<p>My daughter crossed off Bates because she didn’t want to be in a country/rural setting, although we both thought the school was beautiful.</p>
<p>My daughter crossed off Dartmouth because the pizzas we ate at the local restaurant. No way she could live there 4 years with that kind of pizza.</p>
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On the topic of pizza, I LOVE how there’s a Mellow Mushroom located right off campus. It’s my favorite pizza at home, and it’s great that I can walk to it while I’m at school.</p>
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My S almost eliminated H & my alma mater (we met there) for that reason. When we realized that was his concern, we told him, “Look - our memories are OUR memories. They are totally valid for us. But you can make your own memories and have your own experiences here. Remember, this campus is a 5 hour drive from our home - we’ll be here at drop off, pick up, and probably once per semester (at most!) to visit. The rest of the time on this campus would be YOURS - we won’t be here.” He ended up attending and loving it. He worked at Reunion when we attended for our 30th, and now that he’s graduated we have fun talking with him about the college - the direction it’s headed, etc.</p>
<p>DD is looking at our alma matter, top on her list actually. DS has no interest. He likes the school but they don’t have his program so that is fair. He also said he has spent way too much time on campus so it doesn’t feel like going away for him–which is true–he has been to one camp or another there since he was 9 as well as visits with us for homecoming, etc.</p>
<p>That’s how S1 felt about his school - It is DH’s and my alma mater, it’s only 50 miles away in the same city where his grandparents and uncle live and he’s gone to football games and events there since he was knee-high to a chicken. But they offered the best overall financial aid package and offered a specialization of his major that his other choices didn’t. He ended up there and couldn’t be happier - it’s different when you’re actually living on campus and choosing your own activities and friends. He likes being able to make pocket money babysitting his cousins and doing odd jobs for my brother’s in-laws, and likes being an hour away from home. It’s far enough that he’s “away at school” but close enough that he can come home whenever he wants, especially since he can ride the inter-city transit bus for $3.00.</p>
<p>Boy, do I hope my youngest doesn’t choose her dad’s alma mater when the time comes. She’s not even considering it NOW, but who knows, right? Although it’s a well-regarded state U which has produced everyone from the current US ambassador to China to the mayor, it’s right here in town, and what better time to go away than when you’re in college? There’s a serious provincialism in this city and part of it is because no one ever leaves! They distrust outsiders. I don’t want D to never leave. Then there’s the whole sports nuttiness that causes people my age to paint themselves purple and gold on game days and cram city buses with their crazy selves. A school with a nice, mellow approach to sports would be so much better. But if D wants to go there I won’t stop her. I just hope she doesn’t. H doesn’t realize it but his thinking is skewed about outsiders and I think a lot of it has to do with his going to college 10 minutes from home.</p>
<p>Hey, our purple and gold “sports nuttiness” is small potatoes compared to most D1 schools :)</p>
<p>If our daughter gets the faintest hint of “sports nuttiness” on our tours she heads for the car with a big eyeroll. She did that at BC though I want her to be openminded and take another look. She had so much of it where we live and it can be one dimensional after awhile.</p>
<p>I agree that a student should get away from their hometown for college, but I don’t want them to go too far away. I’d rather that my kids don’t get a job and settle down more than 3 to 5 hours away. I’d like to regularly see them and hopefully some future grandkids. If your kid goes to college far away, there is high risk they will marry someome from that part of the country, and find a job there.</p>
<p>charlieschm–I want my kids to settle down in places I want to visit frequently. I would love for one of them to be in the Washington DC area, one in in San Diego area and one in Montana :D.</p>
<p>I worry a lot about whether where I’m going (2 hours, in-state) is far enough away. I definitely want to get to go to other places.</p>
<p>I haven’t looked at this thread in a couple of years. Looks like there continues to be no shortage of reasons to reject a college. :)</p>
<p>D2 has rejected a few in the past year:</p>
<p>Haverford - “Too communal”. She was put off by a story the tour guide told about being homesick one night and wanting to stay in her room, and her RA dragging her to an event anyway. The tour guide told it as a story of what a great community Haverford has. D2 was horrified at the thought.
Pomona - “They are all too outgoing”
Scripps - “Feels like a nunnery”
Knox - They scheduled a professor meeting and an interview without asking her (she just wanted a tour, to attend a class, and to eat in the cafeteria). She was not prepared (this was summer before junior year, she had no intention of interviewing until later, and then only if necessary).</p>
<p>She did like Harvey Mudd because the guide had a messy pony tail (much like the one she sported that same day).</p>
<p>Detect a pattern here? Yes, this is my introvert.</p>
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<p>My introvert had a similar reaction at Bennington, where they were “too friendly” and tried to do an interview, even though she was very clear that she wasn’t at that point yet. She was also appalled at admissions offices that posted her name on “welcome to today’s visitors” signs. (I strongly discouraged her from applying to the kind of big schools where she would fade into the background, which was her plan - I really felt that the environment of a LAC would help her address that challenge.)</p>
<p>DavidSSabb94, two hours is far enough. Very few of us parents would just drop in, and the college town will be like a different world.</p>
<p>Stradmom, I have a theory that pretty much everyone who works in college admissions is an extrovert. It never occurs to them that insisting on talking to my D without giving her a chance to prepare would send her running in the opposite direction from the school! This is somewhat ironic, as she has stats that would make some of these schools extremely happy to have her (likely NMF). They never even know what they did to turn her off…</p>
<p>intparent, I suspect you’re absolutely correct! One of my introvert’s criteria for choosing a school was NOT needing to do an interview…</p>
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<p>That’s exactly how my college-town hometown is! There were 42 people in my graduating class (Catholic school). I’d say 90 percent of us at least started college and of that, 90 percent went to Hometown U. And it was true of the other high schools in the area. About the only people who went away were the very wealthy and guys (it was mostly guys in those days) who wanted to major in engineering, one of the few things Hometown U didn’t offer. I moved 50 miles away when I got married and I couldn’t believe the difference! I thought I’d moved to a different country, not a different county.</p>
<p>Many, many years ago, I did not apply to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Stanford after visiting them. Although I was as competitive as any applicant for admission, I honestly did not think any of these schools were a good fit for me. I had great disdain for cold weather and short, dim days. My parents did not care; they let me make my own decisions. Somehow, I left the 99% behind and ascended into the top 1% without a degree from any of these institutions. I now recognize just how important it is to allow my children to make their own decisions. As I always tell applicants to the highly selective university for which I conduct interviews, your ultimate success has much more to do with you than the school you attend.</p>
<p>^ You disdained Stanford for its short cold days?</p>