<p>NYU: was nephew’s top choice but when the info session went on and on about the new NYU campus in Abu dhabi they all (parents and student) felt like they would be supporting a large corporation that is sending its company overseas. They are acutely aware of the low pay for adjunct faculty problem and sending facilities and administration away just really really really stuck in the craw. Off the list.</p>
<p>I thought I was reading a post I’d authored and forgotten about. Visited MIT one day and Princeton the next - SAME EXACT takeaway. DD loved MIT, came away from Princeton not very impressed. Tour guides were exactly as you described them only ours was a woman at MIT and Princeton. HOWEVER, nothing like our visit to Penn State, daughter wanted out as soon as we got out of the initial video/chat session. We’re going to make another swing through this next spring for a final analysis. At the Princeton info session here in DFW last Wed, daughter came around and has it back as one of her top choices.</p>
<p>I expected to love Stonehill College when I visited and I HATED it. It wasn’t at all what I wanted.
I also expected to love UVM, I loved Burlington but the actual school… no way.</p>
<p>Also, I expected to love Penn State, but no…</p>
<p>Oberlin because there were too many people walking around barefoot. Child was Ok with this until there were barefoot students in the dining hall & bathrooms - just could not get past this at all!</p>
<p>I’m a student, but I’ll tell you that I crossed on Wake Forest after visiting…</p>
<p>Some people say they love it but I got a negative vibe and so did my dad. I myself thought it was a little snobby and the campus wasn’t as nice as some other schools either</p>
<p>We had an odd experience at Denison. Visited on a fall visit day and scheduled an interview for the afternoon. Interview started 45 minutes late- but we knew they were busy so no big deal. Kicker came when interview was interupted twice by the front desk person- telling the admissions counselor to hurry up. Daughter got to listen to them bicker. Lovely, especially because we were visiting from 800 miles away!</p>
<p>There were two families that visited Georgia Tech at two separate times. One was a positive experience and the other not so much. We had the positive experience. Because we would be visiting from the West coast I made a simple phone call to obtain permission to sit in on some classes (picked by my son). He participated in a programmed visitation (requiring pre-registration) but then had a chance to sit in on classes. He was thrilled. This school become his first choice. The other student lost interest, felt ignored during the visitation, went to another engineering school (which did not work out), and is currently hoping to transfer to her in-state U. There is so much more going on psychologically inside these student’s heads regarding the selection process. Have they written a book about it?</p>
<p>Northwestern: Visited during April break of Jr. year…info session split into two groups: seniors (who were probably accepted and there to make a decision) and juniors. The info session for juniors was RIDICULOUS…I could have held a better one based on what I had already read/researched. Very insulted that this was the best they could do after we came a long distance and used vacation time/money for this visit.</p>
<p>The tour was equally bad…student seemed rushed and kept looking at her watch. Didn’t go anywhere NEAR the housing (we wandered up there on our own, then I understood why…). At the end of the tour she seemed annoyed to get follow-up questions.</p>
<p>Not sure if it is completely off the list, since husband works with grads who LOVED it…but it sure made a really bad impression.</p>
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<p>Not a visit per se but we know it well (used to live near it). But related to your point, when NYU came to visit our kids’ school, they were all turned off by so much focus on Abu Dhabi. Their take was this: “do they think we not good enough for the ‘real campus’? Why are they trying to talk us into going to the Abu Dhabi campus instead?”</p>
<p>My daughter crossed U of Michigan off her list after being there a few times and taking the tour. We live nearby so she had several experiences there which reinforced her opinon that it was full of nerdy, snobby, pseudo-intellectuals. She didn’t even apply much to our dismay.</p>
<p>Yes, NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus – what’s with that? A source of revenue for the school, I suppose-- there are big bucks over there. But honestly, to push it to the extent they do, to try to make it add to the appeal of the school somehow–is absurd. Yes, a few kids from the US will be interested in that option, it’s great to have it available. For us (and I can’t help but suspect we’re in the majority) it’s a red flag, adding to the sense that the school is more concerned with its image than its students. (D is still applying though, and I’m hoping to find I’m wrong about this.)</p>
<p>Hmmm…^ ^ ^ I would imagine that it would be hard for 40,000 students to project snobbiness. It is a school that my student is interested in, but we are too far away to visit. What were your own impressions?</p>
<p>We visited the University of Michigan and liked it very much. I did not get a snobby vibe…more of a funky/smart vibe…my son is applying, and if he gets in (especially if he has a chance at the honors program) it will be a top-contender</p>
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<p>chocoholic, maybe the snobby vibe came from the impression wealth that so many students have there. Not to inflame, but the stats for Michigan students based on parent wealth can be off-putting to some. </p>
<p>[As</a> Wealthy Fill Top Colleges, Concerns Grow Over Fairness - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/22/us/as-wealthy-fill-top-colleges-concerns-grow-over-fairness.html]As”>As Wealthy Fill Top Colleges, Concerns Grow Over Fairness - The New York Times)</p>
<p>In the same vein, most of the Big Ten schools have reputations that are a bit unfounded based on the sheer number of students. Not everyone at Purdue is a nerd, nor at IU is a partier. Not everyone at Ohio is a sports nut nor Michigan rich. It is just an impression after all.</p>
<p>U of M is still on S’s list, too. Michigan is a public university with around 40,000 undergrad and grad students. “Snobby” is not a word I would associate with this large public university. I’m also a U of M alum and I did not find it snobby while I attended either. It’s too big of a school to get that impression, imo.</p>
<p>So, from people who have visited, were there lots of questions about:</p>
<ol>
<li>high # of classes taught by TAs</li>
<li>Poor quality of advisement (academic as well as career)</li>
</ol>
<p>I have read these complaints from students who actually go there, and am wondering…</p>
<p>^ #2. When I went there this was issue, as well.</p>
<h1>1. Back in the day, TAs only led discussion sessions, not lectures. Not sure how much that’s changed.</h1>
<p>One complaint in my time was profs who were more interested in research than teaching and it was sometimes obvious. But, I will say it was rare to come across this in my particular experience. (There was one I can remember in all 4 years.)</p>
<p>My son is in his first term at Michigan, and neither he or we have found the students to be snobby. We are not rich by any means… upper/middle class with 2 kids in college. We ARE in-state, which makes UM affordable to us (that, and some scholarships). I do think the student body is very focused. Many of them have high educational goals and know they will have to work extremely hard to achieve them. Maybe that comes across as stand-offish or elitist, but I don’t think that’s the intention at all.</p>
<p>Regarding TA’s or GSA’s, I believe my son has 2, one for physics lab and one for a discussion section. The worst impression he’s gotten has been from a chemical engineering prof. He is in an exploratory engineering class in which they learn about the different engineering disciplines. He said this prof was so uptight and rigid that everyone in his class has now crossed chemical engineering off their list of areas of interest. Pretty funny.</p>
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