<p>Is it just me - or do you hate it when you are interested in a school and you read complaints on CC or YouTube, or "friends" tell you bad things about the school? It sort of takes the joy out of your interest in a school when people talk about how terrible the school is.</p>
<p>Find schools that (almost) everyone likes then. That one website that’s blocked on here (<em>ahem</em>) was extraordinarily helpful for me. I took a list of about 25 colleges that sounded interesting to me then I looked at the negative reviews and narrowed down my list by which negative reviews implied “deal breakers”</p>
<p>Wouldn’t you want to know all the perspectives? I’d rather hear as much info as possible then make my own judgment (is it true? is it widely shared? is it something that is important to you or your kid?). It helps us make better decisions. Even if some negative information turns out to be accurate and you choose that option anyway, it’s good to know going in rather than finding out later! </p>
<p>Nothing is perfect and people are so different (as are their experiences). Every school, as with every option when making a decision, has it’s drawbacks. Whether one is buying a car, choosing a resort, or picking a school…there are always SOME naysayers and complainers. And I’m suspicious of anything that appears or sounds ‘too perfect’ (it just means I’m missing something). </p>
<p>I would consider real friends to be people that tell me their real opinions. It’s useful, and it surely isn’t personal (they are criticizing something I like, they are not criticizing me nor something attached to me). I don’t have to agree with them.</p>
<p>But I would find it annoying if others shared their negative opinion AFTER the decision was irrevocable! That would be so unsupportive.</p>
<p>I do like hearing negative reviews, but I take them in context and I use discretion in assigning weight (if any) to them. No school is perfect, and I like hearing viewpoints from every angle.</p>
<p>But that one website that’s blocked here can be unreliable. I looked up my old alma mater, Knox College, and someone went on a rampage in April 2008, posting all kinds of negativity. If you look at the frequency of posting before and after, it’s clear that the April 2008 posts are way outside the normal pattern. But all those reviews are stuck there, and the well is poisoned. Taken within the larger context, however, that simply looks like one unhappy camper venting his or her frustrations.</p>
<p>My daughter had visited a school that she liked, and then I read some student reviews on another site that really kind of depressed me. Of course I also read reviews on the same site that said the school was good and so took some of the naysayers with a grain of salt. On the other hand, she wasn’t so excited about her safety school, which is nearby, but I read reviews that all uniformly said, I thought this school was going to suck and it was great. Those I showed her, lol.</p>
<p>Negative reviews can be as helpful to you as positive ones. What you need to figure out is whether you share the reviewer’s viewpoint. </p>
<p>For example, someone might say that they dislike a school because its campus is very spread out, there are very few fraternities, and the school only guarantees on-campus housing for one year.</p>
<p>If you don’t mind walking, have no interest in Greek life, and like the idea of living off-campus after your freshman year, these comments don’t apply to you, right? But if you share one of the reviewer’s concerns, you have learned something important. Perhaps your idea of college life includes four years of dorm living. In that case, you might want to reconsider this college.</p>
<p>I would also take overgeneralizations about a college with a grain of salt. If people say “there’s nothing to do here on weekends” or “the academic pressure is enormous” they may mean “the activities I prefer to do on weekends are not available here” or “the academic pressure in my major is enormous.” If you prefer to spend your weekend in a different way or plan to major in a different subject, your experience at the college might be completely different.</p>
<p>I sympathize with the OP and have shared his feelings in the past.
I think I am one of those people, though, who could get 20 compliments and one complaint and I will focus on that complaint all night!</p>
<p>Beware of online review sites. I think many people who post on those (especially college age kids) have very specific axes to grind.
One point made above seems very important to me. The negative opinions are important to hear so that we don’t fall into “dream school, oh how perfect, my kid is just going to have the most wonderful college experience here every single day!” kind of thinking. No school is perfect – it’s still life with many challenges and stormy clouds on given days. Better to go in with some perspective.</p>
<p>Beauty is in the eyes of beholders. If you choose to love a school, everything about them will be all perfect, right? </p>
<p>Just my personal opinion: I would like to know everything about the school before I choose. At times, I may choose to go with the “devil” I know, as opposed to being surprised midstream. Trust me: There may be “dream schools” out there. However, I seriously doubt that there is such a thing as a “perfect school”. The real issue here is what you can or can not tolerate and prioritize your preferences.</p>
<p>DD worked at admissions at her college. One of her little “side jobs” was to read some of those other “sites” to see what they said about their school. The thing she noted…NO ONE posts on these sites to rave about the schools. It’s only the complainers who do. In most cases (she was able to verify this about some of the situations because the students put TMI on that site), the complaints were about professsors who actually were DOING their jobs…not treating a student unfairly. </p>
<p>DD actually had some of the professors folks were “whining” about. She loved them. Yes, they held the kids to high standards, and YES, some students got Ds or failed the courses. DD said in the cases of the profs she knew…this was avoidable IF the students had done their share of the work.</p>
<p>I agree Thumper, not just with schools, most review sites are for complaints or someone who REALLY loves a school or product.
My son had professors that had some bad reviews on RYP and loved them, what someone hated about his school, he liked, but you really have to try to look beyond where it is coming from. A sad, depressed, homesick person will see a school totally differently than a happy, socially content student. </p>
<p>Example, at one college, our tour guide said she hated the school her first year, wanted to transfer, but now she liked it a lot. A lot for factors entered into that, but if she wrote a review that year, it would defintitely be different than a year or two later.</p>
<p>I think it’s helpful to read negative reviews. All schools have some negatives and it’s useful to know the negatives of the schools you are considering. Some people are ranting but if you see people mentioning the same issue repeatedly, there is probably some germ of truth. It’s true that what’s negative for one (a lack of “partying”) could be a plus for another.</p>
<p>Yes, milkweed, that’s true, my daughter’s and son, thought the lack of parties and strict alcohol rules a plus while someone else thought it was draconian and a minus.</p>
<p>I’ve read some bad things about UVA. But, honestly, there will be bad comments about EVERY school. As I’ve noticed, people always have something to say.</p>
<p>I find negative reviews to often be from students who are disgruntled over things that really have little to do with the school overall. Maybe they had a bad prof (which school doesn’t have a few of those???)…or maybe they have problems making friends (which would happen ANYWHERE)…or maybe the school isn’t affordable and they are “soiling the nest” to make it easier to leave the school. </p>
<p>And, sometimes the posts aren’t from real students…sometimes the posts are from students attending rival schools who are posting negative things to just hurt their rival.</p>
<p>I concur with what everyone is talking about here… my point is, that my DS was very excited about some of the schools that he was accepted to, and then he reads some negative comments like, “This school sucks!,” “There is nothing to do here” “All the girls are ugly!” “The professors all stink!” etc. - you get my point. I realize these are disgruntled kids, but it definitely puts a damper on my sons enthusiasm for the school. I am all for free speech, and everyone has a perfect right to rant, I’m just commenting on what it does to somebody’s attitude towards a school - which is a shame.</p>
<p>OP - I think you also have to choose the sites you look at and the people you speak with wisely. I still like CC best for reviews of individual colleges - you can find a wide range of opinions on varying issues. I actually find it reassuring at times - if the worst thing someone can say about a school is that they don’t allow microwaves in the dorm rooms, for example, ok by me! There are other sites, as you have mentioned, that do seem to be primarily posts by disgruntled students and I don’t look at those. Whenever we visit a school - I always ask students what things they do not like or wish they could change. As long as their list is composed of fairly minor items, then we are still going forward with that school.</p>
<p>As far as “friends” go - unless they are currently a student or a parent of a student - I’m not terribly interested. It’s amazing what people will say based on the fact that their nephew graduated 8 years ago. Colleges change so rapidly - I don’t find comments from those who graduated 2-3 years ago or more very relevant.</p>
<p>One final note - my older son attends a university that does frequently get negative comments for being too preppy/white/conservative/Greek. And there is some truth to all of that. I had real reservations about the school for those reasons. But - he loves it. So while those criticisms may have some validity - it doesn’t mean an individual student will have a bad experience there - generalizations don’t always trickle down to the individual student.</p>
<p>^ agree that negative opinions do not always apply to an individual student. My D’s school gets bashed on cc all of the time, but she is happy and she is getting a good education there
Also consider the source, most of the posters who criticize D’s school do not attend that school or have a child who does therefore they do not possess first hand knowledge of that school.</p>
<p>I totally get that a lot of the criticism of D’s school is due to high cost/low FA. The school never pretends otherwise. What bothers me is that some people use that to justify saying that the school is overrated and isn’t really a good school without any real basis for those opinions.</p>
<p>I like getting the different perspectives. I don’t know a perfect school so I’d like to know what the issues are with the ones we are considering. There is a lot of valuable information in those negative posts.</p>
<p>When there’s smoke, there’s fire. Of course, there are always students who won’t like X school, but if there is a repeated theme about a particular issue, then chances are that it’s more than just a random disgruntled person here or there.</p>
<p>No school is perfect, other than Stanford. ;)</p>