Notes from college tours from last summer (2023) with DD that I’ve been meaning to post. I think this actually helps, as we’ve had time to reflect since then and put things in context.
Elon: (Up, then way down) We were greeted by a student outside when we arrived. Impressive 7-minute video that was created by students and alumni, followed by a brief talk by admissions officer focused on the application process. Scholarships appear very common, as she said you could appeal a scholarship decision and usually get you one if you didn’t initially. Tour groups had only two prospective applicants per guide, making it easy to ask questions. Our guide was very personable and had plenty to say throughout. His talk was polished. The emphasis on hands-on education was clear, and he tailored it to the interests of the two students he was guiding. The vibe was very much communications and business students: outgoing, social, friendly, not so much analytical. The campus is immaculate and could pass for a country club. Months later, DD applied and got invited to the fellows weekend, which was poorly run. Upon this second visit, it became clear that this is not an “intellectual” student body, but a pre-professional one. After visiting several LACs and top-tier schools, Elon no longer struck DD as serious, especially about STEM. The dorms were the best we saw anywhere, though.
Virginia Tech: (Up a little) The info session didn’t cover much that couldn’t be learned from the website, and focused on the admissions process. Our tour guide didn’t seem very confident and used fillers in nearly every sentence (“…so that’s good”). She covered the basics of each location, but we would have liked to hear more about her personal experience. When asked about her major (neuroscience) and what she wanted to do with it, she seemed to have ended up in the major almost accidentally, and didn’t know what she was doing next. The campus was beautiful and well laid out. The interior rooms we saw looked typical of most public schools (i.e., just okay). There were many building under construction, so it’s apparent that the school is growing. The breadth of classes offered seems impressive. Blacksburg was incredibly small for such a large college. I understand that it’s a rural school, but with so many students, we expected more of a college town.
Connecticut College: (Up) Conn has a very cohesive campus layout, with well-kept buildings. For 2000 students, there is an amazing amount of space, both outside and inside. I would have guessed there were twice as many students based on the campus size. Our tour guide was clearly enthusiastic about the school, particularly the research options and the career center. Exams are self-scheduled. There are two main dining halls. The vibe was “calm and welcoming,” as DD described it. It reminded us of Dickinson in that sense. The town of New London is about 1.5 miles away, so the school offers free Lyft rides into town if students want to go. The town felt a bit shabby, though.
Bryn Mawr: (Up) This was the friendliest and most outgoing guide we had anywhere. She was contagiously enthusiastic about her school and spoke clearly about it and the consortium. To me, the school felt very small, but the partnership with Haverford makes it bigger in terms of opportunity. Politically, it felt very far left, even compared to the many other LACs we visited. This was borne out later in the day when we visited Haverford and heard some stories that caused us to look up what happened with these schools in 2021.
Haverford: (Up, then down) The science labs were small, but impressive. All the facilities were actually impressive, especially for a small school. They seemed very well-resourced. We got the impression that these are very smart and high achieving students. Most dorms are singles. The vibe was activist political, with one side of the 2021 protests story told by the guide. I later learned of a very different, and very much not positive, side online from posts on this site, with white students forced to play ‘privilege bingo’ and being shouted down.
Lehigh: (Way down) Lehigh needs to seriously consider whom they are putting in front of the public. DD’s summary of the visit: The admissions officer who gave their online presentation? Boring and monotonous. Their live information session? Boring, with nothing that wasn’t on the website. Their student tour guide? A rising sophomore who didn’t have much positive to say about the school. This is a potential $300,000 investment. I take it seriously, but Lehigh doesn’t seem to.
UMass-Amerst: (Down) We didn’t get to take the tour, as there was thunder outside, so the student guides did them virtually indoors via the 3D online tour. We later walked around a bit. The facilities are nice, but everything feels crowded, even with the students mostly gone for summer. Perhaps this is because so many of the buildings are high-rises. The campus layout lacks clear quads–building are placed almost randomly, so it doesn’t feel cohesive. The food is rated #1, and we ate dinner in the main dining hall. It was fine, with a lot of variety, but I was surprised that it was ranked #1. (Taste-wise, our dinner at Duke was better.)
Lafayette: (Down) Info session focused on the application process and the importance of demonstrated interest. She didn’t really seem interested in selling the school to us, though. Our tour guide was less than inspiring. He was able to speak to the literal facts of the campus, but he didn’t bring it to life or seem genuinely excited to be there. He struggled with the question “What would you change about Lafayette?” and it seemed that there may have been more he felt he couldn’t share. The first building we saw, for science and engineering, were very nice and new. The buildings got older as the tour went on. It was hard to get a sense of the culture, as students had just left campus when we toured. The mock dorm room was large but had cinderblock walls. They should really pick a different room to show, as I heard several people in our group comment negatively about the room. This is one of those school that I feel we could have loved if we’d had a different tour guide, but first impressions are hard to shake.
William and Mary: (Up) The admissions officer presented without slides and provided very basic information that could easily be obtained from the website. She brought a student in for a few basic questions, but overall, the info session did not feel like a good use of 30 minutes. She noted that she didn’t understand geography and that there was a blockchain center on campus, which she also didn’t understand. I felt this was a Philistine attitude for a university representative and gave the impression that any science content on the application wouldn’t be critically evaluated by the humanities-major admission staff. Our tour guide was enthusiastic and answered many questions. The campus was beautiful, and the buildings on the modern side were particularly impressive (e.g. the meditation rooms, etc). There was a new building under construction for computer science. On a particularly hot day, it was tough to hear that 40% of underclass dorms are not air conditioned. The interview scheduled after the tour seemed to go really well, and despite there not being students on campus, we got the quirky-nerdy vibe that people use to describe W&M. Despite the admissions talk, we all really liked the place.
Smith College: (Up) The admissions officer, Lia, gave the best info session talk we saw anywhere. As my daughter said, “usually these talks seem to go on forever, but she made an hour fly by.” We were pleased to hear that Smith is 40% STEM majors. The vibe was very friendly, and the school is obviously well-resourced. Everything seemed new inside, while preserving the original look of the buildings outside. Housing was really interesting with 41 independent houses, many with their own food options on-site. Didn’t feel as uber-liberal as I’d heard, but then again, there were few students around. Northampton is possibly the best college town we saw anywhere. I think the admissions officer summed it up well when asked what makes Smith different: “Our students want to change the world. And often, they do.” Beware if you visit that parking is a mess–arrive early, as I had to park 10 minutes away, and that was in summer.
Wesleyan University: (Same) The school feels very established, very Ivy-ish, yet it doesn’t have a clear personality. The central athletic field is odd, but it seems to serve as a de facto quad most of the time. The library is beautiful. The graduated housing options seem to get better with each year you are on campus, with university-owned houses offered to seniors. The surrounding town of Middletown felt a little run down. Our tour guide was possibly too honest with his assessments. He said he was Questbrigde, and this was his “seventh choice, but I screwed up the financial aid forms for the first six.” There was no follow-up of “…but it turned out to be a great place for me,” or anything like that, which was alarming. It gave the impression that this was a backup school for Brown hopefuls, and there wasn’t really a clear identity that stood out. We left wondering how this school can be so selective compared to others we visited that seemed a lot better.
Vassar: (Up) Buildings felt old but not in a bad way, actually kind of classy. Poughkepsie isn’t much, and the part next to the campus only has a few restaurants. The student body vibe was prep-school liberal, but it felt intellectual. Very cold in winters here, but the campus was great when green. The admissions presentation was better than most, and this school really seems to have a distinct personality.
Mount Holyoke: (Up) We liked the quirky/nerdy feel of MHC (in contrast to Smith the prior day, which seemed a little more down-to-business). The buildings were a little older than Smith’s, but very well kept, with a lot of wood interiors, giving it a welcoming feel. The village around it is tiny, but it has what students would need. They could almost advertise the curriculum as “open,” as there are only five required classes. STEM majors are the most popular, with a large percentage going on to graduate programs, especially in biological sciences. The dorms were cozy and homey, with a living room in each, including a piano, clock, and fireplace. The library was stunning, as were all of the buildings, actually. It also felt a good bit less political than Smith. We dropped by the equestrian center just to look in and were taken on a tour. It felt like the quintessential liberal arts college.
Dickinson: (Up) Overall vibe was laid-back and friendly. The emphasis on global learning was clear, down to the pole in the middle of campus with distance markers to their study abroad sites. The town was fantastic, with a great main street and lots of restaurants and shops. It felt like a school that was putting a lot of effort in to move up in the standings.
Bucknell: (Down, did not tour) We had booked a tour at Bucknell, but cancelled after reading a story in their college newspaper about sexual assault on campus. I understand that this can happen anywhere, but the rates they cited were shockingly high and seem like a real problem. We cancelled our tour as a result. The fratty vibe probably would not have been a fit for DD anyway, but otherwise, the school seems like it has a lot going for it.
