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[quote think D said, “The boonies,” not "the sticks,
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<p>Khsstitches said the sticks. I was referring to his/her post. Point well taken, though. S Hadley certainly is no Northampton. Heck, I find Amherst too small after, umm, 10 minutes. ;)</p>
<p>MHC is wonderful for those who like going to a college that is, shale we say, secluded.</p>
<p>Hmm. I use the word “pastoral.”</p>
<p>my daughter wouldn’t consider Alfred University, because Alfred is a nerdy name.
she also didn’t want Catholic Schools that sounded Catholic. i.e., St. Josephs, …Holy Cross, Salve Regina, Sacred Heart. …but didn’t balk when we looked at Fairfield, Fordham, Providence, Duquesne ( i guess she didn’t figure the last four Catholic)</p>
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<p>Perfect. Great description to use in their marketing brochure/video and on the website. Send the college an invoice for your copywriting expertise.</p>
<p>Funny, but I used to write a lot of copy, these days not so much. But I somehow doubt MHC would pay for my contribution.</p>
<p>MHC could write “sustainable” in their brochures. I love their pond!</p>
<p>When I took D through, she found South Hadley “very rural.” Alas, I couldn’t even convince her to get out of the car to check out MHC’s nice greenhouse and fantastic art museum. </p>
<p>I schemed to make Smith attractive to her, getting us a room in the Hotel Northampton, right downtown. I pointed to the impressive courthouse building. Next day, we drove through Amherst, had lunch at the fabulous Whole Foods, and visited the Eric Carle museum, which she loved (as did I - it’s definitely worth a trip). All to no avail – in the end she was “too small town!”</p>
<p>Son chose his college because it seemed kind of chaotic and unfriendly and the weather was absolutely foul when we visited. He liked the adversity.</p>
<p>sewhappy, at least you can count on him to come home for every holiday! :D</p>
<p>Ok…she did say “sticks”, however…S Hadley is light years bigger than our town of fewer than 2000 with nary a street light (no, NO street lights, the town voted them out of the budget), no traffic lights and cows were known to wander though the school yard of the K-8 school (which housed about 160 students max). It is not the same “sticks” that she grew up in, really. South Hadley was a real town by comparison. But we drove in the back way due to a detour and it was country-ish and did remind her of parts of our town. She couldn’t shake that. Northampton is much larger with lots to do and see and eat…but again, after 4 years, I don’t know. I think you’d outgrow it perhaps. MHC is pastoral…good word for it. A 2nd issue for her was wanting her own identity and her sister is at Hampshire.</p>
<p>janp - my D#1 was exactly the same. However when informed that those other colleges were Jesuit or whatever, she thought it was “sneaky” of them not to basically advertise it in their name…in her mind, then in 8th grade, she thought they had an obligation to all be “Saint Something” so no one was surprised!!! When I told her that both BU and AMerican had links to the Methodist Church she demanded to know just how many colleges were founded by churches…not that she was antichurch…she just found it fascinating in the unique way of a 14 year old…!!! We had some amusing and enlightening conversations.</p>
<p>Actually, I understand your son not wanting to go to a school because sports are too big there. When sports (college level) are too big at a college, the athletes get cut more slack than the rest of us. My school said that they were accommodating. I guessed I missed the “for athletes” aside.</p>
<p>Admissions had someone call me at 3pm on a sunday and give me a long, long sales pitch…</p>
<p>…and it was too aggressive.</p>
<p>Stopped w/ D at Christopher Newport College (VA) on our way to Virginia Beach. Lots of kids from her HS go there, so we figured it was worth at least a casual visit.</p>
<p>D refused to get out of the car the minute she saw a parking lot in the middle of the campus. I mean, feet-dragging flat out refused. “I am not going to a school with a parking lot in the middle of the campus.” So we left. </p>
<p>Stopped at William and Mary on the same trip. D hated it. “Too southern, and the video was lame.”</p>
<p>Nobody knows more than a high school senior. :)</p>
<p>I met a kid who ruled out all colleges that had any streets running thru them.</p>
<p>MD mom: looks like im going to Georetown now. thnx! lol</p>
<p>my parents think I have dumb reasons for not going to schools but wow mine are actually respectable!!!</p>
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<p>I agree. One of DS1’s high school classmates refused to visit our state’s flagship. She was determined to go to a particular school out of state. Well, she went to the OOS school and within 2 weeks was begging to come home…she hated her “chosen” school.</p>
<p>Guess where she is now (and loving it)??? Our flagship state…of course…minus any merit money she would have gotten if she had gone there as an entering freshman! 
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<p>I laugh at this because I remember having a convo with her parents, and I told them that they needed to insist that she visit our flagship…but they were too afraid to insist. OMG!!! LOL… Heck it’s just one day…no one’s time is that “special” that they can’t give up a day (or half day) to visit a possible school! If necessary, a school can be “looked at” quickly in a couple of hours if necessary. </p>
<p>Now, that these parents are having to pay full-freight instead of partial, they sure are wishing that they had insisted that their D visit. Their 2 younger kids aren’t being allowed to be that stubborn. LOL</p>
<p>Seriously, kids like that often grow up to be spouses who won’t go to certain events that their spouses want to go to “because I don’t want to.”</p>
<p>My older son - at first - didn’t want to go to any schools that were within a day’s drive. He said that he didn’t want his parents showing up unannounced. We were shocked that he would think we would do that! </p>
<p>Once we assured him that his college time is HIS TIME and that we’d never show up without being invited, he relaxed that “rule”. LOL </p>
<p>Kids get funny ideas in their heads sometimes… :)</p>
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<p>This is hilarious…how crazy is it when a kid decides that she doesn’t like a school because of another student’s shoes? It’s not like she can get a full shoe report from all students before accepting!</p>
<p>And, I love the post where a kid picked a school …because it had people on campus!!! LOL </p>
<p>I don’t know why I’m so surprised…I know a teen who turned down a recording contract with Sony because…they would have some approval over her clothing. She never got another contract anywhere… crazy…she wouldn’t listen to anyone.</p>
<p>I have to laugh at the Red state limitations because if one were to look at how counties voted in the blue states, most counties are red counties. So, many kids are going to colleges in blue states that are sitting in red counties… LOL</p>
<p>Across this nation, there are few blue counties…the majority are red counties.</p>
<p>From jamiecakes:</p>
<p>Quote:
Stupidest reason a parent recommends a school…
My husband liked many of the schools he visited with our son.</p>
<p>But the reason he recommended the school he wanted my son to pick was completely based on the fact that they had a good Sunday brunch in the dining hall and parents can eat there when they visit! </p>
<p>What school is that? I’d love for my son to go to a school with a good Sunday brunch and I’m always welcome. We’ll definitely consider it. </p>
<p>If my 89 year old dad knew about this Sunday Brunch deal, he’d have insisted that all of his grandkids to there. LOL</p>