Pennsylvania road trip

@toomanykiddos, I don’t doubt what you saw and agree that you have to go with your gut on these visits. But I also think I know why people are confused by what you are reporting. I’ve been on the Haverford campus (for most of the day) 4 times and I’ve never seen what you are reporting. I think there was an internship fair yesterday, and perhaps students felt they needed to dress up for it. Honestly I don’t think there is anything wrong with the attire you are describing, but it’s not something I’ve seen at Haverford except for one person here or there. I think that is why people are suggesting that if that is the only concern it might be worth looking at it again. If you have plenty of other places your daughter prefers, though, there is no need.

As for people waving at the tours, that only happened to us one time out of maybe 15 tours. It happened several times on our USC (CA) tour, where students would flash the V for Victory sign and yell “Fight On!!!” to our guide and the group. Some sports fans just loved it, but for my daughter it didn’t go in the “pro” column.

Good luck with the search and thanks for posting your thoughts here. I know it can be tough if people disagree with you. I think in this case it sounds like what you saw was not indicative of the general vibe, though, and that’s what people are saying.

Thank you all for your replies and to those who PMd me. Had a chat with my D last night and had her read all the comments in regards to Haverford. She was as surprised as I was, especially since we both came to the exact same impression about the student body, which clearly is very different from what many of you are describing. She is going to apply for the Multicultural Scholars Experience program this coming fall, in hopes to be chosen and have an opportunity to really experience the school. This will also give her an indication of whether she would even possibly be admitted to the school (her SAT scores are low, but she’s in a boot camp now and hoping for a decent improvement). I do like how they appear to really focus on the student as a whole vs just SAT scores when considering admissions. She has a lot to offer a school and her scores are definitely not a reflection of her as a student.

Have been lurking on this thread (DD21 is a freshman) because I think these schools may be of interest to us in a couple of years. @toomanykiddos, what is the Multicultural Scholars Experience? I’m intrigued…

@inthegarden here’s a brief description from their website-

The Multicultural Scholars Experience is a program designed to help prospective students from diverse backgrounds become acquainted with the academic and social opportunities at Haverford. The program gives students the opportunity to interact with professors, visit classes, learn about multiculturalism on campus, hear current Haverfordians’ perspectives, and immerse themselves in the Haverford experience.

There are a good amount of schools that offer some type of diversity days/ weekends (you can google college fly in programs to get a list). We were informed about them by one of the Assistant Deans of Admissions at Hamilton when he encouraged my daughter to apply- she is mixed race and identifies as black.

Thank you, @toomanykiddos! That may be something for us to keep in mind (though D at this point is not too comfortable talking in groups about race/culture…she is Asian/adopted…but that may change in a few years.)

@inthegarden definitely keep them in mind. I don’t think she has to talk about anything she is uncomfortable with. It sounded like it was really more like an open house but for students of diverse backgrounds. Doesn’t hurt to apply and shows another form of interest.

My D is a freshman at Ursinus and I have been impressed with the school. Now, our criteria is going to be different than other families’. I can see how you may have thought the buildings did not look cohesive. I actually think the campus feels small not spread out, but it is perfect for my D. The students, in my experience, are pretty down to earth. Not preppy or jocky or pretentious.

My S went to Bucknell and I would describe that as preppy. The academics were more competitive at Bucknell, i find Ursinus to be more collaborative, so it’s important to decide what works for your family.

I disagree about “all the drinking” at Ursinus. There is one party dorm but my kids have had totally different experiences regarding the level of drinking on campus. I think Ursinus is pretty tame for a regular (i.e. not religious etc) type campus.

We also were turned off by the road in the middle of Dickinson. There are several similar schools we saw that did not have a major road, so that was a turn-off.

@toomanykiddos I’m kind of confused by your comment. I never implied that you said anything negative. Don’t know where you got that impression or why I’m being attacked for trying to help. Guess I’ll keep my thoughts to myself from now on.

But as others have said, I was trying to let you know that the type of student that you thought you saw was not indicative of a typical Haverford student and that Bucknell (which you stated that you liked) was far more preppy. I’m pretty sure if you polled 100 people about the vibe at Haverford, not one would describe it as “preppy” so you may have seen the kids dressed up for a reason. When multiple people are telling you that you received the wrong impression of the school, you may want to consider that information. I know I would.

I don’t care if you like it or not so I’m not sure why people are suggesting that I’m telling you this because I want you to like it. Haverford is a quirky, unique little place that really attracts a certain type of student not found at most other colleges. It is a good fit for some kids but not all. I know that my older son loved it, but my younger son who’s looking at colleges now (and is actually pretty preppy) would absolutely HATE it.

Anyway, good luck to you and your daughter. I hope she finds a place she loves.

Clearly I misunderstood your reply to me @megan12, as I think you may have misunderstood my “attack” on you. I believe I even said I wasn’t sure how to take your comment. I do want to hear your thoughts and opinions of the school. As I am fully aware that a one hour visit may not give an accurate representation of the school. I also have taken what everyone has said and we are planning a revisit as I stated earlier. She is planning to apply for their Diversity weekend in hopes of getting to spend a few days on campus.

We actually haven’t seen Bucknell, we just drove through it. Lovely looking campus, but haven’t taken an official tour. It will be interesting knowing everyone feels this is a preppy campus, to see what my daughter gets from it.

Again I was not attacking you, and I am sorry if I got a little defensive. For a while I felt slightly attacked for giving an impression of the vibe we got from our tour, that clearly was different then what others have of the school.

My experience is that kids sometimes get the vibe of a college the moment they step on campus. On one extended road trip that we made with my daughter and a classmate, there were some fine fine colleges that my daughter SAW but didn’t touch. Her friend met with an admissions rep (e.g., Oberlin, Colby, and Bennington), but my daughter chose not to. This wasn’t just because she was sharply focused on applying to “art schools.” That was a major factor. But seeing how the students are dressed, the campus layout, the dorms, the student union and student interactions – these give an impression.

Absolutely. And it can absolutely be a misleading impression. A dress style that may send one kind of social message in a kid’s high school may not have the same meaning at all at a particular college. And even if it does have that meaning – even if preppy clothing denotes preppy kids – that doesn’t tell you much if anything about what it would be like to live and to study among those kids.

Really, some of these reports are an argument against visiting schools. You get a very vivid impression that you filter through all of your prejudices, and make judgments whose correspondence with reality is essentially random. (I don’t mean to criticize. I’ve done it, too, lots of times.) Is it really important that a street runs through the campus, or even two streets? If the students are smart, and engaged, and collaborative, and open, how much does it matter that you don’t like the people at your high school that dress the way they do?

Funny, the one large street through Dickinson’s campus initially bothered me too, but having spent more time there now that my D is a student I don’t remember why I thought it was such an issue. Honestly, there are cross walks and traffic lights, and cars always respectfully stop for the students. My daughter is having a truly wonderful experience at Dickinson (which I write about in detail on the Dickinson forum, in case anyone is interested). I agree with JHS that we need to be careful about attaching a lot of weight to any one non-academic detail. For example, D1 was emphatic about not signing with a university that would make her live with a member of her sports team. She wanted to meet all kinds of kids and refused to be insulated by athletics. However, it turned out that after her first year she ended up WANTING to room with a teammate. So she had nixed Columbia for what ended up being a silly reason. S was really impressed by the sales pitch on Dartmouth’s D-plan. Funny, but their schedule ended up being the thing he liked least about the school!

My D was just informed today that her HS is nominating her for the Discover Swarthmore program. I haven’t really looked into Swarthmore because I was already concerned that we were too reach heavy. You all have already given me such great suggestions, feedback and information, so I thought I’d reach out again to get some feedback/ comments about Swarthmore?

The only thing I know about Swarthmore is what I’ve learned here on CC…that Swarthmore students work incredibly hard! That can be great or not so great, depending on the student. Congratulations to your daughter…I don’t know anything about this program but I’m sure it is an honor!

That’s what I have heard too @inthegarden. It will probably be way too intense for her. But such a compliment that her HS thinks she would be a candidate there! With the extremely small acceptance rate, I’m not too confident she’d even get in :-?

Hi all. Because the Haverford review I left turned into a very passionate discussion, I thought I’d let you know that she will be getting a second chance to visit the school and get to know the campus and student body better. She was accepted into their Have A Look Diversity program! I am so excited for her!!

Please come back and tell us how it goes. I am especially interested in hearing the various types of diversity that are included.

@toomanykiddos, glad your daughter has a chance to go back. I agree with previous posters who found Haverford quite different than your first impression. But I also understand how those few hours on a campus can really make or break it for a student when they have little else to go on. (We’ve had colleges come off lists due to pot smoke in the air, a vacuous tour guide, and an empty campus during spring break). I hope your daughter has a wonderful visit.

Hello all. Figured I would update this thread for anyone who was interested. My DD did go to their Have A Look program and really liked the school. She was super sick during it though and felt like her interview wasn’t as strong as she would have liked. She did apply. Was waitlisted (not sure if her being sick and not interviewing as well played into that or not). She’s feeling fine because a few days prior she got into another highly ranked school that she really liked as well, with incredible financial aid. She will not be taking her waitlist spot.