Visits reports:
Current junior, so far:
Swarthmore - off the list, though perhaps more due to her preexisting view of it as being overly intense than anything we saw on the visit. Gorgeous campus, convenient to Philly. D didn’t like the honors program which she thought created pressure and two tiers of students within a very small school. Just generally didn’t vibe there.
UPenn - way up - our first larger school and first urban school. Did seem a bit impersonal and more sink or swim then the LACs we have been visiting (tour guide mentioned connecting with his advisor once per term by email) but she was very energized by all the amazing facilities, kids that she found very smart but more down to earth than those at other Ivies she visited and really like the campus within the city. Of course getting in, especially without playing the ED card, is another story… still opens up other bigger and urban schools as possibilities.
UC Santa Cruz. Probably not a fair visit as we self toured over winter break when almost no students were on campus so very difficult to get any vibe. The location is beyond gorgeous- you literally walk through groves of redwood trees with occasional distant views of the Pacific. On the other hand a very spread out campus - students bike or shuttle between the buildings - very different from bucolic New England campuses we have been visiting and the wear and tear also makes it clear that this isn’t a school with a gazillion dollar endowment like the New England privates. Because of its unique strength in astronomy will stay on the list as a safety and if needed we will look into it more…
Wesleyan - Still on the list. D loved the open curriculum, the clever housing system, the progressive vibe that seemed to be lived and not just for show (everyone introduced themselves with their pronouns, lots of focus on social issues, etc) and the kids who seems very bright and intellectually curious and interesting without being over intense or overly single academically minded — everyone seems in a lot of interesting activities and time for fun. The negatives are that the presentation was completely non-STEM focused (with bizarre comments like - ‘woo hoo you never have to take math again!” And similar even from AO. She did the tour with a guide who was a math/earth sciences double major who alleviated her concern that it wasn’t a place for stem kids to some extent but not fully. The other negative is the location - truly in the middle of nowhere and the town is not at all interesting other for a very small and pretty standard strip of studenty coffee shops and similar. Overall she will apply and thinks she could be happy there both academically and socially.
Princeton - off the list - tour left d somewhat cold - lots of talk about how many Nobels the faculty members, strong feeling of privilege - despite the fact that our actual guide was a first gen kid from economic hardship situation! It is obviously an amazing school but d doesn’t need more super reaches, she will take a moonshot on some but nothing about this visit changed her mind that it wouldn’t be Princeton.
Haverford - down/possibly off - d has generally liked the small quirky schools but this just seemed too small and too quirky. It is almost the size of a large high school, and d found our tour guide to have a “weird vibe” (?). She did like the social activist energy and the ability to participate in research. But ultimately think she wants something at least somewhat bigger.
Amherst - shot up, she really loved it. The info session was a snooze but she loved the tour and the tour guide (crazy how much that matters) who was a double major in a science and humanities which is something d may be interested in. She also got the vibe of friendly and engaged and enthusiastic students that worked hard but also enjoy themselves and have time to do various activities, social stuff etc which is what she is looking for. The two concerns of course are the insane difficulty of getting in and that most students were pretty conventional in presentation - my d is significantly edgier in appearance and doesn’t want to be viewed as “out there”.
Mount Holyoke - moved down significantly- perhaps this is unfair as we self toured which is very different from having a student guide and the campus is very beautiful and serene but for whatever reason the campus seemed very dead - we saw very few students around (on a beautiful Saturday afternoon) and the ones we saw (though dressed like my d - lol) seemed kind of glum and unfriendly. In any case between that and the fact that d is having second thoughts about applying to women’s colleges, MH is still on the list but barely hanging on.
If we are also retelling tours in past year, here is a summary of a mid Atlantic/Boston tour we did with an extremely picky science-focused older daughter a few years ago:
Princeton - got ruled out, the wealthy suburban setting reminded her too much of home, it was miserably rainy, and the senior year and junior year thesis requirements stressed her out just hearing about them - she is a stem kid and wanted to avoid more writing (she wouldn’t have gotten in anyway);
Boston College - way up, she liked the setting and the kids, liked the science presentations, liked the location.
Tufts - hated it for no good reason, I really liked it. Something about the setting and she thought the kids all seemed defensive about not being in the Ivies (unlike BC where she thought the kids seemed like they wanted to be there).
UPenn - ruled out, liked the mix of kids and academic strength and amazing science offerings,but really didn’t like the urban setting
Swarthmore - didn’t like at all, too small, and reminded her very much of her high school in “overly intellectual/very competitive/too serious” vibe. I thought it was great, but there you go.
UVA - ruled out, put off by the vibe, seemed provincial (the tour guide seemed very surprised to have someone from New England on the tour), very white, and had weird traditions and adoration of the Founding fathers that rubbed her the wrong way.
Georgetown- loved everything about it, the perfect not too big and not too small size, the kids, the adorable and historic town, the nearness to DC, the excellent and extremely well funded but not insanely competitive science departments. Yep that is where she ended up and loved every minute…
she’s had her share of mean girls; but i think she’s also experienced community in a completely different way than her old, slightly transient school. One more year to go!