@odannyboySF Thank you for this new terminology! I just asked my D18 what she thought of the PHF. She said something like “I want to be in a place where purple hair isn’t judged, but where it isn’t necessarily encouraged, either.” (This is coming from a purple-streaker. )
Interestingly enough, my currently mint streaked haired 16 yo daughter does not want too much PHF at the college she eventually picks. Her reasoning is that she likes standing out, and if everyone has crazy colored hair, then it’s not as entertaining.
I’ll have to ask my 17 yo if all the campuses she visited so far had PHF. She has no PHF, but insists on a PHF in evidence on campus, although it doesn’t need to be a lot.
@1518mom glad to hear that your son has a good college list already. We’ve done only one visit, a local school that D isn’t interested in attending. She takes the act for the second time Saturday and then we’ll start looking at schools. No idea where she’ll end up!
The PHF loses meaning at any mid-size to larger universities with Schools of Design/Architecture. PHT is usually high with the Design Schools/Architecture and may not be outside it. If you went to Penn’s campus near the Art/Architecture building you might think Penn had a high PHF but every where else is prep city.
earlham: As we drove into town we saw a lot of sketchy men hanging around. We wondered if there were any women in the town and then we see a woman in an orange jumpsuit, fully shackled being led down the street a police officer. We were laughing but really freaked out. The college was nice , but too outdoorsy/granola for my daughter.
University of Minnesota twin cities: Both of my kids thought it was too urban. Nice school though.
Marquette: Once again too urban. Did not help we visited it on the coldest day of the year.
Beloit: My daughter liked this school. My son thought it was way to small. Very enthusiastic students.
University of Iowa: For whatever reason my son did not like this school like he liked Iowa State. Since you can use the formula to figure out if you will get in he decided he would only apply to the one he liked best.
Schools that moved up after seeing them:
Iowa State
Purdue
Uw-Madison
Uw- La Crosse
Bradley University
PHF was not a factor in D15’s search. However, she ended up at a school with high PHF and has joined the ranks. She’s had cobalt blue or aqua hair since March. She keeps saying that this time will be the last time, but who is she kidding? Better to get it out of her system before she needs to apply for jobs where PHF might be an issue.
Funny about PHF. D15 went to an arts high school, so she’s used to PHF. She hasn’t shown any interest in PH, but she surprised me by coming home with a tattoo after freshman year, so who knows.
Gotta admit that when the hair-dying started it did cross my mind that I was so much happier with it than I would have been with a tattoo. Anything temporary is A-OK with me.
I posted upthread about our impressions of Earlham College. Now, several months later, when DH and I think about that visit, we realize that we so wanted to like the school (and we did), but our guts are telling us that we can’t get past our dislike of Richmond. We, of course, will let S18 apply if he chooses to do so, but I think it will end up lower down on the list because of the surrounding city.
The reason I keep coming back to read the updates on this thread is that it is a reminder how personal this process is, for all of us and our kids. Living in Indiana (though east coaster by birth and education), Richmond struck us as just another town – there is a stretch with some cool coffee shops and foodie-places a few blocks from campus, as well as some stretches of uninspired chain store retail. Not much different than some other uninspiring towns we saw along the way. Lewiston, Maine has some wonderful restaurants and a slowly reviving downtown, but also looks like a lot of aging northeast towns/cities. Same can be said for the parts of New London we kept going in circles around, trying to find the right turn off for Conn Coll. Many LACs revolve around on-campus life, so the surrounding communities don’t have a substantial impact on student experience.
@Midwestmomofboys , couldn’t agree more. We recently visited for Parents Weekend, and DS told us that he hadn’t eaten one meal off campus. This may change over the years, but the town – so far – seems to have had a minimal impact on his daily life. I was certainly more aware of the local environs than he.
Loved your post @taliecharley. We visited many schools from your list. D is now a freshman at Bucknell. Greek life is a big part of campus and the party culture worried her at first but it’s been fine. Initially she had a so-so view of the town, but now she likes that it’s walking distance, it’s cute, and has all the necessities (froyo, bookstore, pharmacy!). Really enjoying her classes/professors/social life! She chose Bucknell over Wake, which was a good call for her as it wasn’t quite her vibe. Lehigh was also on her list, but we received no $ & had a better experience with Bucknell in terms of the arts offerings. We liked Granville too. Good luck!