<p>I do think there is a difference. While it is quite reasonable to “cross a college off a list,” for whatever reason, it is quite another thing to call it “ugly” and “crappy.” What happened to civility? I cannot imagine disparaging any college…all are chartered to educate, enrich, and serve a noble purpose that we should applaud.</p>
<p>Thanks, GMM.</p>
<p>I don’t think Schmaltz made it to Pasadena in his 6 day tour of New England schools. He was having fun. He probably didn’t know what state Caltech is. He may have confused Olin with Caltech, another of those techy schools.</p>
<p>Please, let this thread return to genuine reflections on college visits.</p>
<p>I’ve visited Cal Tech.</p>
<p>UNC Wilmington. Vibe of the school was kinda pretentious, and that was confirmed when the financial aid officer became very rude after finding out we were out of state. I’m not applying there anymore.</p>
<p>Was just informed by a kid that he has written off an entire state due to unpleasant experiences at a Chipotle’s and Burger King franchise.
This was said in all seriousness.
Fortunately, there is plenty of time to turn that around, and I just ignored the comment.</p>
<p>For those of you who don’t read well, let me reconstruct the situation.</p>
<p>In post 2699 maggiedog said BC had “a lot of what we thought were very plain and even ugly buildings.”</p>
<p>Having just visited there a few weeks ago, and being very familiar with the school, I mentioned in post 2710 that my family and I thought it was among the most beautiful schools we saw on our recent 22-college tour. I graciously acknowledged that if she wasn’t familiar with the 5 distinct portions of the campus, she might have spent an inordinate amount of time on the portions that are less scenic, and that it was the part where the classes are that is thought to be especially pretty.</p>
<p>Then she gives me the disingenuous “I wasn’t trying to diss [BC]” line in post 2712.</p>
<p>Which I made sport of in post 2713.</p>
<p>Then g-mom mentioned Cal+ech (2715), and I thought I’d borrow maggiedog’s approach of “non”-dissing a school by calling it ugly, followed by other equally ridiculous “compliments” about the sports and social life. </p>
<p>I thought y’all would get the joke, but I guess I was wrong.</p>
<p>Though CALtEch does have bad sports and a weak social scene, it is actually very pretty.</p>
<p>Sorry for the confusion…</p>
<p>I agree that this IS the place to diss schools!</p>
<p>What we shouldn’t do is diss each other.</p>
<p>So I can say that I hated the vibe, decor, logo or ******** spewed at an info session at School A. And you can say the same about School B (which I happen to love.)</p>
<p>We should just refrain by hurling sarcasm at each other–or preaching to each other–because we are entitled to our different opinions on a thread entitled, “Colleges you crossed of your list after visiting!”</p>
<p>Seriously, though, after reading this thread for months, I probably equally agree and disagree with many posts. And some posts have given me insight into issues to further explore (both positive and negative comments.)</p>
<p>Used to enjoy reading this thread when it was on topic:
</p>
<p>“I agree that this IS the place to diss schools”</p>
<p>Fine, diss away…but don’t diss me for dissing you for dissing and then claiming it wasn’t dissing. That’s disgusting, distasteful, and disturbing, and I would like to distance myself from that practice.</p>
<p>Wesleyan. Visited it, D said she didn’t like it. Something about the drama troupe walking through campus with swords made of construction paper, which they kept dropping. But guess what? She ended up applying, so it couldn’t have been all that bad.</p>
<p>Bowdoin – didn’t like the campus or setting.</p>
<p>Williams – wouldn’t even go near it because we’d dragged her through the wonderful Clark museum when she was young instead of going to a nearby toy store. Scarred for life!</p>
<p>It is very hard to not respond to you, Schmaltz, with the comments you make. You are claiming I was disingenuous when I stated I was not trying to diss BC. Perhaps I should have stated that I was not trying to diss ALL of BC. In our opinion, some of the buildings were not attractive. Big deal. I was not saying the school was a bad school. I realize now that it is where you went to school and you have some strong feelings about it, but this thread is about each individual’s perspective about schools and their child’s reasons, rational or not, for crossing a school off a list. </p>
<p>So, if you look at my post #2621, I wrote “It is probably a wonderful place for someone where there is the right fit. It just wasn’t for him.” That is hardly dissing the school. So I was actually trying to be civil when I responded to you, not disingenuous. I am sorry you took it that way. I would not take it so personally if someone criticized where I went to college. It certainly had many flaws, as do all colleges.</p>
<p>Maggiedog-- I too think Schmalz is being awfully sensitive and that you were doing what we’ve all done here. </p>
<p>Others, I did not mean to defend the sour “crappy” etc, but to point out that Maggie was doing what the thread called for. </p>
<p>Schmalz-- yikes! Maggie’s family didn’t like the buildings at BC. C’est la vie. </p>
<p>USkoolfish-- you said it all.</p>
<h1>2726, so funny! My son refuses to consider schools in Ohio. Just Ohio. Neighboring Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia have not been so excluded. I was baffled by this antipathy for Ohio until he slipped a clue: Ohio is the location of Ohio State! Apparently Ohio State is so despised by his social circle (all of whom are partisans of other Big 10 schools) that it taints everything in Ohio. A mom of one of his friends told me recently that her son is free to apply to any school in the country except Ohio State.</h1>
<p>Incidentally, I’m not a sports fan and am a transplant to Big 10 country, so I have no personal antagonism towards Ohio State and hope I haven’t offended anyone!</p>
<p>I don’t know if this is really the thread to “diss” colleges. A college can be crossed off the list for less than valid reasons. At times this thread bleeds into “stupidest reason child won’t look at a college.”</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/705291-stupidest-reason-child-wont-look-college.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/705291-stupidest-reason-child-wont-look-college.html</a></p>
<p>If the shoe fits–many of the reasons here are also good candidates for the other list.</p>
<h1>2726 and 2734-after a summert trip to Wisconsin (not the college but the state) DS wrote off all Wisconsin schools because he only saw 1 pretty girl, and she was from Illinois. When I reminded him that one of his top choices is located in the state, he has now agreed to visit the school just to make sure there are attractive females.</h1>
<p>He also refuses to apply to any school in Massachusetts based on the accent of the guys on Car Talk.</p>
<p>
These would be more suited for the following thread:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/705291-stupidest-reason-child-wont-look-college.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/705291-stupidest-reason-child-wont-look-college.html</a></p>
<p>This thread has gotten off track and I’d like to see it get back to it’s original intent. Obviously there are going to be mentions of things our kids didn’t like in the ‘crossed off thread’ or they wouldn’t be crossed off, but I enjoy each of these thread for different reasons. Let’s try to regroup.</p>
<p>Mizzbee-he may wish to reconsider that. </p>
<p>[AthlonSports.com</a> | Expert Previews, Predictions, and Analysis](<a href=“http://www.athlonsports.com/node/3158]AthlonSports.com”>http://www.athlonsports.com/node/3158)</p>
<p>Schmalz-- yikes! Maggie’s family didn’t like the buildings at BC. C’est la vie.</p>
<p>If you read this entire thread and/or the other one about stupid reasons, you’ll see other posters who didn’t like the looks of BC. I only responded to Maggie it was fitting a pattern of people who seemed surprised at what they found at BC. And having just visited myself, and knowing the place like the back of my hand, it looked to me like maggie and the others might have been confused by the FIVE distinct sections of the campus. Without the slightest sarcasm or resentment, I tried to clarify the configuration of the campus for her. It’s true that their website features mostly pictures of the picturesque “Middle Campus.” But seeing as how that’s where all the classes are (except law school), it’s not like they are promising something only some will experience.</p>
<p>OK, I’ll try to get this thread back on track, since it has been my favorite. I have always enjoyed the posts with lots of info about different schools, so hopefully this isn’t too long.</p>
<p>We are from the Pacific Northwest and visited some of the schools in the Northeast, since DS was there for some basketball stuff. He decided early that he would only go to college that far away for a really special place, so I had him do his own research to figure out which schools he thought may fit the bill.</p>
<p>First, the ones he crossed off the list that he didn’t even want to visit. Remember, this is a 16-year-old’s reasoning, not necessarily the views of the parental unit. Some of these could be under the “Stupidest Reason Your Child Won’t Look At A College” thread.</p>
<p>Cornell and Ithaca- the town seemed like a colder, snowier version of our very own granola home. Why go across country and live there when he is sick of that vibe here?</p>
<p>Princeton-Seemed snobby to him, and it appeared to be in a wealthy town. Didn’t like the idea of eating houses, or the grade deflation. He felt if you were bright enough to get into Princeton you should get grades that you deserve for the work you do, not compared to how others do. </p>
<p>Harvard-It just didn’t seem like a fun place. He watched the videos of the students on their websites, and he didn’t feel these were his people. He couldn’t believe the things that they were excited about.</p>
<p>Bowdoin-Maine is Stephen King country, a lot of scary things happening up there in the dead of winter. Also, he watched a Youtube video of a dorm party, and it was really lame.</p>
<p>Dartmouth-Too remote and seemed too conservative and preppy.</p>
<p>Tufts-Too many times he read something in the line of ‘the students aren’t as quirky as everyone thinks’, or ‘students have a quirky vibe’. These sorts of comments have become a death knell for any school they are said about. Also, he felt he would be walking uphill in the bitter cold and snow both to and from class, with all the complaints about the hill he read about.</p>
<p>Swarthmore-Another death knell; comments about how ‘this school is known for being extremely difficult’. He says he doesn’t mind difficult, he just doesn’t want to go to a school that is proud of this.</p>
<p>Haverford-Way too small</p>
<p>NYU-Too big and no campus.</p>
<p>So now for those that did make the list to visit:</p>
<p>Boston College- Crossed off his list mainly because he did not like the area that surrounded it; too rich and boring (his review). I personally thought the campus was beautiful, but we visited during the month that they don’t give tours or information sessions, and it did make a difference for us. </p>
<p>Penn- Great info session. Did not cover a lot of information from the website, but mainly talked about different students, their experiences, how they fit into Penn. Very organized and informative tour guide. We also went to the Wharton info session, a really different type of prospective student there, and DS realized he probably wouldn’t apply, as you really have to know that you want to go into business to go to Wharton. Lovely campus, even in the rain. DS liked how it integrated seamlessly into the city. First time in Philadelphia for both of us, and we both really liked this city. Definitely on list for Arts and Sciences School.</p>
<p>Yale-Tour was interesting, but didn’t really appear to be a tour for prospective students as much as a tour about how fantastic Yale is, and look at all this cool stuff we have; the Gutenburg Bible, the library that looks like a church, the Hogwarts cafeteria, etc. DS liked the city of New Haven, not sure if he can see himself here.</p>
<p>Brown-Boring info session, very good tour. Tour guide was honest about food, dorms, studying, etc. DS liked the contiguous campus and the areas around campus, also liked the open curriculum and the new student center. I, on the other hand, fell head over heels in love with both Brown and Providence, so I will definitely get into that time machine and get my application in. </p>
<p>Amherst-Nice to go to a smaller info session/tour after Ivies. Liked that there was no core curriculum. They really push the consortium, but it doesn’t appear to be used much by Amherst students. He loved the fact that there were two woman’s colleges in the consortium. Absolutely lovely campus, only dorm room we saw (about 3x as big as mine was). Amherst seems to have so much money they just fling it all over the place. Lots of students around; DS really liked their vibe, as some went out of their way to talk to him. Thought he wanted a city, but this place really made an impression on him. I kept telling him throughout the tour, think of this place in February. </p>
<p>Columbia-DS loved, loved this school. I think he was born on the wrong side of the country, and should have been a born and bred New Yorker. We spent about 4 days in NYC, and he loved every minute of it. He loved everything about the campus, especially that there was actually a campus, the surrounding area, the buildings. He also liked the core curriculum (see Brown and Amherst above), and the fact that it was so easy to do internships, over 5,000 available. He liked the diversity numbers, over 50% students of color. I thought the buildings could be maintained a little better, and that they looked sort of dingy. This is definitely his number 1 super reach school. </p>
<p>This was our first college tour, as DS is a rising junior. We have learned that DS likes a school that is integrated into a city, and it has also gotten him motivated to study for the SAT’s, so it was all good. And anyone who says people on the East Coast are rude, we had nothing but wonderful experiences everywhere we went, and met the nicest, most helpful people, especially in the subways of NYC and public transit of Philadelphia.</p>
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