Colleges you/child crossed off the list after visiting - Page 3

osdad · 10-09-2009, 10:35 AM

From DD's original list:

Boston University...there is no there, there.

Syracuse - but only after touring Cornell the next day.

Tuffs - too hilly and the food was bad.

sptch · 10-09-2009, 10:41 AM

Northwestern - after possibly the worst intro session ever, D refused to even go on the tour!!!!!!!!! U of Penn - didn't like the urban part, but loved the old campus.

AL34 · 10-09-2009, 10:42 AM

UIUC, wanted to love it, it's our state flagship and DS had the numbers to get in, but the admission/tour people really seemed to not care one bit if we liked the place. There was a vibe of "most of you can't get in here so let's just go through the motions." Dirty run-down buildings, awful parking for the visitor's tour, and the shining star, someone cleaning up vomit in the hallway during the dorm tour. Went from a definite apply to a "no way!"

Modadunn · 10-09-2009, 10:44 AM

As we can see, the tour guides have a little something to do with the appeal of a school to a kid. Funny was that son thought the tour guide at the school he now attends was a little bit of a tool. Imagine his surprise when the guy turns up as an FYI (first year intern) on the floor below him! And actually, he now sees that he just tries very hard but is in fact very genuine. The tourguide at Tufts had chosen the school for all the reasons son was looking for as well. He also really liked all the tradition of that school. Upon closer inspection after being admitted, he got the feeling there was a real divide between academics and athletes. Considering he easily could fit in either camp, he went for something where the lines blurred a little bit more.

Full make up by 9am? I can barely get there by 9pm on a Saturday night!

pixeljig · 10-09-2009, 10:49 AM

Thank you folks - Our Long list is (have not visited any so far)

Rice
Vandy
Emory, GTech
Santa Clara, USC
CMU

Maybe
UT, Trinity
U of Miami,UCF
Tulane

Son is interested in Math/Physics/Comp Sc, warm weather, rounded college experience. Not a partier but likes to hang out and meet new people.

Consolation · 10-09-2009, 10:51 AM

According to the kid...

Columbia: just too urban
Princeton: eating clubs, boring tour guide, etc
Amherst: "campus too new" (That one continues to puzzle me

I guess he is put off by construction.)
Cornell: campus too big
Northwestern: tour guide not intellectual, too fratty, too Big 10, info session unimpressive (only one with Power Point we ever saw, very whitebread and pre-professional in tone)

4gsmom · 10-09-2009, 10:56 AM

"Northwestern - after possibly the worst intro session ever"
"Northwestern: tour guide not intellectual, too fratty, too Big 10, info session unimpressive (only one with Power Point we ever saw, very whitebread and pre-professional in tone)"

Northwestern is my alma mater and I completely agree with both of you. Terrible info session for such a great school. Boring, boring, boring. Not an ounce of humor, levity or excitement. And then the worst tour in the history of college tours (but I had a huge thread about that here this summer...)

Modadunn · 10-09-2009, 10:56 AM

When son was down to picking a school we went to visit and son went to the library and hung out and we went to a game... it was in these places (vs the tour guide) that son really saw he would fit and find a lot of friends - both seem to be true. I agree that the overnights make a big difference or even if you spend a day, a night and maybe the next morning without staying in the dorm (because you never know who you might get stuck in a room with). Look at all the first year roommate issues kids face and that's after they know they want to go there!

BengalMom · 10-09-2009, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Not a partier but likes to hang out and meet new people.

Then I certainly wouldn't send him to Tulane.

Cornell -- too big, spread out.
Bates
Middlebury
Tufts -- that same feeling of REALLY not right.
Lewis & Clark --worst energy and feeling of any college we have ever visited.
Bowdoin -- too preppy
Whitman -- way too isolated (4 hours to the nearest airport???)

ttparent · 10-09-2009, 11:07 AM

Northwestern was also crossed off. We stayed downtown and took the subway out to the campus passing through a lot of rough urban stuff. I liked the tour, but my S seems to loose interest from the start and maybe a little intimidated by Chicago.

While we are on the subject, the best tour we had was WashU. I know a lot of people here on CC really hate WashU for their seemingly marketing crazy admission office. But we registered for a tour online 3 days before we fly over. They FedEx us a package including all kinds of travel info and a parking permit with map. We get there, and there is another package with our names on it and all the itinerary for the day spelled out and free lunch voucher at any of their dining hall. The tour guide has a special amplified speaker microphone, all colleges should have this device because we always had hard time hearing tour guides at other colleges. The engineering professor they had at the info session was impressive even if it sounded a little scripted. The new dorms and student center were very nice and definitely a big selling point.

Consolation · 10-09-2009, 11:10 AM

Mk kid did a 180 after attending the accepted students weekends at his two final choices. Everyone thought that he was practically born to go to the U of C. He ended up at Dartmouth. Quite a contrast!

JHS · 10-09-2009, 11:12 AM

Brown: Lovely, personable tour guide not intellectual enough, didn't know anything about the sculptures, talked up ease of walking to the mall.

Vassar: Campus nice, Poughkeepsie "really a dump".

Dartmouth: "And how is this different from Williams?" ("Williams" being code for "small and in the middle of nowhere with no off-campus life".) Library utterly empty on (drizzly) Saturday afternoon. (Really: utterly. Not a single person who wasn't being paid to be there. We weren't expecting to see a crowd.) Student center party seemed lame, action was clearly at frats.

Funny, people's different reactions. Lot of people seem not to have liked NYU, but after I toured it with my daughter both of us were ready to register then and there. Instead, she went to Chicago, but now she's living in the East Village post-graduation. And Cornell: "If I were picking a college based on sheer beauty, this would be it."

quilll · 10-09-2009, 11:12 AM

Northwestern--had the same reaction to the information session. How many times can you mention that David Schwimmer went there? My kid: who the hell is that? Very non intellectual vibe. Loved our tour guide though, but the school did not make the list.

Tufts seemed very full of itself, which was a turn off but the campus was charming as was the guide "Hang around after if you want and I'll tell you my SAT scores and where else I applied." Irresistible kid.

Clark--too earnest, and the town was icky.

Hampshire--very rural and everyone -- literally -- was smoking.

starbright · 10-09-2009, 11:29 AM

I know everyone can get different impressions from campus visits but I have found this thread one of the most useful on CC. Over time, if you read enough "unique" impressions, you really can get a vibe for what a campus culture is like (and its about the only way to get any sense of it except by visiting).

poetgrl · 10-09-2009, 11:31 AM

D visited only AFTER acceptances because she didn't want to want what she couldn't have.

Northwestern, "one bad example of every type of architecture ever designed. Too cold from wind off the lake." Too big

UNC-Chapel Hill-- Too big, but otherwise "I'd love it if I were the big school type."

Lake Forest--snore