Colleges you/child crossed off the list after visiting

Parents Forum
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Same here. I grew up in a town with a fourth-tier no-name. I was told I was going there and that was that, as it was with most families in my town. In my high school class of 42(Catholic school) I’d say 90 percent of us at least started college, and of those, 95 percent stayed in town. (On the plus side, I did graduate debt-free.) When S1 was in high school, he said he wanted to go there. I insisted he look at at least two other schools so he would at least make an informed choice. He ended up at my alma mater because it does have an excellent program in his major and he’s really had opportunities he would not have had anywhere else. S2, who wants to continue wrestling in college, will probably end up elsewhere.</p>

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<p>Embarrassingly, I chose my college based on architecture. There was one really cool building on campus, and I wanted to live there…ah, the folly of youth!</p>

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<p>My daughter liked Duke for architecture. Doors on dorms they took us to on tour reminded her of Hogwarts!</p>

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<p>They know that’s not a real place, right?</p>

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<p>“Love at first sight…” My daughter’s college was love BEFORE first sight. </p>

<p>We arrived in Burlington, NC, and began looking for a restaurant for dinner before heading to our hotel and touring Elon the next day. D insisted that we go RIGHT THEN and find Elon and drive around. She literally said, “It’s calling to me!” (I’m not kidding). It the first week in July, there was NO ONE on campus, and we drove up at 9pm - the two large fountains were beautifully lit and running, there were lots of trees and open space and beautiful red brick colonial buildings (sorry to those who don’t like colonial) and she was in love. The info and tour session the next morning sealed the deal, she applied ED and just finished her soph year at Elon and still loves the place. </p>

<p>I had a “love at first sight” experience as well. I didn’t even want to look at Lafayette, I thought it was too small and too near my home, but the guidance counselor had recommended it. When we drove into campus I said, “Now THIS is what a college is supposed to look like.” And I ended up going there.</p>

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<p>Lafalum84, I can completely understand your daughter’s feelings for Elon! I loved everything about it and the tour sealed the deal. Between my two kids I have been on 12+ tours and Elon was far and away the most impressive.</p>

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<p>Don’t worry Mythmom, I don’t think you are being snide at all!</p>

<p>She definitely didn’t like the Gothic feel- like Duke- which I love. She said it felt creepy and cold.
The red brick, Southern look- I’m not sure why she doesn’t like it. She really doesn’t though. I don’t think it would make or break a college but it has no appeal to her.</p>

<p>She did like:
the cool structures at Case Western, like the building with no 90* angles and the “virus” building
the look of some of the buildings at Ohio Wesleyan
the “old section” at James Madison.</p>

<p>She tended toward buildings that were not uniform and “planned” looking, for lack of a better word, more old school buildings.</p>

<p>I’m not even sure that makes sense… I still can’t quite figure it out.</p>

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<p>Lafalum- I’m kinda glad you wrote that review of Elon. I would love it and my daughter would NOT. lol</p>

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<p>Thanks mythmom and haystack for explanations. My D had love at first sight and second sight over a year later. She also has an anti-red brick thing and will be attending a limestone school. However it is really the public spaces, interior and exterior that got her. She has described liking campuses with a solid core and fairly distinct boundaries. Most importantly, though, she commented on the way that kids were hanging out and working alone or together in public spaces including the student union but also in the academic buildings. Her pick has built new buildings and remodeled old ones with these spaces in mind (according to literature) and when we visited and spent several days on campus students really were gathering and working in those spaces. She did not want her primary academic building (science) to be a “depressing” warren of labs and offices with low slung ceilings. She figured that as much time as she was likely to spend inside that building she wanted it to be light and airy and a pleasant place to work and collaborate (along with containing the right academic programs, of course). We live in a rainy climate and she’s headed to a snowy one, so she knows that as nice as outdoor spaces are be sure to check the indoor spaces where you will likely spend a lot of time.</p>

<p>On a related note, I was designing a graduation announcement and decided to put a picture of said college on the back with a note about where she will be attending. DS15 was home so I had him vet a selection of 4 shots. He chose one of the “green” in the snow with trees interspersed and buildings visible in the distance but an intersection of paths going in various directions in the fore. He said one got a better sense of “placiness” than the others of buildings which said, in his words, “Look, I’m going to Hogwarts!”</p>

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<p>mythmom, sorry–I forgot to check this thread for a few days.</p>

<p>Why does my son hate colonial architecture? I have no idea. He doesn’t like it in houses, either. We live in a midwestern town with a lot of older homes (by midwestern standards)–he has lived in a Victorian, an American Foursquare (c. 1916), a '30s cottage and two houses designed by local architects in the 40s (kind of early mid-century modern). There is not much colonial here except in some of the fancier neighborhoods, 70s suburbs and a few apartment complexes. Since he was little, he has expressed his dislike of that kind of building. It might be the symmetry in addition to the fact that everything here is “fake” colonial, since our area was not settled until the mid-1800s. </p>

<p>My son also cared a lot about quads and public spaces when we were looking at schools. Two of his top choices were known for their beautiful campuses. In the end he chose the one in the better climate, in part because he pictured himself being outside a lot, hanging out with his friends or playing guitar or studying or whatever. </p>

<p>I also really appreciate everyone’s comments about architecture as a course of study and a potential career. It can be a long slog but maybe he will still consider it.</p>

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<p>Hi barrons,
My son studied at Oxford University and of course we had to visit LOL When I commented on how much the place looked like Howgarts, I was told that it should because Harry Potter was filmed in one of the Oxford Libraries and dining Halls. so if any of your kids like that Harry Potter/Howgarts feel maybe they can visit Oxford…</p>

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<p>Hampshire and Pitzer do not have colonial or gothic architecture!</p>

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<p>vandygrad and sally, thanks so much for your answers. Fascinating.</p>

<p>I love how this thread has evolved. It started as a very silly, fun place with really irrational reasons (like the pink shirt the tour guide wore) to a fun exploration of college architecture. </p>

<p>My D’s school was Beaux-Artes and Neoclassical and urban, and it really played a defining part in her experience.</p>

<p>I have no idea what S liked. He really refused to engage in the process very much. There were only two schools he loved, and the second replaced the first, but there were others he tolerated because he knew he needed a reasonable list. He is kind of quiet sort of a kid and can’t be pushed. I think I got lukewarm assents to things.</p>

<p>The only school he didn’t like was all red brick, but it was mostly because it was just too uniform. The two schools he liked had a basic architecture (one Gothic, one red brick colonial) but had many, many buildings that deviated from the plan and were modern, so they are quite eclectic. Maybe he likes that, I don’t know.</p>

<p>He nixed on school that would have been perfect for him on paper because the music practice rooms were underground and seemed a bit mildewed – dense shag carpet which I’m sure absorbs sound but also absorbs moisture.</p>

<p>He did play close attention to music buildings where he thought he’d be. Dartmouth’s got the nod as best music building, but he is not a frat type kid, so although Dart was on his list (for that building I suspect), it wasn’t his major choice. After showing so little interest, he is now a budding art historian in a grad program and has a special affinity for architecture (go figure – so he does notice – he just doesn’t tell me!!!) I do think he’ll do painting as his central focus though.</p>

<p>He loves Harry Potter, but refused to go to U of Chicago for its Hogwarts feel, and D loves it too, but chose Beaux-Artes over Gothic when she had the chance. But there were other reasons involved.</p>

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<p>Gotta admit, I did choose my own college (Bryant) largely due to the campus. Brick and glass, all shiny new and modern (campus was built about 10 years earlier). Seemed like an upgrade over dingy older buildings at other campuses.</p>

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<p>Lafalum–our situation was similar. S had seen some college campuses, but the second we hit Orange, I could tell he had that “this is the place for me” thing going on. When we ended up at Chapman, he knew immediately that was where he wanted to be. It’s surroundings just stacked up in its favor as well, as he really enjoyed Old Town Orange, which he said reminded him of the distinctive 'downtown" of our own little suburb. Chapman is just a pretty, well kept campus of a manageble size.</p>

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<p>Exactly the same experience at Lafayette. Except that for me, it was a terrible decision. (Not commenting at all on whether Lafayette is the right place for others in 2012. It was not the right place for me almost a half century ago. I’m sure the place has changed - I understand they even admit girls now :(, and given the big decrease in Greekdom, I suspect the first question you get asked is no longer, “What house are you in?”)</p>

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<p>I openly admit that I partially chose my school because of the architecture and layout of the campus. </p>

<p>It was between MSU and U of M. MSU is beautiful IMO with the old architecture, the beautiful trees and stretches of grass, with a river running through to boot… and U of M is intertwined with Ann Arbor. It was absolutely no contest where I wanted to spend four years.</p>

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<p>^^My daughter is one of those girls who graduated from Lafayette last month. Yes, very different place. I was quite familiar with the Lafayette of the 1960s because I grew up about 40 minutes from Easton. When it came time for me to apply to college no school that admitted only males made it to my list. Mandatory chapel (remember that?) was also an automatic disqualifier.</p>

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<p>The oldest, original buildings on D’s campus are an ecclectic mix of neo _________ (fill in the blank). Old Main has a bit of the haunted school-house look and the original library is a little bit Monticello. Another newer old building had the gothic Hogwarts feel and the balance of the middle age campus mirrors that. The new science facilities and the latest upgrades to middle-age buildings are modern in shape and interior but with limestone and copper exteriors and exposed interior walls that mirror the gothic across the green - it blends really nicely. They also designed the windows and gathering spaces in the new to frame the views of the old across the way</p>

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<p>In our various tours, S definitely had preferences in terms of style. For example, William and Mary was way too colonial for him. Gettysburg had too electric a mix of styles. He liked both Wake Forest and Bucknell, and I’ve heard they shared an architect.</p>

<p>One of our concerns was, would our directionally-impaired S get lost? Seriously, he stinks at directions. He’ll be the one lost for fours years at Bucknell. ;)</p>