I’m not trying to disparage the school, as someone said above, “different strokes for different folks,” but it definitely wasn’t for us.
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Well my kid runs 5 miles regularly. We might check it out. Might not.
There are juat so many great schools and programs that if it seems like it doesn’t fit, the student can just move on. When a program is very specialized for the students interests, that might be harder.
Kid has already taken schools off the list which are: too cold, too big, too much Greek life, etc.
Also, with Covid our visits are limited so a major negating factor ( like location) will definitely move a school down/off the list.
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@comtnmom Ditto-- It was not for us, either. But that is what makes the world go round, right? If anything, this confirms the fact that actually visiting a school (even if it is closed) can be paramount.
@Happytimes2001 DS took off the entire state of California from consideration (do not ask me why, because I still don’t understand it). He has been to Cali multiple times and to multiple areas from San Diego to Sacramento to Tahoe and many places in between. He just said no Cali schools.
He also took off the northern and most midwest schools because of the winters, anything big on Greek life, anything over 7500 students…So, our list was pretty manageable from the get go. Visits, though, were key. We were able to hit most just as COVID was taking hold last March and walking on (or driving by, in JHU’s situation) campus eliminated even more schools from his list and moved some way up in rank.
If anyone who has a rising senior can get in the car to actually see schools (for us it was a plane and yes, we did this this past summer while campuses were still closed), I would encourage you to do so.
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Or reading CC and getting multiple opinions that might make a visit unnecessary:)
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I think I’ve been to see over 25 schools with my son, he ended up applying to 16 (probably would have done only 10-12 if not for Covid) and of those I think 2 check every box for him, so he realized it was about finding the ones that got pretty close! He focused on those that were known for what he wanted to study, had a nice area around campus for dining out/going out, a strong campus feel (he didn’t want a campus that flowed too much into a city or had a lot of traffic through campus), medium-large size, at least one good spectator sport, either some Greek life or a strong dorm/residential college system, and ability to participate in theatre as a non theatre major. I think visiting took several strong contenders on paper off of the list such as JHU (didn’t like area), Tufts (felt too much like a high school to him, 10min walk off campus to town, train), and Penn (too urban). We recently visited Michigan after acceptance and he now suspects that is too big. He said the virtual tours were great for information, but it was really helpful to set eyes on the environment around the schools.
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Amazing. Of the 25 visits, which few were wow visits? Which few are at the top of the list?
UVA, Northwestern or Duke?
I too lived in Baltimore and have a different take on the area. Loved our time in the city and frequented the area around JHU.
I totally respect kids dropping schools off their lists for whatever reason but categorizing JHU as unsafe is simply not factual.
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We did a lot pre-Covid with real tours, and a bunch post Covid with people we know showing us around - here are my/his thoughts on some:
Harvard - liked dorm system & campus, didn’t apply
Tufts - felt small, quiet and isolated despite being near Boston
Yale - loved residential colleges & campus
Princeton -beautiful campus & town, liked idea of thesis requirement senior year
Cornell - prettiest campus, good college town, good hockey to watch
Johns Hopkins - didn’t like surrounding area
American - dorms were meh, liked specialized honors options, have to take shuttle to shopping/food
Georgetown - campus a little small, but location makes up for that, basketball
UVA - beautiful campus, liked size, maybe too southern
Duke - loved campus, dorms, sports
CU Boulder - beautiful, big, access to skiing
Vanderbilt - campus is pretty, new dorms, great town
Wash U St Louis - no sports to speak of but liked campus a lot
Notre Dame - loved everything about it
Michigan - maybe too big, big sports, good town
Columbia - very urban
Colorado College - too small
Penn - too urban
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OK-- I did not want to argue with anyone…not my intent at all, so I will say this and be done.
Safety is in the eye of the beholder…remember when I said different strokes for different folks. WE would not feel at all safe near JHU. Obviously, others do. And that is OK. I am NOT berating JHU. It is a great school for the right people. WE are not that people.
I will continue to categorize that area of Baltimore as unsafe, because we did not feel at all safe there. And that is fair for me to say. I don’t feel safe in NYC, either. I can assure you there are numerous people on this board who do. And that is ok.
Again-- I encourage people to try their best to go see campuses whether they are open for tours or not, if they are at all able to do so. The brochures are made to be attractive for a reason and school you think you might love from the marketing materials may be the worst case scenario for you when viewed in person.
Can we please now move on?
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@tristatecoog DS reluctantly visited Duke-- and then it became #2 on his list after the campus visit…he was definitely Wow’ed
@comtnmom you can PM if you want-- but it is interesting about your take on JHU and your son liked Wash U. Can you tell me how they differed? Wash U was the one school DS hadn’t seen. TIA!
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Yes, please.
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My husband took him to Wash U, so I can only report what my son told me - he really liked the campus/buildings and the dorms, especially the area where the freshman live. It was far enough away from St. Louis and has a big park w zoo/museum right by campus. Nice area near campus (Delmar Loop I think it’s called) for going out at night. Our friend’s son took him on the tour and had tons of positive things to say about his experience that resonated with my son. He also liked the size of the school, not too big or small.
My son also loved Duke - but is realistic that their RD acceptance may be like 2% this year and he had several classmates get in ED. If I had to bet, I think we will be deciding between Cornell, ND, UVA and Georgetown.
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Thank you!! I will let DS know-- We will definitely visit Wash U should he get in, but he had to go back to BS in Boston before we got the chance to get there.
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After hearing from some of you privately and speaking with parents there seems to be some interesting experiences. We are a pretty sophisticated bunch here on CC. Raise your hand(s) if you have found that you (as a parent) either/and…
A) Know more about colleges than your kid’s GC?
B) Been to more colleges than the GC?
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I knew that UVA early acceptances were coming out before my son’s college counselor. She asked me how I knew, I told her she needs to start following the Instagram accounts for all of the admissions offices 
!
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Speaking for Skiparents, their arms are firmly at their sides. 
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I know one student who wishes I knew NOTHING!
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Michigan is as big or small as you make it. I had no idea how big Michigan was until several years after I graduated and learned there was an actual North Campus (not just the area north of my dorm). I lived in the Residential College (East Quad) my four years and none of my “outside” classes were beyond the Diag just down the street. My impression of Michigan never went beyond the 800 students who lived in my dorm. It seemed like a tiny school to me.
OTOH, my BF (now DH) forced me to go to a football game sophomore year. I took one look at that crowd, left him at the stadium, and sold my student tickets every year from that point on. The Big House. Just no.
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It’s still in the mix until we hear from 13 more schools, I think maybe 7th on his list, but he thinks it is behind UVA…
I wish U-M had ranked higher with our son. 