<p>D called to report in on her east coast visits thus far. They went to HWS yesterday. She thought the campus was very attractive, a little too attractive (the administration building has just been lavishly redone and they worried that they might be spending too much money on looks). The dorm they were shown has a Starbucks IN IT?! (really??) All the men and boys on the tour were wearing polo shirts and khakis, and a couple of the girls were wearing stilettos and pearls. Most of the kids in her tour group reported they currently attend boarding school. Maybe it was just her tour guides and the group of people who happened to be visiting that day, but D felt it was a bit like that first "college" in Legally Blonde, where kids hang out looking pretty for four (or five or six) years.</p>
<p>Doesn't look like a match. ;-)</p>
<p>(Is HWS supposed to be strong in certain academic areas??)</p>
<p>While not on our list, we passed it on our way to other schools and stopped in. Beautiful location on lake seneca.. I thought it was a fluke that we saw girls in stilleto's, short skirts like they were going out somewhere. It was a real turn off, never saw this at any of the other 20 schools we visited...</p>
<p>Sushi, my daughter applied to and was accepted at HWS last year, and your daughter's report does accurately portray a percentage of the HWS student body. However, my daughter, a born and bred Midwesterner (no understanding of preppiness or knowledge of boarding schools) found herself feeling right at home on her three visits (including an overnight). She was very pleasantly surprised to discover there is a strong feeling of "crunchiness" on campus; the first three people she met were involved in the campus Greens, and there was a stronger-than-expected presence of political activism. She had been ready to write off HWS before our first visit because of its rich kid/prep rep, but after I dragged her there, it quickly rose to the top of her list. Yes, there is a prep presence, but my daughter came to feel it was not the dominant culture on campus.</p>
<p>Turning down HWS was the hardest decision she faced this spring. Ultimately, she chose another college for three main reasons: although HWS met our need, the FA package included more loans than my daughter felt comfortable taking on (but we are a low EFC family, so the fact they met our need at all impressed us greatly); she was underwhelmed by the strength of the music program (she really connected with the profs but felt the students' performance caliber was relatively weak; she would have been further advanced in her studies than many of the students); and she ultimately decided the presence of a campus television station was necessary for her...something HWS doesn't have.</p>
<p>We both came to love HWS, and no one was more surprised than I when she turned them down. You're quite right that fit for YOUR daughter is what matters, but I wanted to throw in my 2 cents since I think the prep rep at HWS is probably overstated.</p>
<p>I thought I would chime in here since my DS will be a freshman at HWS this fall. We live only 1/2 hr away and son went to high school in the area so we have been on the campus quite a few times (his high school had their graduation ceremony in their auditorium). I was very iffy for a long time thinking that it was too preppy and too close to home for DS but that changed with each visit and believe me we did many visits being so close. Each and every visit we saw quite a mix of students and I never once walked away thinking it was too preppy. We visited in fall, winter and spring (I guess due to the fact we live so close). Even though DS felt ready to say 'yes' after the first visit, I wasn't sure it was right. I had to be convinced. Probably one of the most influential visits was when DS set up a day of visiting classes back to back with lunch in between. Our local adcom was great, she helped set this all up for him. I stayed in the background outside the room and saw all the students who walked into those classes he attended. There were every type and kind from the messy 3 day old t-shirt on a guy to the girl in a nice turtleneck with sweater. Muddy sneakers to Uggs. Everyone of them as friendly as can be even offering to introduce themselves to my son when he sat down.
On our spring visit I wanted son to do another tour since I felt he could get in one more perspective. He ended up being the only one to go on the tour with a junior guy who wore a plain dark blue t-shirt and wrinkled cargo shorts and footflops. It was great. I stayed in the admissions house till he came back. He was so comfortable and mind you he is not the preppy type. </p>
<p>Yes, the new admissions house is great and I believe a superb idea. I was in the old one and this is such an improvement. The entire admin of the colleges are working hard to make HWS a fulfilling and safe place to be.
As far as the Starbucks, yes there is one, my son will be in that new dorm. It was designed to be a great place to live and study with that area on the first floor wireless. I believe they think highly of all the students there, that is my impression. The emails to and from my DS profs and advisor have been well received and very friendly.</p>
<p>We were super pleased with the fin aid offered and people knew who my son was when he went in to drop off his deposit. Nice touch. </p>
<p>Today DS looked at the list of students who will be his classmates and where they are from. While some were from boarding schools alot were from regular public high schools. I think HWS tries very hard to get a good mix.
DS is excited to start in a few weeks and I am comforted in knowing he will be in good hands at HWS.</p>
<p>Its very interesting to read others' impressions. Because of the distance (we're on the west coast), D will mostly have to rely on first impressions and then the later contact with admissions people (though so far she has loved two schools and we may fly her back out after school starts so she can sit in on a class and get a better feel for the students).</p>
<p>sushi: We visited so-o-o many colleges my DS was ready to have me committed. On more then one occasion DS really had a bad feeling about a college when I loved it. How I tired to change his mind! That went on for months till I realized I was trying to make him pick what I liked and not what he liked. I stopped that right away and respected his impressions of the colleges he visited and whether they would be a good fit or not. Your DD is off to a good start visiting the east coast. There are so many wonderful institutions here, she will surely find more then a few she loves. Good luck...</p>
<p>I can't believe that HWS is overly preppy/rich kid or whatever. Many kids from upstate NY attend there -- and believe me, this is NOT a preppy area. I think sometimes on college campuses sometimes those kids stick out (kind of like Goths stick out in a high school) but I would be surprised if there wasn't a mix of kids at HWS.</p>