<p>Hadn’t heard of Susquehanna before, but I had to check it out. Looks excellent and has what my sophomore son wants. Definitely going to check it out.</p>
<p>We have visited several and I will try to give a rundown.
Southern Illinois: This was a disaster from the getgo. The email confirmation came after we had left town to travel there. They were under major construction and didn’t bother to put signs up to redirect. By the time we got to the campus visit, daughter was over it. We did do the tour, and were very unimpressed. It seems to get a lot of students from nearby and they seemed happy.
Mizzou: Loved every single thing! The campus was really pretty. Great mix of beautiful old bldgs and newer modern construction. The rec center was amazing. Everyone we met with was very attentive and the people in general on campus nice. I really liked the town, Columbia. You walk right off campus into downtown and lots of little restaurants, coffee houses and shops.
Missouri S and T: This one was a pleasant surprise. I thought it would have a more ‘industrial’ feel, but the campus is really nice. Daughter was extremely impressed with the labs where they do a lot of hands on training in Engineering. Nicest dorms we have seen anywhere. The small town leaves a lot to be desired.
Murray State:The campus is not super pretty, but all the buildings were in terrific shape and very clean. All the meetings/experiences were good. Daughter liked the size, and the fact that there were lots of little places on campus to get a snack or study. Ultimately, not the place for her academically.
Evansville:This is a beautiful campus, we loved every single thing about it, but it is TINY. By the time we hit the road, she knew it wasn’t for her.</p>
<p>Now, here is my list of places still on her list, but that we have not been able to visit. We will definitely see Mississippi State on a day trip, but are otherwise out of traveling time and $$.I would love any info about visits, or if you just know someone who goes or has gone to these places. Daughter wants to do Engineering, and would like a campus that is at least somewhat diverse, and has a good library, and places to meet and study.
Mississippi State
UAB
University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Auburn
Thanks!</p>
<p>TNMom11, check out the Alabama forum if you want information about the school. Mom2boys is a font of information, and the forum is very active. S2 is there for CS and S3 will be going there for engineering. Its a beautiful campus. If scholarship criteria doesn’t change, if she gets an ACT score of 32+, it is free tuition. A lower ACT brings some compensation too (a 30+ is 2/3 tuition.) An engineering student gets $2,500 extra per year.</p>
<p>Re: Brown and Cornell</p>
<p>We had almost the exact same experience. We visited Brown for both daughters (three years apart) and in both cases had a terrible info session and tour. Seems like hosting info sessions is seen as drudgery at Brown and is given to the rookie admissions representative.</p>
<p>We also visited Cornell on a lark during a trip to Colgate and RPI. Five yeas later she has a BS and MS from Cornell engineering</p>
<p>Thanks kjcphmom! I have looked, I will read more today. She does have 32 on the ACT, her GPA unweighted is only 3.2. She also is a National Merit Semifinalist. We feel with the GPA chances of finalist are slim, but waiting to see. So far she has some merit aid from each school she applied to. It will probably come down to where she can go with no loans, but my thought is if she finds a school and gets it ‘almost’ paid for, she should go with the place she really feels is the best fit. Right now we are trying to figure out Alabama, UAB, and Mississippi State. She is totally in love with Mizzou, but their $8500 per year scholarship just won’t be enough to cut it.</p>
<p>U of Mississippi will automatically give you almost full tuition with a 32 ACT and a 3.2. South Florida and Central Florida might also give you a good deal with those stats.</p>
<p>D’s experience:</p>
<p>Portland State: Absolute worst tour, by far. Two tour guides gossiped the entire time with each other, seemed very disinterested. Gracelessly separated the “honors” students (my D included) from the “regular” tour…very uncomfortable for the “regular” folks…We didn’t like anything about the urban campus. Science labs looked like high school. Cafeteria gloomy & depressing. No green space in sight. Finally we ditched, and toured UP instead…</p>
<p>Linfield: Too small, seemingly not enough going on, D said felt too much like high school. </p>
<p>Oregon State: Put off by the overemphasis on football (prominent, huge, expensive sculpture of a football, etc), lack of discussion re: academics, obvious problem with stolen bicycles on campus (saw 2 examples on tour of half-stolen bikes, one complete with a “note” to the perpetrator, also a question about crime/bikes from another parent)…buy a cheap bike was the response…</p>
<p>Seattle U: D thinks it’s too urban for her- doesn’t like neighborhood.</p>
<p>SPU: Put off by overemphasis on religion, service, chapel, volunteering, even in study abroad (as opposed to UP’s acceptance of all faiths, & generally wholesome feel). </p>
<p>Evergreen: Not excited by buildings, but applying anyway for the independent study aspect.</p>
<p>University of Washington: At first thought it was too big, but D attended classes, and is comfortable with campus now.</p>
<p>Western University, Bellingham: Liked campus, Fairhaven, etc.</p>
<p>University of Portland: One of D’s favorites.</p>
<p>My daughter’s list of “cross offs” and why (she is a recruited athlete.)</p>
<p>UC Davis–too dry, too hot, too bland, no culture, not far away or different enough demographic from home
UC Berkeley–too intense, no warm friendly vibes, Telegraph Ave was too hempy and wacky, campus didn’t have any special private spaces to sit under a tree and read a book, city encroached on campus too much
Cornell: she burst into tears there while we were touring and said she felt homesick! Too spread out and huge feeling to her, downtown Ithaca “depressing.” The cold didn’t bother her though!
UPenn: the humidity was a shock to her system, she was impressed with the campus and the town, didn’t get a “connection” with tour guide or students there
Yale: both parents are grads so expectations were high. She LOVED the campus, loved the residential colleges, loved the gothic architecture, felt at home in New Haven. Our tour guide was the funniest, warmest, most quick witted I’ve ever experienced. The info session intimidated her a bit. Happened to get a very stiff, “nerdy” guy with an attitude. Made her question if Yale was the right academic fit
Brown: she fell in love with it all. Just the right fit academically with the open curriculum, pretty campus with friendly, happy kids who approached her and introduced themselves, a town with a “soul”, diverse, different from her CA world but with a touch of that liberal, progressive feel. She’ll be a freshman there this fall and is still on cloud 9</p>
<p>My daughter and I still chuckle about the “virtual tour” DVD she received from a school in Arkansas that she had zero interest in - the “tour guides” were incessantly peppy and syrupy and kept hawking the fact that there was a real, live Quiznos on campus! Apparently this was the highlight of the school. Sure enough, at the end - cue dramatic music - “And here’s Quiznos!!” I was laughing hysterically, daughter was not so amused - in all fairness she was in the midst of a tough senior year and was dealing with music audition prep and such.</p>
<p>My D knocked Lehigh off after walking up that hill just once. Plus the school color is brown which she absolutely hated.</p>
<p>happy1, as a Lafayette alumni I’d say your D has good taste. 
But if she didn’t like Lehigh’s hill, don’t bother looking at Holy Cross. It’s even steeper, and the only flat part of the campus is the parking lot and field house on the top of the windswept hill.</p>
<p>I do have to think that after 4 years at Lehigh, everyone must have awesome quads and glutes. It was off-putting to us too, although a lot of the campus was very nice.</p>
<p>If you hate hills, cross Colgate off the list as well. Accepted student day had us going, up the hill, down the hill, up the hill, down the hill, up the …" Would definitely eliminate the freshman 15</p>
<p>OMG, my husband and I were in the Lehigh area recently, so we drove through campus just to see this hill people keep talking about. Good lord, what possessed them to build a campus on that site??? I like walking, I went to Penn State and am not afraid of a big campus or a long walk to class … but that hill was ridiculous.</p>
<p>Holy Cross is built on a steep hill because that was the only land that would be sold to the Catholic Church, land seen to be “useless”. The anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant No Nothing Party controlled the state at the time. They wouldn’t allow a Catholic college to be built in Boston so HC was opened in Worcester (which is why BC came after Holy Cross, when the political winds changed.</p>
<p>The first degrees from Holy Cross were actually granted by Georgetown, as the state would not license this “papist” university.</p>
<p>Speaking of hills, UC Santa Cruz is all hills. The entire campus is on a small mountain side in the woods. You literally can’t walk anywhere. The whole tour was by a bus, and there are shuttles stops all over for the students. It was very pretty - had a summer camp feel to it - but did not feel like college. We crossed it off the list during the tour. Too bad because the beach is wonderful!</p>
<p>I would agree with JCC’s assessment of uc Santa Cruz as would a number of my kids who never even considered it. Two of them DID enroll, however, and love the campus: the ocean vistas, the redwood groves with banana slugs, the hiking trails with mountain lions and deer, and caves for exploring. Shuttles (and bikes) are essential, however.</p>
<p>Add Pepperdine to the hilly turn off. I knew it as soon as I had to parallel park on the side of a cliff. D figured it out after walking the tour. Great views though.</p>
<p>Was just thinking about Pepperdine as I read the last few postings. The junker that was my daughter’s first car in LA had a rough time getting up the hills.</p>
<p>MADad, thanks for that interesting history of Holy Cross!</p>