We just finished spring break driving tour of seven colleges. Here’s our thoughts:
Virginia Tech - I was really impressed with the small section information we received from the session at the College of Natural Resources and Environment. They talked about how that school was only something like 2000 students, and the large number of advisors they have, and how well tailored they are able to make it to individual students to make a huge University really feel more intimate. Unfortunately, while my son liked the presentation, he hated the location of that College. Their buildings are off on the edge of campus, and he said he felt like he’d be going to school in a parking lot. We had lunch with a current student from that college and he shared how great it was that his main two class buildings and the cafeteria were right there so he never had to go anywhere else and for DS that was, unfortunately, a turn off because he didn’t like that part of campus. He also just didn’t like the campus - all the buildings are gray “hokie stone” - personally, I thought they were very pretty, but to him it was just a lot of gray. So Gray Mom. Is what I kept hearing. But the students he met seemed excited and happy to be at school there, and he’s thinking of a different major that would be more in the active part of campus, so it’s not off the list. It just didn’t move up at all for him although it did for me and - bonus, would be in state tuition for us. But if it’s not right for him, it’s not right. Since he’s only a junior, I would like for him to go back and see it again at some point because it checks every box of his and I want the chance for it to give another good impression.
Clemson - he fell in love with Clemson and it went way up his list. He loved the buildings and campus and how warm they felt. He loved the school spirit and how the whole town was clearly in on the spirit game. The students we saw all seemed to be happy and engaged and it just felt good to him. We did a tour of the architecture, art, and construction management college here. It’s also a bit off the beaten path, but felt more integrated then the classrooms at Tech did. Although this campus had more small roads and parking lots integrated throughout then Tech did, they somehow felt more integrated and less like barriers to him. The thing he really liked about his potential major here (construction management and science) was that a good portion of the classes are also in the business school, which makes it feel more portable or translatable. This is the first choice of his heart (his head is listing another one first) and moved way up his list. I have some hesitations just due to the distance (and frankly I think VA Tech could give him all the same things at a much lower price point) but I was favorably impressed.
NC State - moved way down and off his list. As we aren’t NC residents, this would be very challenging to get into anyway, so if it didn’t rock his world it isn’t worth the application. He hated the multi campuses. He’d be in construction engineering here, which is a different campus from where most of the other classes and activities and life is. He didn’t like that he’d need to take a bus to get everywhere and that it was so spread out. It’s surely an excellent school, but wasn’t the right set up for him at all. I’m fine with it coming off the list.
UNC Chapel Hill - and this is the one that moved to the top of the list, for both of us. Again, we aren’t NC residents, so getting in will be really hard, but it feels worth the effort for Carolina. He loved the school spirit, he loved how engaged the students on the panel offered at admissions were, and he loved the campus. It felt like what he imagined a college campus would feel like - it had big mature trees, and big green spaces. It seemed like there was a lot of school spirit, which is important to him, and the students we saw seemed very happy. Our tour guide, a senior, was visibly teary when talking about graduating and leaving. He’d be a geography major here and they don’t offer all the other majors that he could try at other schools (no geoscience, no construction management) but given the feel on campus, the strength of the degree for his future job prospects, and just everything else, this became number one for him.
UVA. UVA moved down his list and mine. Frankly, we know a lot of UVA students that don’t give the best impression of the school. While campus is undeniably beautiful - even on the rainy day we visited it may have been the prettiest - he just doesn’t feel like he’d be as happy here. It feels more competitive, and like greek life is a must, which he’s not really interested in. Hearing that you had to apply and write essays to get into some clubs (not advanced programs, clubs) really sort of encapsulated the problem for him. He’s a smart kid and wants to go to a school with smart people. But people who are supportive and collegial and fun, and it just didn’t feel that way for him. That said, it’s not coming off the list. There’s a great program here for him (urban planning, within the school of architecture) and it’s in state for us. If he got in, he’d need to visit again and really think about it.
JMU. JMU wasn’t high on his list to begin with, too many students from our school go there. But it’s intended to be a safety school for him and they have a really strong geography program. Unfortunately, everything went wrong with our tour. I told him we can’t judge the school based on our tour. By the time I signed him up for the tour, only tours of East Campus were available. The campus is bifurcated by interstate 81 and East Campus is not the pretty side. It’s the boring side, with much less going on, and unattractive buildings. The information session at JMU was not inspiring - the person leading it wasn’t an alum and there were no students to share their experiences, so it felt like a recitation of facts, instead of a discussion about why it’s a good school or a personal narrative to help imagine yourself there. Then our tour went downhill because - again - wrong side of campus. Plus we got a tour guide who told us it was her first time - the information she relayed was all clearly memorized facts with no personal information or interaction. She covered all the facts, but it felt dry and didn’t really give a good picture beyond what we could read online. Plus English was not her native language, and we had to really focus to understand her. JMU is intended to be a safety for my son, otherwise I think it would’ve fallen off the list. I told him I do think the school has much more to offer than what we saw, so hopefully we can visit it again some other time. We did drive through the West side of campus - which is very pretty - but it would’ve been helpful to have some personalization to our experience.
Last we went and visited Pitt. So different from the others due to the urban environment. I think this stayed about the same on both of our lists - a pretty solid middle. The admissions presentation was good, and our tour guide was super enthusiastic and shared a lot of great information. While the urban environment offers a lot of benefits (free busses downtown to see whatever activities, lots of great food, easy travel access to home) it’s a city. It just doesn’t feel as collegial or embracing, which I think my son ultimately wants (I think that’s what he loved most about Clemson). But Pitt has all the programs he could be interested in, the facilities are nice enough, he loved the Cathedral of Learning and the small classrooms in there, and the likelihood of him getting into the honors college here (and thus the benefits that come with that) were a draw. He isn’t a medical or health sciences person, but our tour guide was and talked a lot about those programs and they really seemed fantastic for the kids who would participate in those things.
