Colleges you/child crossed off the list after visiting

Parents Forum
2541

<p>We also went to the following schools and liked them after the visit. It turns out that it was 14, not 15. (I did say "approximately!). </p>

<p>Mass-
U Mass Dartmouth-applied, and accepted
D applied only because we made her apply to a state school. It was not her favorite, but she said that she would go 'if she didn’t get in anywhere else". She was accepted to the honors college, and received significant merit award.</p>

<p>WPI- applied, accepted, attending.
Her favorite since her first visit in the fall of her Junior year.She loved everything about the school- the campus, the project based curriculum, the opportunities for minoring in Spanish, global projects, the other students, etc. She will be attending in the Fall.</p>

<p>Northeastern-did not apply
She liked it much more than BU, but not enough to apply.</p>

<p>Tufts-did not apply
Liked the campus and the program, but when application time came around, decided that she would not attend even if accepted, and did not apply.</p>

<p>New York-
Union College- applied, accepted
Loved it. We went back several times, met students, coaches, and faculty. It was her top choice for a while. In the end, she felt that it was too limited for engineering, and would not have many other options if she wanted to do something besides Mechanical Engineering.</p>

<p>Pennsylvania-
Villanova- applied, accepted
She Like Villanova after the visit. In the end, she felt the engineering program was weak, and financially, they gave basically no merit aid, and no financial aid.</p>

<p>Lehigh- applied, wait listed
She really liked everything about Lehigh, but decided to withdraw from the wait list, and attend WPI.</p>

<p>U Penn
Did a drive by. She liked the campus better than Drexel (even though they are right next door to each other), but decided not to apply.</p>

2542

<p>Bryn Mawr College- Did the tour and info session today. DD loved it. Now one of her top choices. </p>

<p>Haverford- very nice campus, just drove through it since it is part of the Trico consortium with BMC.</p>

<p>Villanova- Not on her list, but drove around to check it out. It was a pretty nice campus.</p>

<p>Delaware- None of us liked it. Now crossed off the list. DD was considering the Honors college per Mom’s suggestion. It looked much nicer on their website and their brochures.</p>

2543

<p>Amherst - very arrogant - the only school to not send us mail after a visit - then we received a directed recruiting letter because of D’s writing skills - did not apply.</p>

<p>NYU - wonderful but did not apply because of reputation for poor financial aid.</p>

<p>Hamilton - very impressed - stunning campus - but very remote - did not apply</p>

<p>Mt Holyoke - offended by tour - offended by presentation - 1st D applied anyway - got a 21st century scholars - declined.</p>

2544

<p>Wow, akebias, offended?? May I ask how/why? Of all the adjectives to describe a reaction to a school, that’s just such an intriguing one…</p>

2545

<p>Yeah, akebias, did the people taking the tour at Mt. Holyoke have to carry the tour guide around in a sedan chair, or what?</p>

2546

<p>Offended - well… Mt Holyoke did nothing but carry on about diversity - we are a multi-cultural family - if you have to talk about it that much, there has to be a problem - steam was coming out my daughter’s ears by the end of tour and presentation.</p>

<p>Tour guide - was a little barbie doll who carried on about diversity as well and then capped it off by telling us that even in a single sex college there was plenty of opportunity for social activity … and if you have to date someone of the opposite sex - you can!</p>

2547

<p>After visiting several campuses where D was so so about them she visited NovaSoutheastern in Fort Lauderdale and was impressed with their campus and they became her number one choice.</p>

<p>However, we are from the UK (here legally on a visa) and there were certain differences between D and other US applicants. NSU could not get their head around our situation - although I can’t beleive that they had never received an application from someone other than a US citizen before. We sent them all our paperwork when requested. Sometimes they would send it back telling us they did not need it, then someone else would request it again. They never answered her emails or returned telephone calls. She never received a ‘final’ financial package from them. She quickly lost interest in them although she did contact the admissions counsellor and tell them of the problems she had experienced and that she had now lost interest in them. She received a phone call from the head of admissions apologizing for how they had treated her.</p>

<p>She now receives mail/emails from them welcoming her to NSU, honors program, planned events, reminding her of deadlines, deposits required etc etc.</p>

2548

<p>Just finished 3 visits yesterday and today, and 2 haven’t made the cut:</p>

<p>Merrimack in North Andover - pretty, but so tiny! could walk across campus in a few minutes!</p>

<p>Babson - too intense! DD said she couldn’t see herself there - what would she talk to all those intense, competitive b-school students about?</p>

2549

<p>My daughter wants an urban environment, we’ve been casually looking for a while, started last summer in earnest (well, for us). </p>

<p>We went to Columbia (would have been a major stretch, but we were in NYC) last week, my daughter strongly disliked the rigidity of their core curriculum program. </p>

<p>We visited Emory in April, couldn’t quite pinpoint why but she did not like it at all. The info session was rambling/unfocused, started late, just rubbed us the wrong way.</p>

<p>Washington University, first college we visited, I LOVED it, she decided against it. Again, a vibe or something, wish I could get her to better articulate why.</p>

<p>Tufts, visited last summer on the way to a summer at Brown program, went with my husband so I didn’t see it. Didn’t like the suburban feel I guess.</p>

<p>Not really arguing with her choices, we are happy to cross some off the list!</p>

2550

<p>5 day tour of 5 schools (did official tours of 4, drive by of one.) </p>

<p>DD’s impressions. </p>

<p>BU - Love at first sight. Loved the buildings, loved the info session, loved the tour guide, loved the students she saw whom were attending orientation. Loved Boston! Ha </p>

<p>Hofstra - Hated. Our info session was led by a young man whom told us that they were STILL accepting applications for the class of 2011…today! We all looked at each other like “desperate much?” Then, our tour guide walked around, forgetting the names of things and various facts until she broke down and told us that she had gotten no sleep because she had stayed up all night watching the new Harry Potter Movie! The funny thing is that DD had too, but she was 1000 times more awake than this young lady giving the tour. I thought DD would like this school, as she’s keen on Broadway and NYC, but the 6 lane highway down the middle of campus was the final straw. Off the list…</p>

<p>George Mason - What an interesting school! Presentation - Excellent. Campus tour- Excellent. Campus - beautiful! Still on D’s list. </p>

<p>George Washington U - It was way too urban for me, but of course that means that D liked it! ha Wants to do more research into her program before she decides she loves it, but she really really liked it. Info session was really good, and Admissions Big Wig (don’t know her official title) took the time to do some research for us personally when there had to be 100 plus people there. Our tour guide was very hard to hear over the rumblings of cars and the construction going on in DC at this time of year, but D loved what GWU has to offer so it’s solidly on the list for now. </p>

<p>Drive by at UConn. Just a question - how does one get up and down those hills approaching campus and live? Wow! Those are some hills! I thought D wouldn’t want to apply as we saw how rural and “out there” it was, but to my surprise she thought it was beautiful and she did not discount it at all. Definitely going back for a follow up visit. </p>

<p>Thanks for all of your comments in this thread. I think the person whose son rejected a particular college because they didn’t make his grilled cheese sandwich correctly takes the cake! I told that one to my DH and DD and they laughed and laughed - and AGREED that food is a valid con! ha ha :)</p>

2551

<p>CalTech (too small), Brown, MIT (not impressed with the campuses)</p>

2552

<p>For a while we thought our D was going to have to apply only to colleges she hadn’t seen: after trips up& down the West Coast she didn’t like ANYTHING in CA (Stanford, UCB, Santa Clara, Oxy, any Claremont, CalTech, others…) or OR/WA (UO, Reed, L&C, Will, Whit, UW)</p>

2553

<p>tigerdad and dizzycat,</p>

<p>What schools <em>did</em> your children like? Tigerdad, what makes a campus impressive in the eyes of your child(ren)? Feel free to pm me if this is off topic.</p>

2554

<p>“I thought D wouldn’t want to apply as we saw how rural and “out there” it was, but to my surprise she thought it was beautiful and she did not discount it at all.”</p>

<p>Both my daughters also inexplicably liked UConn even though it matched few of their criteria. Agree that it’s hard to believe that a major university in a state as small as Connecticut could be THAT isolated. After having seen Lehigh, the hilliness of UConn is nothing.</p>

2555

<p>dizzycat, that’s a long list of rejects. Did she find anyplace she liked?</p>

2556

<p>S disliked NYU. Thought it had no real college campus feel. All the Claremont colleges were crossed out due to their undesirable location.</p>

2557

<p>

This was my D too (with the exception of 1 school). She ended up applying to those that looked good on paper or appeared to be a safety. We could not follow the excellent advice of “love thy safety” as a result. After acceptances and visits she found one she really liked (Hampshire) and one that was ok/good (SUNY New Paltz). So it all worked out, just not in the typical order of things.</p>

2558

<p>She liked plenty of schools; it was just that they were all East Coast, and she started out saying she wasn’t going to be like her brother & go so far away. Which is why she will be going to the same school her brother just graduated from.</p>

2559

<p>Got it! That makes sense.</p>

2560

<p>My son rejected Conn College saying “the buildings are too grey”. I ridiculous statement, but the truth was I don’t think it would have been a good fit. I think some times they don’t know how to articulate their real feelings so they come up with foolishness like “too grey”!</p>