Unable to visit

Parent Cafe
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<p>In reading some of these posts and how some kids make their decisions on whimsical perceptions, it is like "deja vu all over again" for me. In the initial visits that my son went to, the rank order of the college was directly related to the type of fast food vendor that was in the college commons. First it was RPI with its Ben and Jerry's, then it was Penn State (as I recall) for its Chick-Fil-A. The irony is that his ultimate choice was in Ithaca where not only are neither of these present in the entire town but even the closest Dunkin Donut (another favorite) is about an hour away. Lots of trees and waterfalls though.</p>

<p>On a more OP-related note, while I suspect that some schools do discrimate against those who do not visit, I suspect it is mostly directed against those who live close enough to visit but who don't bother. Two of the very highly qualified members of my son's HS class were waitlisted by Lehigh most likely because they never bothered to visit even though they lived only a little more than an hour away. It was clear that they viewed Lehigh as a safety school and it was clear that Lehigh didn't appreciate this.</p>

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<p>I love your screen name--very clever.</p>

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<p>On a lighter note... The New York Times had a funny article today about virtual college visits. You might have to sign up to access the full article.
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/06/fashion/06Online.html?ex=1152849600&en=ab90ae935074f32e&ei=5070&emc=eta1%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/06/fashion/06Online.html?ex=1152849600&en=ab90ae935074f32e&ei=5070&emc=eta1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Excerpt:

[quote]
July 6, 2006
Online Shopper
2,200 Colleges, So Little Time (and Money) to Visit</p>

<p>By MICHELLE SLATALLA
OVER dinner at the Gun Club, a restaurant on the outskirts of a rural Midwestern town, my husband and I recently were congratulating ourselves on surviving the first day of a family trip to visit colleges when a text message arrived from our 17-year-old daughter.</p>

<p>"I'm sitting on the floor watching a vegan with tattoos eat nuts in a dorm room that smells like hamster, although none is present," my husband read aloud.</p>

<p>I paused, my knife poised to cut into a fillet of cornfed local beef, and asked, "Is that all she wrote?"</p>

<p>He scrolled down. " 'Help, get me out of here,' " he read.</p>

<p>"It seemed like a nice school to me," I said.</p>

<p>He wrote back: "It seemed like a nice school to your mother. Enjoy the overnight visit."</p>

<p>Then we both ordered another drink.</p>

<p>At least the restaurant was good. But this particular college clearly was not what guidance counselors would describe as "a good fit" for our daughter. We had traveled more than 2,000 miles from California, spent $900 on plane tickets to visit three schools, and here, at our first stop, we suddenly had to confront the possibility that the trip might be a bust.</p>

<p>What lay ahead? We had no idea, really, because all the guidebooks we had consulted heaped praise on the schools on our itinerary, failing to mention negatives — like crumbling concrete steps, leaky classroom ceilings or a pervasive smell of rodents — that greet visitors upon arrival.

[/quote]
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