I think you’ve constructed a Straw Campus, and then attempted to burn it down.
I think fit is very important. I don’t think it can necessarily be determined from “one day” on campus.
"It’s a “bunch of baloney” if you have an easygoing kid who can do good work in any setting. Otherwise, not. "
-Funny. That is exactly what my D. said:“I will do fine anywhere”. But she also wanted to make sure that while she is doing just fine, she is happy. There is no reason in a world to add another obstacle and do it to yourself - there is no reason to be miserable and overcoming all those difficulties that would not exist somewhere else.
D. applied the same strategy choosing her Medical School. Spent tons of time and her decision flipped after “Second Look” event.
The only time that she could not do it was her Residency application cycle, she simply had to apply everywhere, still rulling out California and NYC. This time around she just got lucky and matched to her first choice, while being ready to go to any place that she would match.
@scholarme @OHMomof2 I gotta know- are you talking about Tufts, McGill, or something else?
I personally think that incline is a component of fit.
The campus my D said was too hilly was Lehigh, actually.
I was also a bit puzzled by FIT- I assumed it was Fashion Institute of Technology. Nevertheless, I do not think fit is a bunch of baloney. I think there are kids who are flexible and can make the best of almost any college, but I also think there are kids who are not quite as flexible and really need to shop around to find their " comfort zone."
I knew it! I’m a Lehigh grad, and yes, you develop awesome leg muscles traipsing up and down South Mountain. So far all other hilly campuses I’ve been on haven’t fazed me a bit by comparison. There’s also the 100+ stairs getting up to the 4th floor of the dorm after you’ve made it up the hill…
I think fit is extremely important, and if anything, not emphasized enough.
Take the two extremes, for example - small northeastern school (cold, long, bleak winters, fast paced/uptight culture) vs. university of Hawaii (lots of sun, laid back culture, mild winters). Do you really expect a kid who hates cold weather and/or gets depressed in winter is going to do well at the northeastern school? Chances are he/she is probably going to hate it there, and that may even affect career goals.
I think kids obsesses too much over who their competition is (i.e. average scores and student body stats) and not enough on the actual school itself.
In my case it was Middlebury.
@Trisherella LOL
I tried to tell her that so much uphill walking would get her really fit in no time, and she could just roll downhill to save time, but she wasn’t buying it.
Tufts may be hilly, but it’s got a fantastic view of Boston. 
Fit definitely is important. Too often students pick a college because they think it is more prestigious than another choice, even though that college is not right for their personality.
Hopefully, most students will be able to spend more than one day at a college before they make a final decision. The typical Admitted Student day provides much more detailed and customized information to a student making a decision than the generic initial admissions powerpoint and walking tour.
As far as freshman roommates in the OP, many students have been lining them up in advance.
the thing is that college is not only for “making it”, it is 4 years of a young person’s life. Why these 4 years have to be OK or miserable, why can’t they be absolutely fabulous? This was the point of my D’s “fit” search. She knew that she would do fine everywhere, she knew that she can adjust to any place and any crowd aroung her, but why not to be at the place that makes you happy? “Happy” definitely makes “making it” easier and more so in the tracks with very high requirement for the GPA and many others “cut in stone” requirements.
Even for easygoing kids who could be happy at a number of schools, there may be strong preferences between somewhat similar schools. My D much preferred one of each of these “pairs” of schools: Pitt and Penn State, Northeastern and Drexel, Emory and Johns Hopkins, Alabama and South Carolina. Some schools that sounded great from website and research were not so appealing in person. Not a believer in a single perfect fit but it should definitely be a consideration.
Much like many here I think fit is a component to a good college choice. If you have flexible kid, happy go lucky and highly adaptable then fit may seem less important. My kids looked for a great education and a place they felt they could build community, create relationships with students as well as professors.
Sure fit is important and can make for a different type experience…but at what cost point? That is the question that each family has to answer.
@mom2collegekids - I believe you make an interesting point – “Some of these parents (and students) who go on and on about fit didn’t do much to find “fit” for K-12 education…the kid just went to the assigned public.” You may be entirely right especially in those circumstances.
However, in our case, my DD chose her high school. We live in an academically inferior public school district so many kids chose among the local parochial and private schools. As a result, the concept of “fit” for my DD is rather important to her. In the same vein, having faced a similar decision process for high school, she also has a much better sense of what it means and when she finds it.
I also believe that “fit” can be gained later. Schools have so many clubs and groups that there is almost no reason for a student not to find happiness at a school (aside from homesickness, etc.). I tell both of my daughters to make sure that they are involved so that they can get the experience they want from the school.
Yes, some people are more adaptable and can find a much wider range of colleges that are good (or at least acceptable) fits, compared to those who are more picky.
Also remember that being affordable and offering the desired academic programs and majors is part of “fit”.
I think fit is very important.
A real life example…which I admit is old. A friend of my kid’s was a star athlete with a brain. He went to high school in a fairly small community and always felt more at home with the nerds than jocks.
So, he went to UChicago and played his sport. The stands were empty; nobody cared. A fair number of UofC kids thought it was just plain weird to play a varsity sport. So, he transferred to Duke. He played his sport and LOTS of students came to games (and, no, it wasn’t basketball.) Nobody thought it was weird that a serious student wanted to play on a varsity team.
Now, obviously both UChicago and Duke are excellent colleges. He always knew he wasn’t good enough to go pro, so he thought he’d be fine playing at a school like Chicago. But to his surprise, he found playing game after game with only a handful of spectators really depressing. He was MUCH happier at Duke.
The idea of fit may be a lot more important than actual fit. Every school is going to have good points and bad points. It the kid feels like they fit and are excited or at least enthused about the school, it’s a lot easier to focus on the good and overlook the bad. In our area the kids who have to “settle” for UCB or UCLA do a lot of complaining about impacted majors, ORM dominance, budget cuts etc… For the kids who had those schools as aspirational schools, they seem to be having a completely different experience. The love it and feel like they fit.
Affordability comes before fit. Just because I fit well in a Lamborghini doesn’t mean I should go into onerous debt to buy one.