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I think that’s likely what it going to happen. Time will tell as we get closer to making a decision.</p>
<p>Haverford came off of my son’s list after doing a tour. Yes, it is a great school, but the dorm they showed us was dismal…I know they just built a new dorm for freshmen, but I think you’d have a 1 in 4 chance to get into that one…</p>
<p>I SO wanted my S to love Haverford. And we were disappointed in the whole tour. I agree, the dorm was atrocious – I get that dorms, esp those occupied by boys, will not be out of House Beautiful, but this was truly Animal House level and you had to wonder about their judgment in showing this. We had a horrendous tour guide as well. If I hadn’t felt bad that it was a student likely on work-study, I would have complained.</p>
<p>I actually sent my S back out to Haverford a second time to tour it with his grandfather who was in the Philly area at the time. Nope, same negative impressions. I still think it’s a great school – and D put Bryn Mawr as her second choice – but no sense forcing yourself to like a school that doesn’t hit you when there are so many choices.</p>
<p>I actually appreciate when colleges show a truly typical (or “worst-case scenario”) dorm room. I would way rather my kid go in thinking he or she is going to be in a run-down barracks situation with crumbling cinderblock walls and gross bathrooms than to expect something nice based on what was shown on the tour.</p>
<p>Bad tour guides are my pet peeve. These are people who are chosen to represent the school and in some cases are the only student a prospective freshman interacts with in any substantial way. Our tour guide at Grinnell was really bad–just going through the motions, not showing us the inside of classrooms or performance space, and prattling on about the parties, athletics and the north-south campus rivalries. He didn’t bother my son as much but I was really disappointed in our experience there as a result.</p>
<p>My middle daughter crossed schools off more on student vibes met on overnights than on the school itself. Her top choice dropped off the list after an overnight that included heavy party greek hosts who cared more about name brand clothes than what the school offered. I think my youngest will be the same as one great school went to the bottom of the list based on students from her high school that go there and they are again heavy partiers.</p>
<p>As much as possible, we’ve gone to Open Houses but hitting them all has been impossible. I’ve noticed the schools my daughter was most sure about were those schools. I’m thinking an accepted student visit will be the way to go. </p>
<p>Schools in the South are slightly different in some regards than schools up North in how they structure some of their visits. This was one thing I noticed. Some of our tours for schools down here consisted of walking around and just pointing out buildings without ever going in one single building. Thus, we’ve gone back for the Open Houses. Up North, there’s a bit more of an in depth visit - ranging from some had interviews to others would allow you to tailor your visit a bit more.</p>
<p>My youngest is proving to be way too influenced by the tour guide. I won’t let her do an overnight, she’s way too susceptible to the host. </p>
<p>When visiting schools in VA - SC we decided to look at Radford. After seeing the hotel we’d be staying in she started getting a not that into vibe. The town was a dump and that was the nicest hotel we could find and it still looked like awful. Before we checked in I suggested we drive around just to look and get our bearings. She wouldn’t get out of the car, hated it on sight, and we just moved on to the next school - keep in mind we drove 6 hours one way to see it. That place looked depressing, the town was gross. Thankfully Va Tech wasn’t that far away and we decided to go there a day early and squeeze into a different tour.</p>
<p>I visited a LAC twice (once with each kid) and they have a “model” dorm room, in a beautiful building with a gorgeous lobby. The room itself is truly typical of most dorms I’ve seen, but not the building. They’re upfront that it’s not a frosh dorm. But…</p>
<p>On this last visit there we also visited a friend’s D and saw her room - a forced quad because there is a housing shortage there at the moment. They didn’t mention that on the tour, of course, but it reminded me to ask about housing and how many kids were turned down or forced into triples or whatever when making final decisions. </p>
<p>S’12’s college had such a shortage they put a large group of students in a *hotel *that is a 20 minute shuttle ride from campus. I would NOT be happy if that were my kid.</p>
<p>We were just at Rutgers and one of the parent on the tour was looking at the model dorm room and asked “How often do they triple kids in a dorm room” and our bubbly tour guide said “We never do that!” but then that parent said “Well, when my older son came here they tripled him…”</p>
<p>Lehigh - we travelled over 2K miles to get out of there in < 30 minutes. Lack of diversity and high handed attitude of the ad. officer making the presentation (not the tour guide) were the primary reasons. My D felt that they are not an Ivy but think that there are one - was completely turned off.</p>
<p>" I live 10 minutes from campus and the campus has always been a place locals love to go walk or feed the ducks in the beautiful pond"…then wolf down a few combo meals at Taco Bell and use the powder room at the admissions office?</p>
<p>“Your impressions of BC are correct—the rest of the college population in Boston is sick of the full-of-themselves attitude of the BC kids.”</p>
<p>Right, because the kids at Harvard, Wellesley, Brandeis, Tufts, and BU are all salt-of-the-earth folk who spilt their own rails, churn their own butter, and wear off-brand hand-me-down bib overalls to class.</p>
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<p>How do you ascertain that, exactly, if someone wears name brand clothing that they “care more about that” than anything else?</p>
<p>moooop: </p>
<p>Yes, its those smelly Main Line Townies eating smothered burritos with fire sauce.</p>
<p>DS loved, loved, loved Haverford — even those dorms.</p>
<p>I guess it just goes to show that there’s a wide range of preferences.</p>
<p>CUPKSDAD, we were similarly unimpressed by the lack of diversity at Lehigh.</p>
<p>D was considering Miami University (Ohio) but she spent two weeks there this summer and now it’s off the list. She didn’t like the surrounding area at all - the cornfields and cow pastures were unfamiliar and unsettling to her - and though some say Oxford is a cute college town, it was not her cup of tea (the town of Princeton is more to her liking.) Also it was unfortunately very hot the two weeks she was there so it was hard to have a good feeling about the dorm (unairconditioned) or campus. I visited as well and I can imagine it would be lovely in the fall.</p>
<p>Timing is everything. Schedule the visit to Alabama in January and Rochester in June!</p>
<p>so sorry mooooop and charlieschm but we don’t have taco bell’s in the main line… </p>
<p>was that necessary?</p>
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<p>I was born and raised in Wellesley and never once heard a complaint about Wellesley students. They were known as excellent neighbors. BC, on the other hand…
[Boston</a> College: Arrest rowdy students | Universal Hub](<a href=“http://www.universalhub.com/node/10123]Boston”>Boston College: Arrest rowdy students | Universal Hub)
[Boston</a> College reps apologize to neighbors for loud, late party - Allston-Brighton, MA - Allston/Brighton TAB](<a href=“http://www.wickedlocal.com/allston/news/x1693431533/Boston-College-reps-apologize-to-neighbors-for-loud-late-party]Boston”>http://www.wickedlocal.com/allston/news/x1693431533/Boston-College-reps-apologize-to-neighbors-for-loud-late-party)</p>
<p>The college has gone a long way toward cleaning up its act in the wake of widespread problems 5 or 6 years ago. The administration cracked down on bad behavior but BC still has a reputation to live down in Allston and Brighton.</p>