Maybe this thread will help. I’ve often thought of starting a thread to handle the overflow discussion this great thread generates.
I understand the desire to keep this thread laser-focused on descriptions of visits. However, I also feel a comment or two in response to a tour-comment is not necessarily off-topic. But yes, that slope is slippery and two responses can easily become a twenty-comment string that gets off track.
So here’s what I hope can become a solution. If anyone wants to further discuss something brought up in the original thread, just Quote the original post you’re responding to and post here. And in this thread, there’s no risk of going afoul of the on-topic chaperones.
This is very well-intentioned. But I just tried it out and it just seems like so much water under the bridge. Maybe someone will bash the Wesleyan baseball field or the fine arts building again!
Oh wait, I just found something. This is from @elf1 description of Amherst:
Amherst College - rambling and lengthy outdoor info session that did not highlight anything special about the school, other than the ability to take classes elsewhere through the 5-colleges. Unlike Williams, which offered many reasons to apply, Amherst seemed to take our interest for granted. The diversity of the student body is evident looking around, but very surprising that no one mentioned this as a positive for the school. Tour was ok but failed again to highlight positive or distinctive aspects, and student vibe was more lonely than friendly. Left confused and deflated. This was a pre-tour favorite based on a previous look at the campus in the summer (empty) and the nice feel of the town of Amherst, but went way down - off the shortlist and onto the backlist.
I couldn’t help but remembering the old adage against judging a book by its cover as few colleges have bent over as backward as Amherst to bulldoze all its post-WWII buildings. To look at it today you would think the 1950s and sixties never happened. And yet, it has one of the most “woke” student bodies in the country relative to other elite eastern colleges.
It will take less time to just fill out the Yale application than it will to go do more tours of the Boston schools, won’t it? And cost less to pay for the application than to even pay for gas and parking at the schools…maybe she should just go for it and throw in the extra app?
Thanks! Very true—but a restricted EA decision is part of this. We made the time and have the Boston trip booked, and hopefully will have some clear answers afterwards.
WLU has a very high percentage of undergraduates participating in fraternities and sororities, according to its common data sets section F1 and USNWR’s lists of colleges with the most students in fraternities and sororities.
Alums would argue that the high Greek participation rate at W&L reflects the accessibility of the system. No exclusivity craziness like some southern schools. You don’t need letters of recommendation, etc.
With so many houses, people can likely find a spot if interested. Great for extroverts but probably not great for introverts unless they are willing to put themselves out there.
As the parent of a current W&L student, that is our feeling about Greek life there as well. I experienced Greek life at a SEC uni and can absolutely say my D’s experience at W&L was nothing like mine (and she would not have been interested at all in the Greek life at a big Southern school). Greek life is more accessible and the rush experience more laid back. I’m told it is the same for boys. For the most part if you want to experience Greek life at W&L, you can. Conversely, if you don’t there are plenty of options for “independents”. One of my favorite things to do when visiting my D was FUDG (Friday Underground). It’s a basement coffee house setup with live performances every Friday. It was started as an alternate to Friday night Greek parties and has become quite popular.
I’m not pushing Greek life or W&L. But in our experience, simply looking at the data and rankings does not always tell the full story.
With regard to the post about Syracuse, our recent experience was they told you in the acceptance letter about merit-based aid but did not disclose need-based aid for a very long time and that was only due to our calling and discussing with their FA office. The FA staff sounded very harried in April with the record number of applicants this year and wanted more tax info in addition to the documents we submitted. If aid is critical to your decision, you should keep on top of them and it may take a while to get the info you need.
It was interesting to read a Texan’s take on southern colleges and wonder whether DD would fit in with Georgians. It put the whole UT-Austin vs. Wesleyan thread some time ago in the proper context. LOL.
For what it’s worth, Wesleyan College (continues to be a women’s college) is in Georgia. When I was a kid it was the only one I was familiar with (we’re Methodist).
Wesleyan does generate more discussion on the boards than one would think! My S23 will be a-plying if he doesn’t get into his ED. Great school, too bad it’s in Middletown.
This could be said of dozens of excellent schools. My kid went to Bates in Lewiston, Maine. USC is in an awful part of LA. New Haven isn’t exactly posh, but it’s good enough for Yale. I think students care much less about the surrounding town than parents do.
Yes agreed, often large part of college life is within the college bubble. And New Haven is terrible. Having said that, if all stars align he would prefer a better location. But is sure he could be happy at Wesleyan, really loved his visit.
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My kid went to Bates in Lewiston, Maine. USC is in an awful part of LA. New Haven isn’t exactly posh, but it’s good enough for Yale. I think students care much less about the surrounding town than parents do.