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<p>Bloomington is a megalopolis compared to where Penn State is located.</p>
<p>wis75: Another reason why IU was off the list.</p>
<p>TomSROfBoston: Luckily Iâm going to Ohio State ;)</p>
<p>If anyone has recently visited any schools in Colorado, Iâd love to hear your take!</p>
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<p>The frequently told line when I was at Penn State was: âState College is equally inaccessible to all points.â</p>
<p>Anyone who thinks there isnât anything to do in Bloomington is sorely mistaken. With one of the top music schools in the nation, lectures, performances, Big 10 sports⊠My 28 year old married daughter loves to go visit friends in grad school in Bloomington because there is so much to do- in a beautiful setting.</p>
<p>Scroll down to Amy Schumerâs shout out to the Comedy Attic in Bloomington (and to Bloomington generally):</p>
<p>[10</a> great places where comedy is king](<a href=âhttp://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/10greatplaces/2013/01/10/10-great-places-where-comedy-is-king/1824839/]10â>10 great places where comedy is king)</p>
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<p>Thatâs funny; I went there in the '80s and I remember my father saying that when we drove there to move me in. His parents went to Penn State in the '20s and I imagine it was a much longer trip from Philadelphia back then. </p>
<p>If I remember correctly, PSU sits on the exact center point of the state of Pennsylvania; not sure if it was put there intentionally.</p>
<p>Texas Tech: Size of Lubbock and itâs situated near a slaughter house.</p>
<p>Thanks for the trip report, Moltian. DDâs BF toured Gonzaga and was really impressed with their engineering department. We are headed to Gonzaga, and possibly WSU over spring break. </p>
<p>I love the U of P campus, itâs beautiful. But itâs too close to home for DD.</p>
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<p>In the exact center center of the state? *
No.</p>
<p>But it is located in Centre County.
Close enough.</p>
<p>[Centre</a> County, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=âhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_County,_Pennsylvania]Centreâ>Centre County, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia)</p>
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<li>My guess for the exact center would be somewhere between Bald Eagle State Forest and Middleburg.</li>
</ul>
<p>BfloGal: Last Friday we visited the University of Denver and loved it. From the outside area of the campus you mostly just see buildings, but the interior has grass lawns, walkways and nice architecture â new and old. Itâs relatively compact in that our tour went from one end to the other, walking. Weâre from the east coast and DU is among my sonâs finalists.</p>
<p>S crossed off Harvey Mudd and all of the UCBerkeley forbopposite reasons. One was too big and one was too small.</p>
<p>Re PSU: all I know is that airlines know they have you over a barrel at breaks and the beginning and end of the year. We have seen prices out of State College increase dramatically over the 3 years my D has been there-a penalty for being in the middle of nowhere! Of course she can take the megabus to a larger airport (Philly, NY) but it is so hard to coordinate times! She does love it there, and will miss it when she is gone!</p>
<p>I felt bad that we wrote off The Evergreen State College. Great reputation, but the buildings were really, really âlate gulagâ 1970s cementâŠin the middle of a really great propertyâŠit was such an odd combination.</p>
<p>Hampshire. My kid wouldnât even get out of the car, because he just didnât like the feel of the place. Luckily, that was the only campus he had such a visceral reaction.</p>
<p>This thread is GREAT! I really want to read the whole thing. We visited 20 schools so far . I will put Dâs comments and mine or Dadâs. She is admitted to several other schools that we have not visited yet. We have already spent too much on visits but Southwest Airlines one way flights really helped. (Also that there were no change fees and the fares were reusable for a year.) </p>
<p>University of Tulsa: D: Loved it, from little Victorian Bldgs to Friendliest theater kids ever. Wow. Me: Liked it. Neighborhood is so-so bit I left feeling academics are very strong. Higher priced but also a high ranking. Good at combining strong pre-med engineering etc. with strong performing arts. No feel for Tulsa as a city yet. Verdict: A top choice for D.</p>
<p>NYU: D and me: Dorms in China Town. Take a subway to your dorm! So vertical and spread out a campus that there is no campus. Facilities were filthy. Learned from Info Session that body piercings and tattos are mandatory. (Before anyone kills us, thatâs a joke. But seriously we found it funny that so many students on the info film were pierced.) Info Film was not so good. Felt she would be âjust a number.â Accidently opened an exit door and alarm sounded. No one came (15 minutes). (We were in line for the one person bathroom at Admissions.) Good points? It is NYU. Seem to be very interested in pushing their Beijing (?) and Dubai campusesâgreat if you want that. Verdict: Off List Immediately.</p>
<p>SMU: D: Liked Campus look and neighborhood. Facilties behind scenes were very run down. Fancy Stores Nearby. (Ha ha!) Good Acting but negative was no MT. Liked that it was not too religious. Tour guide was not very intelligent but was lively. Me: Fine. Pretty but I kept thinking of price tag. Verdict: Kept on List for a long time. Got in, but Off List now.</p>
<p>Southwestern: D: No, not for her. Did not like location. Snooty without deserving to be. Dad: Okay. Verdict: Off List after a while. (I kept it on; D would have said No immediately). </p>
<p>Northwestern: D: Loved regular tour and info session & feel of campus. Theater Tour was really badâbroken dirty facilties and lots of controversy and unhappiness among the faculty. Very sad really. Me: Loved campus, nice neighborhood & beautiful setting on Lake Michigan. Loved tour. Getting worried at lunch time about high cost, little merit aid, and very high academic threshold to get in. Maybe a little relieved that afternoon theater tour was a trainwreck. Verdict: Off List immediately.</p>
<p>St Edwardâs in Austin: D: Liked it a lot. Liked it more after 2nd visit and audition weekend. Nice campus. Me: Same. Beautiful views of downtown. Nice size. Austin and SOCO are so fun and fabulousâquite the college town but also a large vibrant city. Good academics we felt. Honors College is by invite only. (High standards.) Summers are very hot, duh. Verdict: A top choice.</p>
<p>TCU: D: Yuck. Very religious feel for her. Science type guys. ME: Buildings are mustard-yellow. Did not like Info Session at all. Very canned. Verdict: Off List immediately.</p>
<p>Boston Conservatory: D: okay, kind of intense. Me: not so great dorms, no cafeteria to speak off. Bdlg seemed more like an (old) highschool. Not sure about âconservatory approachâ (very little academics) but training seemed very strong. Easy to get in academically though very hard artistically. Verdict: Kept on List for a while but did not apply.</p>
<p>West Texas A & M: (Never heard of it before till college search, in Canyon, TX by Amarillo). D and me: liked it very much. Beautiful campus (one of highest rated in US for beauty) by Palo Duro Canyon (2nd biggest Canyon in US after Grand I think.) Nice faculty. Beautiful buildingsâadmissions is made of petrified wood. Private rooms with shared living area available for freshmenâwow. Most beautiful (and brand new) arts facilties we saw in USA. Connections to big out door musical called Texas. Very inexpensive for OOS. Quite a hidden gem!! Verdict: on short list. Reservations are ranking, regional not national, and academics though good Honors College. No negatives from tour. Parking can be bad?</p>
<p>UT Arlington: D: Ugly. Very unenthusiastic tour guide. ME: Very dirty, big, ugly, commercial, not very strong academically. Not so friendly Admissions Office. Verdict: Off List immediately.</p>
<p>Emerson: D: Loved it all of it. Great facilities. Loved Boston. Me: Loved Boston tooâgreat college town. Vertical urban campus but not spread out like NYUâmore of a college feel. Seemed average academically but overall very nice. Did not care for Cuts program. Verdict: Kept on list for a very long time. Ultimately did not finish app.</p>
<p>University of North Texas: D: Fine. Okay Theater Dept. Not so great academics. Me: Big! Crazy parking and entrances. Great price. Found Denton charming. Verdict: Stayed on List.</p>
<p>Elon: D: Good Theater Program but no way no how am I going here. Town is too small and in a forest away from everything. Tour guide was a space cadet. âGee I wonder why our school has a Hebrew name cuz weâre a Christian School.â Sweet, though. Training seemed strong and academics seemed okay. Me: Liked it better than D. Verdict: Off List quickly.</p>
<p>TWU: D: Nice people, not for her. Not much MT. Great opportunties for first generation college attendees. Me: Same here. Very nice experience though. So friendly, from tour guide to Admissions to Theater. There are some boys there. Verdict: Off List immediately but left with very positive feelings.</p>
<p>OCU: D: No way no how. Admissions was very surly. Tour guide was friendly. Too many beauty pageant references and lifesize Miss America statues. Too religious: âDorm Morality, hygeine, and drug/alcohol checks.â (Maybe the third one is a good idea.) Very bad neighborhood. Me: Couldnât get past very bad neighborhood. Generally agreed with D. I know Kristin Chenoweth went there but sorry, the tour was not so great for us. Verdict: Off List immediately.</p>
<p>UT Commerce: D: No. Military barracks on a highway. Me: Same. Unorganized at Admissions. Verdict: Off List immediately.</p>
<p>Austin College: D: Loved it, except for limited musical theater. Loved strong and much highlighted Study Abroad. Stopped at a tackboard to see all the places kids were studyingâcool. Loved Victorian dorms (really townhouses) for upperclassmen. Me: Liked it. Dorms were (literally) flooded and drying out so lots of mildew smell. Really great tour guide. I think a great LAC. Strong academics. Very pretty (and very small) campus in a small town near Lake Texoma. Verdict: Kept on List for a long time. First choice for a while. </p>
<p>OU: D: Loved everything from tour guide to admissions. Me: very beautiful campusâwow. Surprised to like it so much. Did not feel big. Lots of Native American art. Verdict: Stayed on list for a long time.</p>
<p>Trinity (in San Antonio): D: No. Theater Dept. not what she was looking for. Feel of campus not right. ME: Campus was pretty. Built on an old quarry. Liked it better than D did. Very liberal feelâokay w/me, but I agree with Dâsomething felt off. Tour guide was the pits. Pretty nice Admissions though. Verdict: Off List immediately. </p>
<p>Texas State: D: Liked it and loved theater program. ME: Big. Campus is pretty with a river. Cheap for OOS. Very nice admissions office and fine info film. Very welcoming and organizedâimpressive small feel for a big state school. Academicsânot sure but there is an honors program. Seems up and coming. Verdict: Still high on list.</p>
<p>@Vitrac, I am laughing so hard. Hall of Princesses at OCU! (Though I keep wanting to call it OKCU.) I canât wait to tell that to my daughterâshe will die laughing!And yes, the life-size statue fountain.</p>
<p>Sorry, I guess it was Takeitallin, whose posts I always enjoy and benefit from, who coined âHall of Princessesâ at OCU. So funny. But thanks again to @Vitrac too. OCU does give automatic money for academics but yes, you really do need to visit. And i agree with the above posters who said that they name-drop in Northwestern Theater all the time. Sorry, but âDavid Schwimmerâ is not that famous any more.</p>
<p>@haspotentialâŠthanks so much for your post. I have a theater kid myself and have just started our college tours⊠we live in CA, but he has a couple of those schools on his listâŠand I think I will have the same impression of NYU. Glad to hear positives about Emerson.</p>
<p>5Boys, with all due respect to haspotential, we loved NYU and felt that our experience was almost opposite to the one haspot reported. Every time we turned around, we heard something else great about the schoolâŠevery dorm room has its own bathroom! financial aid fully transferable to study abroad programs! college president teaches a full load of undergraduate courses every semester! tour guide clean and charming! etc. (DS got into his first choice EA, so we didnât apply.)</p>