knox even though our D15 chose to go elsewhere. We are hoping S18 really considers it. History and Poli Sci seem to be his thing, so I’m happy to hear about your kid’s experience.