<p>Visited but no official tours:
Rhodes College - Beautiful campus surrounded by gates and security. Area nearby did not seem safe and you were trapped on campus. You would need a car to get anything. </p>
<p>LSU - Old part of campus beautiful. Did not like Baton Rouge - not much there. It is very far from New Orleans. </p>
<p>Tulane - Area surrounding university is gorgeous. People seemed to have attitude. New Orleans definitely seems to have some crime problems and the culture of New Orleans was focused too much on alcohol for our child. Campus was beautiful. Little open space. Great place to visit but didnât seem like a fit for a very conservative kid. Food off campus seemed expensive. Definitely did not seem to need a car which I thought was a plus.</p>
<p>Auburn - Beautiful campus very well cared for. A little town is a cross the street where students can easily walk to find grub. Lots of bicycles and lots of students walking around.</p>
<p>Northeastern-Didnât feel it, lacked that college campus feel.</p>
<p>NYU - See above</p>
<p>UNC-Asheville - this was his safety, and he really liked it (as did I), but it wouldnât have offered the rigor he desired.</p>
<p>George Washington - Again, the lack of traditional campus feel.</p>
<p>UNC-Chapel Hill - Really liked it, and if he hadnât gotten in to his first choice this is where he would have gone.</p>
<p>Emerson - No campus to speak of.</p>
<p>Georgetown - LOVED IT! Close to city life, and had just the right campus feel for him. Loves the internship opportunities in DC. Without a doubt, the best tour we had. He just knew that it was where he wanted to go, and I admit I got a very strong feeling that I could absolutely see him there.</p>
<p>Duke - Just didnât feel it, which was really surprising for both of us. We have strong ties to Duke, and he would have had a legacy hook there. Worst tour we had.</p>
<p>Luckily, he got into Georgetown and is very excited and looking forward to life on the Hilltop!</p>
<p>Congrats to your son on becoming a Hoya! Which school? Our S will be a junior (in the College) in the fall and absolutely loves the school and the Georgetown/DC environment.</p>
<p>UNC We live in NC so she would have ran into everyone she attended high school with. </p>
<p>Columbia University too intense. She loved the campus but not the intense atmosphere. </p>
<p>Fordham University although it is my alma matter. She thought it is too business like. :(</p>
<p>She is going to NYU she loved the atmosphere, how liberal it is and mostly the fact it is not the traditional campus she wanted to get away from.</p>
<p>James Madison University- There was nothing special about the school and it looked and felt like the State schools in our home state where we could go for a lot less money.</p>
<p>Union College- Loved it on our initial visit and almost considered applying to it Early Decision II. Glad we didnât after he stayed the overnight. It came across too much as a party school.</p>
<p>Bowdoin College- Beautiful area. Nice campus. Students seemed a little aloof and mostly from upper crust families.</p>
<p>Champlain College- Nice small school, good curriculum- especially if you know what you want to do for a career. However, no sports and no team to route for.</p>
<p>Elon University- Beautiful school, state of the art facilities and course designs. However, Elon, NC was too remote.</p>
<p>"Upon our arrival at the Hampshire College parking lot, my (very urbanized) boy asked, âDad, why are we here? Itâs a barn. In a field.â</p>
<p>After the tour, he said âI could see myself coming here.â</p>
<p>Never judge a book âŠ"</p>
<p>Were you in our vehicle? We had the exact same conversation with our son. He just finished his second year at Hampshire and absolutely loves it - he canât imagine being anywhere else. You never know!</p>
<p>Boston College - Great school, pretty campus, admissions officer who spoke was fantasticâŠbut very âIrish, Catholic, athleteâ vibe just isnât the right fit for S.</p>
<p>UMass-Amherst - Unfortunately we visited in record 100+ heat during a drought and the campus was âtoo hot and too brownâ. Also âtoo bigâ. D will be going to ASU in the fall. Go figure. But itâs a dry heat. LOL</p>
<p>I grew up in New England and my sister went to ASU and still lives there. There absolutely is a difference between 100 degrees and little humidity and 100 degrees and 80+ percent humidity. However, Iâve never seen pavement melt in MA or NH. ASU is a good school-Tempe is great, and if your D golfs, she will be going to the perfect spot. Be sure to visit in mid-February when you want to never see another snowflake in your life.</p>
<p>Iâve always loved âitâs a dry heat.â Iâd rather melt in humidity than feel like my face is going to fall off like a snake shedding its skin.</p>
<p>sseamom - We are from the Southwest and it probably was the humidity that bothered her more than the heat itself. And add to that the fact that the dorms were not air-conditioned which makes sense for the school year, just hard to get past for a 17 year-old who has had it all her life. Personally, I think she would have had trouble with the winter so I do think she made the right choice for her.</p>
<p>LOL sally. D is in Tempe right now, outside in the afternoons. (108 degrees yesterday). She texted that the worst part was that her face hurt from the heat even while not in the direct sun.</p>
<p>Williams - too remote and too intense. admin officer at the info session talked a lot about âcreative conflictâ.
Swarthmore - too intense.
Penn - disengaged tour guides (glimmer of excitement when describing throwing toast on the field at football games), too big
dickinson - too preppy (a sea of polo shirts, khaki shorts and sperrys). also - tour guide thanked one of the girls we passed for folding his laundry. daughter was appalled (by the folding, not the thank you).
franklin and marshall - visited during a frat/sorority carnival. daughter not impressed.</p>
<p>Boston University. Most of the information audience (200+) were foreign or international students. Ad com played up international students, diversity. Son would prefer an more American campus and then go abroad.</p>
<p>On and off (and on) again here at CC after many years, and once in a blue moon still get alerts from this thread. </p>
<p>My younger son had a pretty intense âdonât get out of the car/keep drivingâ reaction to GWU. Too urban, no campus. Then, on a second visit to American (which he liked) he swung over to GW again. Liked it a bit. Decision time came, he took a trip down to D.C. alone and decided he liked it a lot. Heâs now very happy there.</p>
<p>Cornell became a thumbs down due to a poor info session at the A&S school and total lack of coordination for a tour following the session (there was none - âOh, the tour is coordinated by âxyzâ department. You have to go over 3 buildings and I think they have something at 11 oâclock.â) In addition, there was a kid sitting behind us who kept belching about every ten minutes. Nary a word from the parents. Total turn-off for D.</p>
<p>After Cornell we went to Ithaca College. This was a much different situation as the group info was thorough and the tour was well planned with the guides being friendly and honest about their experiences at the school. While worth consideration, D just didnât feel the fit at this school. They do have some very strong departments and majors in the music, theater, communications, business and specialized health care (OT, PT, Speech, etc.) and outdoor adventure fields.</p>
<p>Too bad as the Ithaca area and the town were quite impressive and had a lot to offer.</p>
<p>Thumbs up to Lehigh and Villanova. They are on the short list at this time.</p>