<p>Mostly from observation, walking around the campus by ourselves pre or post the tour, and I found tours more helpful than info sessions.</p>
<p>Yup, me too. I felt like whatever particular marketing schtick a school had came through loud and clear, one didn’t need to attend the info session to not miss out on it. In the future, I think I may skip info sessions, focus on tours and try to meet with a couple of students who aren’t official guides.</p>
<p>I think hanging around the student center (beyond just seeing it on the tour) provides a lot of useful info. Are students alone or in groups? Do the groups seem diverse? Do students generally look at ease or worried? What is on the bulletin boards? Where is the energy? Of course, you have to mentally adjust this all for things like time of day and time of year (such as right before finals) but it helps.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl- could you possibly send a link to the thread you were referring to? Thanks!</p>
<p>Thanks MDDad and others for the comments on Washington College. We’ll look into it a little more now!</p>
<p>I toured a whopping 16 schools w/ my son (more than half of those were seen during his 2-week junior-year spring vacation. Our approach and my opinion matches pizzagirl’s. We did a school a day – the info session, a tour, lunch (at a table w/ students), hanging out at a student center, and my son also sat in on a class in his intended major and met w/ a prof, both of which he arranged himself before visiting (I took care of the travel arrangements). If nothing else, it was useful to pin down the admissions emphasis in the info session so that if my S decided to apply, he could tailor his “why this school” supplemental essay to fit the school’s self-reflection. </p>
<p>Besides that, I do think that it’s possible to pick up on the school’s ethos in these sessions. That was also true when my S applied to private high schools. He turned down admissions to one of the top 10 nationally ranked schools because in their info session that kept emphasizing that they create leaders (including one NY governor who was later shamefully ousted from office). The school also has a reputation for being a cut-throat pressure-cooker. The school he chose instead emphasized how they want balanced students who are not just academically challenged but also emotionally nurtured. They also emphasized their interdisciplinary approach to learning. They lived up to all they advertised in their info session.</p>
<p>In the schools that I’ve toured with my S, I think that the smaller the tour size, the better. The large tours are really only good for access to a dorm. These tour guides really seem like seasoned professionals and have been very perky. Typically, I’ve found that it’s easy to tour individual buildings on your own that you’re interested in (such as a specific academic building).</p>
<p>The best tours are the small ones were you’re able to ask the relevant questions (i.e., the drinking culture, strictness, competitiveness, difficulty in getting into classes you want). I also tend to ask what other schools the guide considered to get a feel for how closely my S matches with their college expectations. These are questions that I typically ask when I have the guide alone, such as while we’re walking, so that s/he can answer more privately.</p>
<p>I take the info session with a large grain of salt. Sometimes I’ll sit there and wish I could be the one applying, other times, the session just blends in with all the others. At this point, I’m so tired of hearing about study abroad programs.</p>
<p>Vandygrad (post 2705), here is the link I was referring to: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/901466-8-colleges-4-days-how-i-spent-my-spring-break.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/901466-8-colleges-4-days-how-i-spent-my-spring-break.html</a></p>
<p>But I have more than 8 colleges described in there. I was trying to distinguish between impressions of the students and impressions of the values expressed by the college through their presentation and overall feel.</p>
<p>To Schmaltz’ point upthread about a college having a foreign language requirement: Yes, you’re correct that many colleges might have a foreign lang requirement on the website, clear as day. But one college might not mention that at all (or simply say “We have a list of dist requirements”), but another might talk about that language requirement in the context of being a global citizen, or the importance of studying abroad, or from a diversity appreciation standpoint, or from a “we offer unique languages” standpoint, or from a “we offer houses / living for students who wish to practice that language all the time.” Whether and how that requirement is discussed does say something about the school.</p>
<p>“Sometimes it is even more obvious. When we visited Boston College, we expected a gorgeous campus (based on the pictures on the web site), and expected sort of a progressive Jesuit vibe, kind of a philosophical, intellectual approach to learning. Well, there were some beautiful buildings, but also a lot of what we thought were very plain and even ugly buildings. Not at all the campus we imagined.” </p>
<p>On our 22-colleges-in-6-days trip, Boston College stood way out from the crowd–even in the rain. I’m an alumnus and have been talking about it for years, and the kids (being natural contrarians) were all set to hate it. But it was so much better even than I remembered it, and it shot to #1 on both kids’ dream lists. Only Wellesley was prettier. There are 5 separate parts to the campus, but almost all the classes are on the picturesque “Middle Campus” (the other sections have dorms and athletic facilities). If you gave all 5 sections equal time, I can see why you didn’t like it. Also, there is significant construction/remodeling going on, and that doesn’t help its appearance.</p>
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<p>“That’s not a bad thing - just different from what we expected. We would never have gotten this information from the web site or other literature we read about it.”</p>
<p>I agree that a campus visit is crucial for a lot of reasons (vibe, surrounding area, etc.)…I was saying that getting the answers to simple policy or curriculum questions (e.g., foreign language rqmt) isn’t one of those reasons.</p>
<p>“I agree that a campus visit is crucial for a lot of reasons (vibe, surrounding area, etc.)…I was saying that getting the answers to simple policy or curriculum questions (e.g., foreign language rqmt) isn’t one of those reasons.”</p>
<p>I see where you are coming from, and do agree with this. It would get annoying in info. sessions when questions were asked that were clearly listed on the websites. </p>
<p>As for your comments about Boston College, I was not trying to diss it. Just wasn’t what my son was looking for.</p>
<p>“I was not trying to diss it”</p>
<p>No problem. I guess I was mistaken…when you said they had a lot of plain and ugly buildings, I thought you meant that in a negative way.</p>
<p>I needed that. LOL</p>
<p>We just returned from a trip to California, and a tour of Caltech. Expectations were low - a small, techy school, so we assumed not much too look at. We were blown away - such a beautiful, well tended campus in a lovely area. Not too many students around, but from what we could tell, it appeared to be a nice mix of folks. Amazed at the number of Nobel prize wNow very high on S’s list.</p>
<p>I finally get that I shouldn’t make assumptions about any school and a visit to campus is an essential part of the process.</p>
<p>“We were blown away - such a beautiful, well tended campus in a lovely area.”</p>
<p>I liked CalTech too. I thought its best feature was the campus’s plain and ugly buildings, followed closely by the crappy sports and the carpal-tunnel-inducing social life.</p>
<p>Schmaltz, I don’t know what bone you have to pick, but leave my posts alone!</p>
<p>I’ve kept quiet for 2 years about the Caltech bashing, but enough is enough. Please, spell correctly: Caltech.</p>
<p>Some positives: the House system. where everyone who wants can be included in the residential system. If not, there is Avery, a less social house, or, one can live in an off-campus apt. owned by the U. Kids arrive a week before term begins, and live in temporary housing. They spend the week in each house, and then make their choices. House committees make their choices, and everyone matched. By then, kids chose their own roommate or a single.</p>
<p>Social life starts with the House, with group dinners. Barbecues, beach trips, hiking, biking, movies in House and off. School sends buses to take kids to local theaters when special movies premier. Lots of group activities. hook-ups and alcohol not promoted.</p>
<p>Lots of ECs. Yes, anyone can join a sports team or the newspaper or a musical group, or write a play and have it produced. Watch Caltech Hoops to get a flavor of the team spirit. The president of college, Dr Baltimore, & his wife, were active fans of the BB teams.</p>
<p>Getting research experience and paid jobs is rather easy. Pay quite good.</p>
<p>Honors system. Almost all tests taken in one’s dorm room. A few UGs are on the committee, and meetings can be scheduled at midnight to avoid gossip. Very thoughtful decisions. Not unusual to see expensive toys left around and no one steals. When someone found a cell phone, they called “mom’s” number, thinking “mom” could identify whose phone it was and they could return.</p>
<p>First year: 2:3 terms are pass/fail. Very flexible with dropping courses a few weeks from finals.</p>
<p>Lots of quirky, funny kids. Exceptional alumni.</p>
<p>Good weather, beautiful campus. More plants and trees than most. Buildings unique except for 3 plain dorms.</p>
<p>Schmaltz, I know BC quite well, lived nearby for many years. Hard to imagine that any kid would consider both colleges. Still, I’d never bash BC. Its a great place for many.</p>
<p>“No problem. I guess I was mistaken…when you said they had a lot of plain and ugly buildings, I thought you meant that in a negative way.”</p>
<p>I was debating whether to ignore the sarcasm or not, but decided to address it. When I claimed I was not trying to diss BC, I was not saying that my son or I thought it would be a bad choice for the right student. It just wasn’t for my son. </p>
<p>And yes, the plain, tan/gray 60’s architectural style of many of the buildings was not our cup of tea. Some of the buildings were gorgeous. Many were not. Just like on every college campus. Some people like Georgian, some like Gothic, some like modern, etc. Everyone has different tastes. Ultimately the type of education, not the building style, is what’s important, and the vibe of the place is what my son didn’t like.</p>
<p>Isn’t this thread supposed to be about dissing colleges? I think you’ve got to work pretty hard to get offended at anything on here.</p>
<p>I crossed off Georgetown after visiting. For as much money my family would be expected to pay, I was really disappointed in the campus. The buildings didn’t match, and they didn’t look very well maintained. Then I thought, well, if the insides of the buildings are nice maybe it won’t matter. But our tour went inside the music building for a second, and boy was it dumpy! My local state university’s music building looks better than that did!</p>