Visited Lafayette yesterday and it felt near perfect to me. (Yes, S liked it very much too :)) Green, compact campus. Older buildings have gotten some love, but not complete overhauls. Lots of character. Students seemed happy. Only a stone’s throw from Easton downtown, which appears to be making a comeback. It didn’t hurt that it was a picture-perfect spring day. Says he will likely apply.
There are so many variables that come in to play when evaluating schools. It is interesting to see what factors influence people. I am a little sensitive to people being significantly influenced by tour guides because our daughter is a tour guide. I know she represents her school very well and she is is very personable and caring. As an aside you cannot believe the nature f some of the questions that are posed to her.
These kids (tour guides) have to lead tours in all kinds of weather, wind blowing rain sideways, bitter cold etc… Bringing your A game under those type of circumstances is not always easy.
Schools always present better on beautiful days, or when there are fun activities taking place on campus. Here are the experiences we had with our visits.
- Washington& Lee, beautiful campus, extremely remote,fantastic tour guide, gorgeous day, fantastic information session. It came off the list because of the lack of student diversity.
2)George Washington University, Very urban, no defined campus. It stayed on the list. - American University, the new part of campus was lovely, the old part not so much, didn’t like the dorms. Information session and tour guide were fine. It stayed on the list.
4)Georgetown, beautiful campus and beautiful area in general. Clean and preppy. Our daughter loved it, my wife loved it, I hated it, it felt incredibly pretentious to me. It stayed on the list.
5)UVA, my personal favorite tour guide, great history, beautiful campus, loved the secret societies. Came off the list because of it being to big.
6)University of Richmond, beautiful campus, the cleanest campus that we visited, it sparkled. A very pleasant vibe with students and professors, our favorite dining hall. It stayed on the list. - Johns Hopkins, beautiful campus, felt very stiff and intense. Came off the list.
8)SUNY Binghamton, a safety, we had to drag our daughter there. She was accepted into their scholars program and ultimately could shave sen herself there. It stayed on the list. - SUNY Geneseo, enjoyed everything about it except how remote it was. Stayed on the list.
- UPENN, came off the list, really didn’t like the surrounding area’s of the campus.
- Haverford, came off the list, to small.
12)Bryn Mahr, came off the list, because of being an all girls school.
13)Princeton, beautiful campus, obviously a deep history. great tour guide, terrible information session, the student who led the information session couldn’t have been more condescending and obnoxious. Our daughter had done a long summer program there with the High School Diplomats, so she had experience with being there for a period of time. It stayed on the list.
14)Brown, beautiful, quirky,interesting. It stayed on the list. - Cornell, I loved it. Our daughter liked it. Cold, on a steep side hill,isolated. It stayed on the list.
- Harvard, beautiful campus, great tradition with the yard and upper classman housing, tour guide was very good, information session was excellent. Something that takes getting used to with the elite schools is that they have no interest in whether you are interested in their school or not, until they admit you. Stayed on the list.
- Middlebury, aesthetically the most beautiful campus we visited, great academics, a very healthy vibe on campus. Stayed on the list.
- Williams, Beautiful, remote. I didn’t like it, felt very snooty to me. Daughter and wife liked it more than I did. It stayed not he list.
- Bowdoin, beautiful campus, a very nice student vibe, great dining hall. We visited in February and it was bitter cold. It stayed on the list.
Our daughter ended up applying to 15 schools and there was a lot learned in hind sight. Schools that she was admitted to but wouldn’t have attended for a variety of reasons. There is a lot to balance, where you will be accepted, where you can afford to attend etc. We learned an awful lot.
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First off, what a great thread. I loved the fact that within two pages there was a ‘crossed off’ for a Claremont school because it was too isolated, and anothe ‘crossed off’ because it was too close to L.A. Go figure.
An amalgam of two kids (both boys, S14 and S16:
Crossed off:
Brandeis – my alma mater. The tour guide was totally over the top, too enthusiastic, too demonstrative, too everything… Even though my son fell within the typical demographic of the school he couldn’t relate to the students that he saw and spoke to – They were awkward and were somehow not right in the head.
Bates – I liked it, but my son didn’t. Too squishy, almost a caricature of a liberal arts college. The Dean who gave the info session talk was saccharin sweet.
Colby – all the guys were 6’3", looked like they walked out of a J.Crew catalog and played lacrosse. My 5’9" 145 lb kid didn’t think that he’d fit in. Didn’t think he’d ever get a date, either.
Moved up:
USC – originally S14’s first choice, mainly because it fit his romanticized notion of what college would/should be – Division I sports, lots of school spirit, lots of pretty girls, and an attractive campus on a glorious southern CA day. Remember, he’s a boy, so by definition he’s a bit of a knucklehead. He eventually realized that there was more to choosing a school than these criteria.
Tulane – son absolutely loved New Orleans. He went on a ‘Scholars Weekend’, so they massaged his ego.
Emory – very nice campus, but more than anything S14 thought that these were ‘his people’. It turned out that he was correct.
Amherst – S16 visited on a picture postcard fall day. Liked the broad mix of kids, open curriculum, and felt that it was a place where he could thrive. It was the overall gestalt, that was just right.
@AsleepAtTheWheel Colby – all the guys were 6’3", looked like they walked out of a J.Crew catalog and played lacrosse. My 5’9" 145 lb kid didn’t think that he’d fit in. Didn’t think he’d ever get a date, either.
Hilarious! Thanks for the chuckle
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Ha ha with Bowdoin. Neither my D2 nor I liked it on our tour last week. It was so boring. The admissions lady basically read the college’s promise and blah blah blah blah blah zzzzzzz. Looking back on it we realized the campus has no trees. (Pine trees??? WHERE??? LOL). Just basically a lot of flat ground with wide open boring looking grass. So many bikes parked everywhere but no people. To us it had the vibe a clearcut new McMansion tract-house neighborhood. Manufactured and empty. (Yes class was in session.) Also, we saw exactly one black person on this campus, and 2 depressed-looking Asians. Everyone else was white white white white white.
In contrast, we liked Bates vibe well enough to buy a sweatshirt (despite eating in the cafeteria with only the Lacrosse team for company, this campus felt very, very inclusionary). Bates needs to stop apologizing for Lewiston. It really isn’t that bad at all.
She liked Colby enough to bring it to the top of the wish list! We didn’t see any 6’3" J Crew models though (I’m sure they’re there somewhere!) . Our guide was a chubby Mainer in dirty shorts who doesn’t ski and my D was interviewed by a nice young man from Africa. The info session focused on helping a kid get in (tips!), and experiences one could have there, not on a long boring history written by dead people. The admissions people admitted they were kind of exhausted from just having accepted students day. They were real without false pep. My D liked it a lot.
@mjrube94 Hey we did BC that day too! Agree with your sentiments. Great job. D was happy to see so many students out enjoying the day. We did this tour a couple years ago and it has gotten a lot better. Back then the school gave the impression that you would need to stock up on your Vineyard Vines clothing to fit in there but not anymore. Everyone was friendly and approachable and helpful.
I wanted to add to my above post (although it is too late to edit it) that Bowdoin charged us $15 to try their food. Both Bates and Colby gave us cafeteria passes. Bates, you didn’t even have to ask. If you show up a little early, the nice lady gives you a map, the lunch passes, and suggests you go try the food. At Colby you have to ask but they are also very nice about it.
@eandesmom - University of Wyoming is easy to like finance-wise, too.
@redpoodles , the creepy pines were surrounding the dorms. At least we were pretty sure they were dorms. And I think we saw creepy silhouettes of axe murderers lurking behind them too!
A friend of D’s attends U of Wyoming. He chose it because they gave him a full ride. Very happy there.
What a great description! Fits my ds to a tee!
I’m such a rookie at this, I didn’t realize you could get free food. Redpoodls, my daughter liked Colby the best out of the three, and I agree Lewiston is not that bad. We had a similar reaction the the three schools. When we visited Colby we went out to dinner at Amici’s cucina, and Italian place that was really really good. I think I’ll start a new thread, places to eat when visiting schools.
We’re strongly connected to Lewiston. My wife lived and worked there for over a decade. We have two grown girls in their 30’s who live nearby (Wales, Monmouth) and we own a second home nearby (Greene).
Lewiston is a pretty dreadful place.
For a city of < 40,000 there is a lot of crime, drug and alcohol abuse. The local non-university population is pretty rough around the edges. There are a few nice places to go out to eat, hear music, etc. across the river in Auburn, but they’re also the type of places that you’d best not say the wrong thing to the wrong person. Much of the town is in total disrepair. There is racial tension because of the large Somali population.
That all said, I wouldn’t rule Bates out on the basis of Lewiston being a pit. The Bates campus is well-circumscribed. The surrounding area is relatively nice. And there’s a lot to like about the school. But if I had a kid there who was interested in doing stuff off campus I’d make sure he/she had a car so he/she could make the 45 min drive down to Portland (a lovely city) when he/she wanted to get out.
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Not to turn this into a Lewiston thread but here’s a heartwarming video about the boys’ HS soccer team.
https://vimeo.com/145582582
Crossed off:
Bowdoin-admissions is very pretentious. Tour guide was very pretentious. It felt like I was going to go to a Harvard of liberal arts. Buildings make it seem pretentious too.
URichmond-admissions was the friendliest and really genuine. I could not see myself in the city of Richmond though. Too urban. Tour guide was nice.
Northwestern-GOD AWEFUL. The admissions rep was so cocky and the presentation was so boring. They told me I wouldn’t get in. My tour guide was super snarky too. It seemed super competitive academically…not my thing. Such a gray and dull campus.
UChicago-bad…too intellectual…seemed like there’s no social life there other than quirky things. Gray and dull.
Michigan-TOO BIG. bad tour guide. Told us more about tradition and football.
Vanderbilt-it was my number one choice before I visited…great vibe…Nashville is amazing. TOO MANY PREMEDS. No diversity in academic majors. Too competitive. Beautiful campus. So vibrant in the sun.
Wesleyan-too hippie and seemed like a lot of drug use
Boston College-not a chance. It was horrible. Tour guide didn’t project. Seemed so homogenous. Not me.
Moved down:
Bates-Lewiston was so unappealing…it felt like I was in the 80s version of the hood. Great interview and tour. Too quirky for me. Campus look is okay.
Occidental-good tour, so friendly, too politically active…not me. Ehh not my kind of campus look either.
Moved up:
Bucknell University-I LOVE THIS SCHOOL SO MUCH. It was perfect in every regard. I visited 4 TIMES AND I LOVED IT EVERY TIME. Students are so friendly. Seems like social life is evident. It’s rural, but Lewisburg is the greatest small town ever. Academics are top notch. D1 sports and small class sizes. I actually l loved how lively the campus is. There’s always people on campus. Great Greek life. My overnight visit was better than my overnight at Claremont McKenna. They treated me like I was a student. They took me to parties. Students are too nice here. I applied ED2 here and I’m going here. I did an overnight here after I got in. No regrets on this part. Love it so much. Tour guides all 4 times were full of energy! I love the campus look. It has an uphill and downhill part. So beautiful.
Claremont McKenna-applied ED1 actually. This school definitely has the friendliest people I’ve ever met. California vibes. Warm weather. Administration is so kind. Tour guide was great. I was in love with this school for 2 years. Visited twice. My overnight visit was great, but kind of dry for a while. I applied ED1 because this was the only school I did an overnight at before I applied. Great school, sad I didn’t get in, but Bucknell’s overnight was definitely better. Best buildings ever. Everything is so new and it’s a glass campus so there is sunlight everywhere.
Washington and Lee-it was a great school…speaking tradition and honor system are so pure. Great Greek life. Seemed a little conservative, but definitely felt good on campus. Felt like I was at the US Capitol building.
Gettysburg College-This school wanted me to go there so bad. They interviewed twice and were so friendly. I was so close of applying ED2 here. The dorms are not as nice as Bucknell’s so I went with Bucknell instead. Other than that, it’s so similar to Bucknell. Students are definitely happy here. Tour guide was great. Unique school with a lot of history. Beautiful buildings…kind of outdated on the inside.
Santa Clara University-seemed like a school for high school football players and cheerleaders. Very attractive campus in terms of student body and the grounds itself. A lot of flowers. Beautiful. San Jose is really close. I would’ve gone here if I didn’t get into Bucknell. Great academics and known for great teaching. More appealing than Stanford.
Some thoughts on places we’ve visited so far:
Smith - D liked everything about it - liked the housing, the open curriculum, the guaranteed internship, the traditions, the “girly” things like Friday Tea, pianos, etc. Didn’t try the food but liked the sound of different dining halls with different themes especially Veg. Like Northampton and all the things to do. Up the list and made the thought of all girls school something that can be done.
Mt Holyoke - liked the school and compact campus and the girly things there but it was too remote - off the list.
Amherst - better location but too jocky - tour guide said 75% of the students played a sport. Campus was generic looking and not that pleasing and food seemed “Aramark-ist” - 1 dining hall. Also seemed to be lacking in sciences. Off the list.
Yale - daughter loved it all. Wife and I were pleasantly surprised that it didn’t seem that elitist. Took the regular (1 Guide) and Science tour (2 Guides) and Senior that gave the info session all seemed very down-to-earth and did try to sell the school and the benefits as opposed to just assuming how awesome it is. I liked the shopping period for classes.
U of Chicago - met expectations. Not super easy to get to downtown Chicago by PT but not outrageous. Hyde Park seems nice.
Northwestern - very nice tour guide. More straightforward in getting to downtown Chicago via PT. Academic met expectations. Did get a sense that they are a bit full of themselves that didn’t get at U of Chicago or Yale.
Did UPenn and Drexel but they are hometown schools and pretty much already know everything about them.
Wife and D going to Colombia and Fordham next Friday and I’ll miss them. I’m a bit familiar with Colombia as my best friend from high school went there and we visited quite a few times he was there but that was the 80s. Never been to Fordham.
We’ll have a trip to Boston, Pittsburgh and North Carolina in the future. Maybe DC.
Crossed off:
Brandeis–too geeky and focused on sciences
BU–no clear campus
RPI–too serious
Fordham–didn’t like 2 different campuses. One was too stuffy and the other seemed to focused on catholicism and drunkenness
Moved down:
Alabama–couldn’t see myself there. Campus too big and I didn’t fit in well with the students
Moved up:
Vanderbilt, wash u–loved the campuses
Tufts, barnard–amazing vibe, nerdy in a different way than Brandeis
Northeastern–modern campus, co-op presentation
No change:
Brown
Crossed off:
Vassar – Info session leader overemphasized how hard it is to get in–acted like she didn’t want any of them to apply, tour guide forgettable, campus had just been cleared of snow and looked barren. Didn’t apply.
Sarah Lawrence – Felt “fake.” Curriculum was “weird.” Didn’t apply.
Reed – too many smokers, didn’t apply.
Muhlenberg (after acceptance) – just not her–too pre-professional, students didn’t seem engaged in academics, overheard some guys trash talking a girl.
Clark (after acceptance) – really wanted to like it, students seemed engaged. Campus a little run down, but not bad. Close to Boston was a plus. But decided she wants to be in a small town/rural area.
Moved up:
Mount Holyoke, Really showed her how great a women’s college could be for her. Applied.
Smith (after waitlisted) – Loved campus, housing system (no freshmen dorms). Loved how students seemed engaged and were sincerely friendly , not fake overly friendly. Loved open curriculum and alum network.
Beloit (after acceptance) – Cute town, nice engaged students, good food, housing choices, nice but not overly manicured campus.
As expected/liked/applied:
Whitman, Wesleyan, Western WA, Lewis and Clark (but got sick of L&C by the time was accepted and decided didn’t want to be in a city.)
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@Bestfriendsgirl yes, I like the Wyoming price quite a lot. It would actually cost less to go OOS in this scenario than our state flagship.
Moved down: College of Wooster. All they talked about was the IS capstone project and the research. Students said that they went to academic lectures for fun. Every student in the dining hall was white and looked the same. Dining hall food was awful. Info session was awful, the rep spent 15 solid minutes talking about a product developed by student researchers and then they gave out samples. No info about the admissions process, curriculum requirements, and other things you’d expect during an info session. By 1:00 on a sunny Saturday afternoon, there were very few students outdoors. Tour guide was good, students we spoke to all seemed friendly but rather bland. It’s a very pretty campus with a bigger school feel, nice facilities, but just didn’t do it for my daughter.
Moved up: Vassar. Beautiful campus, great info session that felt relaxed and welcoming in spite of the school’s selectivity, students seemed happy, friendly, and enthusiastic, lots of “types” of kids hanging out with each other rather than in homogenous groups. Tons of activities on campus. Tour guide was smart, interesting, engaging, and informative, treated the visiting students with kindness and interest. Academic environment seemed extremely supportive and collaborative.
Stayed the same (one of Her current top choices with Vassar): Kenyon. After the small let-down that followed her “I’ve built up this school so much in my mind and now seeing it for real is weird”, my daughter found the campus stunning, the student body more diverse than expected, the vibe smart but unpretentious, the dining hall food amazing, and the sense of community phenomenal. Tour guides, student interviewer, and random students we approached al seemed happy, including those from urban areas who initially worried about the school being rural. Very supportive academic environment.
This thread is very interesting to read!
DS is a sophomore, but he had time over spring break to look at schools so he went. We are from PNW and he looked at Georgia Tech, Duke, Virginia Tech, UVA, and Johns Hopkins.
Crossed off - UVA. Didn’t like the vibe. The tour guide kept referencing how they had the second most secret societies after Yale and it seemed very elite/pretentious. Just not for him or what he was looking for and their engineering program didn’t wow him enough to keep it on the list despite the vibe.
Moved up - Virginia Tech. He had it on his list because it is a good engineering scho, but didn’t have many expectations. He fell in love - loved the campus, the Ware Lab, the students, the feeling on campus. Just suited him very well.
Johns Hopkins also moved up in his mind. He wasn’t super psyched before and then was very impressed with their undergraduate research focus. He also took the time to set up an appointment with someone in the engineering department before his visit and had a great conversation with them so that helped his impression.
Duke and Georgia Tech met expectations.
Crossed off after visits with twin daughters, currently seniors:
Smith – This was the biggest shocker for me, as going in we had thought it was a perfect fit for D1. She thought people were just too intense. Also, during our tour, there were some very in-your-face protesters shouting directly at us – this was right before Smith accepted transgendered students – and it made everyone very uncomfortable on the tour guide’s behalf, although to her credit she didn’t seem rattled at all. Smith does a phenomenal job with their open house, though. Highly recommend it just for the generic college search/financial aid info.
Bard – too artsy, tons of smokers, too remote. Students laughed at the kids on the tour. Trash on the paths. You could smell the weed. Both D1 & D2 hated it instantly.
Clark – too artsy, and they hated the area. It’s in a really yucky section of a city that’s not particularly nice to begin with.
Ursinus – nice people, but really meh, cinder-blocky campus & tour. Just a forgettable place.
Villanova – drove to campus & was put off by the religious symbols being in-your-face. Other people may not even have noticed them, but we cancelled our tour.
Ohio Wesleyan – Very high up on D2’s list going in, and they gave her oodles of merit $, so it would have been very cheap. However, her overnight was AWFUL, and she couldn’t get past it. Truly horrible host. The school itself was impressive but they need to do a much better job screening hosts.
Franklin & Marshall – D1 crossed this off saying people were just too preppy & friendly. Not her cup of tea.
Bryn Mawr – D2 pronounced it too remote and was unenthusiastic about the all-women thing. The admissions office was pretty unfriendly & bad with communication, too.
Moved up after visits:
Franklin & Marshall – D2 loved everything about it (and will be attending in the fall).
Hobart & William Smith – Very much like Franklin & Marshall but a bit easier to get into, and gives merit aid, although it gives much less need-based aid than F&M. Sperry & Vineyard Vines central.
Wells – to be honest, we only visited because they paid for D2 to come… and she ended up really liking the friendly, relaxed (but not artsy-crunchy) vibe, small size, and peaceful setting. Unfortunately, they do a terrible job accommodating food allergies and my D can’t have gluten.
Mount Holyoke – D1 decided to apply ED on the ride home from the visit. She’ll be attending in the fall. Gorgeous campus, top-notch facilities, faculty & students. Within 2 hours from home.
Conclusion? We actually didn’t have any horrible tour guides. Our experiences confimed just how important visiting is, but also that one person can really ruin a visit for a prospective student. Ohio Wesleyan was a great visit until the overnight part, and then she couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
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