Did visiting change your mind about any colleges?

College Search & Selection
121

<p>For those of you who are just starting this process, don't take comments on this thread too seriously. For every kid/parent who hates a campus, someone else loves it. Bad weather, a bad tour guide, a poor information session, etc., can create a wrong impression. I'm not saying there isn't some good information to be gleaned, it's just that the negative responses are just the impression of a particular family. </p>

<p>For our daughter, visits certainly helped. She eliminated a few, like MIT, because as she didn't think she was that "mathy" and applied to some that wouldn't have appealed to us. </p>

<p>As so many people have mentioned, it helps to just walk around on your own and talk to other students. I sometimes think the whole "fit" thing is over-rated, but there are some places where a kid senses he or she wouldn't be happy.</p>

122

<p>Exactly why I'm not saying what school it was.</p>

123

<p>The big problem with this approach, and where I find myself now with my daughter is that we don't have time or money now and the emotional level is so intense when you have not seen the colleges you are considering. Advice is be prepared to get on a plane to unknown places the day decisions arrive.</p>

124

<p>^^^
Another example of how the wealthy / finanically secure have such an extraordinary advantage in this process.</p>

125

<p>Between our two daughters, who are two years apart, we visited about 15 campuses. Weather, travel time, overnight prospie visits -- all impacted on their decisions. Some schools were applied to sight unseen, since we don't have the resources to travel up and down the eastern seacoast, and like many other posters here, we resolved to visit many schools after the kids were accepted.</p>

<p>That said, we wasted a lot of money on college applications, CSS profiles, and SAT scores (applying to college is expensive!). My older one is at UChicago because she liked their quirkiness, but also because it was a glorious spring day and flowers were blooming everywhere (we later learned they had been planted in the days before the reception); the Dean was outside kissing everyone, and when we entered the reception hall people rushed to greet us like we were royalty. Then we sat in a huge auditorium and were told how wonderful we were. Who could resist? Chicago beat out Brandeis (lonely, no one around), Barnard (presenters were dressed like nuns in modern habits), Cornell (cold, wintery, dreary), Northwestern (too pretty - go figure that one out), Wesleyan (boring), and Delaware, Maryland, Muhlenberg, Syracuse, Ithaca (so-and-so goes there and I don't like him/her/them). </p>

<p>Daughter 2 hasn't committed yet, but will probably attend a large urban university. Won't even go look at the schools with the attractive campuses and sweet college towns. Daughter 1 at Chicago sometimes asks me why she went there, but is okay about it, though I do think she has some regrets (funny how they don't schedule receptions during the Chicago winters when it's 2 degrees out, the wind is howling at 35 mph, and there's 3 feet of snow on the ground. Oh, yeah, and all the flights are grounded).</p>

<p>As parents, we worry and plan and obsess over college for the first 18 years. It's over in the flash of an eye. The best we can hope is that they don't have regrets, and if they do, they have the sense to transfer. But in any case, the whole process is difficult and it's impossible to predict success.</p>

126

<p>When I was applying to school. Stanford was my first choice, I had been there a few times for sports camps and liked it alot. I applied to USC on a lark and it was totally my safety. I was scared to death of the area and of Los Angeles itself. Once I was admitted, I had to drive down to interview for a scholarship. </p>

<p>I fell in love with the campus the moment I stepped foot on it. It was funny, because the weather was crappy and all the admissions officers kept stressing how it was normally not like this. I was surprised at how friendly everyone was, but what sealed it was when the marching band came into one of the presentation. I had never heard so few people be so loud. I nearly committed that day.</p>

127

<p>kwibbles and trojanchick99 - You've nailed it exactly! The same school can get a completely different reaction if the weather is different, the tour guide spoke a little more clearly, or if somebody in administration didn't smile at our babies. I've had the unfortunate/fortunate experience of visiting three schools on my list with 3 different kids, and each experience was different. It's human nature to want to believe we're smart and making the right choice, but it's amazing how often our kids do get it right.</p>

128

<p>When visiting colleges over the summer my D filled in one day with Holy Cross. She fell in love with the school and ended up applying ED and was accepted. Holy Cross was not even on the "radar". Her top two, Brown and Tufts did not make it out of the first round after her visit.</p>

129

<p>A lot of people fall in love with Holy Cross after visiting the campus (except those who don't like climbing stairs!)</p>

130

<p>A tour guide can really make or break the school, definitely. I visited Swarthmore with my kid, who is a legacy, and we had the worst tour guide and information session. The guide could barely look anyone in the eye, mumbled the entire time and seemed uncomfortable. The information session consisted of a admissions committee member who spent most of the session talking about herself, and a senior who was entirely self absorbed as well. We knew the school already and loved it anyway, but decided to go through with the regular admission visit. Had we not really known anything about the school this visit for sure would have turned us entirely off. My kid ended up at a school that another mom on this thread thought was awful due to a less than stellar tour guide, and is working hard and loving it.</p>

131

<p>Visiting Wesleyan caused me to burn it off my list--erasing it would not have done the trick.</p>

132

<p>bustles, why did you feel so strongly about wesleyan?</p>

133

<p>I agree with worknprogress--please take these reviews with a grain of salt! Everyone will have different reactions when they go see a campus (as seen by some opposing experiences in this thread!). Some things are simply true--for instance, NYU is a very urban campus. But one person will like that, another will dislike it.</p>

<p>One person will get a gray day, a bad tour guide, a "bad hair day" on campus. Another will get sun, an engaging guide, and a great experience. Don't take someone else's experience as your own. Sometimes even one day of your own experience is not an actual judge (some people originally hated a school, came back and found they love it). Please consider that when viewing this thread!</p>

134

<p>So true on the tour guide. Had a lousy one at Lehigh. Read from note cards and couldn't answer any questions that weren't already on the notecards! 10 minutes in my D. said, "this is not the place for me". We stuck it out but she never looked back. Friend's son refused to get out of the car at Dartmouth. Drove 5 hours and no go, no way. My D #2 took one look at Carnegie Mellon where D #1 attends and said, "this place is ugly. I'm not even applying". Needless to say we blew off the information center and went shopping.......great outlet mall 1 hour north of Pittsburgh. Same D. said Ithaca (the city) is like the Emerald City in Oz - nothing around but pastures and trees and then.....there it is. Too isolated. ????? Seems like it had everything to me but I am just the Mom.....</p>

135

<p>I was going to apply ED to Penn until I visited. I hated the campus atmosphere.</p>

136

<p>Has anybody visited Penn State-university Park? and has any comment of it?</p>

<p>thanx</p>

<p>P.S and also University of Washington -seattle</p>

<p>thanx</p>

137

<p>For those interested in BU, I will be visiting the school on the 25th. I then will write by reflection here. :)</p>

138

<p>I visited Penn State for the Schreyer Honors College. I was determined not to like it, but it was kind of nice, actually. It made me realize the world wouldn't end if I didn't get into UPenn.</p>

139

<p>We visited College Park for their college visit day. There were so many people, that my middle kid was turned off. </p>

<p>On the other hand, I have a kid who goes there now. His upper level program isn't that large so he's getting more personalized attention, has gotten to know a few of his professors very well (several have asked him to be a TA for credit), and is now involved in some clubs. He's not a big football person but I got him some tickets on Ebay -- he said it was an absolutely incredible, memorable experience since even though they were playing a 2nd rate team, the stadium was jammed with howling fans. My youngest enjoys going to see him since the college town next to the campus is full of neat little stores, restaurants, etc - everything thousands of college kids could want. Anyway, he's having a good college experience. He says the food is fine. Personally, I hate the fact that bills are only on-line and I don't get much Parent Info, but that's a small complaint. You can read the front page of the PSU newspaper on line every day to get a feel for the campus.</p>

140

<p>I thought that I was going to love harvard and loathe MIT and brown, but then I visited, and - SURPRISE!!! - the absolute opposite turned out to be true. My list of schools to apply to has grown to MIT, Harvey Mudd, Olin, Brown, and some safeties. Now I only need to get accepted!!!!</p>