Flash Poll: self guided tour at Syracuse or Colgate

Today touring Hamilton, also hitting Cornell, Rochester and Bryn Mawr on this trip. D has seen Washington in STL, and loved it, but had nothing to compare to before this trip.

Was trying to get to Ithaca for an afternoon meeting unrelated to her visits but that got pushed back to a late dinner so I have a couple hours extra. Was thinking about a quick self guided tour at Syracuse or Colgate. Suggestions? Mostly trying to show her variety, not concerned right now about likelies, reaches, etc.

I’ll let her choose, but seeking opinions here. Thanks.

It probably depends on which school satisfies more of her criteria, with that said D19 and I were in similar situation and opted for Syracuse self tour over Colgate. We loved Syracuse campus, but she ended up eliminating larger schools so did not apply.

Colgate is definitely worth a visit. Campus is beautiful & Hamilton, NY is an attractive small community.

I do not recommend a self guided tour of Syracuse University due to its size.

Depending on when the extra hours are, maybe they would permit time to hit an information session for the particular Cornell college(s) of interest, and /or a dorm tour.

Or, hit one of the state parks ringing Ithaca (eg Upper Treman).
Or, visit the botanical gardens, then stop for ag school-made ice cream at The Dairy Bar. Or, go downtown and get some clam chowder at Simeon’s- it’s really good.

If there’s a Cornell home hockey game, and you can get tickets (doubt), that would probably be a memorable experience, no matter where your D winds up going to shool.

Colgate hands down. The vibe there is excellent and it is one of the most beautiful campuses in the country.

Did stop at Colgate. It was a beautiful campus, and felt a bit more logically arranged than Hamilton, although that’s just my first impression and not a negative about Hamilton. I think she is deciding that she isn’t a fan of a rural campus, but that’s why I’m doing this trip, to help rule things out.

I don’t know if this is too late now, or what your D’s complete list might wind up looking like, but FWIW in terms of your stated goal to “show her variety” you might stop at a (relatively) nearby state school, esp. Binghamton U (the other being SUNY Cortand).

Thanks for suggestions @monydad We already had the college specific session on the calendar. Wow, was it dry, and no coffee either, which made for a bad combo. My daughter summed it up as “5 slides, and she talked for 20 minutes about each one”. I really like Cornell, but that didn’t put their best foot forward.

Skipping the NY state schools, because we’re OOS, and if she wants to go that route we have similar choices that would be much cheaper at home. We are seeing schools like that as part of the decision making process, just not this trip. Good idea for contrast though, which is the type of advice I was looking for.

@dadof4kids : Since your daughter does not want a rural campus, and because she loved WashUStL, she might like Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Emory, Georgetown, Tufts, Boston College or, possibly, Boston University.

The ultimate test of whether or not one likes a rural or semi-rural campus might be a visit to Dartmouth College.

The University of Virginia may be another school to consider.

@dadof4kids, Cornell is definitely hit-or-miss with it’s admission programs. The information session that I attended for one of it’s colleges (my alma mater!) was the single worst session we went to in 4 years of college tours. We (along with many others) actually got up and left in the middle of it. Both of my kids are Cornell students right now, but in a different college that put on a much better show! Like your daughter, my D felt that Colgate was too small and rural, and both of my kids loved WashU as well. Other schools that my kids really liked were Northwestern and University of Michigan.

I attended two of the college-specific sessions in recent times- CAS and Hum Ec- and I too found them to be completely different. CAS was in a lecture hall (though it was not just a lecture; questions were solicited and raised), and Hum Ec was an intimate discussion around a table.

One might legitimately prefer one format over the other, but they both conveyed information pertaining to their specific college, which is the point for potential applicants IMO. CAS just gets a whole lot more potential applicants, so the same format wouldn’t work for it. That doesn’t excuse it for being “the worst” or “dry”, and the one I attended was neither FWIW. (don’t know if OP went to a CAS session anyway). It was actually a lot more interactive than the ones we attended at Yale and Penn.

But in the OPs case, and patatty’s, if that was the school in question, their sessions may have been different than mine, they were what they were, so be it.

I didn’t realize OP was out of state, hence the SUNY suggestions.

  • Edit: one thing I am recalling now, the CAS information I attended was in Goldwyn Smith Hall (the CAS "headquarters") , and there was some sort of office there we convened at, and then the session was held in a lecture hall. While there was nothing in the lecture hall, I may be mistaken, but I think in the office, or someplace else there that I encountered with that end in mind, there may have been some coffee actually. I don't know if Temple of Zeus still exists, but it at least was a coffee house at Goldwyn Smith. It wasn't open when I went to the information session, IIRC.