<p>Sophomore year I had a school trip to Boston and the group of us (about 40) toured Emerson and Northeastern. I signed up for the trip for Northeastern but have Emerson a chance. I hated it. I remember going through the same doors like four times. We were going in circles. The “campus” felt like (although it isn’t) one single tall building. Very off putting</p>
<p>Part of the goal in picking a college is to find a place with plenty to do, so that students do not feel they need to binge-drink strictly out of boredom. My theory is that some of the colleges in the coldest locations and the most isolated locations have the most binge drinking.</p>
<p>Colleges do vary greatly in how strictly they enforce alcohol policies. Most colleges are not extremely strict, because they can’t afford to lose students. I’d assume most colleges don’t really care about alcohol unless the situation becomes dangerous or destructive. </p>
<p>Where I went to college, the main job of the University Police was “to keep students safe.” That meant to only intervene when someone was a hazard to themselves or others. </p>
<p>There are some colleges that even prohibit students over age 21 from having any alcohol in their on-campus apartments.</p>
<p>D visited Ohio University. She liked the campus, the school offered everything she wanted, however, the school is known as a “party” school (ranked number 7 recently) and she just couldn’t get over her bias. They offered her a very good scholarship (essentially a full ride) but in the end the reputation, justified or not, could not be overcome. I made her apply because I knew she qualified for an automatic scholarship and they waived the application fee. It was dad’s financial safety.</p>
<p>DS is at OU and it is rural. Definitely plenty of drinking although the policies are pretty strict if you are caught ( two times and you are out). It is trying to change that reputation. </p>
<p>On the party schools…one of the lists gave reasons why schools were given the party designation honor and my alma mater, Iowa State, was on the list. It was selected because ISU has the largest student-run festival ( VEISHA) in the U.S. OU was on the same list and it had the its Halloween celebration was huge, which it is. </p>
<p>Anyway, the party school thing always gets me. You can find a party anywhere. I guess it is good for the kids who admit upfront that that is what they are going to do.;)</p>
<p>4gsmom: that’s so funny, we also had a terrible tour guide at Northwestern and it is now off of our list! It makes such a difference to have a good tour guide, because the bad ones are just… ugh. really bad.</p>
<p>We had a not-so-good visit day at Northwestern with my son and his friend several years ago. The info session was awful–too many people crammed into a crummy room to watch three people read directly from a PowerPoint presentation. The tour guide was not that knowledgeable and mixed up Upton Sinclair and Sinclair Lewis, which my son and his friend both noticed. What was especially disappointing was that my son had high hopes for NU since it is where his parents met. In the long run, it wouldn’t have been a great fit for him anyway but I had hoped my alma mater would present itself better than it did.</p>
<p>So, with that logic if you went to say Florence on a tour and had a bad tour guide you would not go there again even though other factual info tells you it is one fo the most interesting historic cities on earth?? OK then.</p>
<p>MD mom - I totally agree that you can find a party anywhere. A student can also choose not to party anywhere. The student has a choice as to what he/ she will do. I know plenty of people who attended so called “party schools” who chose not to party.</p>
<p>DD has visited quite a few schools, so far these are the schools she has taken off her list after visiting:</p>
<p>1) Oregon State - Didn’t like the feeling of it from the time she entered the campus. She said she felt it had a strange vibe to it that she couldn’t explain.
2) University of San Diego - It was probably one of the most beautiful colleges we have visited. It looked like a park. She felt it wasn’t “Catholic” enough for her. She has other Catholic schools on her list that she liked the feelings of better such as Santa Clara University and University of Portland.
3) San Diego State University - She felt it was too run down.
4) Fort Lewis College - She said it felt like a community college.
5) Arizona State University - Didn’t like the area around school and how they have several separate campuses in the PHX area. She likes one “main” campus feel.</p>
<p>Midwesternheart, can you clarify what made USD seem less Catholic than SCU?</p>
<p>barrons, why do you keep on about people’s choices? What is the difference between deciding you don’t like a college because of reason X versus reason Y or Z? There is no one right answer for everyone.</p>
<p>Whenhen - She felt USD felt less Catholic for several reasons: 1) During the presentations by the admission folks and the tour guide, there was more emphasis on students who were not Catholic having a sense of inclusion on campus and virtually no discussion of the reasons a Catholic student would want to attend the university. 2) There was no mention of priests or nuns teaching classes on campus. 3) They did not emphasize students attending mass on campus. 4) They made a point to say that the school administration is primarily secular. 5) There seemed to be fewer Catholic visuals throughout the campus (i.e. statues, crosses, etc.)</p>
<p>Info sessions and tour guide quality are key for my S. info sessions at Lehigh and univ of Maryland were boring beyond belief. Tour guide at Georgetown was clearly bored and tired. Conversely, best tour guides ever are those at univ of southern calif.</p>
<p>S attends a Catholic university and we are not Catholic. Sounds like some colleges are trying to over-compensate by focusing on kids that they worry will not feel like they fit in. The key is to strike a balance.</p>
<p>Party school reputations should never be considered until the actual campus vibe is known. UW-Madison has again ranked highly but with a large school it doesn’t take a large percentage of the student body to have partying be apparent. Even if a small minority does not party there still can be plenty of peers to be with. Not all students are into football although from various media you would think they are. It is interesting to see the na</p>
<p>I just question obviously questionable decision trees. This is not the “stupid reasons —” thread–it purports to be serious so it should be open to serious questions. Not chosing a school because of a tour guide is about the dumbest reason I could imagine. It ranks right below too many squirrels.</p>
<p>
Wow. I have seen many comments on this thread that students were turned off by schools that were “too Catholic,” but this is the first one I can remember saying it was not Catholic enough.</p>
<p>I’m with dumb old guy.</p>
<p>Remember too that a lot of people will articulate one reason that isn’t THE reason–simply because it’s easier to put a finger on.</p>
<p>Santa Clara is a fabulous school…but it isn’t any “more catholic” than U of San Diego. There is a huge Jesuit presence there which is not the same at USD. DD was not catholic and loved her four years at SCU. The religious aspect was there for students who wanted it, but it was not anything like required church services. There is a religion course requirement but there are about 100 religion courses. My kid loved those courses…very good discussions.</p>
<p>We just got back from a very long tour. Kid crossed off SUNY Environmental Studies and Forestry (small, on the Syracuse U. campus, safety school for her) because the info sheet they asked her to fill out before the tour asked for her social security number. Bye-bye!</p>
<p>Also hated U. of Buffalo, I think because family friends who live in Buffalo are probably moving away.</p>