<p>Has anyone out there visited these three schools and come away with a feel or vibe that they can share? I'm talking a gut feeling as opposed to the curriculum or ranking. Had a definite good feeling from muhlenberg and have not visited skidmore or wheaton yet.</p>
<p>Visited Wheaton last year. (Assuming you mean the MA Wheaton.) A couple of impressions:
1. Pretty quiet campus with not a whole lot around. D liked the Northhampton area around Smith a lot more in comparison. Wheaton isn't exactly in a real rural area; there just didn't seem to be much other than houses (on decent size lots) in the vicinity.
2. Campus is pretty, very classic New England. Chapel is beautiful.
3. D found the elementary language class she attended to be small (under 20 kids), but quite a few of the kids seemed under-prepared for the day's lesson. The teacher was very vibrant.
4. Dorms are apparently a sore point -- Wheaton was apparently promising doubles but then forcing triples each year for the fall in the expectation that most would drop down to doubles in the spring when a bunch of kids go on study abroad problems. There was also a story in the student newspaper about a rash of outsider break-ins into student dorms; apparently the administration did not publicize the break-ins for some time during which still other rooms were entered. I gather the outcry finally convinced the admin to change the exterior locks, the keys to which had gotten spread around too widely.
5. The cafe in the student center had pretty minimal offerings. Lot's of posters around advertising and exhorting students to participate in various events. It wasn't a campus where kids looked really happy, but they weren't morose either. We saw a lot more girls than guys.
6. Campus upkeep looked very good. </p>
<p>It was too quiet an area for D, and she was looking for a higher level of academic engagement than she saw. (But, it was one class. Every other class might have been utterly fabulous and full of highly engaged students.)</p>
<p>I have visited Wheaton & Skidmore within the past couple of years. Lately, Wheaton has the reputation of being a "suitcase school." And yes, there doesn't seem to be very much there; students go to Providence or Boston. </p>
<p>I enjoyed our visit to Skidmore-the dorm rooms were very spacious, very nice. Saratoga Springs has lots of shops & restaurants. Skidmore's financial aid office was just written about in Time magazine, I believe. They do not meet 100% of need, they try to meet as much need as possible. Great academics, nice location, 60% female, 40% male.</p>