@homerdog it did really help that d15 knew what she wanted to study and the size of the school she wanted. D didn’t have any friends end up at CC but her cousin went there and loved it. It is very outdoorsy, but my artsy d still felt like she would fit in (like your son, likes the outdoors but isn’t a huge skier). There are amazing trips (not just skiing) that go on during the block breaks–the big downside I saw was that the cost of all these cool trips would really add up. My niece couldn’t afford to do many of them.
We’ve got to get started on d18, but it is a whole new ball game with her.
Good morning.
I have a S17 only child, so only time we will be doing college visits. We visited the following universities. He originally was planning on a double major in film and composition, but after visiting with many music departments he decided to not major in composition( was very discouraged about application process and each school only accepting 2-3 per year) has decided to major in film and history instead.( Many colleges are simply crossed off because we originally visited for musical composition. Very hard to find.) he has applied to 9 universities. We did meet with someone at each university in the music and film departments to discuss each major. The facilities and contacts varied substantially per university. Our HS sometimes had better equipment or space than the colleges.
OHIO:
CWU- went thinking you could attend Case and take music at the CIM, but was wrong. Really liked the campus. Thought it had great opportunities for other majors. Downside: the food availability for anyone with allergies. Was the worst from all of the campuses we visited. Will not apply.
CIM- very small. less than 250 students. Did not have the availability to double major. Only music available. Perfect for a student that is all about performance. Will not apply.
Oberlin-Nice campus. Limited dining off campus. To liberal. Great academics, awesome conservatory. Will not apply.
Baldwin Wallace-Honors program was very appealing. Awesome conservatory. Dining limited for allergies. Will not apply.
Bowling Green University-Honors program was appealing. Nice campus, lots of new construction. Limited resources for film major. Food acceptable for allergies. liked the LC ideas and honors housing.
Applied- accepted. received top merit award. waiting to hear back concerning honors program.
tOSU-Largest university we visited. Was surprised though how compact it actually felt. Classes to large. Good opportunity for film.
Applied.
OU:Liked the campus and the housing opportunities. Food options were also good for allergies.
Applied to the HTC. Very unique opportunity because they do not offer a Film undergraduate program, only a masters.
This is the only way to study film as an undergraduate.
Miami U: Liked the campus. Dining available for food allergies. Good opportunity for film.
Applied.
IL:
Northwestern: Disappointing tour. Only took us into the dining hall and we sat in a classroom for some discussion. Didn’t like half the answers the tour guide gave. Liked the location. With no merit aid at all available its a No. Will not apply for several reasons.
DePaul:Tour was great. Film department was awesome. Lots of opportunities here. Didn’t like that you had to take the L train for 20 minutes to get to the film building. No guaranteed housing. Dining available for allergies. Will not apply.
Columbia College of Chicago:Film department was impressive. Housing was terrible along with the food. Disappointed with the academics. Great for the hands on majors. Will not apply.
Indiana:
UND-Liked everything about the university. Great academics. Pedestrian only campus. Housing all four years. Dining great for allergies. Film department impressive.
Applied.
Georgia:
UGA- Large campus. Not walkable. Honors program was good. Film department had great opportunities. Will not apply.
Tennessee:
BelmontU: Visited twice. Sons favorite college. Campus wonderful. Dining for allergies. Most impressive film department and opportunities we came across. Small classes. Honors program impressive.
Applied:accepted. waiting for honors reply.(not until March)
Vanderbilt: Nice campus. Dining great for allergies. Film department good.
Applied.
New York:
Syracuse-Nice campus. Dining for allergies. Great film department.
Applied.
University of Rochester- Campus nice. Film department limited to mostly theory classes. Great academics. Liked open curriculum.
Applied.
Vasser-Campus was beautiful. Loved the location. Film department was great. No merit aid. Very liberal. Food available for allergies. Will not apply.
I actually could write pages about each college. Have notebooks full of notes, didn’t want to bore most of you. It was a great experience visiting all of the campuses. This is how we have spent our last two years of vacations. I have said many times “I wish I could go back to college”. Our kids have so many opportunities that weren’t available while I was looking into going to school. I lived at home and commuted.
Good luck to the class of 17!
@KAMmom I don’t envy you having to start over from scratch. I thought we’d be in the same situation with our S18 because he’s so different than D15. As far as college choices go, though, he’s attracted to the same types of schools as D15. In fact, he currently has 5 schools on his list that overlap with schools to which she applied, though Beloit didn’t make the cut. He’s done enough of a search that we can put it aside and focus more on ACT prep at least until spring.
We just got back from College Tours II. We visited four schools, two of which dropped off the list and one moved up.
MIT was the last school we visited and was a complete miss. My D is interested in both STEM and Humanities and the Humanities at MIT are sort of laughable. Not unsurprisingly, I suppose. After looking at LACs, MIT came off as impersonal and geared towards graduate students. It didn’t really even feel like a college campus as much as corporate campus. We didn’t even finish the tour.
Amherst. This was a surprise Drop Off The List. Beautiful campus, small (very small) town. But this is where the college visits are so important: Amherst looked great online and in places like the Fiske guide and its reputation is stellar. But the vibe was very scholar-athlete and my kid just isn’t very (read: at all) athletic. I’m sure someone will say We’re not all that way! but that was just our gut feeling that day on campus, and since you’re supposed to Trust Your Gut with these visits, it dropped off the list.
Wesleyan moved up the list. My D liked that there was a whole section of campus devoted to the arts. Good vibes from the students even though (LOL) there were administration protests happening even on the campus tour we were on. Seemed a lot less serious/full of itself than Amherst. Liked the size of surrounding Middletown and how housing worked, with every year increasing independence.
One thing we started looking for in all our campus visits is something we call the Purple Hair Factor (PHF). We look for the number of people we see with brightly dyed hair as an indicator of self-expression and non-preppiness. (These are good things for my D.) Wes scored well in PHF, then MIT, then Amherst, where I don’t think we saw a single PHF.
First - a disclaimer: my data is a year old, but I don’t think much has changed since.
We didn’t tour before applying - S’s main criteria was academics (physics and CS) and that and most other things can be learned online. We tried to coincide the visits with admitted student days and only visited the “final” minimal set of colleges. Generally, we didn’t have a single visit where S didn’t like the campus - he liked all of them.
UCSC - it was a safety (if a UC can be a safety!). You cannot beat that campus! Dream come true for my S. He also liked that it’s close to home, atmosphere was caring and friendly. I would call it a “perfect safety” college for us - S would have been happy to go there if everything else didn’t work out.
UDub - loved the place, loved the Seattle area, college was a strong contender to the end but not on the top of the list. S didn’t quite like their physics and it was uncertain with the CS admissions/access. The tour wasn’t very helpful either.
URochester - went down. It didn’t help that they managed to send us admitted student day invitation after the fact. Also, the town seemed eerily dead, it was almost scary. Not very welcoming.
CWRU - went waay up to the top of the list. S claimed they had the best food of anywhere he’s been, had a very lively scene on campus and around - everything was alive and atmosphere was very friendly. S was impressed with the level of students and professors there. Their generous merit scholarship sweetened the deal, too
UIUC - went up to the top. S liked their academic level, friendliness, large size. This was his final choice and he is happy there, although it seems there are still occasional sighs about CWRU.
Fairly sure my S’s entire list scores semi high in PHF. Ones that did not have come off. Hadn’t thought about it that way but there is an element of truth to it! Love it!
The PHF thing is funny! My extremely preppy/greek/school spirit college-seeking daughter has one (mostly hidden) purple streak in her hair-- Now I know why this college search is so complicated for her!
That’s awesome, @taliecharley! When first reading this I thought, ohh, my athletic, outdoorsy D would want NO PHF. Then I remembered her pink/purple streak that gets re-dyed every February for high school state swim. I guess that explains why she wants a very diverse student body?
While I can understand your crossing Oberlin off the list the part about “limited dining off-campus” isn’t correct. There are half a dozen truly excellent places in walking distance and another half dozen pretty good ones in walking distance. Within a short drive there are many more.
The Feve is excellent. So are the Black River Cafe, Aladdin’s and The Slow Train. Anyway, Oberlin isn’t for everyone, but the food choices are really excellent.
I have enjoyed this thread! I first found this website when DD#1 was beginning her college search. Now she has graduated and we are starting over with DD#2 (hs jr). We enjoy seeing different campuses, so we don’t mind going to a lot of tours. We started this summer with:
Washington and Lee-it was love at first sight. She loved the history, the small class size, the “cuteness” (her word) of the town, large Greek presence and so much more.
UVa-Disliked immensely. She said that she felt they were pretentious, obsessed with their secret societies and was very turned off by the dean who ran the info session-she just started the film without introducing herself and then seemed proud that while some classes have several hundred students, they also have 5 TAs. This was NOT a selling point for DD.
Univ of Richmond-loved it. Small class size, beautiful campus, large study abroad program
Wake Forest-very interested but our tour was cancelled due to rain. Will visit again if she is accepted.
Fuman-another love. Beautiful campus, study abroad, small classes, friendly people. We all loved the city of Greenville. The one drawback is that there is no place to walk to off campus and city is 10 minute drive/shuttle
Wofford-big disappointment. She said the campus is so small and not in a good way (whatever that means)
Virginia Tech-OK, no strong feelings either way
Davidson-doest like that there are no sororities and said she just didn’t feel it. Cute town though!
William and Mary-beautiful campus. love the history but the students just didn’t look happy! Seriously, we saw like one group of kids laughing and talking during the tour. Lots of kids walking/sitting by themselves.
Still want to visit SC Honors college and College of Charleston.
She is also interested in Bucknell/Lafayette/Lehigh but they are so far away, not sure if we will visit before she applies.
@skyii558 I recommend meeting with a representative of the Honors College at College of Charleston if you visit. Dr Folds-Bennett , Dean of the Honors College , is amazing and invested in all of her students . Feel free to PM of you have any questions .
Thanks for such a comprehensive list, @taliecharley! We’re actually heading to Brandeis soon–like you and DH, my husband and I went there. We actually think it’ll be a good fit for our son and hope he agrees.
@carolinamom2boys Thank you! We will definitely look into the honors college at CofC. Is your son(I’m guessing its a son based on username) in the Honors College?
Hamilton - stayed the same. Beautiful, two sides of campus seemed weird to me, daughter didn’t mind it, the Root Glen (Nature path) was awesome, thanks Merc81 for the advise.
Skidmore - moved up - nice interaction with a Dance professor while checking out the Dance studios, I heard Saragota Springs was nice, but it was WAY nice. Visited the Dance hall of fame, walked around town at dusk, very safe, nice park, nice restaurants and shops, can’t really explain it, the town was the best surprise of all our visits.
Emerson - moved up - one of a few city schools on our list, she is interested in a major they have that few others have, dorm room suite was the nicest of all the tours, view of the Boston Common. We had two tour guides and they took turns talking, this worked out great, they we not out of breath half the time like other tour guides.
One local visit left and her list is complete. Will not visit Kenyon or Bryn Mawr before she applies, but have learned about these school form other post, Thanks all!
