Hey @OHMomof2 - I went to Vassar also! Co-ed but no football when I was there. Just had to check and yup, still no football. Didn’t bother me a bit 
@CAtransplant - my high school didn’t have one either…in fact I am 50 and have never attended a football game of any kind!
@suzyQ7 - mine had the opposite reaction. Initially, kid wanted to look at ANY school with the word “technology” in the name. Took some explaining to sort out that not all schools with the word “Tech” in them are the same kind of school.
Many of the schools I applied to a couple of years ago don’t have football teams. I attend one of them. I’m more of a soccer and basketball guy myself, so I don’t really care about the presence of a football team. In fact, I’d argue the school is better off without one.
I have gotten a little more into pro football since starting college, however.
Our S19 just told me he’s not going to Ohio for school. We live in the Midwest but have never been to Ohio so I don’t have the slightest idea what his problem is with the entire state of Ohio. Unfortunately for him, I think there are at least three of four schools that might be a good fit in Ohio and we will probably force an Ohio trip on him!
@homerdog Market the Ohio trip as an efficient opportunity to explore TYPES of schools. Not that he’d have to attend any of them…
Mine refuses to apply to any school with the word “tech” in the title, yet is applying everywhere as Biomed eng. No MIT, no Georgia Tech, no CalTech. Says she wants some “regular people” at school too. Dad and I are both engineers, as well as two older brothers in engineering school. Not sure exactly what she is implying here…
@OHMomof2 come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever attended one of any kind either! My high school did have a team but growing up in NYC it wasn’t that big a deal - I was into other things. You were at Vassar just after me based on your age, so our paths would not have crossed.
My D is very affected by the looks of a campus. She does not like the traditional ivy-covered old-fashioned buildings or brick - which eliminates a LOT of campuses! She will consider them but she much prefers a more modern campus.
My daughter got accepted early decision to Brown University this past December and so she is headed there in the fall. I reminded her a few days ago that the VERY first time we talked about east coast schools, several years ago, and I mentioned Brown, her reaction was negative. Why? Because the school name is a COLOR. Who would go to a school named a color?!
My Daughter rejected one college because on the Dorm Tour, she said the rooms had “old radiators”. Sigh
My daughter rejected a few schools that had too much of a “party” culture for her taste, including schools like UCSB and Tulane (pictures she receives from Tulane’s overzealous marketing only served to confirm her preconceived notions, and friends’ posts on Facebook from UCSB do likewise.
I don’t think that U. of Richmond’s spiders helped their case much, and the jury is still out on how “greek” and how “southern” Vandy feels. The Fiske Guide’s description of guys in jackets and ties and girls in sundresses and pearls at Vandy football games did not sit well with her.
I’m in the process of finding schools to tour with D18. We are going to CO over spring break to look at U of Denver and CU Boulder. She is worried that neither school will have much diversity. That is not a stupid reason as diversity is one of her criteria. I told her that’s the reason to go tour, to see for herself.
But she found out that Boulder has a live buffalo that runs the field at games. She says she can’t go to a school that keeps a buffalo in captivity. Ugh!
Regarding football, my DS’s first choice (since he was a little boy) is Notre Dame. He wouldn’t even consider a football rival or a school with a football coach who he doesn’t like. (No to UMich, MichSU, USCal, tOSU, UAlamb, Clemson… the list goes on.)
Lewis and Clarke rejected because she didn’t like how they treated Sacagawea.
“Who would go to a school named a color?!”
And yet people apply every year not only to Brown, but to Auburn, Navy, and Siena. 
Lol. Guessing Washington & Lee isn’t on her list either?
Eons ago I went football games as a freshman- loved hearing the many sousaphones march around the field perimeter doing their “oompa” thing. People asked for mix when they wanted Cokes (to go with their clandestine rum in their hidden containers). So-so season. That fall the juniors told me that the team one its first game in 3 years their freshman year. Now the team does top 25 well and goes to Bowl games. Easy to ignore it though.
When our D was in the earliest stages of starting to look at schools, we went to a college fair. There were dozens of colleges and universities there with their colorful banners and glossy brochures. Initially, we just slowly walked around the huge gym before deciding which tables we wanted to spend time at asking questions. One school was ruled out immediately because of their mascot: my D couldn’t imagine referring to herself as a “Leatherneck”! :))
This is a hilarious thread! I remember my D being annoyed that UMBC had a retriever as their mascot. She felt a dog was not a good mascot. As if there’s some rule book on what makes a good one! Or that it matters in the slightest!
I thoroughly enjoyed our college visit to Florida State. Unseasonably cool, almost chilly spring day and we had a wonderful admissions tour guide. As we left, I smiled & asked my son what he thought and he said, " it seems hot." That’s it. Its seemed hot. He didn’t see many shade trees on the tour? He wouldn’t even fill out an application for Florida State.
Son is now a Florida Gator