BLY

I thought I loved Brown and Columbia. After I visited I decided that I hated both.

bigreddawgie

i went to miami, and wasnt that impressed. maybe it was cuz of their dorms. dunno

blondie08

i visited 27 schools, and liked about 4 of them enough to apply (luckily i got in ED to one, so it didn't matter). I remember I went to Colgate thinking it would be my top choice, and after the visit I concluded there was no way I would apply.

IBProcrastinator

I was very impressed when I visited William and Mary!

beanieboo

lafayette- discovered that small schools were NOT for me. even though now almost done with freshman year, i think i couldve liked it at a small school but oh well

NYU- i love the city but i need a campus. didnt even apply after i got into BC

columbia- once again i love NYC but i just wasnt that impressed, the campus seemed really small and the surrounding area wasnt as good as NYU

atrophicwhisper

Stanford just wasn't for me after I visited it.

Sandybeach

Visting a campus definately changes how you feel about it. I thought that I was in love with MIT, until I visited, and decided that I wasn't quite nerdy enough to fit in =) Not saying I have anything against nerds... I am one. haha... And there were other schools that were only okay on my list until I visited them and then bumped them up several places

lioninwinter

I thought I would fall madly in love with Amherst. My mother and I went to the info session before the tour we were scheduled for, and by the end of it, we were both thoroughly disenchanted. I don't even know exactly what it was about the campus, the speaker, or the student that made us react so strongly against it, but at the end of the info session, she whispered, "You know, there's no reason why we can't skip the tour". I responded, "Let's bolt!", and so we did.

I was actually very reassured by my visit to St. John's College in Annapolis. I loved the idea of the program, but I had been curious about the kind of students such an odd little college would attract- especially since I'm a relatively conservative person. But when I visited, they seemed pretty similar to the students I'd seen at all of the more conventional liberal arts colleges. Sure, there was more multi-colored hair, and a group of students playing a fantastic blend of country and Irish music in the quad, but these students were pleasantly quirky, not completely freaky.

uberduperdork

I was relatively neutral to Stanford until I visited (3 times on separate, academic/business related occasions). Although the campus was superficially gorgeous, the buildings' insides, the kids, and the atmosphere really turned me off. I ended up not applying, which saved me from that monstrosity of a supplement Stanford uploaded to commonapp.

Dorian_Mode

Upon initially visiting Notre Dame, I was sure that it would be an amazing school for me. When I stayed overnight after being accepted, though, the vibe bothered me a little bit. I was especially struck by the lack of diversity. It led to my eventual decision to pass on Notre Dame for Rice.

jackiesakura

well i already loved pomona, but visiting made me crazy about it. you could tell the students adored the school and studied hard.

marie3

Nice thread. My D embarks on college tours this summer and I am a bit wary of first impressions and turnoffs (especially smaller school and inactivity in summer) based on weather, mood, how much sleep she had the night before. I am almost inclined to pick it on paper so she doesn't fall in love with an expensive reach school or get turned off by one I think may be perfect match.. Last year son could not visit all that he was accepted to, so picked best one on paper. BTW, is complaining about the cold.
Any stories on people who totally missed mark by buying sight unseen?

jude_36

My D was thinking about Wheaton but lost interest after we visited.

momnipotent

DS wanted to go to Oberlin. We visited earlier in the year informally and the campus looked so appealing. At audition, after looking around at the students and faculty, we both gave it a thumbs down. Just don't think he would have fit in....even with music as a common denominator.

euclid

Had toured Rice during the summer and liked it. Attended Owl Days (session for admitted students) and felt they made no effort to make a personal connection to attendees. They offered to cover airfare, but we drove. You also had to pay a fee to attend. $35. for S and $10. for parent. We were only staying for the day portion because S didn't want to miss more school. So he got a $45. lunch. (I had to buy my own.) Is is usual to pay for these admitted student days? To be fair, S did like some aspects of Rice, but the overall good vibe was not there for him.