<p>My son dismissed Notre Dame because he thought the campus looked “too well-groomed.” What, the expanses of grass?</p>
<p>digmedia, I may have mentioned this much earlier (I don’t remember!): a young friend wouldn’t consider Notre Dame because she didn’t like plaid. My son was turned off by all the satellite dishes on on the ground next to the dorms, each connected by a long cable to a dorm room window. They must be gone now if the campus is too well groomed!</p>
<p>A friend’s son turned down Amherst and Yale as too preppy. Where is he? Princeton!</p>
<p>This was one of my all-time favorite threads! I found it late but read just about every post and just laughed and laughed at some of them. The reasoning (or, I wonder, justification) is just so funny!</p>
<p>I don’t have a real good one - both kids were pretty open about at least considering schools…but…</p>
<p>D has decided that one in-state tier 3 that is 4 hours away is too far of a drive and in too rural a locale to keep near the top of her list, but the out-of-state tier 1 that is 5 hours away and just as rural is at the top! “It’s just different and a different type of drive.”, she says.</p>
<p>I’ve had one who just stepped out of the car, looked around and wanted to leave. He nearly ended up with a D shaped head.</p>
<p>Here’s a few reasons why friends and a college Prof refused to consider certain colleges/grad schools:</p>
<p>Tufts: One high school friend was fed up with the fact the admissions staff emphasized leisure activities, clubs, and other “fun” stuff at the expense of academics. This prompted him to refer to that school as “Fluffts” from that point onwards. </p>
<p>Princeton: Several high school classmates refused to consider applying there because several older classmates who attended experienced some rank snobbery against those who attended public schools and were not from well-off families and the fact “Princeton hates our high school” because they only admit a handful each year whereas Harvard and Yale tends to admit at least 1-2 dozen from each graduating class. </p>
<p>A Prof admitted he refused to apply to Princeton for grad school despite encouragement from his undergrad adviser because that was the school where all of his worst Profs got their PhDs and he didn’t want to end up like them. </p>
<p>Yale: One college classmate at my SLAC turned down admission to Yale after doing an admitted students tour and couldn’t stand the pretentious elitist snobbery and “overentitlement” she observed in both the Yale students and other fellow admitted students on that tour. In fact, she ended up hating the entire tour and the school altogether. Knowing her, I wondered whether she was heavily pressured by her parents to apply as Yale was certainly not the right cultural fit for her considering her strong neo-hippie orientation. </p>
<p>Vassar: Several male high school classmates including yours truly refused to apply because there was still a strong memory of it being a former “Women’s College” and that we’d be stigmatized as having applied there because admissions standards was so much lower than for our female counterparts and that “we’re there for the girls”. In my defense, Vassar also didn’t have…and still doesn’t seem to have very good coverage for my academic interests.</p>
<p>I didn’t have a student in tow, but I went way out of my way to see Eckerd because of its waterfront setting. The buildings were such a turnoff that I looked at the water, turned around, and drove off. (It’s still probably a pretty good school.)</p>
<p>^^^ Just for the record, the Delta State teams are the “Statesmen.” The “Fighting Okra” was a relatively recent gag that appealed to the students so much that they got the Athletic Dept. to agree to label it an “unofficial mascot.”</p>
<p>I have one who put his nose up to Tufts because he felt they were too anal when they had his visit and tour and everything so well organized.</p>
<p>My D refused to consider Whitman because it has a green door on one of the freshmen dorms. I told her she could just get up in the middle of the night & paint it, but she was having none of it. She also hates any school with red brick buildings with white columns - which eliminates a lot of places!</p>
<p>My father gave me permission to cross UIUC off of my list of engineering schools last year because we entered a dorm that reeked of cumin. </p>
<p>I realize now that our experience was without a doubt an exception, but it was an immediate turn-off at the time.</p>
<p>D refuses to consider any college that’s in a state that’s shaped like a square or rectangle.</p>
<p>“I would never go to _____ because that’s where mom went and she doesn’t know anything.” 15-year-old DD</p>
<p>Frazzled kids wouldn’t even think about Princeton (or a few other top schools) because they recruited athletes from our school who failed to take any AP/honors classes, had lackluster test scores, and had no other impressive EC’s or awards.</p>
<p>“New Jersey, NO ONE goes to college in New Jersey!” </p>
<p>I don’t know what this child was thinking, possibly thought New Jersey was one big New Jersey barrier or something. </p>
<p>The 4 of my children all ended up attending school in New England or New York.
No one would leave their “corner” of the country.</p>
<p>Slumom: </p>
<p>I forgot about this! My kids wouldn’t do any college tours in New Jersey (we’re in PA) too. I really don’t get it. I shouldn’t acknowledge this, but they also eliminated all schools in states where people are known for having Southern accents. </p>
<p>They missed out on some great schools.</p>
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<p>Include Stanford in this list assuredly.</p>
<p>S would not consider St. Johns Annapolis after touring it because “it is a cult, Mom”. We could not get him to consider any school off of the east coast and esp. U Chic because “that is where fun goes to die”. It’s a shame because the more I learned about it, the more I was convinced that it was a really good fit for him and I think that he had a shot of getting in. :(</p>
<p>This thread is hilarious…my favorite is the kid that wouldn’t consider a school that looks like Taco Bell. LOL</p>
<p>Oh, man…IS there a school that looks like Taco Bell? I think that would be the lure for my 6’3 eating machine!</p>
<p>^ Stanford ;)</p>
<p>I remember Taco Bell & Stanford comparison, LOL… </p>
<p>I also thought someone’s child would not apply somewhere because she did not like the tour guide’s shoes!</p>