CU has a great physics department even in the regular school year. Just today I got a FB share with Nobel willing CU profs, and 4 were in physics.
Love this post because you can start to see some common threads in some of the schools visits, like so many anti-Tufts people because of the hills - that didn’t bother us!
Moved down: UCLA - all of the students were either walking by themselves talking on the phone or texting. We didn’t see much collegiality. BC - both the speaker from admissions and the student tour guide seemed arrogant. That’s a shame because my niece went there and had an excellent education. I heard from other parents that had different tours that this was the best one they’ve been on (!). My daughter also didn’t like that BC has no racial diversity. BU - she left the official tour thinking that the academics were just meh; I thought the presentation was great, and that the academics are better than I thought. She got the feeling that there were too many foreign students who stuck to their own ethnic groups and didn’t mingle with the American students.
Moved up: Harvard - She really wanted to dislike it because it’s so hard to get into, but loved the housing and all the different ways the students are supported.
Re: U Chicago & Northwestern, she really liked them both a lot. She loved Chicago, the architecture of both schools, the libraries. But I don’t get it. There were almost no students around. Yes, it was a cold Friday in April, but still.
It might be because it was a Friday as some schools have few classes on Fridays, or it could be that it was a Friday near a holiday weekend (Easter, Passover) and students had already taken off to get home.
I don’t think a dead campus on a Friday is unusual.
@twoinanddone, thanks for the ideas, but it wasn’t Easter or Passover weekend. Maybe a lot of kids live off campus (I don’t know, I’m new here), but that impacts the vibe for sure. Curious whether my experience was an anomaly for those schools, or not.
Friday afternoon is an off time to see a campus, generally speaking. Even the most populated can be empty. People avoid Friday afternoon classes like the plague, one of mine has not had a class on Friday his last two years. An empty campus on Friday afternoon is not unusual in my experience. Many are napping up for the weekend.
Also on many campuses, Thursday is a big party night (“Thursday is the new Saturday”) so as a combination of 1) kids sleeping in after a late night and 2) kids having less busy class schedules (due to #1 above) many campuses seem empty on Friday. Also, many kids take Saturday off for their EC activities, going to football games, etc, so they may be in their rooms or the library on Friday to be caught up on school so they can relax on Saturday.
Already posted somewhere in here, I think…love this thread! But recently visited a few more and here they are:
Dickinson: moved up. D loved the pretty campus, thought it was nice you were right in the town, thought the students looked like “regular people” and not one particular type. Bustling and busy student center, lots going on. Great housing, good food. Great interview with a recent grad. This school is a “very likely” for her, so we were pleased. Husband and I were very impressed with the school.
Muhlenberg: stayed the same, it’s a safety for D, campus has some parts prettier than others, dining hall was nice, dorms ok but nothing special, great theater opportunities. Student body looked laid back, lots of different types of kids, friendly.
Connecticut College: moved down, not sure she’s going to apply. Liked it better at first glance, pretty campus and we had a great tour guide. But then we started to feel it was too preppy for D, didn’t seem to have any “vibe” or character. Got the feeling it isn’t many students’ first choice but rather a safety for those who get rejected from Ivies or super selective LACs. The info session was painfully dull, plus 50% of the touring students were from private prep schools. Turned us off, nothing against private schools but just not a comfortable fit for my daughter who has spent her HS years surrounded by what we call over entitled white kids. Also, the neuroscience major seems very new, no actual
neuroscience classes, just a mix of psych, chem, bio, linguistics, and philosophy (?) classes make up the major. D seriously leaning toward this major, so…
About to visit Grinnell and Macalester in a few weeks, so we’ll see! She is in love with Vassar, and we are visiting a second time next week. We hate that they don’t interview, as she generally rocks her interviews! She liked Kenyon a lot but was a little put off by the small size of the campus and the town. Thinking about applying to Skidmore with no visit, though she thinks the campus is ugly, anyone want to disagree, please?
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@IBviolamom We visited Skidmore and thought the campus was fine and the surrounding area was lovely (D did not apply as she felt it was too “artsy” for her). If you want some other ideas for LACs with strong sciences my D particularly liked Lafayette (where she ended up and loved), Union, and Franklin & Marshall. Like your D she found the CT LACs (we saw Trinity and Fairfield – she didn’t want to visit Conn College) too preppy for her tastes.
@IBviolamom We saw Skidmore and liked the campus very much. The student center, in particular was great. I just thought the whole place had a very pleasant vibe. Lots of grass and trees. To piggyback on the above post, we thought both Lafayette and Union were particularly beautiful, especially if you like manicured quads and stately architecture.
@happy1 Do you find Lafayette to be more down to earth compared to the other colleges you saw?
@IBviolamom We visited Skidmore and I think it comes down to how much you like contemporary architecture and brick. The layout is very nice, with two quads here the freshmen and sophomores live. The library is between the quads, IIRC. While contemporary and brick aren’t my thing, it was still very nice. And of the town (Saratoga Springs) is really lovely, though I can’t remember if it’s an easy walk or not.
@citymama9 We found Lafayette to have a very good mix of people. Her friends were very down to earth. My D is a science oriented kid – she really loved her four years there, made great friends, enjoyed almost all of her classes, developed close relationships with a number of professors, spent 2 summers on-campus as a paid researcher for two different professors. was very involved in activities on campus (she was into music, theater and shocked us and joined a low-key sorority – but she had friends who did club and varsity sports, community service and tons of other things). She figured out what path she wanted to take and is now in a great grad school. If you want any other information you can PM me because I don’t want to hijack this thread for an infomercial on Lafayette! LOL.
@IBviolamom How’s your daughter thinking Skidmore is ugly if she hasn’t visited? I wouldn’t judge a campus by google images. Also, if she does decide to throw an application in at Skidmore know that, according to Skidmore’s CDS, the school weighs “demonstrated interest” as important in the admissions process.
Does the ? mark after philosophy for a neuroscience major indicate you question the inclusion of it in coursework? No expert in the field but my understanding is that there is a strong connection and I don’t think it unusual to see the two connected.
My son and wife liked Lafayette and while I didn’t visit based on my research I really did too. It seemed to put more emphasis than most schools on internships, externships and job placement. They said the campus was nice. He ended up being offered an extremely generous merit scholarship, which we weren’t expecting since he hadn’t applied for financial aid and most of the schools he applied to had no merit aid so it had fallen off our radar. Alas, he didn’t end up going there but the scholarship would have been nice.
He didn’t like Skidmore for whatever reason – I never got a good sense of it. And as locations go, it would have been super convenient because we have a family cabin at Lake George only half-an-hour away and visit Saratoga Springs fairly often. As someone above wrote, perhaps it was the architecture. Perhaps the way it was rung by parking lots or it being somewhat removed from town – he ended up at a college that was very connected to it’s town.
This was our experience too. The woman giving the session droned on and on (and on) about their new “pathways” curriculum, yet never managed to actually clarify what it was and how it would work. (More convoluted requirements?) It WAS painful. Really, if you don’t understand it enough to explain it clearly/succinctly, then you shouldn’t try. She was either not well prepared, or simply not knowledgeable, and was certainly not a good speaker. Admissions really needs to be on top of their game if they expect to attract top students. Fair or not, this is our one visit; their chance to impress us, not bore us. I was actually a bit more forgiving that my C…that info session continues to stand out as the worst.
Also, it was in this REALLY steep lecture hall. In order to actually see the person giving the presentation, I had to sit up and lean on the desk in front of me. If I just slouched back a bit away from the desk (i.e. got comfortable), I could no longer see the presenter WAY down in the front. It struck me as sort of an unfortunate choice of rooms. It was not a big group. Do they really have no other space that would be more suitable/friendlier/comfortable? Do they think this unusual (older) lecture hall is impressive and want to show it off? Seemed odd to me.
I completely agree that the info session means a lot. Colleges spend ungodly amounts of money on marketing; you’d think it would make sense financially to invest in making a good first impression with the families who are already interested enough to visit the campus. U Rochester has remained on my D’s radar after visiting, in large part because the info session was STELLAR. D figures if they put together a thoughtful, engaging, and informative presentation like that, it shows that the school really has their **** together.
@ShrimpBurrito Same U Rochester result when my son visited with his father last year. It shot to his #1 choice. I knew nothing about the school but decided to look into it after that. And while it looked good on paper (and virtual tours), it wasn’t until Admitted Students’ Day (and more recently, Orientation) that I understood. They do a really great job with these events (and, my son reports, with other stuff too!)
@doschicos The Skidmore website has a virtual tour. Plus there are plenty of photos and videos to be found online. My daughter got unfortunately spoiled by seeing two very beautiful campuses, Vassar and Kenyon, as her first two college visits. She is not a fan of modern architecture. However, she spoke with an admissions rep at a college fair at school and took his card, because she liked everything she heard about the school and is willing to overlook aesthetics if necessary! Thanks for the info on demonstrated interest. Saratoga is a four-hour drive from home, not terrible, but we have been spending a lot of time visiting schools and we’re getting tired of the long road trips!
@WhataProcess (great username!) Yes, same info session, I wonder if we were there the same day? The presenter was apologetic and shared that she was new at giving info sessions…um, yeah, no kidding, but sheesh way to put a room full of people to sleep. I noticed a lot of people not paying attention.
The comments about Lafayette are making me think it deserves a look. D had ruled it out based on thoughts it was very Greek-life oriented, but I’m hearing something different. How is it compared to, let’s say, Dickinson?
@ShrimpBurrito @Momofmrb Same here with URoc! (the other twin) The only school where I heard “I’m definitely going to apply here” as we were walking back to the car after the visit/interview. Ok, so we’ve got one on the list! (not that there are NO others, but really that was the only school where the reaction was immediate and completely positive.) I think it’s a great choice, and given our school’s record, a pretty comfortable admit. Time will tell…!
@IBviolamom Vassar does alumni interviews and takes them very seriously. Contact Admissions at Vassar and they have a strong alumni network that attempts to interview anyone who wants one.