<p>The room I stayed in at Jesus College had a bathtub - no shower. The train from London to Cambridge was really slow.</p>
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<p>Impressions are always interesting to read.
For a state school, I thought UDel was small.
Dorms are a little run down ⊠PS: They are building a new one.</p>
<p>I wouldnât say âjunk foodâ but the food at every campus weâve visited seems to be chain, âfastâ or âconvenient.â
Iâm guessing that there is no such thing anymore as the old fashioned dining halls.</p>
<p>Yes, a huge residence hall complex just opened on the east side of U. Del - well over 1,500 students. It will house honor students, among others. I understand this complex now makes it possible to renovate many older dorm complexes in phases. I had read that the first older complex is now closed for renovation.</p>
<p>In many ways, it is more important that freshman dorms promote interaction among new students than providing fancy amenities. Freshman year is when you meet many people who will be friends for all 4 years. Some newer dorms at some colleges do not promote interaction - they are high security with key cards needed to access each suite or every part of every floor, etc. and with room doors that automatically slam shut. It is very hard to pop in and say hi.</p>
<p>S1âs freshman dorm had private bathrooms, which the kids liked, but didnât get them out of their rooms much.</p>
<p>GolfFather-
You need to check out the dining halls at small LACs. Bates, for instance has one central dining commons which serves sushi, brick oven pizzas made with whole wheat flour, a vegan bar, gluten free bar, salad bar, pasta and soup bar and euro bar. The cooks serve their food directly to the kids so they get immediate feedback. The foodâs so good that Dining Services put out a cookbook with their recipes scaled down for home cooking.</p>
<p><a href=âhttp://www.bates.edu/Prebuilt/Senior_Cookbook.pdf[/url]â>http://www.bates.edu/Prebuilt/Senior_Cookbook.pdf</a></p>
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<p>You know, come to think of it. Itâs funny you should say that.
My daughter has visited many schools ⊠of all sizes.
But I just realized - it has turned out that she has visited all the large (state) schools with me, and all of the small LACs with her mother.
It just kind of turned out that way.</p>
<p>But I still donât think the old 1950s era dining halls still exist for the most part.</p>
<p>Virginia Tech is obviously a large school but has won lots of awards for itsâ dining services. D2 has a common sitting area with stations all around (pizza, vegetarian and vegan, etc.). Turner Place has a sushi restaurant that also has 10 person hibachi grills with a chef. West End Market had the first marketplace concept in college dining. [Dining</a> Centers | Dining Services | Virginia Tech](<a href=âhttp://www.dining.vt.edu/centers/dining_centers.html]Diningâ>http://www.dining.vt.edu/centers/dining_centers.html)</p>
<p>Oldest D (college graduate) took youngest D (senior in high school) on a visit to Case Western, LeHigh and Villanova last week. Funniest anecdote I heard was that their tour group of 25+ at LeHigh passed a truck full of male students who drove by the tour yelling ârun the other way! You donât want to be here!â whereas every group of students they passed at Villanova made positive comments like âgo Nova! Youâll love it here!â Incidently, my D commented that Villanova âmight be too warm and fuzzy for herâ lol</p>
<p>We visited 4 schools within the past month. So far we keep everyone on the list (including 3 more schools). But we did change the game plan a little bit. One school which has good reputation but we donât really like the campus, we put it at a lower priority. We are not applying ED for it anyway. If my D got accepted from any of the EA, we probably would not even apply to this one RD.</p>
<p>GolfFather, sounds like you married a smart woman (âjust turned out that wayâ - thatâs so cute)</p>
<p>Oldest son and I have visited probably 12-15 schools with a unique perspective as Iâm a LAC administrator - try my bet to keep my mouth shut until I hear him speak.</p>
<p>As to this topic:</p>
<p>Goucher: met all of his objective criteria but way too âcrunchyâ (his words) for him. He fancies himself on the conservative side of things and, while he wants a very diverse student body, he feared heâd just never fit in. He wants to seek out others different then him in college - but at Goucher, he was worried heâd find NO ONE like him! - especially when the 30-40 zombies walked byâŠ</p>
<p>Juniata: again, met ALL of the objective criteria and he wasnât bothered by the Huntingdon, PA scene at all. The student center was down right depressing as were certain other facilities - he remarked it just made him feel cold and felt too much like High School.</p>
<p>St. Mikeâs (VT) - he and I both liked most everything about it but it just feels even smaller than it is!</p>
<p>I think almost everyplace else on his list has stayed a possibility. Itâs funny (especially seeing them every day at work) how average tours can be and how much they are alike but when one stands out (e.g. JMU was a cattle call & they looked at my son like he had 5 heads when he asked if we could visit the east campus where ALL of the science facilities were), it really stands out (for better or worse). Kudos to the schools (and I think all of his final four were among them coincidentally) that endeavored to do one tour guide per family.</p>
<p>Weâre at the verge of an ED decision so itâs quite an interesting perspective starting to look back (or look ahead for my other two)!</p>
<p>JJG164981âŠAlthough it may not go on the thread of what your crossing offâŠwould love to hear where else you visited and what you/your son are keeping on the list.<br>
I especially would appreciate hearing about St. MikeâsâŠwe have that on our visit list.
You can PM me if you donât want to post here off topicâŠthanks!</p>
<p>TPCRD - I tried to PM but CC wonât let me b/c Iâm not over 15 posts. If you have further questions about ST Mikeâs or others after this post, try sending me an email through the CC option and I can get back to you that way.</p>
<p>Letâs see what I can remember - My son is a science/history/music kid - wants to be a doctor eventually - he was looking for schools that are small but not too small, not party crazy places, with enough key focus on the sciences:</p>
<p>Drew: I think it was our first visit summer before Junior year - overall positive, science facilities a little lackluster - nothing to compare it to.</p>
<p>Lafayette: Loved it (I wanted to go) - Weâre from the NE and we like historical towns. Easton is kind of nice actually. The science facilities were top notch and the folks really nice. It remained my sonâs #1 for some time. Fell down the list b/c, while he would be top half of applicant pool, they are very tight with merit aid (which weâre shooting for).</p>
<p>Clark: very urban (in a real old Northeast sort of way) that didnât bother my son and it remains one of his top choices. Really progressive - my son is a bit conservative so heâd have to really stretch to find like minded friends but heâs open to it all. Heâs also an outdoors type so it may fall down on that front too. Great science facilities and the area, while urban, is not as bad as folks make it out to be. Really nice, welcoming staff and students.</p>
<p>Holy Cross: I should have mentioned this in the âcross off earlyâ post. Nice academics but cold, cold, cold facilities and personality (or lack thereof). Everyone from tour guides to admissions staff made us feel like we were sixth graders in St. Johnâs Catholic High School - nothing comforting about the place.</p>
<p>Marist: liked - beautiful campus and welcoming people. Fell down for us on the science facilities (actually share a round, former campus center with the fashion design kids!)</p>
<p>URI and UCONN: toured as safety schools - too big and state-ish for son</p>
<p>Muhlenberg: I liked a lot more than my son. (He had TWO beautiful young ladies (one was in training) take him around for the afternoon and dote on him - great facilities and a bit of a gem in Allentown but, if even with that kind of special treatment he was nonchalant about it, it needed to come off the list.</p>
<p>Ithaca: we generally liked - thatâs the key, âgenerallyâ - neat blend of music and science but all in all, a bit too big and like a state school for son</p>
<p>Hobart & William Smith: big like - beautiful campus in beautiful (albeit far out) location. Son felt comfortable there and with programs - still one of his top choices. Only down side is, while weâre safely middle class (or upper middle class), his (and my wifeâs) head was spinning at the designer clothes, bags, luxury cars, etc. - it is clearly the place where the wealthy (who donât go Ivy League) land.</p>
<p>Susquehanna: big like - great facilities and campus - high on sonâs list and nice all round fit for him. Great people too.</p>
<p>Ursinus: big like - location, while not far away, is a bear to get too for us. A little preppier than most on his list but very manageable. Beautiful (if not over the top on the artsy stuff) campus. Science facilities were a little behind but the program is rather cutting edge.</p>
<p>U of Vermont: nice facilities for a state school - Great advantage being in a great city. Not to sound like a jerk but the tour guide was a total ditz. She literally gave my son and I our favorite college tour quote (as she pointed out one of the few âsuiteâ living rooms) something like âItâs kinda like cool there - I went there once for a party and like there were a bajillion kids hanging out in the common area - ok, well like sixâ - it did provide some humor. It was also clearly on the aggressive party school end of things and, in the end, too big for my son.</p>
<p>I guess I already mentioned Goucher, Juniata, ST Mâs and JMU but a little more on the last two:</p>
<p>St. MIkeâs - I liked it more than my son. He hit it off in a big way with some students he met (same ECâs, etc.) and the people on campus couldnât have been nicer (and more on the offense with offers of $ etc) - that said, almost from the start of the tour, son said âthis just feels too smallâ and the label stuck. He is right that there are only a handful of academic buildings in one big square soâŠ</p>
<p>JMU - absolutely stunning campus (except for the interstate splitting it). I know some administrators there so we got a good view (except for avoiding the East/science campus which no one thought was a big deal). Tours are indeed impersonal cattle calls. For a state school, it is quite remarkable and (I think) remains reasonably high on my sonâs list).</p>
<p>Hope this helps</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>JJG164981, thanks for the great report!</p>
<p>Much appreciated.</p>
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<p>JJG164981, surprised you didnât check out Univ of Rochester. And yes, that was good report.</p>
<p>I really appreciate your Clark and Hobart impressions in particular - thanks!</p>
<p>Ole Miss, ds said it seemed like â13th gradeâ with the tour guide, who seemed like a sweet but âempty headed sorority girlâ. the bulk of the time she spoke about football and recruiting and their biggest rival, I forgot who. But, just more silly HS sounding stuff to him. Pretty campus, but it didnât blow me away in its beauty. seemed the school revolves around football and tailgating and that wasnât what we were looking for. I think he might get swept away with the social aspect, as it seems that is all that is going on. </p>
<p>Hendrix, too small and nothing going on. we were there in the summer, so I realize that matters. but the tour guide couldnât make eye contact, and we stood looking at this pitiful little pond/fountain, that apparently has great importance. seemed really sad that THAT was such a feature. NICE people that really had all day for us, but sadly, it just seemed a bit stale. IDK. Hate to knock that one, as they were REALLY nice, but just not much that impressed us. If you want a real personal relationship with staff, this would be a good option. Prettier campus than we expected.</p>
<p>College1,</p>
<p>Just wondering if the âcollege studentsâ at Lehigh and Villanova who made comments last week were actually students, since most colleges were not in session in mid-August. Could these kids actually have been students in a camp of some sort? Weâve gone on many tours in the Summer and have never taken too seriously the students we have seen in the Summer. Often they have been camp students, grad students, etc.</p>
<p>DU-University of Denver. It was my daughterâs #1 on paper (well, website). We were barely out of the car and she knew it wasnât for her. Very sterile and pretentious environment.</p>
<p>maggiedog,
Villanova students were to arrive the following day so those on campus were orientation advisors and other very involved students that brought them back to campus early so that makes sense in their level of enthusiasm for their school. Lehigh not so sure but could have beenâŠmy D didnât take any of it too seriously and I hope the others on tour at Lehigh didnât either; just a funny anecdotal experience when visiting two schools on the same day.</p>