The University of Chicago.
@JHS I’m more curious what the best English Department in the world was 30(?) years ago?
I grew up 10 miles away from the school I attended. We lived in a rural area and the state flagship had a branch of the university in my area. My parents didn’t take me or my siblings on any college visits. They didn’t attend college and they figured that the local school would be just fine. We didn’t ask to check any out either. We were very familiar with the school and had been on the campus many times for various events. I lived in the dorms my first year and lived in off campus housing the following 3 years. I really liked it there and would do it again.
At some point, DS1 decided on a STEM education. His PSAT was good enough for NM, so we thought Caltech could be conceivable. We flew to So. Cal to see UCLA, USC, Caltech and Harvey Mudd. Large schools like UCLA and USC have a disadvantage with tours because you are usually in large groups, and the guides are typically very perky but can only point to buildings and say journalism is over there, art is over there, science is there, etc., just because it takes so long to get from one place to another. The guides for UCLA and USC also talked about the school’s success in sports and rivalry with each other, which held no interest for DS1. The guides at Caltech and Harvey Mudd could talk a little more specifically about science. DS1 consented to the HMC tour primarily to appease me. The tour of Harvey Mudd was very nice, with the guide seeing a professor, who knew the student, and stopped to briefly talk with us. DS1 later said to his mother, “I hate to admit it, but I really like this school”.
DS2 was also interested in STEM, but didn’t consider Harvey Mudd to be independent of his brother. We toured MIT, Olin, and VT, and because he is a big college sports fan he also considered GT along with VT. He was accepted at VT, so we went to accepted students day. That went well, and I think he pretty much decided on VT at that time. The following Monday was the mass shooting at VT. What a shock. It only strengthened his resolve, and we learned at that time how tight the VT community is.
DS3 had a very specific interest related to bugs, developed since childhood and applied to several schools, a couple of LACs, and a couple of larger ag-type schools. After he evaluated his choices, he decided to go to the best school that accepted him, which was a small, well-regarded LAC. He didn’t visit the school until after acceptance.
My D’s experience would be considered love at first site. She toured several school and in May of her junior year went to UNC-CH. We got into the car on our way home and she said “I like it here. This si the place”. She was fortunate to be accepted EA and she has enjoyed every mine of her experience.
@SouthFloridaMom9 funny, that’s the same thing with me; my own parents never imagined that I would have left the Northeast, let alone go to school in North Carolina. Come to think of it, my whole family was surprised at how eager I was to attend my school, haha! 
Early in the search for DS’s school I googled “Lutheran engineering” and Valpo popped up. We did a little researching and discovered it was highly regarded for engineering and only 30 minutes out of our way to a vacation destination already booked so we made campus a “stretch our legs” stop. We did not do a campus tour that summer. DS was his typical noncommittal after that first visit but did some more research on their website and signed up for the mailing list. He received an invitation to Valpo visit days and attended Fall of junior year. He had a very positive experience and declared “I really like it here”. We discussed costs multiple times during his search. Valpo was only in budget if he received a great scholarship so they decision could not be made that day but it never left the short list, after that first official visit.
Kiddo grew up in Midwest, & dreamed of an East Coast college. While in Chicago for a wedding, we made a perfunctory visit to Northwestern during a blizzard. Couldn’t see anything but snow. Applied to Northwestern with no real intention to attend. But after some unexpected waitlistings from the East Coast schools, & a very generous financial aid offer from NU, kiddo became a proud Wildcat.
My impossibly cool teenage older sister covered her wall with homemade pop culture collages. “Wholesome Bryn Mawr” represented uncoolness in her world. That was the first I heard of it!
D found her obscure LAC in Fiske, through the “similar colleges” sidebars. I forget what she was looking up originally.
For myself, I was living in small-town Washington, and the two choices were UW and WSU. The very last thing I wanted was to spend another 4 years with these same people in another small town, so off to Seattle I went. I did love every minute of UW.
When I was an undergrad, I’d often study in an alcove of an old library…exactly where the catalogs of other colleges were shelved. When I needed a break from studying, I’d grab a catalog and leaf through it. The catalogs from Canadian universities always seemed to be the most mysterious and fascinating…all the mentions of “honors” degrees and “graduate diplomas” from places like New Brunswick and Newfoundland and British Columbia . The one that seemed most attractive was the thick catalog with the no-nonsense cover from the U. of Toronto. It exuded an air of serious, semi-British academics.
Fast forward a decade, and I was a naval officer working in a large military complex under a Hawaiian pineapple field. I was applying to grad schools in preparation for my return to civilian life, & I was certain Virgnia, Brown, or Wisconsin would accept me. Despite the balmy location, one day something reminded me of Canada…perhaps I’d seen a moose or a Mountie on TV…perhaps I drank a cold Molson…I can’t remember. But as a last-minute afterthought, I ducked into the “education office” (tiny room with nothing but a microfiche reader and a set of every college catalog on microfiche). I checked out the U of Toronto grad catalog. Its masters program was surprisingly streamlined & sane. I shot off an application, and 9 months later I arrived in Toronto, my car’s Hawaii license plates causing quite a stir. “How’d you get here?” strangers would ask. "Wasn’t easy, I’d reply. “I wore out 10 pairs of windshield wipers just getting to California.”
I heard about Wofford College from my grandfather who used to work for Wofford College as the announcer at basketball and football games. My original intentions for college were to attend either University of Southern California or UCLA (I am originally from California) but realized that those schools were very selective. I was given automatic admission to every school in my state of Idaho, but I did not want to go to any of them. I applied to Wofford College, got accepted with a scholarship and then went on a visit.
Wofford is actually a very smart school and I was surprised. I ended up receiving another scholarship from Wofford which made my cost of attending there around $3,500 so I ended up committing. I ended up getting denied from USC and UCLA anyways. LOL
When I was in fourth grade at a Catholic school in Denver, I participated in a band concert at a Catholic college on the west side of the city, almost to the foothills of the Rockies. I saw the sun setting behind the mountains and was mesmerized by the Colorado red stone administration building brightly lit from behind. It was like a castle! Inside the building, the halls were covered in polished wood and the chapel was wonderful. I decided that’s where I would attend college. Since I was only ten and and enchanted, my mother made me wait until 8th grade to get a catalog. I was still determined I would attend that school and by then, my penmanship was good enough to request a catalog.
I attended a parochial high school and was taught by the same order of sisters as the college. My mother insisted pre-k through high school was sufficient Catholic education. I was heavily recruited by the University of Colorado and other state schools. My mother was pleased; I was indifferent. I completed all college applications and mailed the one for my college. My mother was puzzled that I didn’t hear from state schools.
Fortunately, I received a wonderful financial package that was largely in the form of academic scholarships. Consequently, I was able to attend college at virtually no cost. My mother’s heart was won almost immediately and her enthusiasm grew when I won a government fellowship in a major she would not have chosen.
I was prepared beautifully for graduate school and, despite attending a no-name school, was admitted directly into a top doctoral program and on a free ride. I found that public university when dusting catalogs in the college library and one fell off the shelf and onto my foot. It was even open to the field I wanted to pursue.
Ultimately, my family changed from unhappy to excited and even threatened to send my younger sister to my college. She as horrified! She attended a state school on NSF money until she changed her major from science to art. We both received the quality educations we wanted and at the schools we wanted to attend. For me, my college was everything I wanted and hoped it would be. Alas, it was sold to Regis University, an excellent Jesuit school in Denver.
Do you believe in miracles! I sure do.
When I took the PSATs, I checked the little box where I said schools could send me information. My college was one of the schools that sent me stuff.
As I went through my process, it kept surviving the cut. I went to a prospective student event, and the folks I met seemed nice so I decided to apply.
Me? Back in the dark ages when you had to hand write college applications, I was admitted to my first choice (an Ivy) but could not afford it as we all had to fund our own college educations. My safety, a nearby LAC, was recruiting me heavily, and promised me more financial support. I went to an admitted students’ day, found campus charming, and accepted. Money didn’t work out as expected, which certainly dampened my enthusiasm for the school, but I received a great education which prepared me well for my career.
Back in the 80’s… A non-flagship state U came to our HS when I was a junior and told about a program where you’d live in a dorm for 6 weeks and take 2 classes for college credit (a real novelty at the time) the summer before your senior year of HS. My parents - to my eternal gratitude - supported this, and I really enjoyed the campus and the professors. Still intended to go to state flagship to be an aero engineer, however.
Two things happened. First, the “other” school visited our HS again and pitched a program that was a mix of applied math and CS. This interested me, and Dad thought there’d be a market for it.
Second, the state flagship guy came in and spent an hour telling us line by line how to fill out the app. Mine was complete before the meeting, but the presentation was so off putting I never sent it in. The sale had already been made; they botched the close.
Ended up at that other state U, and remain very pleased with the overall result.
As a really overenthusiastic sophomore eager to get out of high school, I went through the Ruggs guide for CS schools and highlighted any school that fit my criteria on all three tiers. Once left with a very sizable list, I began sifting through the results until I was down to about 30. Their website was pretty decent and I loved the philosophy the more I dug.
Eventually, I sent out an email to 15 professors at the schools I was interested in. I ended up chatting on the phone with two professors, but I only had a few email exchanges with the professor of the school I ended up attending. I actually even misspelled the name of the professor.
Turns out, that professor was actually the creator of the CS program, who literally wrote the book on the program.
Eventually, I visited and fell in love, and the rest was history. Everything I checked out, it checked out well.
Fast forward to today, I’m now acquaintances with that same department head - He will even be my boss in the Fall. A good friend of mine has weekly dinners with him.
The school has been everything I expected and more - love the philosophy, the program, the location, everything.
My dad became a UT professor when I was only two years old, so I was introduced to the college at a very young age! Classrooms, sports events, student parties, etc. It was the only school I applied to. And I loved every minute of my six years (BS and MS) there.
@PengsPhils wrote
I had no idea this resource existed-thanks!
This is a fun read… Back when I applied, I read college guides non-stop and decided that a small LAC would be perfect for me - Wesleyan, Macalester, Grinnell. My dad, however, thought the price tag was ridiculous and limited the list to UC’s. I had just moved to CA and didn’t really know any of them. Checked a few random boxes for UCSC, UCLA, and UCB. When the fat package from UCB arrived, it was decided, by my dad. I probably would have been happier at UCSC as UCB was too big and I didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted. Plus… didn’t get a spot in the dorms so spent the first few weeks looking for an apartment in Berkeley. That was eye-opening. Can’t say I regret going, I learned a lot about independence and making your own path. However, I strongly encouraged my son who is also undecided to steer away from large schools.
My son - who had a lot of dunno’s when asked a year ago - attended a presentation from five PNW schools last summer. All he knew is that he didn’t want a big school or a hot climate. He ended up applying to all of them except Reed. After his Puget Sound visit, nothing else really measured up. He will be starting there this fall.