Union. It felt like a high school campus. This was back in 2009, so the sticker price of $50,000 was horrifying. DS looked at me and said, “$50,000 for this??” We thought it was pretty funny when they mentioned you could do your laundry “for free.”
Reminder that this is a no response thread. There is an “off topic” thread for replies. TIA!
Husband and son visited Alabama in 2012 for one of there “famous” NMF tours. He loved the staff and the professors he spoke to, was impressed with the engineering school but he thought the students “were too nice” and didn’t like that everyone was dressed up. The final nail was when he was eating lunch with a student and ask what if you don’t like football, the response was “you’ll learn to love it”.
At Kansas State we were touring and looking for our next building and a little lost when a man stopped and asked us if he could help us. We said where we were going and he walked us there telling us things about the college and the campus. Found out later he was the head of one of the larger departments. Same visit we were taken to get ice cream in Call Hall and went to look at the equipment that made the ice cream. A professor comes out of her class asks if we are touring and then explains everything we are seeing, talks about her department and the one we are looking into while her students come out of the classroom behind her saying how great the school is and what a great professor she was. (They were in a food science lab and their food was in the oven, they explained what they were doing).
All this made an impression on us that the faculty were enthusiastic and ready to help and my son liked that and that the students seemed so happy and were telling him things to do when he got there.
Texas Tech visit was miserably hot and the impression was that they offered one warm wated bottle before we went on a VERY long, hot walk and never stopped or offered water again. I had to stop and tell my son I would meet him later. Neither of us had a very good impression after that. I would have expected a little more.
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My oldest son had that experience with James Madison University. We’d been told that the campus was beautiful, everyone was happy, the town was great. He was so underwhelmed by the town, there was hardly anything there, and the campus was a bust too (he didn’t like the architecture or the way the campus is bisected by the highway).
I was wondering about Penn State because we went on a day when it was cold and rainy, but the tour guide was BORN ready. It was a great tour, he had us walking straight through buildings (we had to be quiet in the libraries), and my son left saying “I love this.”
Cal Poly SLO - up for D26
D26 and her dad visited CPSLO yesterday. They went on the engineering specific tour (2hrs). They had originally planned to do a general campus tour in the afternoon, but decided to skip it and come home because D felt she’d seen enough on the engineering tour to get a feeling for the school.
The tour was led by 4 engineering students. D was surprised that 3 of them were female, and this helped her to be able to see herself as an engineering student there. (D’s big brother S23 is an engineering student at our nearby university, and D has noted to me how women seem pretty underrepresented in most of the departments there.) Everyone was friendly, they were all in different majors, and they talked about their majors and how they had chosen them. One tour leader had switched from biomedical to civil engineering, and this made a positive impression on my D. (“It’s possible to change majors!”)
D was able to talk to several students (including the tour leaders) and got a pleasant friendly vibe. She thought it felt similar to UC Davis (another school that she likes very much). Both D and her dad were also very impressed by the physical facilities and labs they got to tour. D noted that she liked hearing about the small class sizes and how the classes are taught by professors rather than graduate students (although to be fair, in the past she has taken summer classes taught by graduate students, and she actually really liked those classes and teachers, and appreciated how the grad students were closer to her in age! )
The only really negative thing D reported from her visit was that every student said the campus food was not great. She also said she didn’t love having cars driving and parking all over campus (she compared it to UC Davis where you mostly just see bikes), but she felt that was a minor detail.
She did feel that the engineering tour was very helpful in thinking about which major to apply to, and she said she would recommend any student in her position (undecided about engineering discipline) should go on this specific tour.
A post was merged into an existing topic: Off-Topic Discussion from “Colleges Crossed Off List or Moved Up After Visiting”
Up:
-
UC Santa Cruz
I saw the pictures beforehand, but seeing the forested campus in-person took my breath away. Already see myself going on hikes and wandering down those wooden bridges if I get accepted and enroll. The under construction entrance was a bad first impression but I am very glad I continued on with a tour. Had a student guide, super bright and helpful. Recommended me Porter College when we got to the residential part of the tour, recommended local spots, knew by heart the fastest paths around campus. Had come all the way from Maryland, and very clearly loves SC. -
Occidental
Nestled away in a very nice neighborhood on a hill. Really love the architecture, especially for the dorms. The Oxy Arts building is a seperate entity that is a couple blocks down from the main entrance. Odd, but it was modern and very well-equipped. The sculptures around the entrance are also quite cool looking. Self-guided tour, only had an hour due to a busy schedule -
Westmont College
A very tiny liberal arts college in the foothills just east of Santa Barbara. Also very beautiful Spanish villa style architecture like Oxy, but much more compact and intimate. Quite hilly. Library is rather big and grand looking. Arts building has a garden balcony which is a lovely touch. I eavesdropped on a jazz rehearsal by the music buildings near the quad. Most striking memory for me though was a group of students who smiled and waved at me, where most at other places students wouldn’t even glance. Says a lot about how closeknit it all is. Christian school that encourages but does not mandate religious participation. Checked it out as a recommendation from my counselor who had a son there, was conflicted at first over the religious aspect but now have much warmer perceptions. Self-guided, only an hour since it was that small
Down:
- Cal Poly SLO
Some parts of campus had neat designs but I was overall not blown away. The surrounding landscape of central California’s signature brown hills was also not inspiring. Was also a little let down by SLO as a college town after hearing a lot of hype. Just did not see a whole lot. Maybe it is a little too small and remote for me. Did try out a great taco restaurant near campus. Self-guided tour, 2-3 hours
Up:
Macalester – We did a 4 hour Junior day. Son loved the location and the whole vibe of the school. Sat in on a class (parents too). It was fantastic. Everyone was so kind. Students who weren’t even part of the events were generous with answering questions and walking us to places, not just giving directions. It felt very diverse and had a busyness and energy to the campus. No complaints
Michigan: Loved everything about it. Ann Arbor is such a great college town.
U of Washington: As above. He loved the campus and the location. The tour was just ok IMHO, did not see a dorm and it was mostly outdoors. He loved it all though.
Conn College: He loved it, I wasn’t as excited about it. This one was a mystery.
Sarah Lawrence: I was shocked that he wanted to apply given what he is looking for - made no sense.
Down:
Wesleyan - a non starter. He hated the campus and the vibe. It was also a miserable weather day. We had a very unpleasant encounter with the lady managing the dining hall. We peeked in after the tour (it was empty and we’d been told to go up and look around). She yelled at us and was so incredibly rude. Left a bad taste.
Reed: Was a hard no. He could feel the stress level of the students around us.
Tufts: Another non starter. I couldn’t figure this one out but he immediately crossed it off his list. The mean girls at the lunch table might have had something to do with it. They were athletes and they were just so aggressive and rude to others around them. It was kind of shocking.
Pitzer: The campus is very underwhelming and he just wasn’t feeling it.
I will add that Vassar stayed on the list but the tour was one of the worst tours we had. The admissions presentation was given by a solo student and it was just weak. She wasn’t able to answer many of the questions people were asking. The admissions staff seemed distant. No dorm tour, no arts buildings, in fact very few interior spaces. we couldn’t even walk into the dining hall. Vassar seems to have a very minimal approach when it comes to making students feel welcome.
A post was merged into an existing topic: Off-Topic Discussion from “Colleges Crossed Off List or Moved Up After Visiting”
Quick review of tours over winter break:
Kenyon College: The consensus- very friendly, beautiful campus and very close-knit student body. The campus has “middle path”, a walkway that stretches from one end to the other and is 2/3 of a mile long, with the town of Gambier in the middle. The town is almost too cute (think a Hallmark movie set plopped down in the midst of a traditional campus setting). We ate in the cafeteria and the staff were very friendly, plenty of vegetarian options and a good variety of locally-sourced food. Academic buildings were impressive and the students on our info panel seemed engaged in a wide variety of activities and research. My kid said if there was a downside, that it almost seemed aggressively friendly. It’s definitely a place where everyone knows each other. Stayed in the Grand Hotel in Mt. Vernon, which was lovely and only 5 minutes from campus. Mt. Vernon was bigger than we expected, so Kenyon students do have access to a Walmart, some restaurants, etc. Overall impression: UP
Kalamazoo College: We checked this one out as a target/likely because my DD really likes Carleton, and it checks lots of the same boxes: trimester system, near a city, strong study abroad program and leans liberal. Wow- it was a pleasant surprise! A traditional (and very pretty) campus, good sized dorm rooms, brand new pool and athletic buildings. The academic buildings weren’t as nice as some we’ve seen, but the library was great, as was the student center. Open curriculum called the K-Plan offers lots of flexibility, particularly the ability to study abroad without worrying about meeting your major’s credit requirements. All students take foreign language and PE. The students we talked to were really excited about their classroom experience and exchange programs. We didn’t realize that it’s located right next to WMU- so even though it’s a small school, students have direct access to big D1 sports, a college town with plenty of fun things to do, and 20k more college students right next door. K College was pretty impressive, my DD said she’ll “most definitely apply”. Overall impression: WAY UP
Rice: down.
We thought he would love it. Apparently campus is confusing and not pretty at all. I am looking at pictures and wondering if he is sure he is on the right campus.
Up: American. The admissions’ presentation was just the right length, and the AO gave subtle tips for getting in. (And not so subtle. I lost track of how many times students were told NOT to submit scores if they were below the middle 50%. “If we don’t know, we can’t consider. But, if we do know, we HAVE to consider.”) We were randomly split into tour groups, so it would have been nice to have been with a guide who was in the same school or program that DC was interested in, but the guide we ended up with was terrific. She was enthusiastic and involved and had taken full advantage of her time at American and in WDC. The tour covered most of campus, and DC walked with her several times to ask questions in between formal stops. Several other students did as well.
Up: Penn State. DC and I had never been, and it had been close to 30 years for H. We took a self-guided tour as it was near the beginning of DC’s college process, and we were just getting a feeling for various kinds of colleges. I had assumed it would be just too big to manage, but surprisingly, nothing felt like it was way too far away from anything else. Everything was clean, and the students looked happy. Of course, we made the obligatory stop at The Creamery.
Up: Emerson. Despite hating other urban schools, DC was generally impressed with Emerson’s block along Boylston. It helped that Boston Common is literally across the street. Slightly misleading on the start time, but it was nice to be able to go from table to table at the buffet breakfast and talk to representatives of various campus departments like housing, athletics, wellness, etc. The general presentation was great, and the financial aid session was the most helpful I have been to. (They do require the CSS, so I was pleased they explained the differences with FAFSA, when to start filling the forms out, etc.) The financial aid presentation was also in the lovely old Paramount Theater, one of the few Emerson buildings that isn’t right on Boylston. As an Arts and Communications school, DC felt right at home with the students.
Up: University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario). We had a brief presentation given by our student guide, and then we and one other family took the tour. The university has only been around since the late 1950s, when several local universities agreed to consolidate, so much of the architecture was from the 60s and 70s, which didn’t impress me much, and was starting to show its age. H and DC didn’t seem to mind, however, and everything did seem to be well laid out. DC was most impressed by the student center where students could access just about everything, including a dentist. Our tour guide was just a sophomore herself, but she was so poised and obviously had been well-trained to answer questions on a variety of subjects. DC hadn’t considered co-op education before, but began to after hearing about Waterloo’s program (which you could choose to participate in or not). We were given a recommendation for a diner-style restaurant after our tour, just a short walk up the street, and it was amazing. There were multiple other restaurants nearby as well. The city of Waterloo itself felt the right size to DC.
Neutral: Bucknell. The campus just sort of runs down the hill into the cute little town of Lewisburg. It also just looks like “Capital C” College with its two quads and trees and lovely facilities. More of an emphasis on Greek Life than was appealing to DC, however.
Neutral: Georgetown. We toured during a week when many East Coast high schools were on spring break, so the entire ICC auditorium (~300 seats) was full. The presentation was fine, and the tour guides were also fine, but our group was really too large to get a very intimate tour experience. H and I are alums, so DC has been on campus before, but whereas both H and I knew the moment we stepped onto campus that Georgetown was “our” school, it has never hit DC the same way. Oh well.
Neutral: University at Buffalo. One of the SUNY flagships. Tunnels and closely-grouped buildings designed to help mitigate Buffalo winters at the suburban campus. We didn’t tour the city campus, which didn’t house any of the programs DC was interested in. Nice E-Sports/gaming center if that’s your thing. “Meh” was pretty much all of our reactions, although there is a lake in the middle of campus with kayaks and canoes the students can take out.
Down: Bloomsburg Campus of Commonwealth University. Part of the PASSHE. We knew that the PA state schools would be more barebones than private or state-related universities like Penn State or Pitt, but we weren’t prepared for how much more so. Still, worth looking at for the potential tuition savings.
Down: University of Toronto (St. George Campus). Felt too urban and not campus-y enough for DC’s taste with buildings spread out all over. The science buildings were more impressive than the humanities buildings, which bummed DC out. Crazy big in terms of enrollment, and the residential college thing didn’t really appeal to DC.
Way Down: Western University (London, Ontario). Campus is beautiful, but DC didn’t like the fact that the residential portion was across the river (and downhill) from the main academic and administration buildings. Didn’t help that the day we toured was blazingly hot, and we spent too much time at the football field. Also, the AO we spoke to really just didn’t seem to be able to answer questions about what needed to happen for an American student to enroll.
Way, Way Down: GW. Got stuck in traffic, so we arrived late to the initial presentation by about 15 minutes and had to stand along the side. Entirely our fault, but the presentation went on for another 45 minutes, which felt way too long. It felt like a lot was about rankings of individual schools within GW and not a lot about why a student would want to attend the #whatever ranked Business School. Even those who were seated were starting to get restless. Then—and I’m sure she is a lovely young woman, but—our tour guide was a final semester senior, and she was totally checked out. It felt as if she was glad to have completed her slog and couldn’t wait to leave. GW is less a campus than a collection of buildings spread throughout the heart of WDC, and she just crossed streets willy-nilly, rarely checking to make sure her group was with her. At a stop at one of the dorms, she really (and irrevocably) lost us (in the metaphorical sense, though not for lack of trying in the physical) by talking about how, while the bathrooms were communal as opposed to suite-style, they were cleaned twice daily because, “Who wants to waste their life cleaning bathrooms?” A member of the custodial staff was right behind her. After exiting that building, we all looked at each other and concluded that GW wasn’t for DC. We bailed from the tour after that.
University of Arizona
Visited today w/our 11th grader. Was a half-day “Arizona Experience” event which included:
- an hour of “walk around and check out tables for a boatload of info about different colleges, programs, dining plans, housing, etc., etc.”
- 30 min welcome session
- 45 min academic session - there was 1 for each college
- 30 min “other” session - could choose from honors college, scholarships & fin aid, SALT Center, pre-health advising, housing & meal plans, admissions
- campus tours - we skipped this part since D26 went on a campus tour last school year on a school field trip
Ate lunch in the student union beforehand. Tthey don’t take cash anywhere on campus, which I found to be super annoying. Parking lots are no longer free on weekends & holidays…you have to pay 24x7. Boo!
Classes were not in session today because of the federal holiday but there were a lot of students on campus. It’s been awhile since I’ve been on the U of A campus and I kind of forgot how pretty it is. Much more attractive than ASU. D26 really likes it at U of A.
During the welcome session, they did a show of hands of in-state vs OOS and about half the room was out of state.
Some additional info we learned from going to visit multiple tables:
- there’s a Blue Chip Leadership program available. You can start it fall semester of year 1. 1-unit class with 15-20 other students. This program sounded interesting.
- electric scooters are not allowed on campus & you can’t store them in your on campus dorm either.
- you can buy a bus pass for 50% off for the school year or semester.
- there’s a TUGO bike share program. You pay $40 for the year and you basically share bikes with other students, faculty, & staff.
- College of Humanities has a $2000 “Fearless Inquiries Abroad Scholarship” for up to 30 students per year for study aboard.
- all 1st yr students living on campus in a dorm must have a swipe-based meal plan.
- EA deadline for the honors college app is 11/15, with decisions that come out 12/16. Reg deadline is 1/31 and decisions come out 2/28.
- honors college has ~4000 students.
- honors college also has an “Honors Alternative Spring Break”. Usually paired with a 3-unit class.
- Honors college has internship grants for up to $1500.
- Honors college also has honors-specific study abroad options
- student tickets to football & basketball games are not free. so if you want to sit in the Zona Zoo section, budget some extra for that. No idea what it costs.
We went to the academic session for CAST (College of Applied Science & Technology). After that info session, D26 said that U of A is definitely in her #1 spot. I took a lot of notes, but here’s all the info in case it’s helpful to somebody else down the road:
- The college has 3 staff members who all do career guidance/counseling/helping students land internships & post-graduation jobs. Grads end up in a mix of gov’t sector & private sector jobs.
- For the gov’t sector internships, since both Cyber Ops and Intelligence & Info Ops majors are designated as Academic Centers of Excellence, they apparently have direct hiring at several government agencies, which means that students bypass the lengthy & challenging application process at www.usajobs.gov.
- their Cloud Computing certificate basically gets you MS Azure or AWS certification
- they have grant $$ to pay for the cost of you taking the CompTIA Security+ exam. CAST Admissions recruiter person said that the material on that exam is covered in classes you take as a Cyber Ops major.
- Cyber Ops major has 3 emphasis options. Recruiter said that Cyber Engineering emphasis requires 1 semester of Calculus, while Defense & Forensics requires pre-calculus. Cyber Engineering emphasis is more computer programming (developing cybersecurity tools) sort of focus whereas Defense & Forensics is more focused on how to use cybersecurity apps, tools, etc.
- ~250 students on campus in CAST (College of Applied Science & Tech)
- students are also able to get Google cybersecurity certification by graduation. Recruiter said between that and the Security+ cert, those are big resume builders and it helps grads get job offers before graduation.
- 1 parent asked if in the cybersecurity job market, job hires are down since so many comp sci & SW dev jobs are in the toilet. CAST recruiter said no, not yet for cybersecurity from what she’s seen. So far, they’ve had excellent post-graduation job placement.
- CAST is most transfer-friendly college on campus.
- Dept of Justice & US military use U of A’s Cyberopolis virtual training environment to train their staff.
- U of A is in something called the Vivid Coalition w/UAH, Florida International University, and Augusta University…basically private industry internships, which you can apply for after your 1st year.
- every year they usually have 6-10 students selected for the DOD’s Scholarship for Service, which pays full tuition & fees + $26,000/yr stipend for room & board & personal expenses in exchange for you working for the DOD for 2 yr after graduation. Plus you work at a DOD location for 2 summers while still in college.
- Because of their CAE status (Center of Academic Excellence), U of A (along with Purdue, Virginia Tech, & North Carolina A&T University) CAST students are eligible to apply for Defense Civilian Training Corps (Defense Civilian Training Corps Program | Dean of Students Office). This apparently JUST started this year.
- there’s also a 2-day cybersecurity conference that occurred recently in Mesa and CAST chartered a big van to drive a bunch of its students to the conference so they could network and talk to a boatload of employers at the conference.
- 1 option that Cyber Ops students have for their capstone class is to do a cybersecurity project (instead of doing research). There’s ~18 students in a cohort for this. It’s a consulting-type of project where CAST connects you up with several local or in-state companies or organizations and you do basically an end-to-end cybersecurity audit & document recommendations of things to update, change, etc.
- all 3 of CAST’s career services staff help students in how to craft their resume & apply for gov’t sector jobs. Recruiter said it’s very different than applying for private sector jobs. They have a really good track record of success.
- private sector recruiting: CAST recruiter person said they have both online info sessions & in person sessions w/private sector recruiters all the time. She mentioned Intel, IBM, Deloitte, lots of utility companies, banks, Raytheon, healthcare companies.
- CAST just started their in-person/on-campus program this academic year. Prior to fall 2024, it was entirely online & based out of UofA-South (next door to Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista). CAST recruiter said she’s even found internships for an online/remote student who was based in Iowa.
We didn’t venture over to the honors dorm but D26 has toured that building before. Super glad we went. After today’s visit, I think we’re going to scratch our October UT-Dallas visit from the list.
** edited to add **
Indigenous students who are AZ residents get free tuition (see Arizona Native Scholars Grant | Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid for more info). Also, if you’re an AZ resident and were/are in foster care, those students get free tuition.
** One more thing: **
When we were on the top floor of the student union looking north, you could see the Hillel building that’s on 2nd St a 5 min walk away. They have a lot of programs there for Jewish students and non-Jews are welcome, too. There’s a hotline you can call if you’re sick and you’d like somebody to bring you some hot soup.
The Islamic Center of Tucson is also just off campus. It’s a 9 min walk from the Old Main building. It’s very close to the Manzanita dorm. Students who are not Muslim are also welcome.
Just wanted to mention those 2 in case anybody is looking for faith communities on campus. There’s also several Christian student groups & a few churches walking distance to campus.
What was supposed to be a whirlwind tour of several universities during my S26’s winter break turned into one visit to Boston University for a junior winter preview day (long story, but we had to cancel most of the trip).
But! S26 loved Boston University! This is probably the first tour that made him truly excited to go to college (he has also seen UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis–both “OK”). The event consisted of an admissions presentation, student panel, breakout presentations for different colleges/programs, a meal voucher for the dining hall, and a campus tour.
What he liked:
- The big city energy and location of the campus. My son had never been to Boston and he really liked it, despite the absolutely freezing temps this past weekend. Full of young people, a great amount of diversity, lovely architecture, not too big/daunting. And the T running alongside Commonwealth Ave was terrific – we used it to get between our hotel in Copley Square to campus.
- The great academics across the board. But also the ease with which students seemed to be able to switch majors between the colleges. My S26 has a lot of interests (physics, math, chem, history, art) and isn’t totally sure what he wants to major in. He thought it was cool that Philosophy can be paired up with the STEM topics he likes. (We have never seen a Math/Philosophy major, for example)
- Strong arts program. We went to the College of Fine Arts breakout presentation and heard about the dual degree (BFA/BA or BS), the BA in Art (these students are encouraged/expected to double major in something else) and minor in Art. The Visual Arts program is small, but seems mighty. They place a lot of emphasis on advising and helping kids find internships and a path forward in the arts, too.
- The brownstone residence halls (“those are dorms?!”)
- The rock climbing wall in the fitness center – he talked to someone there setting new routes for a competition this past weekend… they even invited him to participate!
It also helped that he found treasures in a thrift store near campus and we ate at a fabulous Korean BBQ spot a few train stops away. The next day, we had a live jazz brunch and spent several hours at the Museum of Fine Arts (he is the only teenager I know who can easily spend half a day in a museum and not want to leave).
All in all, a great weekend. And now I see how much energy he gets from a truly urban campus, too, which will help us plan future visits.
We walked by the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (owned by Tufts) and talked about their dual degree program, too. It seems to be a schlep between Medford and the SMFA campus (and Tufts is an even bigger reach) but that might be something we look into on our next trip east.
Meanwhile, my kid couldn’t sleep because he was thinking about his college essay for BU. It’s the most engaged I’ve seen him so far on his college journey.
Toured RIT with my D26. We’re from the south, and it was 19 degrees with a wind chill of 4, with lots of snow and slush on the ground. It’s not the prettiest campus – kind of in the middle of an office park. I thought it looked kind of bleak, but my daughter thought it was interesting.
Our tour guide was a super nice guy but really awkward. But he was earnest and did a decent job of answering questions. He mentioned that he didn’t have any coding experience before coming to the school as a CS major, but that there were so many resources and so much support available that he was able to do it. That was really helpful info to know.
My D26 loved everything. She thought the student body seemed diverse, welcoming, quirky, passionate – and deeply nerdy, LOL. She felt really comfortable there. We looked at all the posters and flyers hanging up, and there is every kind of (nerdy) club imaginable. There is a week-long Nerf gun battle called Humans vs. Zombies that 5,000 students take part in. There is a group that makes swords out of cardboard and battles in the hallways.
We ate on campus at a little soup place (Nathan’s?) – and it was delicious and not too expensive. The dorms are all connected by underground tunnels with a dining hall attached to them. (Although no tunnels between the dorms and the academic buildings.)
We also talked to a bunch of female students to see what their experience was at a male-dominated tech school. (I think the ratio is 65/35.) Everyone said it was pretty chill, and that there are several organizations to support women on campus, especially in STEM majors.
There was a lot to like – we got tons of info about the co-op program (mandatory for many majors). Students have to take at least one “immersion” – which is like a minor but only three classes.
D26’s favorite thing is that there were at least six different possible majors that interested her (human-centered Computing, new media design, game design, etc). It’s usually hard to find even one major in something like this, even at tech schools. And they have really strong art and design programs – the intersection of art and tech is what she wants.
So RIT has currently moved to the top of her list!
(Deleted as forgot this was a no response thread)