<p>Kiss of Death: Furman for its inflexibility while hub and D2 were on-site as well as completely mismatching my math/sci daughter with an art student at lunch.</p>
<p>Kiss of Death: University of Tennessee, Knoxville for unending red tape. One example: they could not find our FAFSA and told us we didn’t submit it but then eventually found it. That, plus housing stress, huge classes, a completely bizarre mishmash of honors programs, and more had us running away from our flagship public university.</p>
<p>Comment about Furman surprising to me. I actually thought they had the one of the most thorough visit programs of any school we visited, including class in S’s intended major, meeting with the Department Head, lunch with a like-minded student-who also did not drink-and two well organized tours. Nice, short, presentation by Admissions, too. Very well done, and welcoming to us.</p>
<p>While it is unlikely my S would have been accepted, he didn’t even apply to Stanford after our visit. First, the campus is HUGE and the tour that we went on was structured to leave you off at a totally different spot from where you started. They gave us vague directions back, but we ended up wandering around for quite a while, even with my husband, who is usually great with directions. Once we finally got back, we found that our car had been broken into in a patrolled lot in front of the admissions office. Spoke with campus police and they told us that there is a lot of on-campus theft.</p>
<p>Following up on jsrcmom’s post, [Literal] kiss of death at Stanford: A dead squirrel on the sidewalk at Stanford. Tour guide, “Uh, you might want to step over that.”</p>
<p>The squirrel was not simply dead, it was desiccated and flattened. If Spock had filed a report on it, it would have been, “Captain, tricorder readings indicate that this squirrel has been rendered two-dimensional, as if by some immense force.” </p>
<p>It’s funny how people have different experiences at the same schools.
When I think back to the kisses of death from the schools we have visited over the last decade , I recall my oldest being annoyed that the info session at BU had an alum staff speaking. He was a business major and former hockey player that had no idea how to answer her questions about film majors.</p>
<p>Second daughter took a tour at Wheelock and was told by the student tour guid that the food was so good, she gained 20 lbs in her first year !</p>
<p>Probably the worst was our youngest ( who is currently in the application process ) toured Bloomsburg. The guy in the info session told us the avg GPA of their applicants was a 2.7…he was also an undergrad student who was a little old to still be there.
There was a tour guide who told us about the area had great shopping , like Home Depot and KFC …yes
And then there was the fist fight between two girls outside the dorm.</p>
<p>We were met by a current student from the program that she was interested in. She was very nice and arranged for us to meet the head of the department who was visibly irritated by our presence, despite it being pre-arranged. She was rude to my husband and I because we turn to look at the ASL interpreter that was translating to us…honestly, we had no idea that was a no no. That was the one and only negative experience we have had from the four schools that have her intended major…everyone else bent over backwards to make us all feel welcome </p>
<p>University of Richmond, perfect fit on paper, beautiful campus, but a big turn-off. We did not even finish the tour. D turned to me and said " I could never go to school here." Tour guide had a snobby heir, as did the other students on the tour. I was thinking the same thing and was delighted she felt the same vibe.<br>
Wake Forest and Elon, loved everything about them except the emphasis on Greek life. No interest in joining a sorority. Not against Greek life, just not her thing. </p>
<p>Upthread, someone posted about their negative experience at RIT. We were there in September for their open house. We were sent to NTID since that is where our daughter is interested in applying. We had a great experience, with the exception of the housing tour. We skipped out on that one , but the rest of the day was very catered to the specific program. There were current students and faculty that were welcoming and very helpful. They had lunch with us and answered a lot of questions. Had she gone on a day that didn’t have the event, she probably wouldn’t have had a great feel for it since she isn’t like a lot of the general student population there</p>
<p>D loved RIT, so much so, it’s her second choice. Fantastic tour guide, friendly atmosphere, modern classrooms, dorms are not that great but not awful. She has been back three times and it felt “right” every time. Interview on second visit went well, faculty was very welcoming. Stayed on campus to get true view of what life would be like. </p>
<p>University of Virginia: The information session was excessively dull and non-informational. Kept repeating common-sense knowledge about the common app. Barely learned anything about the school, except they had a study abroad on a cruise ship option (which was cool, until they mentioned it for like the 3rd time). The tour guide was average, but mentioned the lack of air conditioning and the 300+ introduction classes, which definitely crossed it off the list for me.</p>
<p>NYU/BU: The fact that there was a lack of a hub for central activity and that there was no campus. It was all embedded in the city itself. It was a huge turn off.</p>
<p>George Washington University: After seeing the price tag of the school, immediately crossed it off. Not affordable for me or my family. Tour guide was average, same issues as NYU/BU</p>
<p>Boston College/Tufts/Bucknell: Primarily the campus itself was a big turn-off. In all three cases, the campus was way too hilly and people giving the tours seemed to be those of the upper-middle class. BC was quiet, gated, and too church-like for me. Tufts’ dorms didn’t impress me that much and was undergoing construction, but perhaps the rainy day had something to do with it. Bucknell seemed too focused on fraternity/sorority life. Didn’t stand out.</p>
<p>Haverford/Wesleyan/Connecticut College: See above comment on preppiness in dress/attitude. Also, seemed too small/like high school</p>
<p>Fordham Lincoln Center: Campus was too small, was too enclosed for me. It was cool that they had underground tunnels, but I couldn’t imagine spending 4 years of my life there.</p>
<p>Even though I was somewhat picky in my college choices, I have finally found a college that was a perfect fit. Go figure, it happened to the be last tour on the list ;)</p>
<p>Personally, I hated Yale. There was no useful info given at the session, furthermore, the session was given by students. The next was Columbia, too many damn requirements, it was them that I learned about this “core”, which i hate, but that is just my personal case.</p>
<p>^^ Yale’s was an interesting case for me. They didn’t really talk that much about student life but more about the history of the school. I found it interesting and I suppose it makes sense for them since they get so many tourists in addition to regular prospective students.</p>
<p>We attended Open House and I was embarrassed for JMU. My son was turn off within 30 minutes of arriving on campus an we left after 90 minutes. Things were not organized. It was a cold day and all of the student volunteers remained inside of the buildings. There was not any assistance while walking the grounds. You had to enter a building ask directions or get information.
We left Open House early and no one including the bus drivers could tell us were to caught the shuttle bus back to the parking lot. So we just walked to our vehicle.
The professor representing the Department of Integrated Science and Technology did a poor job representing the program. He contradicted himself as to whether a student could double major and left us guessing about companies that recruit JMU students for co-ops/internships. He also stated the program was ABET accredited but Engineering was not. The Engineering Department said they were ABET accredited. Integrated Science and Technology has been at the school for 21 years and Engineering 7. Neither program seemed to have a strong alumni support or networking opportunities.
I have lived and worked in Virginia for a very long time. I have met JMU graduates from the school of business and social work that were more than competent in their field of study. JMU is a better school than what was represented at Open House. My son is not convinced. If anyone is considering JMU, I would skip Open House.</p>
<p>OP here. I have found all of your posts so interesting. Especially how some schools tours and info sessions. can be kiss of death for some but others love them. Except Northwestern. Seems to be a consensus that the deadly dull session combined with the point in in the general direction but don’t go in to any building tour is awful. Obviously they don’t care though and most people can look past it. For my kid though NW is so close they would have had to make a great presentation to overcome her reluctance. Sigh. I would have loved her to be that close and I think it would have been a good fit. Would gave made things much easier ( no plane travel…easy to get her stuff when she needs it…home for religious holidays. Etc…) darn you " couldn’t give a darn attitude". </p>
<p>Georgetown: I originally had no interest but was forced to tour by my parents and actually loved it when I toured. I actually applied, but when I had my alumni interview, all my interviewer focused on was how NOT diverse the school was! He said that it was pretty much all rich white Christians, and his whole attitude towards it was such a turn off. Even if it’s true, I have no idea why an interviewer would speak so poorly of the school.</p>
<p>George Washington: Opposite of Georgetown, I expected to like it but ended up hating it after my tour. Really didn’t like the two campuses thing, and my tour guide had nothing positive to say about the school.</p>
<p>Brown: The tour and waiting area for the tour all felt very pretentious and preppy, which was a no go for me. The icing on the cake was the fact that my tour guide was majoring in medieval studies </p>
<p>@halfemptypockets, Are you talking about Wellesley, outside Boston? That just doesn’t seem to match what we saw there at all!</p>
<p>-We have been on many tours, and none excluded parents. One (Guilford) split the parents and students up into two different groups, but other than that every tour we’ve been on had parents. I am not sure I’ve seen any kids on their own. I’d imagine you might find more students without parents at regional or more commuter type schools, close to the student’s home…just a guess. Most tours seems to be built into a family vacation in one way or another. We have gone on a couple where we toured at a different time than our D, since she was sitting in on a class, etc. </p>
<p>-FSU (Florida State) got crossed off our list after visiting and finding that the Anthropology dept was located in a run down shopping center off campus. </p>
<p>I think often the seemingly ‘little’ things that get schools crossed off the list, are really just one of a list of things, or something that stood out enough to note at a school that just doesn’t feel right. Even if students won’t deal with admissions after being admitted, one would think that is where they’d out their best foot forward, and that it is indicative of how administration works at the school. After all, on a brief visit, that is all we really have to go by.</p>
<p>My D1 liked the Northwestern tour. It was a stifling hot day, and the admissions info session was packed. You would think that would be two strikes against it to start. She liked that the session was held in an old room, as if to make the point that they didn’t spend a lot of money on a fancy auditorium just for admissions (cough, DePaul, cough). The guide was so good that D had no problem with not going in the buildings. She didn’t apply because she didn’t think the major was a good fit, but she still loves the school.</p>
<p>@jara123 - you seem to be expecting a lot from colleges. Keep in mind they are just institutions made up of people that frequently make mistakes. I wouldn’t turn down a school because some grunt worker screws up a presentation. You should be looking at the bigger picture. </p>
<p>Knox. They signed my very shy kid up for an interview and a meeting with a professor when she hadn’t asked for them. She has just requested a tour, info session, and to sit in on a class. Classic example where they are all extroverts and just assumed this would be fine. It wasn’t. She crossed them off her list before we left campus. Heck, as soon as she saw the schedule they gave her when she checked in.</p>
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