Colleges you/child crossed off the list after visiting

Parents Forum
2581

<p>Cornell</p>

<p>He felt it was too big and impersonal. The street lights in addition to stop signs on campus make it feel like a big city school, and although there were some beautiful parts, including a spectacular waterfall on campus, there was a disconnect between old style stone architecture and ugly modern buildings. The curriculum also seemed too rigid to him, at least for the liberal arts program. </p>

<p>We also did a driveby of Ithaca College and were surprised by the architecture. Very modern, and it seemed like it would be more appropriate to a city school rather than a small town. It seemed cold and forbidding. Again, not what we expected from a small town school. By the way, my son is actually more interested in a city school, so it wasn’t that he was longing for a rural, small town environment. It’s just that both schools did not seem right to him.</p>

2582

<p>I’m a student, and I’m actually in the midst of a visit trip to the Northeast right now. I’ll add my experiences so far, along with schools I’ve been to on unrelated trips.</p>

<p>BOSTON UNIVERSITY: Had its ups and downs. The student reps and tour guides were friendly and helpful, but not really the most knowledgeable. The info session was highly informative; I liked that they gave equal weight to their “famous” profs (such as Elie Weisel) and those that the layman prospectives would not have heard of (one senior mentioned her Nutrition professor, who was friendly and lovable and gave her students the warm fuzzies, etc.). Tour didn’t cover all of campus, huge as it is, so I was bummed to miss out on seeing the performing arts facilities [it should be mentioned here that I’m into Acting or Theatre], but I rather liked the integration with the city. Also, the house/dorms on Bay State Road are idyllic and beautiful and charming to walk by. Loved the feel of the city and the school being a part of it. Will apply for sure. </p>

<p>EMERSON COLLEGE: First-rate. Great facilities, engaging guides, good-looking curriculum, excellent neighborhood right in the heart of the city. It also didn’t hurt that I was the only guy in the infosession and tour, with about 12-15 girls. The only things I found off-putting were the sophomore slaughter (BFA programs are whittled down to 16 by the end of soph year-- usually by natural selection, but sometimes through reassignment to the BA track), the graveyard across the street and visible from dorm windows, and the fact that the students working in the scene shop weren’t particularly friendly when our group passed through. But hey, nobody’s perfect. Will apply for sure. </p>

<p>FORDHAM COLLEGE AT LINCOLN CENTER: This one went down hard. Walking up 9th Avenue from our hotel, StrangeMom and I were a bit unnerved by the neighborhood’s unfriendliness and borderline grittiness. Yeah, I know-- welcome to New York-- but while we saw a lot of local color (bodegas and barbershops and delis) it just didn’t seem like a collegiate atmosphere at all. Once we got there, the security was brusque and unhelpful (we had to beg a summer student for help finding the room we wanted), the presentation was an uninspired PowerPoint, the hallways were cramped and the dorms dingy, and we didn’t get the chance to see any of the world-class facilities that one would come to Lincoln Center for. Combine that with the fact that I’m looking for a BFA anyways, and this one was summarily axed. Will not apply.</p>

<p>NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: What a difference 55 blocks makes. Greenwich Village is an amazing little neighborhood, and the ‘vibe’ felt much better right away. The presentation was, unfortunately, drab; what little information there was that I hadn’t already gotten from a wave of brochures, I missed when a hellacious case of jet-lag caught up to me and I dozed off. The tour was pretty good, though nothing special-- hit all the high points, including the library, student union, and Washington Square Park. Disappointed not to see dorms or theaters, but not a dealbreaker. One pet peeve was that they seemed to be aggressively pushing the new campuses in Shanghai and Abu Dhabi. That’s all well and good, but we’re here in New York right now. Will apply, in any case.</p>

<p>Now for the schools I visited when my sister was looking a few years ago:</p>

<p>CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY: Nice theater and other buildings; athletic facilities look good too. The ‘worst’ freshman dorms are mildly shabby suite-style doubles-- nothing unlivable. Orange is a nice midsized town with good freeway access to LA, SD, and the rest of Orange County-- the historic downtown is wonderful. Student body is laid-back and friendly like most Southern California institutions. Don’t know if their theatre program has the rigor or prestige that I want, but for now, it’s tentatively on the Will Apply list.</p>

<p>HARVEY MUDD: Quirky campus. Looked alright to me, but I’m not a fan of the location, and it’s the last place in the world for a theater major. Will not apply.</p>

<p>UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO: Lovely school with great ocean views and architecture. I don’t mind the overt Catholicism, but some might-- even so, it’s less evangelical in practice than Baylor, Pepperdine, or Wheaton (think Loyola Marymount or Xavier). Th ‘University of Spoiled Daughters’ stereotype is half true-- people here tend to be richer than Croesus, but are generally very nice people as well (very little snobbishness here). Surrounding neighborhood of Linda Vista is a bit seedy; don’t go off-campus alone at night. Ultimately, it doesn’t have the theater program I’m looking for. Will not apply.</p>

<p>There you have it! I’m visiting Skidmore and Bennington in the next two days, so those reports will be up here too. Hope this helps.</p>

2583

<p>Ack! Multiple post
</p>

<p>So, yeah, will update with Skid and Benn visit reports. In other news:</p>

<p>WILL BE VISITING:
Columbia College Chicago
DePaul
Chapman (officially)*
CSU Long Beach*
UCSB*

  • = hopefully</p>

<p>WILL APPLY SIGHT UNSEEN:
Texas Christian
UNC Greensboro
UNC Arts
Ohio University- Athens</p>

2584

<p>D disliked Stanford instantly since the buildings remind her of Taco Bell. Now if she said Chipotle which she prefers then I would know it’s a favorable impression! I pointed out all the beautiful tanned kids studying in glorious sunshine on the lawn, she turned up her nose and said she wanted to experience 4 seasons. Well, she is getting her wish
 The school she will attend in the NE is currently going through a heat wave, soon to be followed by hail and snow storm. I will hum Beach Boys songs to her when she battles icy sidewalks to get to class
</p>

2585

<p>^I love Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, but not the version sported at Stanford. For me the older buildings at Caltech make for about as beautiful a campus as you can get. (Especially in spring when everything is blooming.)</p>

2586

<p>D hated the “trees” at Stanford and then refused to see any other colleges on the west coast.</p>

2587

<p>mathmom - now that you mentioned it, maybe it’s just the Stanford version that she disliked. We also visited Scripps, another Spanish colonial Revival style, and we all think it’s a gorgeous campus.</p>

2588

<p>Unfortunately I didn’t “cross” the universities I didn’t like off my list because they were safeties, but if I’d known I would get into other universities that I liked, I definitely would have crossed Elon off the list. I wasn’t impressed with the tour guide. She had no passion whatsoever and the campus was far too quiet for my liking.</p>

<p>After a campus day at UNC Chapel Hill I wish I would have crossed it off as well. It was overcrowded and the faculty that I spoke to had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. It saddened me at the time because I loved my tour the year before, but now I wish I could that them because they drove me into the arms of a college I love.</p>

2589

<p>“the faculty that I spoke to had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.” </p>

<p>Do you really think it’s likely that widespread stupidity would be present in the faculty of UNC? Isn’t it more likely that you misunderstood what they were saying, or that they misunderstood a question they were asked? </p>

<p>Or someone expected them to know something that faculty members don’t really get involved with? I’m a college teacher, and I get asked all sorts of questions about the drop-add deadlines and the requirements for certain degrees
things that are easily found in the college catalog, and which can be discussed in detail in offices packed with abundant staff members who are paid to be experts on such issues.</p>

2590

<p>In defense of Wake Forest - have been on campus many times and do not recall ever seeing cigarette butts on the ground. I think it is a beautiful and well-maintained campus. I don’t doubt that you saw it, but I don’t think it is a typical sight.</p>

2591

<p>Just so you know the parents loved all of these schools- </p>

<p>our kids:
Ithaca- DTR- “Love this place but I won;t get in- darn maybe I would have met a cornell guy”
Skidmore- too expensive an unorganized staff
Kenyon- Beautiful School- too far away
James Madison- not diversified and too rural
Elan- Wonderful Campus- too southern- HA!
Muhlenberg-Nice Campus lousy town
Tufts- Too brainy
Wheaton (MA)- run like a private high school
BU- where is the campus? too big!
American U- too hot! too cold- (yes all in the same day- heck it’s D.C.!)
Penn State- I hate football
Dartmouth- Why bother I won’t get in

Syracuse- DTR- City is gloomy
Bates Bowdoin, Colby- S- “I decided I don’t care for Maine reminds me of a Stephen King novel”</p>

<p>Today prospective students are lucky they can do virtual tours and obtain feedback from many websites as well as the CC tour page. Back in 2002 we spent a tremendous amount of money visiting schools only to hear the above responses-. As a parent you live and you learn.</p>

2592

<p>We don’t really have the luxury of crossing it off our list since Syracuse offers tuition exchanges to 100% of the kids accepted who apply for it. The tuition exchange is what is enabling my S to go to college. However, he also thought the city of Syracuse was gloomy and bleak. We also thought some ofthe building interiors and dorms were a bit institutional looking. While I, personally, loved the older buildings, he did not care for them. Probably didn’t help that there was so much construction going on in the area (although I saw that as a good sign).</p>

2593

<p>Funny thing is you plop a kid down at any of those and after a year few would want to leave. Most well-adjusted people can find something pretty good about just about any decent college/town. City kids find the quiet and going to visit farmer’s markets and harvest festivals fun and new. Kids who never wanted to be in a city learn the joys of 24 hour restaurants and real bagels. All this “I don’t like this or that” is just noise. At 18 you don’t really know much about what you like or might like. You think you do.</p>

2594

<p>RockvilleMom: I agree that Wake Forest looked like a nice, well-manicured campus. It is probably number one on DS’s list. He plans to visit in the fall and spend the night with an incoming freshman from his h.s.</p>

<p>Anyone have any comments about W & L? It’s on DS’s list, but I don’t think we’'ll have time to visit before the scholarship ap deadline.</p>

2595

<p>Have a daughter at W&L and she loves it. Scholarship program gives out around 40 full rides (plus some partials) to freshmen which is a great number of merit scholarships for school that size. Beautiful small mountain town but it is a small town so social scene is all school driven. Greek involvement is high and though I do know students who don’t pledge, I’m not sure it would be the best fit for someone with zero interest in Greek life. However almost all parties are open and there is a school wide winter formal that’s like a prom on steroids that everyone attends. There are tons of student athletes and teams do well in their division.</p>

<p>If at all interested in politics, this year is a mock convention year
they have one every four years for party out of power and have an incredible track record for predicting nominees. Kick off in spring included national level speakers including Karl Rove (and a colonade shaped cake by Ace of Cakes). Interviews are required but can be done locally with an alum, which is what my daughter did. Demanding academics.</p>

<p>BTW
this was always her top school choice. She wasn’t interested College of Charleston or Wofford because they were “party” schools, yet W&L is one of top LAC party schools, probably cause of high greek numbers.</p>

2596

<p>W&L - I know the area well since my parents lived in Lexington for about ten years. It’s a pretty town, with cute shops, and a couple of not bad restaurants. I think it could start seeming small soon. There’s lots of nice hiking in the area and lots of horses. The college has a reputation for having a somewhat more conservative student body than average (at least in the opinions of the liberal profs my parents hung out with). The Virginia Military Institute is also in town. It’s now co-ed, but still feels very male. My son refused to consider it since its about 80% Greek.</p>

2597

<p>scmom12: Thanks for the W&L info. I had heard W&L was a party school, but then every school we’ve looked at is considered to be one. DS is not into politics and is more of a math guy - so the engineering major at W&L appealed to him.</p>

<p>mathmom: DS initially wanted a small college, but felt Davidson - the college and town- felt too small. I had heard that W&L had a bigger feel - maybe because of the law school?</p>

<p>DS is neither pro or con as far as Greek goes - don’t think that would be a deal-breaker. We would need DS to get a merit scholarship if he goes out-of-state, which he wants to do, but DS wants to stay in the SE.</p>

2598

<p>Davidson’s town is about the same size as Lexington. The W&L Campus may also feel bigger because it’s adjacent to VMI. I see from google maps they’ve expanded over to the river with a big new art gallery. There was plenty of evidence of much partying on Sunday mornings. (And therefore some prickly town and gown relationships.)</p>

2599

<p>SKIDMORE COLLEGE: Immediately, I could tell it wasn’t a fit— too much money flying around! Not just in terms of the steep cost of attending, either; the student body is ridiculously affluent (reflected by the surrounding houses, one of which is TWENTY-THREE THOUSAND SQUARE FEET) and has a reputation for being correspondingly snooty. I was kind of getting that vibe off the other prospectives on the tour— nothing will draw stares from that kind of crowd like work boots and a T-shirt in their midst. And although the tour guides were friendly and knowledgeable, and the campus pastoral and green, and the facilities state of the art… No BFA. Not my degree track = another one bites the dust. Will not apply.</p>

2600

<p>What private universties in the southeast are not pretentious - not overflowing with Richie Richies and the like? My son is a low-key, down-to-earth, middle class white boy looking for a school that offers diversity and top-notch academics - but his search is limted to NC, SC, VA, TN, and GA - mid-size 3,000 - 8,000. And preferably with an engineering school or major.</p>

<p>Crossed off USC (South Carolina), CofC, Davidson, UNC-Chapel Hill, Emory, Oxford, GA Tech, and UGA.</p>