<p>I’ve been reading this thread, it’s hilarious. I hope no one minds my bringing it back; it’s quite the gem. </p>
<p>At first, I wouldn’t consider out of state because my favorite little pizza joint is local. I wanted to be able to drive to it on a weekend. =P
After realizing that’s slightly ridiculous, I decided that I wouldn’t accept any college that sent too much mail. Immediately that knocked out TCU, Tulane, Macalester, South Carolina, and NYU. They have spammed my virtual and actual mailbox since sophomore year. Vanderbilt would likely make this list if I hadn’t fallen in love with it pre-spamming. Why apply to colleges that actually display interest when one can choose to chase institutions such as Brown, which has sent me a grand total of two mailers?</p>
<p>On the other hand, I actually considered MIT despite being a total humanities dork and math/science moron for no other reason than this: they allow cats in their dorms. I can’t bear thinking of leaving my furry friends behind. </p>
<p>So, as a student, I admit, sometimes we have silly reasons, but they make sense in our heads!</p>
<p>My son won’t apply to UChicago (which many think may be perfect for him) because of the description in the Insiders Guide to Colleges which convinced him it is way too nerdy and uncool. He says, even if the reputation is not accurate, he does not want others pigeonholing him that way.</p>
<p>DS refused to consider John Carroll because their brochure (acquired at a HS college fair) said: “see what unfolds” and it unfolded like an accordion.</p>
<p>My daughter insists she has to like the school colors. No orange or green for her. </p>
<p>I love how this generation actually has choices (or maybe they just think they do?). Back in my day (ha ha!!) I lived in a college town where my dad was a professor and all the profs’ kids were expected to live at home and go to school there, including me. I must have moped around enough that at the last minute my dad let me (notice who was in charge) apply to a school that he thought might give me a scholarship. Otherwise, I was stuck at home. Lucky for me, I did get a scholarship and was able to go away to school. I knew nothing about the school and couldn’t have cared less - I was just thrilled to have the chance to live away from home. The volume of information that is so readily available on every possible school these days just amazes me!</p>
<p>I’m sure some of you parents won’t appreciate this, but whenever I get down about college, I just think to myself “Next year, I won’t be living at home, no matter what college I end up at…” and I suddenly feel better.</p>
<p>Daughter rejected Sewanee because the buildings and the students wearing robes would made her feel like she was in the Hogwarts School of witchcraft!!</p>
<p>S2 refused to consider William & Mary because he “hated the trees. Too much ‘nature!’” Ah, the irony! Guess where he will be going? I guess he got over the trees.</p>
<p>School colors are big to my daughter. She thought Syracuse was over the top with orange, as even the fire hydrants are painted orange. Lehigh’s Brown & White were a big turn off (first school we visited and it “just didn’t click”). RIT’s Orange & Brown was depressing…please I could go on.</p>
<p>DS got a mailer from Trinity U that said (among other things): “The dorms are like palaces!”</p>
<p>This was such an outrageous claim that the school lost all credibility for him. And it became a family joke. With every school visit, we had to ask ourselves “But are the dorms like palaces?”</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd: Didn’t like the dorms or the look of the campus. Clearly having toured Olin the week before had something to do with it!</p>
<p>Cal Tech: Came home from the information night saying that it was too nerdy for her. “If I’m the cool kid in the room, this is not a good thing”</p>
<p>From a parent’s point of view, when I get down about anything involving my kids, I just think to myself “some day, neither of them will be living at home” and it makes me more forgiving.</p>
<p>I guess the Princeton Review must have had them on their list of colleges with “dorms like palaces.” We’ve had fun with their rankings. I look forward to the new list, although I do realize that they are completely non-scientific:</p>
<p>"Our new college rankings are nearly tabulated!
We will soon publish the next edition of our Best Colleges title and with it, our annual college rankings lists. Visit our website again in a few weeks to find out which colleges made our top 20 lists in more than 60 categories from “Best Campus Food” to “Dorms like Dungeons.”</p>