<p>psychodad - we felt the same way about Tufts. I thought it was fine by my D knew within 10 minutes it was not for her. She felt the same way about Syracuse…she just knew.</p>
<p>At my son’s school they separate the kids from the parents for tours. I think it is a great idea. Less of a chance to be influenced (either positively or negatively) by each other.</p>
<p>paying4collegex4 – I’m sorry that you had a bad experience at UNC. I can assure you that the experience of almost everyone I’ve known who has gone to UNC has been very positive. They love UNC and Chapel Hill with every fiber of their being. One downside of being a well-loved university, however, is that hordes of prospective students flood the admissions office for tours (and call the admissions office for updates on applications). Although most of the admissions people that I’m aware of at UNC are friendly and helpful, there are a few who have had a “we don’t need to recruit” attitude. That is inexcusable, but it is not at all indicative of the attitude of university employees as a whole. </p>
<p>And as for the “Friends don’t let friends” shirt, I’ve known a number of Duke students who hang out at UNC as much as they can. Their reason? They say time and again, “UNC people are friendlier.” I am not making that up. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback Marsian – all the UNC grads we know did have a great college experience. The vibe just wasn’t right for my D. I am surprised by the “UNC people are friendlier comment” however. At UNC because the parking was so far from the admissions information session and there was a huge amount of construction, we had the typical “perplexed visitor with a map” moment. At most campuses we visited, including Duke, someone eventually stopped to help us when we were obviously staring at a map. Only at UNC and Vanderbilt were we left to our own devices by each and every person who passed us. (Vanderbilt also came off the list.) Both UNC and Vanderbilt are great schools and I am sure if my D had applied and been fortunate enough to receive acceptances she would have ultimately liked them – if for no other reason than that most everyone tends to like the college they ultimately attend. However, as stated before, you have to come up with some way to cut the list and the overall vibe that we experienced at UNC (and Vanderbilt) didn’t leave her wanting more.</p>
<p>I don’t believe people cross a school of their list just because of the tour guide or adcom. There is usually something else that has turned them off the school or perhaps the school was not a “good fit”. Having a tour guide/adcom that does not put the school in a good light will just seal the deal. </p>
<p>If it was just the tour guide, George Mason would have been struck from our list. For an “engineering” tour, she didn’t plan on taking us into the engineering school. She didn’t know much about the engineering programs. It is still on DS’ list. He liked the feel of the campus as well as the CS dept. there.</p>
<p>Oivoiv - Oh no! I totally disagree with you 100%. I just love the tours. Even the bad ones. The bad ones, actually, haven given DH, Step-D and I more to laugh about than the experiences we have had one the good ones! 
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<p>I love the tours because on the good or average ones, you do find out a lot about the school you are visiting. I had never set foot on IU’s campus and when Step-D and I got there, we saw it was a monstrosity! I can read a map (as you stated) and we STILL spent 20 mins trying to get to the admissions office! However, on the tour, the campus did feel a little bit more manageable. And, we learned a lot about the history and traditions of IU. (We wouldn’t have learned any of this on our own, being lost.) We also got some good information about dorm life, student life, etc. </p>
<p>Sure, there were definitely schools where upon driving in, Step-D turned to me and I turned to her and we both said “LOVE!” or “NO WAY!” but those were few and far between. For the most part, the info sessions and the tours helped her make her decisions as to which schools were going to get applications. ( IU didn’t make the cut, but it’s stock was definitely higher ~after~ the tour than before it! )</p>
<p>We were on a tour at one school and we thought the tour guide was hilarious. The other family with us, we we joke that it must stink going through life with no sense of humor because they didn’t find him funny at all.</p>
<p>paying4collegex4 – It sounds like it was a busy day on campus and they put you down somewhere around the hospital. That is the hectic, not-so-scenic, side of campus and it is a bit of a hike to admissions. Not a good situation! Usually parking is closer.</p>
<p>In any event, although I’m sorry for your experience, I do agree that people have to cut their lists somehow, and I understand the sentiment. We visited one LAC well-known for its small-town friendliness. I had been on campus a few times before, knew several graduates, and thought a lot of the college. That day was a disaster. The admissions officer was boring and appeared to be bored with his job. The students looked like they were sulking around the campus. The tour guide was enthusiastic, but no one else even looked our way. It was as if a gloom had descended just before my daughter arrived to tour. I suggested coming back another time, but her answer was, “No, it’s definitely off my list.” Well, I could certainly understand why! One of her friends went there and loves it, but we apparently visited on the worst day possible.</p>
<p>Ldog–I agree, there is no WAY you can get most information on the internet–I don’t see any colleges listing that 50% of their students dress in Goth attire or that 90% of their students go home on weekends. Sure, you can extrapolate sometimes that if only 20% of the kids live on campus no one is going to be around, but what about that 60%–maybe 100% of the kids live within 3 blocks of campus but technically OFF campus, like Truman for example. If you just went by stats, it looks like most kids go home on weekends, when you visit campus and see the boards 5 deep with things to do Saturday night, not the case.</p>
<p>We visited a large state U and had a terrible time finding the admissions office. When I called the admissions office, the person who answered the phone couldn’t tell us how to get there. (We told her what street we were on - probably 4 blocks from where she was - and she had no clue where that was.) It took another call to a different person to find it.</p>
<p>It reminds me of looking for a new house. Most people feel like they know if a house is not a contender the minute they walk in. Sometimes they have a concrete reason but many time it is more of a feeling. We are a bit of a claustrophobic family if you can walk around the whole school in about an hour, it is not for us. The small colleges we did visit had very nice people and good tours, but we had no desire to go back. It just seem like you would be ready to go somewhere else in a couple of years. The possibilities of larger universities and (dare I say it?) getting lost is appealing.</p>
<p>Hi thanks for posting re: Pomona, we are gonna visit at Spring Break, is your student still applying or did the lack of bodies put them off. What are they going to study, I was really keen on CMC/Pitzer/Pomona, any more thoughts, thanks</p>
<p>S2 was a harsh critic:
Georgetown: “Chipotle too far from campus”
Brown: “too windy”
Wesleyan: “too many kids carrying guitars”</p>
<p>San Diego State University- After viewing the lovely University of San Diego campus, SDSU was doomed.</p>
<p>Stanford University- Just wasn’t feeling the California missions vibe and the tour guide who said they do study groups for fun. My DD looked at me like "Whattttt?!?!</p>
<p>^^neuroticparent, love this! DS just visited Oregon State and fell in love with the Chipotle ON campus.</p>
<p>My children both love the proximity of Chipotle to their respective campuses.</p>
<p>I wavered on Stanford Law because of the on-campus Jamba Juice. A huge plus!</p>
<p>^^Someone should tell the Fiske people to include Chipotle accessibility.</p>
<p>NP–this is why CC needs a like button. I can’t tag you as I am out tags, so just need to hit ‘like’. </p>
<p>Our visits last summer with rising Jr and rising 8th grader were quite amusing. 8th grader took down notes on anything he heard that he didn’t understand. (School suggests three subject tests…what would those be?) Rising Jr took note of availability of hamburgers from food service at both lunch and dinner and presence of dogs on campus.</p>
<p>S1 mentioned the hot dogs on campus in his “Why Reach School?” essay. I was afraid it would offend the vegetarian adcoms.</p>