<p>Thumper1 - Perhaps as a non-Catholic, you didn’t get a feeling of any difference between USD and SCU, since they both do try to be very inclusive for all. But for our DD, for whom her faith is very important, she definitely felt more of the presence at SCU. We all really liked SCU when we visited it and she will definitely be applying there. So glad to hear that your DD loved the school, too.</p>
<p>@ Sally, Good news about your alma mater, S and H just toured there yesterday. They were most impressed with the info session and great tour. UC was not so good.</p>
<p>wis75, we moved to WI from NY and were shocked by the drinking culture here. There’s a lot of peer pressure on kids to drink. It doesn’t shock me that Madison is a big party school. My son visited the campus several times and didn’t care for it. Fine with me as I find the school far too liberal.</p>
<p>UW has plenty of conservative students as well as many who don’t drink. They find each other. The good thing about huge schools (not that they are everyone’s cup of tea) is that there are many different groups for kids to connect with.</p>
<p>muf, I am glad you had a better experience at NU. It is a fantastic school. Ironically, when we visited there we also visited U of C and were blown away by the tour and presentation.</p>
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<p>We lived in Madison for five years while H was getting his Ph.D. Have to agree with this. FWIW, H is very conservative and never complained about not connecting with his own kind.</p>
<p>Growing up in a Madison, WI suburb and living on the UW campus for college I always thought I was conservative until I moved away soon after. Nondrinker then even when it was legal at 18. Then I discovered how conservative other places can be! It is unfortunate the German beer culture permeates WI, but plenty do not drink as well. At a large school there are more people with many minority viewpoints than the majority viewpoint at some smaller schools. Something to consider- good academics can trump a “party” atmosphere and being exposed to views outside of your comfort zone can be a good thing as long as you can find enough like minded peers as well.</p>
<p>Our tiny WI HS in our tiny town sends about 4 students to Madison per year. I was talking to one parent and was surprised to learn that the kids from our HS and the neighboring HS hang out/live together. I’m glad my son decided to go OOS and spread his wings a little. We moved to WI with high hopes and have been disappointed.</p>
<p>Riprorin,</p>
<p>What non-party school will your Son be attending?</p>
<p>Alabama. I never said he was going to a non-party school. We’re just not big fans of WI.</p>
<p>So back to the point of this thread…I am curious whether any kids who had a negative first impression (and potentially crossed it off the list) were persuaded to go back for a second visit to a school that fit the bill for other reasons, and ended up liking it?</p>
<p>Twice on the trip we made last week, my daughter walked onto a campus saying “I hate this place!” and then about halfway through the tour said, “I think I like it!”</p>
<p>There’s another school we visited that she didn’t like at all, but she may be invited to a diversity weekend there. She said she’d go if it worked with her schedule, so I’ll let you know if she changes her mind!</p>
<p>Our good friends were afraid of USC (as too dangerous) and wouldn’t set foot on campus, just drove around it. Our kids were undeterred and both ended up matriculating and graduating from USoCal, as did many of their friends. S insisted he’d thrive where planted and did!</p>
<p>D1 had crossed Harvard off her list when we visited as she thought that the tour was full of pretentious kids and parents. The tour, as I recall, only took us to the Harvard Yard and we had a little peek of Annenberg Hall (the freshman dinning hall) through a small window. And, yes, there were many high-strung parents on the tour. </p>
<p>In any case, she was encouraged to apply by a number of people and ultimately changed her mind. I think that what made her change her mind was a conversation that she had with a student that was a Junior at the time.</p>
<p>Sally…actually the opposite happened with us. DD applied to and was accepted to a school which at the time was her 2nd choice. She went for an accepted student weekend, and actually would have left halfway through if I would have picked her up. There was a final luncheon for students and parents…and DD couldn’t wait to leave the campus.</p>
<p>On her first visit, she loved the school.</p>
<p>Interesting! I hope her ultimate choice worked out for her.</p>
<p>Sally: we did a drive through at Maryland and DD said “no way.” But then a close friend of mine did a tour and loved it so back I went with DD. She loved it too. Applied, accepted but only for Freshman Connection. Went elsewhere.</p>
<p>My daughter was turned off by her first visit and tour of Georgetown. Then she scheduled an interview with a department chair who spent and hour and a half with her and only ended the meeting because she had another student coming in. She went somewhere else because of money.</p>
<p>Same here with georgetown. Seems too competitive for my taste. Also, NO GREEKS. 
There were pros and cons but the vibe I was getting wasnt for me. I dont to feel like I am struggling all the time to get to the place I want to be. Of course, I’m going to struggle. But I just didnt like their vibe.</p>
<p>One of the things the department chair at Georgetown told my daughter was that she should apply to the college rather than SFS. She said that the SFS kids looked down their noses at her and she sometimes felt as though she should remind them of their position at the university. That woman was a hoot.</p>
<p>The first time we were in L.A. looking at schools, we drove by Occidental, but Spygirl didn’t want to tour. It was too hilly. </p>
<p>We went back last spring, took a tour and she loved it.</p>