This is great but don’t forget admissions is a sales team.
Love the school for the school and not just because if admissions. It’s nice to have a great first impression but in the end, it just means a better sales pitch…. Not that it’s a better school for the student.
OK, last pre-admissions tour, trying to figure out the RD/possible-EDII list, and first up . . . .
Swarthmore: SAME, so on the bubble. Campus was a big hit, at this point I can pretty much predict S24’s reaction, and this was definitely his sort of campus–nice mix of buildings, and a rolling campus with a lot of greenery and walking paths. Shout out to the outdoor amphitheater, one of the coolest spaces we have seen anywhere–it felt like something out of Tolkien. And they have their own train station that goes straight into Philly. Pretty great combination.
On the down side, there were definitely a lot of references to how hard the classes were, how hard the students work, and also a lot of focus on Engineering and CS. Obviously they are good outside of those areas too, but I am not sure they will make S24’s final list given these academic impressions (which is fine with me if so).
And finally, the truly last one of all (sniffle) . . .
Haverford: SAME. Sort of a mirror image of Swarthmore in terms of relative pros and cons, and so on the bubble as well (which is pretty good at this point, I should note).
Academically and in terms of vibe, Haverford was spot on–smart and intellectually diverse but with a commitment to balance and non-academic activities as well. The BiCo with Bryn Mawr was appealing too.
The campus was not as big of a hit with S24. Not quite the rolling hills and sense of spaciousness as his absolute favorites. I looked it up, actually–Swarthmore’s campus is apparently 425 acres, Haverford 200 (some sources say 216), and I am realizing he responds positively to the somewhat bigger LAC campuses. He also thought maybe the buildings at Haverford matched a little too much.
Finalizing his list (due 12/1 to HS college counselors) is going to be very interesting.
3 posts were merged into an existing topic: Off-Topic Discussion from “Colleges Crossed Off List or Moved Up After Visiting”
4 posts were merged into an existing topic: Off-Topic Discussion from “Colleges Crossed Off List or Moved Up After Visiting”
Slippery Rock University (SRU)- UP - This is a PASSHE school (Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education) which is the actual PA state school system. PSU and Pitt are state related and thus more pricey and don’t get as much state funding. SRU is about 45 minutes north of Pittsburgh in a rural area. The campus is a bit hilly and spread out. There are a decent number of dining options on campus including one all you can eat dining hall, starbucks, quaker steak and lube, rocky’s, sushi, and a few more. Meal swipes can be used at all of these places. I was surprised at the number of dining options considering the rural location. There is also a small town attached with a dunkin, sheetz, and some local restaurants. Overall, I found the admissions presentation very informative regarding programs of study (there appear to be a number of pre-health programs such as pharmacy, PT, PA and more) among computer science, math, theatre, etc. with many paths including joint programs with Duquesne University. SRU gives merit aid based on GPA and optional test scores. With these renewable scholarships cost of attendance can be below 20K/year. There is an honors program, autism support program, and a program called Jumpstart that helps freshmen adapt to life away from home if needed. Most of the dorms are newer, built in the last ten years with each room including a kitchenette with microwave and minifridge and private bathroom. They seem to be flexible with students trying out different majors and from talking to our tour guide, if you decide on a major by the end of your sophomore year you can still graduate on time. They also have an active disabilities support office. Overall, I thought this would be a good choice for a student who wants to go to college, doesn’t want a huge school, but still wants some independence and may want to try out a few different courses before deciding on a major.
Thanks for your review! We toured it in 2018 for my D, who majored in theater tech, and when we visited, they did not have a working theater (they did performances in the cafeteria, or something equally inadequate, as I recall) – but one was planned. Do you happen to know if that has come to fruition?
Wow the cafeteria! No one asked about this and it wasn’t mentioned by admissions. I did a quick search and it does look like they have performance spaces. I grabbed this from the website:
The Theatre Department is housed in two very recently renovated facilities - The Performing Arts Complex and the Stoner Complex. Our mainstage productions are performed in Miller Theater, a 750-seat proscenium theater, and the Black Box Theater, a 200+ flexible black box theater. We have working scene and costume shops, managed by full-time professionals and work with current technology and operating boards in all of our spaces. Visitors can tour the spaces in person or virtually at the SRU Virtual Tour.
Awesome, thanks for the knowledge! We did like the school a lot when we toured.
Colleges that went up after tour: Bates and Vassar. Both beautiful campuses, excellent tour guides, themes aligned with my kid’s interests: social sciences, neuro, psych, intermural sports, small town, lovely walking paths through campus, positive vibe/feel, opportunity for research and/or community projects, accessible to airport. Bates was first choice and that’s where she goes now!
Colleges that went down: Didn’t like Colby or Bowdoin as much as Bates (Colby is gorgeous but felt too remote). Liked the town around Bowdoin but campus didn’t have as much charm as expected. Didn’t have formal tour, just visited, so tour might have helped.
Also went down: W & L (felt too conservative, military feel around town). BU and Northeastern (too urban - lacked campus).
Neutral: Davidson, Tufts, Skidmore, Bucknell, Connecticut College (pretty campus but can’t walk into town). All are great colleges with nice campuses but nothing stood out for my kid.
Duquesne University - UP - We attended a Duq Days open house event in the summer of 2022. Even though I attended undergrad and grad school down the road, I was completely unfamiliar with the campus. Located in downtown Pittsburgh, I was concerned the campus would not feel safe as downtown Pittsburgh is not the best area, especially since the pandemic. However, the campus itself is self-contained, with lovely landscaping and buildings. The fitness center was massive with a large variety of equipment on multiple levels and an indoor track. Campus is walking distance from PPG Paints Arena where the Pittsburgh penguins play and is also used as a venue for a variety of concerts. We attended a sample lesson from a business school professor who was engaging and easy to talk to after the session. There are a variety of food options on campus and if you get tired of them the city of Pittsburgh has no shortage of places to eat. One concern we do have is how many students go home on the weekends as it does seem to attract mostly locals. I have heard that it is a suitcase school although I know greek life is very active on campus.
Williams was truly beautiful. The mountainous views all around made a large impression on me. It was small, but the downtown street connected to campus was great. I had the best ice cream sundae I have ever had there at the little shop at the end. Really impressed by all the facilities that I was able to go into; the library was particularly impressive. In addition, the architectural style was fairly unique and beautiful, with many of the buildings sitting atop their own hill or sorts.
University of Vermont was slightly underwhelming. The red brick buildings didn’t do very much for me. It was encouraging to see the amount of people walking around. Burlington itself seems like it would be a great college town, although there seems to be more homelessness than I would have expected. Lake Champlain was beautiful.
Middlebury was quite disappointing. The vastness of the campus was too much for me. The scenery was pretty, but the mountains were not as intimate as the were in Williams. The buildings I went into were also not as impressive and new as they were at Williams. The town was also disappointing, mainly in the selection of stores. I would have liked to see more local restaurants and places I could see myself frequenting. The ski mountain was a big plus.
Dartmouth was beautiful. The campus size and the town were both sweet spots in terms of size. I liked how it was centered upon the picturesque Baker library, and you could see it from all spots on campus. It gave the campus a unified feel, which I appreciated. It had a vibe very different from that of other ivies.
Amherst was underwhelming. The buildings seemed older and uninspired. The town of Amherst was great, a huge positive. It did have lots of students walking around who seemed happy to be there. Plus, the student center construction is well underway and still won’t be completed until 2026? What’s up with that?
Boston College was another hit. A very distinct campus just a couple miles outside of downtown Boston, with beautiful architecture set on a rolling hill. The students seemed very happy to be there. The information session was well done, and it was the only one that had a Q&A section with students.
Tufts was very disappointing. The campus seemed awkwardly perched on a hill, and the students didn’t seem particularly friendly - a distinct lack of smiles. The town seemed quite nice, but we stopped in at a farmer’s market that was a complete ghost town. It sort of creeped me out.
Bentley was quite a nice small campus. I was impressed. Didn’t spend much time here. Brandeis was nice enough, but we found ourselves in the middle of some science quad on top of what seemed to be a building - it was completely run down. I don’t know if we weren’t supposed to end up there, but it was concerning.
Hoping to get to Georgetown next.
Same - we just went to see Duquesne and it definitely moved up the list. Great campus, nice location in Pittsburgh and the major (Integrated Marketing & Communication) is a perfect fit for what my daughter is looking for. If it weren’t 6 hours away it would probably be her 2nd choice right now. Our tour guide was also from NJ and gave us some really good insight and answered questions after the tour about her own personal adjustment to being 6 hours away.
2 posts were merged into an existing topic: Off-Topic Discussion from “Colleges Crossed Off List or Moved Up After Visiting”
Reminder that this is a no reply thread. Please use the Off topic discussions… thread if you’d like to discuss a school further. Thank you!
D24 toured Cal Poly Pomona. Said it felt less like a commuter campus than CSU LB. LOVED the fact that any student, including engineers could work with and eventually live on site for the equestrian program. Said the rec center was also better than CSU LB.
CSU LB moved down. She knew it would be somewhat of a commuter campus, but couldn’t walk between any two buildings without crossing a busy street or large parking lot.
Of course, CSU LB has her desired major and CPP doesn’t 
Delaware Valley University: Way UP. It’s a smaller school than D24 thought she wanted (1800 students) but their equine science program is pretty impressive. They have a 52 horse barn plus a breeding barn, basically right on campus. From her first semester on campus she would be working with the horses. If she were to make the equestrian team, all of her competition fees and expenses would be paid. DelVal has an impressive admit rate into vet schools and she got to talk with a senior who was in the process of applying to vet schools. The campus is beautiful from the outside but I was surprised that so few buildings, (none it seemed) had had any interior upgrades done in a very long time. There is one new building on campus and it seems heavily used. Doylestown was a lovely town—right out of a Hallmark movie.
We left Doylestown and started making our way to University of Vermont. I had high hopes for UVM as the size seemed to be what she thought she wanted (about 11,000 undergrads), they have a good animal science program, and some good connections with vet schools. It’s a much more isolated area than I expected. Burlington is a busy town (lots of traffic) but it was a long drive to get there from Doylestown (an hour from Philly). And as someone else remarked, more homeless people than you would expect for a town of that size (though I’ve heard the University has caused housing prices to go way up making housing unaffordable for many of the working residents….a common problem in college towns). We visited the animal science department on Friday and did the formal campus tour on Saturday. Well, the first question my D asks is about hands-on time with the horses. The advisor excitedly says “lots, we have 6 horses in our barn!” We might as well have left town right then! D completely lost interest after that. We did drive to the barns, which were within walking distance, but not a short walk. There were more than 6 horses there but it could be that only 6 of them are available to the students. It was raining hard on Saturday for our tour. It was an ok tour but nothing to really win her over. We did enjoy the restaurants in town though!
Colorado State: about the same, and this is another one I had high hopes for. She did this tour with her dad so I’m going off what she’s shared with me. The campus wasn’t impressive, just blah, though I think she said the animal science building was new. But the equine facilities are not close to campus and if she wanted to ride, she would have to go to a barn that wasn’t part of the university which definitely would require getting a ride from someone. She did tour the vet hospital and liked that. So she wasn’t too excited about CSU before the campus visit and nothing she saw changed her mind. But she did apply and says she’s considering it.
University of Kentucky: Up. They went here after visiting CSU. They were impressed overall with the campus—seemed new and well kept. Though the animal science buildings were not new. But they just got a big donation to build a new one. She liked the dorms—they are all new and they are all large suite style dorms. She liked the program and was impressed by the research facilities. She thought it would be more hands on than CSU but not as much as DelVal and again, the equine facilities are far from the main campus. Unfortunately, she didn’t get much of an opportunity to check out Lexington but she was able to fly home right out of there so that was a plus.
Northeastern University: STAYED THE SAME. Much more of a defined campus than I had expected, with green space & students hanging out outside. Our tour guide was fabulous–funny, patient with questions, and clearly thrilled with her education & opportunities (she was a CS major who had never taken a CS class before college, and had several stories about how her professors had gone out of her way to support her when she needed it). Many of the professors work in their fields. The first year dorms were TINY but functional. My kid thought the library was fabulous, but overall the school was too big & overwhelming for him. But it will stay on the list for now because he qualifies for a few scholarships for local students.
Connecticut College: DOWN. Gorgeous campus, with lots of green space & an arboretum across the street. We got coffee in one of the student-run shops & the students in there seemed friendly & chill. I was super-impressed by their internship & career planning services–the most structured we’ve seen at a SLAC (it sounds like all students can take a class about career planning/resume building that then unlocks at least $3000 to fund summer internships). Both of our tour guides had used the career office multiple times (neither were seniors yet). Student body seemed notably whiter & preppier than other campuses we’ve visited. Our tour guides were capable & professional, but not especially warm or funny or friendly. They were having a music festival with food trucks by the lake in the arboretum, but there were only about 20 people there at 3pm on a sunny fall Saturday. I personally think the career office + merit aid possibilities should keep it as a ‘maybe,’ but my kid thought it felt too preppy & does not want to apply.
Clark University: UP. My favorite admissions office by far.
Everyone was warm & friendly; the student admissions staff were all in there doing their homework & chatting with each other & with visitors. They have an interactive screen that invites you to take a quiz to see which interdisciplinary seminar you might want to register for. The student panelists & our tour guide were all bright, down to earth, funny people who so clearly LOVE their school & the education they’re getting. They all kept talking about how much there is to do on campus & how much they love the local restaurant scene. I thought the campus was pretty & felt very busy & buzzy, with lots of students out & about. I didn’t love that the dorms have tiered pricing (always seems like a way to visibly separate kids by income level from the very first day), & my kid didn’t like that first year housing is co-ed by floor (he would prefer to be on a mixed-gender floor). But will almost definitely apply.
2 posts were merged into an existing topic: Off-Topic Discussion from “Colleges Crossed Off List or Moved Up After Visiting”
A post was merged into an existing topic: Off-Topic Discussion from “Colleges Crossed Off List or Moved Up After Visiting”