<p>D did not do visits in her junior year. She narrowed her choices to 10 for application purposes. After acceptances, she narrowed it to 4 to visit (no need to look at a safety when the matches were there, no need to look at the reach that said no.) On one leg of the visit we did three that were of similar nature- the all women's choices of Mt. Holyoke, Smith and Wellesley. (We had already been to Bryn Mawr before acceptance because we happened to be in the area for another event and chose not to miss that opportunity.) She was admitted to all three, and had been offered merit scholarships by Mt. Holyoke and Smith (Wellesley doesn't have them) but we told her that if it was where she wanted to go not to let the money be a factor. The visit to Mt. Holyoke impressed us with the beauty of the campus, but consultation with the faculty in the department she was most interested in made it clear that they did not really have the program she wanted - making it an easy x. Smith and its faculty were incredibly impressive (and unlike a prior post no one said a word about homemaking or anything even like it- although they do love the feel of the house system,) but we went into it expecting Wellesley to blow us away (based upon reputation) and make it a hard choice. It didn't. She hated the atmosphere almost immediately. Had we not gone, she might have considered it based upon that reputation and made a serious error, and overlooked just how perfectly she seemed to fit in at Smith. She did the over nights as we traveled- and found that campuses really do have a tangible energy and it needs to match with your own to be comfortable. </p>
<p>I cannot tell all of you how much that trip meant in making the decision. I also believe that doing it the year before wouldn't have helped as much- she was far less settled in what she thought she wanted to do then and less ready to meet with faculty, go to classes, and intelligently discuss how she would fit in. Her spring break, after acceptances, was perfect. She is back up for open campus, but her decision was really made when we did the four highest choices one after the other.</p>
<p>My dream school is UCLA and after just visiting the campus yesterday, my dreamy impression of the school was only further solidified. ALso, I thought people were only exaggeratng when they said the chicas at UCLA were hot so I didn't pay much heed to it. When I got there and took the tour however, I was pleasantly surprised haha.</p>
<p>arkitex -- from someone who has lived in Houston over 20 years, it is NOT humid here year-round. In fact today is a glorious day with sunshine, temps in the mid-70's and low humidity. Yes, it's unbearably hot and humid here in the summer, but most of the school year is more temperate. Yes, there are days now and then throughout the year that are more humid, but it's not day in and day out. And from someone who spent their undergrad years in Pittsburgh, I am so happy to live somewhere where there's a lot of sunshine and mild temps in February and March.</p>
<p>07DAD...If your kid had the time to spend 4 days at each of his or her possible colleges and you had the money to spend on air fare for such stuff, good for the both of you. Most of us don't, so I don't get your smugness. For my first two kids, one day campus visits had to suffice. Then off to their choices.
MomOfWildChild...I meant my post about Williams to be complimentary. Williams impressed me on about every level, and although my son picked another school, Williams was just as impressive when my daughter and I visited colleges last year.
Just to comment on the culture we find ourselves in, I guess attractive students could be considered a politically incorrect negative. The attractive tour guides we encountered there were also smart, witty and yes, to this geezer, "cool". And not at all full of themselves in the meantime. They were a compliment to their institution.</p>
<p>umm danas before bashing on 07dad i suggest you learn to read.. he said that the colleges flew his son up which means that there was no financial burden</p>
<p>DD and I visited Brandeis and we both thought that it was really unattractive and the tour guide was completely disinterested (we left the tour after 15 minutes and sort of ran off the campus).</p>
<p>We visited Lehigh and although it was pretty, DD thought it was too cramped and just didn't like it. On the other hand, DS thought it was really nice and felt he could be happy there. </p>
<p>We visited Chicago and although DD thought it was pretty, she thought the Director of Admissions was extremely pretentious and the school was not convincing in its numerous attempts to describe how much fun the students were having.</p>
<p>DD just didn't like Northwestern. She wanted to, but she didn't think that the campus was "cohesive" enough (whatever that means).</p>
<p>DD got sort of fidgety at Vanderbilt. Agreed that it was beautiful, but felt there were too many southerners there (I explained that we were in the south and it wasn't surprising that there were many students from the south attending the school).</p>
<p>Biggest suprises--</p>
<p>Both kids weren't sure what to expect (having heard a lot about crime in the area) and loved the UPenn campus--felt it was beautiful, nice and large (especially compared to Columbia) and thought that it had a lot of energy.</p>
<p>Although she didn't expect to (felt there might be too much drinking and frats), DD loved Dartmouth. Thought it was beautiful, thought the kids were nice and smart and didn't think it felt particularly isolated. </p>
<p>And, although she thought she would love it, DD did not like Amherst. It probably didn't help that every person taking the tour that day was wearing a lavender polo shirt and seemed to be asking questions about golf.</p>
I'm glad they were able to get beyond the negative generalizations, stereotypes, hearsay, and innuendo sometimes thrown around about the Penn campus (especially here on CC), and could appreciate how lovely, charming, expansive, and cohesive Penn's campus really is, especially given its location smack dab in the middle of a major east coast city less than a mile from from all the hustle and bustle of Center City. Many who've been there think it really offers the best of both worlds.</p>
<p>danas- I agree. I would have considered it a positive as well. I also loved Williams (I got to spend a recruiting weekend there with WildChild) and was ready to enroll. Unfortunately, he wanted to love it, but it felt too small and isolated to him. He has had some regrets.....</p>
<p>I was dead set on University of Colorado until I did a campus visit to both CU and UMiami and decided theres no way I could see myself living in Boulder, plus I fell in love with UMiami.</p>
<p>I didn't like Davidson at all after visiting. I didn't hate Clemson as much when I went (I have to apply to one in-state). I didn't like Sewanee AS much after I visited because there was nothing for about 10 miles. And then I loved Wake Forest. Going there was kind of an afterthought.</p>
<p>I thought WashU would be so-so. Turns out I love it. I thought I would love Wisconsin, turns out I thought it was so-so, but I plan on visiting UW again in the summer to see it in good weather.</p>
<p>I hated Hampshire. Which is awful because they're giving me an unbelievable scholarship and look amazing on paper -- academic philosophy and all that. So now I'm torn between my absolute hate for the atmosphere and the rationale that's screaming you're insane if you don't choose Hampshire!!</p>
<p>funployee--same happened to me. I visited in the dead of winter when students were still on break. Big mistake. I want to visit again in the fall when it's not zero degrees and empty.</p>