Colleges your child crossed off the list after visiting, schools that moved up on the list. Why? (NO REPLIES)

[Cryptic06]

I toured Ohio State and Pitt last week.

• Ohio State - DOWN. The campus was nice, they definitely invested money in improving student life: great library, student union, and RPAC (Recreation and Physical Activity Center), but I felt like it was too big. Also, the tour guide I had walked super fast (to the point where there were some moments where most of our group fell way behind), just kind of threw everything at us, and since the campus was too big, we didn’t see a lot of the academic buildings. Also gave me big party school vibes.

• Pitt - UP. I attended one of the Decision Days. Really liked how the event was scheduled - you were split into two groups, where one group would tour their specific major buildings, while the second group did the other activities, and vice versa. I am a nursing major, so it was really nice being allowed to tour the school of nursing building there. Also they gave me a lot of free things, so that was nice too. I also really enjoyed the vibe there, the tour guide was passionate about Pitt, and it was nice to see that there were a lot of students studying. Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall was beautiful. 85% committed!

[Jorgy]

Some General Vibes from our visits:
Claremont McKenna and the Claremont Consortium: Great place. CMC Stereotypes not really accurate. D24 was surprised how much she liked CMC and the other schools. Pomona is considered the top school, but she changed her mind after the visit. Also–she had overlooked Pitzer and Scripps at first–both good schools.

Tufts: Great academically and her field (IR) was amazing. Close to Boston, etc. D24 thought it would be a top choice. Fell down a bit on campus vibe.

Wesleyan: Not expecting to like it. Loved it–a lot of great energy. Positive surprise.

Brown: Expected to love it–did not. Energy was not what she expected.

Swarthmore: See Brown. A lot of quirky kids working way to hard.

Haverford: Surprised herself by preferring it to Swarthmore. Swarthmore is prettier, but Haverford seems like a safe collaborative place. Plus right on the main line.

[Ewost]

Having enjoyed this thread, thought I’d add our impressions from the first college visit trip with D26. Visited a couple of weeks ago during her spring break.

SUNY New Paltz - UP - had pretty low expectations for this one and were pleasantly surprised. The tour was informative and our guide was fun, warm, and the major my daughter is considering. Liked the facilities. The dorms were nicer than expected, particularly the common areas. We’re familiar with New Paltz and like the town a lot. The crowd was a bit more quirky than i think she expected. Maybe not exactly what she had in mind, but she felt she would find her people there.

Skidmore - DOWN - this was a bit of a disappointment as we had high expectations for this one. It’s a very popular choice at her high school. We both really liked the town, but the campus felt kind of sleepy and low energy. Our guide talked about her mental health and medical issues a lot, which I think was a bit of a turn off for my daughter. The info session did not feel very informative. The dorms were kind of run down and small. It was definitely not what she expected.

Union - way UP! - going in she expected to love Skidmore and was not even sure she was interested in Union, but it was close and we figured we might as well see it. I think it was the large, sunny room where the info session took place that really set the mood. Their slide presentation got stuck on the first slide with my daughter’s name on it. The entire talk it just projected “Welcome D26!” She figured it was a sign. It was freezing during the tour, but she loved the campus and said she could see herself playing frisbee on the lawn with friends. The buildings were beautiful and even though there were very few people on campus (they were on a break), everyone was super friendly. The dorms were not great, but nicer than Skidmore and she liked that there were no triples. Our tour guide was friendly and smart and clearly liked the school a lot. It was too cold to walk around the town but the downtown where he grabbed lunch afterwards was perfectly nice. At this point it’s D’s favorite. But we’re pretty early in the process.

[OITB1]

S25 and my wife did a quick trip to Denver for some Spring Break school visits:

Denver - UP. I had seen this campus with him about 20 months ago when we were passing through but it was freezing cold and empty with kids home on holiday break. His positive initial impressions from that quick visit were mostly confirmed this time around. Pleasant people all around, accessible admin and academic staff, campus showed well during Spring. The rec. center and Community Commons impressed. Dorms were a mixed bag - a couple sparkling new ones making the older vintage look sort of rundown, but didn’t seem to be a huge turnoff to S25. Campus had a buzz about it over the hockey team making the Frozen Four, which was a big positive. Liked the surrounding neighborhood with restaurants and bars and everything combined with a stand-alone campus that still could feel relatively secluded. Confirmed everyone’s thoughts about the student body pretty closely resembling this particular kid: good academically but not a superstar, fun-loving but not hedonistic, outgoing and looooves to get out of town and into the mountains/on the rivers.

Boulder - WAY UP (not sure I can even say that because this visit just confirmed the from-a-distance love that S25 had already formed for the place). Wife texted me an hour in: “It is gorgeous. He will definitely want to go here.” Nothing more really needs to be said, but he loved the size of the campus, the large open spaces, the fact that it almost literally backs up to the mountains (they went on a hike before their tour). Merch was purchased, pictures were taken with Ralphie the Buffalo, dinner was enjoyed at The Sink, teeth were gnashed over the increasing selectivity of the business program. This will be toward the top of his list; probably a low target or safety for general admissions but a slight reach for direct admit/designated pre-business to Leeds.

Colo State - NEUTRAL/DOWN. They had most of the day on their travel home day without anything scheduled, so on a flyer drove up to Fort Collins just for kicks. S25 liked the campus and the town well enough, though the contrast between the older, original quad area and newer, less architecturally pleasing parts of campus wasn’t well appreciated. Overall, felt that compared to DU and CU, “his people” were just more sparse at CSU. Was never on the list, anyway, so no biggie - it just won’t go on the list.

[nothappyabout]

We visited 2 mid-western schools over spring break.

Northwestern – UP – Kid liked it more than they expected to. The campus was decent sized, but also seemed cozy. Tour guide got a few friends walking past saying hi, which made C25 feel more like they might have the same sort of experience. Lots of opportunities for affinity groups and clubs and flexibility of changing majors if something new appears on the academic radar.

UW-Madison – DOWN – campus was really large, and has a lot of heavily traveled streets crossing it. C25 was put off by the chaos, and the jaywalking (always done safely to my eye, but to suburban kid eye, was madness!).

C25 isn’t looking for a school because of sports or school spirit, so that wasn’t a draw to put either school on his list, but it seemed like a smaller factor at Northwestern than it did at UW-Madison in the average student’s life.

[DroidsLookingFor]

I posted this in the school-specific 2028 thread but figured it might belong here as well.

CMU - up for one droid, down for the other

Both droids admitted, and we attended an admitted-students day (Turning Tartan day) on 4/7 which we mostly enjoyed.

We lucked out with spectacular weather. The clouds were clearing as we landed Saturday afternoon, then Sunday was completely clear. Mid 30s up to mid 50s by the late afternoon Sunday.

We enjoyed the Uber into Pittsburgh, especially coming out of the tunnel and then ‘bang’ seeing the rivers, bridges, and of course the city itself. Kind of a wild transition through that tunnel. Then the ride through the city, including U Pitt, to our hotel…tons of people out and about. Very lively.

The short of it: Linguistics droid (admitted to Dietrich) has ruled it out. The Dietrich presentation was…not so impressive? Kind of disjointed. No student panel. Not a lot of especially helpful info. Also a VERY unpleasant, extended exchange about suicides and depression on campus, lead by a parent who was very determined to ask about this. Bigger problem was the response from the school reps - not very confidence inspiring.

Ultimately though the bigger issue tbh is that it felt like humanities, and to a lesser degree social sciences, in general are somewhat of an afterthought at CMU. Maybe that’s unfair, but that’s how it felt to us. At least for linguistics and language study. We also felt that because in contrast…

…the school of engineering (CIT) presentation was great. Clear, helpful, specific info, lead by a dean of the school, followed by a student panel. Like they just had their collective act together in a way that Dietrich seemed not to. So for our ECE droid it’s very much still in play. He has some follow up questions to address with faculty in the next few days, both at CMU and his other main choice, before making a decision.

We did run into current students from our kids’ high school (tippy top BS) along with a couple other BS kids who recognized ours by a jacket ECE droid was wearing. So we got some great first-hand takes about the experience at CMU for kids coming from these sorts of BS. That was helpful.

Liked the ‘distinct campus in a city’ feel, though wish there was more ‘stuff’ immediately adjacent. The little stretch of Craig St was good, but other stuff definitely felt and was further off. Free bus rides help.

We’ll see from here. Hard to say no to CMU for their ECE program.

I asked a lot of students, as I try to do at every school we visit, about their least favorite aspect of the school. The winner by a mile was how the campus eateries are mostly closed on weekends. Some stay open of course. But not many. The silver lining is that it sort of forces kids to get off campus and eat downtown or in Oakland or the Shadyside or Squirrel Hill neighborhoods. But of course that cuts both ways if finances are tight.

One place that was open, for lunch on Sunday at least, was Capital Grains (lol) which multiple students told us was the best food on campus. The long line seemed to confirm this, and the food was in fact good. ECE droid really liked the vibe in the large atrium-like seating area just next to Capital Grains (it’s the main entry to the Tepper School of Business). By 1pm it was full and I mean full of students. Like people had to look around for open seating, and there was quite a lot of seating!

Another cool feature, there’s an app, student developed of course, that tells you which on-campus eateries are open, and when. You’d think this is simple, but apparently it’s variable enough that it’s a challenge to keep straight. The app dynamically updates.

Still more fun - laundry machines are free (BYO detergent) and there’s an app that tells you which machines are available, and once in use the app alerts you to when the wash or dry cycles are complete No standing around or setting timers required.

[eholl]

NYU - crossed off the list. Son did not like that they don’t really have a ‘campus’- it’s just a bunch of buildings in the city.

Princeton - moved WAY up. It wasn’t even on his list but we were in the area and did a tour. Then it moved to his top choice. Go figure. It’s gorgeous and the town of Princeton is very similar to our own home town. It just felt homey.

MIT - down. Too techy and quirky. My son loves classic and traditional.

Lehigh - way up. Their ROTC Steel batallion is one of the best in the nation (son is ROTC). Buildings are very pretty, looked like English castles, and we thought bethlehem, PA was adorable. The people and students there are friendly, humble, salt of the earth folks. There is plenty to do within walking distance of campus and it’s a small town feel which we like. Their finance program is one of the best in the country and their outcomes are some of the best as well. Can’t argue with the numbers as a finance major.
The model dorm we saw was kinda dingy and dark in the common area. But nobody is perfect.
Yes it’s built on the side of a mountain but you will have great legs after 4 years there!

Harvard - down. Campus was muddy and didn’t feel happy or upbeat or cheerful.

University of Chicago - neutral. It did feel all-business to me but my son likes that. Campus was beautiful.

UPenn - down. Son did not like the vibe or location very much. There were protesters camped in the quad in tents with signs and that made it feel unfriendly and uncomfortable. And they junked up the place unfortunately.

[NiceUnparticularMan]

OK, these are admitted student visits. S24 had seen WUSTL before, not Vassar.

WUSTL: UP (again!). S24 loved WUSTL’s campus the first visit, and it shot way up for him in the application phase. Well, as an admitted student he loved it again, if anything even more. This visit he was able to see more of the athletic and recreational facilities—lunch was in the main gym, and then he self-toured more of the facilities with some other kids he met (more on that). He also spent more time in the South 40, including just being invited in to a random dorm room by a student. All this was much more focused on stuff that would actually be relevant to him as a first year, and he loved it all. Just a really clear vision of what his life would be like, and how WUSTL has made all that very very nice.

Speaking of meeting people, they set things up to make it easy for kids to meet other kids, including breaking kids away from families for pre-lunch sessions and then having the kids and families sit at different tables for lunch. Pretty clever and it worked for S24 to meet some like-minded kids for self-touring in the afternoon (he texted us to basically say we were on our own for the afternoon). I think he was also favorably impressed by the diversity of where people were coming from and their interests.

The last big thing that clicked with him is WUSTL is in the same conference, the University Athletic Association, as a bunch of schools where athlete friends of his are going and planning to be on teams—CMU, Case Western, Emory, and Rochester apparently. He was very excited about this as a possible ongoing connection.

So, overall a very good second visit where he felt like he experienced and learned about more things he would value, and he was very comfortable with how he perceived the student community.

Parent perspective: so the big “news” of the day was a surprise protest effectively disrupted the opening session, forcing them to relocate and cut short some things to get back on track. They were obviously a little rattled and concerned about the impression it was making, but personally we thought they handled it really well and obviously it did not interfere with S24’s process in the end.

The other big thing for us is they were hitting the theme that they provide a Liberal Arts College experience despite being a university, and then in the Arts & Sciences session they emphasized the Ampersand and how they have so many programs encouraging cross-disciplinary studies and experiences.

And in fact, any time some student in an admissions role introduced themselves and stated their major, it seemed like it was, “I am majoring in A, B, & C, which is one major at WashU, and I have a second major in D & E, and a minor in F & G.” All like it was no big deal!

Knowing that exploratory/interdisciplinary approach is really what S24 is looking for, we also had a clear vision of how S24 would thrive at WUSTL.

Next up, Vassar . . . .

[NiceUnparticularMan]

VASSAR: DOWN (so probably out). I want to say at the outset I personally really liked Vassar, but I also think it was understandable why, for my kid in particular, it suffered in contrast to WUSTL the day before.

Probably the biggest contrast was the campus. Where WUSTL has a strong campus architectural theme, Vassar is very eclectic. S24 did say there were individual buildings he loved at Vassar—he really liked the Chapel, and then the Library was as advertised (I had built it up and insisted we have time to visit and poke around, and it completely delivered). But overall the campus didn’t have the same “wow” impact on S24 as WUSTL.

I think contributing to that is WUSTL’s layout has a sort of ascertainable geometric formality to it—it reminds me of an English garden of the grand “country house” style, in which case Vassar would be more the English “cottage” style with a lot of meandering paths (in fact in sessions they talked about the intentional meandering) and more natural spaces. I liked both but I think S24 for the purposes of picking his one-and-only college is responding more to the monumental, meant-to-impress style.

The other big thing is Vassar had a relatively laid back structure to the middle of the day (between the opening and closing sessions), and S24 did not meet any kids to eat with or wander around with. That left some student panels as his way of seeing other students, and I thought they were great kids but S24 started getting the impression many were from the Northeast, a few from the West Coast, and they had a sort of range of related professional ambitions—pre-law, pre-med, finance, media, in Boston, NYC, DC, or LA, that sort of thing. That’s not entirely inaccurate, and giving him an option like this is why Vassar was on his short list, but facing the reality of that sort of pipeline effect did not really work for him.

It didn’t help that we drove down to fly out of LGA, and it was actually perfectly fine—we hit a little traffic but nothing unusual. But he got a quick impression of just the sheer scale and density of NYC, and for a kid who does not really like spending a lot of time jostling in crowds, this was kinda a “personal circle of hell” moment. So, he was saying he could not imagine ever living in NYC (which could change, but that is his thinking now), and I think that combined with his impression a lot of Vassar kids exactly want that made him think that Vassar simply was not the school for him.

Parent perspective: again I liked Vassar, but to be fair I am also very aware of a lot of its academic virtues, and I don’t think that necessarily came through on the visit very well (to be fair, I think they expect admits to already know all that).

Instead they were really emphasizing how caring they were to each other, how academics involved hard work but community involved “heart work”, how students and professors were willing to actually use the word “love” to each other, that sort of thing. This appeared to mean nothing to S24 (I think he just expects everyone to love him anyway). And NiceUnparticularMom frankly hated it, to the point she was saying she could not see S24 there, which is a little harsh I thought but I understood her point, that none of this seemed to be speaking to our kid’s needs.

And I suspect part of what is going on is Vassar is distinguishing itself from its normal co-ed rivals among prominent Northeast LACs, and I bet for a lot of ambitious but anxious kids that message of caring would be very well-received. But in our case it was not what S24 needed to hear.

OK, so I think Vassar is probably out (although no official confirmation yet), and next weekend is the last contender, Carleton. It will be interesting to see if it can hold up any better against WUSTL, which has really set a very high bar with S24. I suspect it is maybe going to try to sell itself in a way that resonates with S24 (and maybe NiceUnparticularMom) more than Vassar, but we shall see.

[MistySteel27]

University of Puget Sound - UP

My D really wants to go to the PNW for college. She already loves the west coast vibes and cloudy, cool weather. We flew half the night and got into Tacoma late morning. It was unseasonably sunny and warm. My D forgave the weather for not acting right and was satisfied that it wasn’t too warm. The next morning we got to the welcome center and about 6 friendly college kids jumped up to greet us. Apparently because it’s spring break in a lot of areas they’re expecting a big crowd. Once they checked D in the students almost fought over (just kidding) who got to escort us to the music building for the meeting with the program director. The director talked to D about everything music and went over the majors and how most students major/minor in multiple areas not music related as well. After the friendly chat she walked us to the cafe and bought me a latte and D boba.

After D and I hung in the cafe we headed back to the welcome center for the admission presentation. It was a good sized crowd with most students from WA, CA, OR, CO, some sprinkled in from the east coast, DC and one from Australia. The presentation was very good, informative and straightforward. The presenter was a good talker and knew how to keep it moving with short videos. Next we toured the campus in a small group. D made a friend from CA. We saw most areas including a dorm room, gym, inside most buildings and the wooded areas. It’s a beautiful campus. After we went off campus to a Mexican restaurant recommended by a student for lunch. It would be an easy 15 minute walk but we drove not realizing that until we got there. Food was good.

Back on campus was the music tour. D loved the size of the program and the practice rooms. It’s by far her favorite. She had an appointment with the admissions counselor for an interview 2 hours after but a different counselor fitted her in so we wouldn’t have to wait. We’ve been there since 9am and it’s mid afternoon now. I was called back after their 15 minute conversation and he went over more information. On our way out D said this is her first choice school by a mile. She loves the residential but city location, the style of the students, that she can do both music and other majors. It’s easily accessible to Portland for family plus has a few direct flights daily between our home airport.

[Tana98]

We made our third campus visit to Hamilton College this weekend. Exactly one year after first stepping foot on campus for a Junior Preview Day, DS was back for Accepted Student Day. Happily, since the deposit has been made, he still LOVED it.

Hamilton’s Accepted Student Day programming was pretty good. There was a nice mixture of Student Only panels and class visits, and larger format sessions focused on things like Health and Wellness and Career Outcomes. Lunch was served in the field house and gave students the chance to mingle with faculty and admin. After lunch there was an opportunity fair featuring advising offices, centers of support, coaches and first-year programming offices. Parents could take tours–my husband had not yet been on one so we took advantage of that offer and were thrilled to get to see inside dorm rooms and inside dining spaces, as well as class buildings. We went a bit rogue after the tour and wandered into the ice rink and the fitness center–students who were working out stopped to chat with us and offered to show us other parts of the facilities.

Kid loved the philosophy class he attended, and he exchanged contact info with several other students.

After the class visit there were drop-in dessert receptions held in several stops all around campus. We popped into the multi-cultural center (the new-ish director is amazing: dynamic, eager, and really student focused), the art museum (what an incredibly beautiful space!) and the outdoor club.

The outdoor club was a huge hit. It is housed in a sweet little bungalow behind the health center. The inside is super bright, warm and welcoming with lots of couches to hang out on, an expansive back porch and fire pit area, and huge equipment area where you can check gear out for the day. The students who were there were really welcoming and friendly. One student was a crew athlete and when he heard my son had recently started rowing he immediately got out his phone, shared the coach’s contact info and invited my son to come to practice with him that afternoon. As with every Hamilton student we’ve met, the outdoor club members are also involved in about 200 other activities–and outdoor club gives them space to step into leadership and connect with nature without having to sacrifice their other commitments. The director has been there for close to 30 years and he loves creating an inclusive space for all students to come hang out.

Another note, as this has come up a bit in the NESCAC-related thread recently: My son was admitted as a Jan, which means he will spend Fall semester next year off campus and move into campus in January. We coordinated to meet up with other Jan families while we were there and the Jan kids are all interesting, dynamic and accomplished-just like the Fall-entry kids we met. When we talked to current Hamilton students and/or faculty at Accepted Students Day and mentioned DS was a Jan everyone had a positive reaction–that’s so cool, some of my best firends are Jans, being a Jan was the best part of my college experience, we have team members who were Jans, etc.

So, while the Jan option may not be the right fit for everybody, it does authentically feel like Hamilton is a place where entering in Spring is not a barrier to making connections with classmates/on campus.

[Malsandhuskies]

Vanderbilt-SAME. We toured last April and all felt that this was the school for D24 if she could get in. She was fortunate to get in ED. It seemed a bit silly to come back for Admitted student day but we were close by for Spring break so went ahead. D24 loved the school just as much as she did the first time around. She feels like it’s got the right mix of academics and fun and believes it when they say the atmosphere is collaborative. She made tons of connections with other kids- many of which were committed like her. We finished off the day going to dinner with a big group of kids and their parents. I am confident my girl will find her people there . We left just that more excited about her school choice.

[MotherMae]

Update after visiting Purdue Honors admitted students day:

Overall, a very positive experience. There were many Honors student ambassadors standing around ready to share their experiences. Families were offered light snacks and water & juice. All the prospective students in attendance had their names and hometowns rotating on big projector screens. That was a nice touch. There was an oopsie in the music choice while we were waiting in the big hall for the session to begin. A song in their playlist shouted F-bombs multiple times. We all just looked at each other with raised eyebrows and chuckled.

The honors faculty spoke and then they separated parents from the kids. Kids could ask current students questions in another room while the parents could do the same. I learned that getting honors credits are pretty easy. There are honors specific courses, but a lot of kids can turn any course, within reason, into an honors course just by talking to the professor and seeing what extra work they can do to get honors credit.

There was a brief tour of the honors building but it unfortunately didn’t cover any dorm rooms. That was really the only downside of the visit. My daughter is curious of what the rooms look like and they only have a singles room pictured on their website. The classrooms look very nice. The counselors’ offices are in the building which is very convenient.

Once the honors session was finished, we met with a current student in SWE (Society of Women in Engineering) for a personal tour. Actually, I hung back and just my daughter toured with her. The SWE student was very friendly and welcoming. I don’t remember which buildings they went in but all my daughter’s questions were answered. At the end, my daughter asked her if she knew anybody in rowing. The SWE student lit up and said she was just at a rowing party the night before (watching Purdue on TV in Final Four). Although she’s not a rower, the SWE student knows a lot of engineers who are and they’re a fun and welcoming group. Purdue has a large club rowing team and that may have been what sealed the deal! D24 committed this morning. Boiler Up!

Update after visiting Rose-Hulman for an overnight visit for admitted students:

This is a really cool experience for kids who are unsure of this tiny school. I dropped my D24 off at 5pm on a Sunday. She was assigned to 2 students and hung out with them and their friends for the evening. They ate dinner in one of the cafeterias (I was told it was good food) and later that night they watched a movie in someone’s room. There were 10 or so kids squeezed in a dorm room for the movie and D24 said everyone was friendly and had a good vibe. The next morning D24 sat in on a class, I think it was physics but I’m not positive, she met with a professor, and then went to an admissions presentation where I met up with her. That was a typical presentation touting the school’s statistics and all their offerings. After that we were given a full tour of the campus. Our guide was a female mechanical engineer. I believe we went in all the educational buildings, maker space, and 1 dormitory. Did not see the library. We ate lunch after the tour. The food was very good. D24 enjoyed herself but at the end of the day, she thought the campus was just too small and worried that she would get bored after the first year or two. Plus, they do not have rowing. For what it’s worth for future student prospects…this school is full of proud nerds. If you’re craving sports or greek life, this one is not for you.

[shawk]

Finally getting around to a write-up of our Colorado College (SAME/UP) admitted students day last weekend. D24 was accepted ED1 back in December, so we were unsure whether to even attend this event on Sunday. We are glad we did. ETA this is a long write-up. When researching Colorado College, I didn’t find much on this site. I’ve included all our impressions intentionally.

We arrived on the Friday evening in order to have a little extra time to explore Colorado Springs, which we were unable to do when we first visited last June. D24 had met a few admitted and committed students on the CC instagram page, and made plans to get together on Saturday with one new friend/potential roommate. They spent much of the day together, breakfast, exploring the city, thrifting, etc. and decided to commit to being roommates, D24 was happy to make such a close connection before the admitted students day even began. We were also happy to see many options for students in the downtown area of COS, within walking distance of campus there are numerous restaurants, cafes, shops, etc. Much younger vibe and hipper than I had pictured in my mind, and a pleasant surprise for my liberal LGBTQ kid. She felt safe and welcome.

Now on to the event itself. Check-in was at 8-9 am, students received schedule of events and some fun swag. I’d estimate less than 25% of students attending were already committed, and there were about 380 people in attendance, including parents. Brief speeches by the dean of admissions, the interim president, very welcoming and even inspiring to hear their individual stories. A resource panel and Q and A followed, with reps from res life, mental health services, overall health and wellness, public safety, advising, etc. Audience could scan a QR code to submit questions to panel. Very informative, I came away with the sense that the college takes excellent care of students and prioritizes well-being.

The next part of the day featured dorm tours and department open houses, select professors were available in their respective departments to answer questions and chat with students. D24 wants to major in geology, but also curious about the Business, Economics and Society major. Geology department not present so she went to BES and chatted a bit there. We also toured one of the first-year dorms, which was in good condition, clean and updated, nothing fancy but nothing that gave us pause. Any of the three freshman dorms would be fine with her. We then walked over to the new hockey arena where there was a taco bar lunch, the facility is pretty impressive and lunch also surprisingly good.

Next there were open houses for arts, outdoor program and something else I’m forgetting. We attended the outdoor/sustainability session. CC is obviously known for its robust outdoor program given the location, and in the session held at the gear house, we heard about not only about outdoor offerings, but also sustainability initiatives (CC was the 8th institution in the US to achieve carbon neutrality and they take sustainability seriously). Gear rental for students is inexpensive, multiple outdoor trips happen most weekends and during block breaks, there are no barriers to entry even for students with no experience. All programs are student-led and there are leader trainings held regularly.

D24 hung out with students she met for the next hour or two, while I wandered around campus on a fabulous, warm, blue-skies day. The campus is beautiful and well-cared for, with a mix of historic old buildings and new modern ones. They are celebrating their 150th anniversary this year, and there’s certainly a lot of pride evident for the college’s unique history, offerings and location in the Rocky Mountain West. Later, we met up again in another theater for a student panel and Q and A. This was the session that impressed me the most, the students on the panel were smart, diverse in all ways and had really made the most of their 4 years at CC. Won’t go into details as this is becoming a book, but were as well-spoken, accomplished, passionate and interesting as any students I’ve heard from from any of the colleges we’ve visited over the years of touring colleges.

Finally, D24 attended a mock physics class while I went to a presentation and Q and A given by a biochemistry professor. The prof explained how she structures her classes during the block plan, giving examples for chemistry 1 and 2 as well as a 300-level class. Parents had great questions and she answered candidly and thoroughly.

It was a full and exhausting day! D24 came away thrilled that she made the choice to ED (she decided to do so without nearly as much info as she has now) and thrilled to be attending what feels like a pretty remarkable place. She loves the block plan, is looking forward to all the academic and extracurricular opportunities, and thinks she will find her people; we can see her really thriving at CC.

[EastCoastProf]

Siena College – DOWN (for me), SAME (for S25). I didn’t love how it’s in an isolated suburban bubble despite being 10 minutes from downtown Albany. Our tour guide wasn’t great and didn’t really talk about academics in any substantive way. When I tried to ask more questions about academics, it was like pulling teeth. Overall, I was left feeling “meh” about it. The campus seemed a bit run-down and depressing to me. S25 thought it was “okay” based on the website and video tour embedded in the website, and still though it was “okay” after. He did like that they seemed very community-oriented. But he also didn’t love Albany (which is not Siena’s fault, but more that the city wasn’t this amazing selling point to top the scales from from “okay” to up).

[NiceUnparticularMan]

OK, very last one for S24 (sniffle), but . . .

CARLETON RE-VISIT: UP (again)

The upshot is Carleton proved a worthy LAC contender against WUSTL and it will be interesting to see what S24 decides.

Carleton does not have the same monumental campus as WUSTL (few places do), nor for that matter nearly as many individually-excellent buildings as Vassar (same, few do), but the eclectic campus is still attractive and well-laid-out, and nicely integrated into the town. It was too cold and windy on our day to take an Arb tour, but that is also an attractive feature.

The real appeal at Carleton, though, is the people. Their admitted day really nailed the promised vibe of being super into learning for the sake of learning, but also chill and fun. Carleton was actually easily D30’s favorite of the three she got dragged on, precisely because she said there was always something fun to do. There are way too many examples to list them all, but perhaps the most illustrative example was right at the start—the opening breakfast included a station where you could sample all the locally-made Post cereals and vote for a favorite.

More on the learning side, they integrated into the program being able to attend one of their regular Friday Convocations, in which an outside guest gives a lecture. We got a great presentation and then Q&A with Fiona Hill, a global security expert. It was very informative and thought-provoking, and she remarked it was really cool Carleton had the “stamina” to do this sort of thing not just a few times a year or monthly, but actually weekly—and we agreed, that is cool!

S24 also attended a class, and although it was more or less randomly assigned and not on a topic he was particularly interested in (something like Introduction to Educational Studies), he said it was actually very engaging and was discussing philosophical and social issues he found interesting.

Also true to form, everyone was very nice. We actually got a little smarter about taking charge so started just entering various spaces of interest. Like, near the end we had a gap of time before our (Carleton-provided) shuttle to the airport was leaving, and we were hanging out in a café area in the student center, but I suggested we move over to the Admissions office, which was in a lovely building and had a great comfy sitting room I remembered from our first visit. So we did that, and the Admissions staff heartily welcomed us, explained how we could get snacks and coffee or hot chocolate, and then an Admissions officer came over to have an extended (but no pressure) chat with us. I am sure this sort of thing would be doable other colleges too, but it just felt so natural there.

In terms of things that really had an impact on S24, I noted briefly in a prior comment in another thread he is suddenly much more engaged with questions like what will happen AFTER college. So I think he was particularly impressed at the breadth of things and places students mentioned, the special Carleton-only externship program they have set up to make use of their unusually extended winter break (from Thanksgiving to after New Year’s), and all the many big name employers and grad/professional schools that make a point of recruiting at Carleton. Again, that last thing is not necessarily unique among top LACs, but I think it clicked for him that Carleton is in fact a truly national college.

OK, so we are back to S24 needing to decide what he really wants over the next four years in terms of a college or a university. But for sure Carleton is the right college for him to be considering, because it is so much the sort of culture where he would thrive.

[illneversaynever]

Whirlwind trip here, and I’m trying to get thoughts down before I lose some of the details. D25 refused to miss more than one weekend of rehearsals, so we crammed more in and slept less than ideal. I’m grateful that despite that, D25 really seemed to be open minded about all the places we visited. Without further ado, I title the rest of this entry: TOUR GUIDES MATTER.

Dickinson: DOWN. This one surprised me. They have small classes, strong teaching, and a certificate in ballet with Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet that D25 would love. But the tour guide, a seemingly bright pre-med majoring in Molecular Bio and something else, emphasized multiple times over the tour that the GEs in your non-area of interest were “easy because the professors know it’s not your major and they take it easy on you.” There were multiple comments to this effect. For example, that plant bio class people take for the lab credit? “All we had to do was walk around in the hills/mountains for three hours and identify plants. It was great.” This came after we walked past the cute off-campus houses for upper classmen and he saw some beer cans on a porch and let us know that “Underage drinking is totally ok. The campus police are there to keep you safe so you don’t get in trouble with the Carlisle police.” This might have been fine, but it was the only thing he mentioned about any weekend activities for students on the entire tour. D25 said it didn’t feel academic enough, and that even if the ballet was amazing it couldn’t make up for that. The campus was cute and Carlisle darling. This is one I may come back to later to see if time changes her perspective. But for now, it’s down.

Swarthmore: UP. Honestly, this wasn’t on our original plan. (Another school, which shall remain nameless, came off the list when D25 said Dickinson wasn’t academic enough.) We pivoted to go see a very academic school. D25 loved the incredibly picturesque campus and started grinning at everything. Admissions let us know there might be a dance class going on, so we found the building and went to observe. The studios are beautiful and two stories high, so you can watch the class from above. The teacher saw her and waved her down, introduced herself, and invited her to watch from inside the class. We got disoriented looking for the psych building and a poli sci prof stopped to help us and chat. I think she started drooling when she saw all the psych labs that all sounded interesting to her. There’s more homework to do, as I’m not sure the height of the intensity is real to her yet, but it certainly made a good first impression.

Skidmore: DOWN. This got put on the list bc it is supposed to have good academics and strong ballet. D25 felt like everything was fine–campus was fine, but nothing memorable, tour was fine, info session fine. She watched a ballet class and was really disappointed. For a school that prides itself on its arts, she felt like it was a much lower skillset than she anticipated. We also spoke with a psych professor, who was amazing and made D25 super excited about the major and field, but not about the school.

St. Olaf: UP. I worried I had talked this place up too much for D25 and she would reject it bc of it, but it held up to what I’d heard. D25 liked the size of the school, the pretty campus, the friendly people, the tour guide, the food, the fact that she feels like she would be supported in her faith but not in a bubble (48% of St. Olaf is non-religious). St. Olaf does an amazing job for tours–2 families to one guide and it could have been coincidence, but our guide is double majoring in one of the fields D25 loves. The campus was beautiful, even on a windy, cold day. The dance isn’t what she hopes for (not enough ballet), but she said that’s the only thing that she doesn’t like and that she still wants to apply.

Carleton: we just drove through bc we had to catch a plane, but liked what we saw. It’s pretty. I wish we had had more time to visit.

[Momof242729]

Went to the admitted students overnight at Kenyon this week: It went UP, but also OFF off C24’s list.

My original concern about Kenyon was the rural setting and surprisingly, that concern was ameliorated by visiting. The drive from the Columbus airport was easy and wound through a few small towns. Mount Vernon, the town closest to campus, was adorable.

The campus itself is absolutely stunning – I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful campus. The buildings are a well-conceived mix of old and new and they’re just beautiful. Campus layout is straightforward and easy to navigate – once we’d been on the tour we had absolutely no difficulty getting around campus for the rest of our visit. The school’s website says that the village of Gambier is in the middle of campus and I had a hard time picturing it, but it made sense once we saw it. Basically, there’s the part of campus where upperclass dorms and most of the academic buildings are, then there’s a tiny town center with a restaurant, a coffee shop and a few other businesses, then another part of campus where there are freshman dorms, and apartments for upperclassmen. Uniting it all is “Middle Path.” a grit path that literally runs the entire length of the campus, including through the village. It’s all very cohesive and logical.

We were there Sunday and Monday, and there were tons of kids in the library and the dining hall on Sunday, mostly sitting together but studying separately. On Monday, of course, the campus and the coffee shop were lively with students going to classes. The vibe is very serious – I don’t think we noticed anyone anywhere we saw students gathering who didn’t have a book or a laptop open in front of them.

The faculty we met were great – they’re quite clearly passionate about the school and their students. The students seem to be really academically inclined – one tour guide had not just a double major, but also two minors and two additional certificate programs! But the downside is that it was really hard to get a sense of where fun could be found on campus. Both tour guides (one general, one a specialty tour) struggled to articulate much beyond “every campus club is expected to offer a social event once a semester.” To be clear, neither C24 nor I are hoping they go to a party school and I suspect they’d find plenty of fun if they actually went to Kenyon, but the overall vibe of the school is extremely serious and studious.

C was disappointed that the drama department was smaller than expected (about 32 students total, it seems), and they didn’t like that in the classes they visited, the students didn’t seem to chat with each other or interact much at all. Overall, we agreed that it’s an amazing, beautiful school where C would be challenged and would learn a ton, but the vibe just isn’t what they want.

[tjd0829]

Just came back from our Boston college tour.
Off: Northeastern. Kid described it as too intense and corporate feeling.
Up: Tufts. Loved the comfortable, quirky vibe.