<p>Maybe we're sappy, but my daughter and I were so impressed by colgate's personal message on her acceptance letter that specifically referred to her essays. Really made us feel like they considered her a real person as opposed to a number. Their including a Colgate decal was a nice touch too. What was your experience?</p>
<p>I think Colgate does a really nice job in trying to personalize the admissions process. Gary Ross' personal notes on the acceptance letters are a great touch!</p>
<p>Agreed. I was re-reading Colgate's material and noted to my wife that Ross had done the best job of any of the Dean's at personalizing the process, although several of D's schools did very well.</p>
<p>Have any on you actually visited Colgate? You are right that the personalization is very nice. However, after my S visited and spent the night, he found Colgage was not for him. You really need to go and have your child spend the night to make sure it is a good fit.</p>
<p>Yes, we've visited. My daughter thought it was the friendliest campus she had been on, and we have been to lots of campuses. LOL. What did your son find un-appealing?</p>
<p>D was accepted to Colgate, and also decided the school wasn't for her. This in spite of the wonderful note from Dean Ross, which almost convinced her to go visit again! The power of the personal touch...
But we know a current Colgate student, and the fraternity/sorority/drinking scene is omnipresent. Not her thing, but I'm sure it may be of appeal to different kids. The friendliness of the campus is quite palpable, though.</p>
<p>I really haven't found any highly ranked school that DOESN'T have some level of a drinking problem. From what I can tell at least Colgate is trying to get their's under some control. What schools have you found that don't have a problem with underage drinking? Or where drinking is not the predominant form of entertainment for a sizable sub-set of the student population?</p>
<p>Curmudgeon,</p>
<p>If your D visited and liked it, then that is your clue. AND, to answer your question, there is underage drinking everywhere ( I am not sure you could classify it as a "drinking problem"..not that I'm thrilled with it either), with the exceptions of a Wheaton College or BYU.</p>
<p>My S just did not like the "feel" (and either did we-or my then high school jr. D). But-that was just us...I truely believe that you can often "feel" whether or not a college is for you.</p>
<p>My S ended up at Dartmouth and there is drinking there, but not to the extent it has sometimes been reported. My S fits at Dartmouth perfectly, although he is just another smart kid. He is a sophomore now.</p>
<p>We too, have spent more time on college campuses that I would ever have imagined we would. First with our son, and this year with our daughter. She is now deciding where she will attend.</p>
<p>Yup I've visited. My son is a very happy freshman there. As a parent I am happy with Colgate's residential life initiative, and the school's handling of fraternities (i.e. requiring the frats to sell their buildings to the college in order to have continued recognition, etc.). I think the current administration is approaching the question of campus life and culture in a very thoughtful way. Colgate today is very different institution than it was even 5- 10 years ago. A number of alumni aren't all that happy about that, but I think the school is headed in a very positive direction.</p>