<p>TCNJ - dd2 (#3 in the herd so this was college visit #23 for me). College was located amidst suburban homes, strip malls though no shops or restaurants or town within walking distance. Homogenous buildings, clean grounds but no students though it was a sunny mild weekend. Buildings were quiet, too quiet. Where were the students? Yes, besides the ones giving the tours at this open house. Strangely no genl info session but only sessions per academic interest so we head to biology. There is a bio bldg. with 2 classrooms that fit 48 students each. There are 3 labs where students can get involved in professorās research - focus on either snakes, worms or flies - I kid you not. Too small and community college feeling despite the rave reviews about it being a āpublic ivy.ā</p>
<p>Interesting we did TCNJ not too long ago.
True, it is amidst suburbia, but there is a bus that takes you to shops/restaurants.
We saw many friendly students (we were there on a weekday at 11:00am) who said Hi to our tour guide. Students were walking or studying or in cafeteria that we saw.<br>
We also did have an general info sessionā¦i think the saturday tours are different and are more dept. specific.</p>
<p>I understand that College of NJ is working on developing a commercial complex next to their campus. It is amazing how that College became much more selective with a new name (it used to be Trenton State), some great marketing and lots of landscaping.</p>
<p>That is right, Charlieschm, TCNJ is building a āCampus Townā right next to campus that will include student housing, fitness center, retail space and restaurants.</p>
<p>Well, regardless this was a school crossed off the list. To each their own but I would suspect many kids go home weekends because it was pretty darn quiet. Yes, there was fence with placard saying ātown center coming soon.ā I do remember when this was Trenton State which if I remember correctly was mainly for teacher education.</p>
<p>My son, who thought he would love them, crossed off OSU and UNC at Chapel Hill after visits, but he did love Duke.</p>
<p>Did he hate OSU because people there always assume they are the only OSU? That IS infuriatingā¦</p>
<p>OSU might not be the only one, but it IS the only one that matters ;)</p>
<p>Well, they did look awfully good against Baylor last week, but the other one is tied with Oregon at halftime tonight.</p>
<p>if you donāt mind me asking, was that dickinson college?</p>
<p>What post do you think referenced Dickinson ? Iāve never been there</p>
<p>Crossed off Boston University after it had been my first choice for a long time. I really fell in love with the street where most of the dorms are, but there was no campus. It really didnāt feel a college, but I know some people loved BU for this exact reason. Same with NYU, so I opted to not apply to either.</p>
<p>Also felt a little weird about Tufts. I read through this thread a little bit and I noticed a lot of people said they didnāt like Tufts. Iām not sure what it was. The campus itself was okay, a little smaller than I imagined, but I hated the surrounding area + dorms. The vibe was unsettling as well, but I couldnāt really put my finger on it.</p>
<p>DS and family visited ~15 campuses during the year and most fell into the middle of the bell curveā¦liked it a lot but didnāt necessarily love it enough to commit. The schools he disliked enough to cross off the app list based on his visit included U. Maryland (too blah, no personality), Babson (wanted a broader curriculum than just business - and way too small), UMass Amherst (soulless was the term I remember). The schools he ended up liking way more than expected included Vanderbilt (loved the Vandy vibe) and Emory. Weāre visiting Tulane in Feb and will be very curious about his reaction since itās the first school that accepted him.</p>
<p>^^^Sounds like thereās a southern boy inside him just dying to get out!</p>
<p>Crossed off UChicagoā¦ we visited immediately after an overnight at a very warm, friendly LAC and the UChicago environment seemed much colder. The emphasis on intellectualism touted in all their print material was definitely there, but came off as more elitist than I had anticipated. I also discovered that I didnāt care for the urban campus.</p>
<p>warriordaughterā¦do share what the warm, friendly LAC school was!</p>
<p>I visited 31 schools this summer.</p>
<p>Kept:
University of Michigan
Georgetown University (already accepted)
University of Pennsylvania
Columbia University
Wesleyan University
Yale University
Brown University
Harvard University
Bowdoin College
Dartmouth College
Amherst College
Hamilton College</p>
<p>Crossed Off:
Oberlin College
Carnegie Mellon University
Johns Hopkins University
Swarthmore College
Haverford College
Princeton University
New York University
Connecticut College
Boston College
Brandeis University
Tufts University
Colby College
Bates College
Williams College
Union College
Skidmore College
Colgate University
Cornell University
University of Rochester</p>
<p>tpcrd66-- it was Wheaton 
One of the nicest and most genuine groups of students I had the privilege of spending time with.</p>
<p>alex: with all due respect, that is nuts.</p>
<p>^hahaā¦ perhaps alex can write a college guide for the rest of us homebodies :)</p>