Stupidest reason child won't look at a college

[CountingDown]

WOW on the squirrels -- S2 just saw the pictures and said, "mmmm...stew!" Might be a reason for him to apply! (gak)

Gong through the archway at UGA (at least when I was there in the dark ages when Russell Hall was a freshman guys' dorm) meant one of two things: 1) you wouldn't graduate; 2) you'd be sterile.

[snowball]

Not a college issue, but my son refused to live in a house in medical school because it was too close (a block away,) to a middle school classmate (a guy he got along with!) I tried to figure that one out but gave up; he was so serious about not living there.

[parentstwo]

Family went for a June visit to Houston a couple of years ago (we had lived there for several years a decade earlier). I drove DS through the Rice campus and suggested we visit the Admit Office. He refused even to get out of the car. "It's too hot," he said. I told him that it would not be that hot for most of the school year. It made no difference. He wouldn't get out of the car.

[lilmom]

S didn't want to look at schools w/o an In-N-Out Burger w/in walking distance.

[showmom858]

My youngest D (only a freshman in hs) has already decided she does not want to go to school outside of CA. She still has a few years to decide so I hope she will be more open to other choices when the time comes. This decision came after a friend of hers (they rode horses together) went to school last fall in North Carolina and only came home for Christmas break. My D then decided she didn't think she could be at a school that was so far away she couldn't come home at Thanksgiving.

[downtoearth]

NO all girl schools-too much estrogen and DRAMA. ? no boys less drama? OH well.

[Heron]

Those squirrels are terrifying! They are huge! I wouldn't go there either.

And I agree about the paper mill. Whenever anyone says "You'll get used to it," that's a really bad sign.

Reasons not to go to a school? Beware of "The Insider's Guide to Colleges." A discerning and/or determined teenager can find something terrible in just about every school.

[bird rock]

S didn't want to look at schools w/o an In-N-Out Burger w/in walking distance.

That is not a stupid reason at all. Your S sounds very wise. In fact I'm going to suggest that my son consider it.

[sueinphilly]

this is one of the funniest threads I read on here! I don't have any stories to share since my son only visited 2 colleges and he would have gone to both. I had to force him to apply to more than 2 (none of which we visited, but one was my financial safety school if all else failed)

[tk21769]

College A: Old girlfriend goes there.
College B: Old girlfriend could not get in there.
College C: Nobody I've ever known goes there.
College D: Too many kids I know go there.

[anxiousmom]

DD refused to attend UF (in part) because the lovely ponds on campus with live alligators in them - as in, unfenced ponds, with little signs, "beware of alligators" where the alligators could just casually crawl out and eat you up! There were other academic and social factors involved, but that was one reason she turned down the free-ride...

[Jamiecakes]

The main reason my son refused to apply to schools was because people at the information sessions were "weird" or "pretentious". How he could sense that people fell into these two categories, just by seeing them sit silently on chairs listening to the speaker, I don't know.

When I was reading him exerpts from this thread he laughed but also thought MOST of the reasons were perfectly reasonable and logical.

Of all these I loved "Taco Bell" architecture!

However, my favorite admissions story about my son was that he really scorned a certain prestigious school as the "community college of the Ivies". Then he got rejected there!! The irony was so hilarious. We still tease him about being rejected at a 'community college!'
He thinks it is even funnier than we do-->and he will NEVER live it down, we have looooong memories. The bigger they (think) they are the harder they fall!

[vicariousparent]

JHS: Thx for the clarification...those kind of sculptures are a bit more interesting.

GA2012Mom: No, not UGA. I forget exactly what and where but every college tour seems to have some superstition like that..there is a stone slab you are not supposed to step on in Georgetown, some gates you don't pass through at Princeton/Brown, etc.

Oh, and to any would-be tour guides reading this: EVERY college library can get you ANY book through some kind of inter-library-loan service if they don't carry it. That does not make your college unique.

Now back to the original topic...

[colmomto2]

DD refused to attend UF (in part) because the lovely ponds on campus with live alligators in them - as in, unfenced ponds, with little signs, "beware of alligators" where the alligators could just casually crawl out and eat you up!

The ones at Lake Alice are especially huge. What they don't tell you on the UF tour is that Lake Wauburg, the official recreation lake for swimming, sailing, canoeing, etc. for UF faculty, staff, and students, is FILLED with alligators. Yes, the swimming area has alligators swimming all around it. You should hear the bull gators bellowing at Lake Alice around breeding time. Despite that, I think I'm more afraid of the squirrels at Michigan.

[QuakerOats415]

i love the "skidmore" one... the name is a little... messy...