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

[MAmom111]

Few colleges that rarely get mentioned here that we recently visited in FL with our junior son. We are from the northeast.

Eckerd-(UP) Student body of about 2,000 outside of St. petersburg, FL. Info session was short and pretty standard. We broke into your groups and it was just us and one other family. The tour guide wore a mic which was helpful and it also allowed her to not have to walk backwards. A lot of the tour was focused on marine science (which my son isn’t interested in) but overall it was a great tour. The outside of some of the buildings were definitely dated (no brick and ivy here) but most of the interiors were nice. Kids seemed really happy and friendly. The standout here is the location. They have their own beach and waterfront. You can get free paddle boats, sailboats (u can take a free 2 day class if you don’t know how to sail), go wakeboarding, tubing, waterskiiing etc, all for free. They also have free bikes all around campus. They also have the only college marine search and rescue group which really interested my son. Kids live on campus all 4 years which he liked. They are building a new very large cafeteria.

Cons: the college bought two motels at the front of campus and that is where most freshmen live. It’s a bit far from the rest of campus and the motel layout seems like it would make it tougher to meet people. Most rooms are triples which didn’t seem to bother my son. There is also not much of anything off campus to walk to although St. Petersburg is not far and you could bike to some beaches.

Stetson (UP)-2500 students, beautiful campus about an hour north of Orlando. They do 3 separate short presentations with 2 tours in between (one academic and one for housing/student union). First tour guides was good, second one didn’t seem to be able to answer basic questions. They are building a new freshman dorm which will house most freshman. Cute town is right off campus with ice cream, pizza, theatre, etc. Beach is about 20 minutes away and theme parks are about an hour. Many buildings were older with beautiful wood inside. Walked by president’s office and he came out and chatted with our group He was great, I asked about declining enrollment at LAC’s and he gave a great answer.

Cons: student body seemed a bit quirky for my son. One tour guide said it can be a bit of a suitcase school but other tour guide said lots of kids stay on weekends and there are events, parties and/or kids go to the bars.

Florida Southern-(UP) 3,300 students about 45 minutes from Disney. Campus was on a lake surrounded by high end houses. Oldest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in the country. Other buildings were modern and also built with that indoor/outdoor architecture. Business and science buildings were beautiful with views of the lake. Parts of campus looked they could use a little TLC but overall a nice looking campus (again no brick or ivy). Students seemed friendly and happy. Students said there were things to walk to off campus but we must have gone in the wrong direction. Cafeteria was smaller but they seem to have a lot of food all over campus including an outdoor grill outside the library with made to order burgers and dogs and there was a Steak and Shake. 3 years guaranteed on campus but many students stay for 4 years. Has greek life but they live in on-campus apartments. They offer lots of trips to the theme parks, camping, etc.

Cons: students said there was a lot to do on weekends but also mentioned many kids go to Orlando or Tampa for nightlife. My son is totally undecided and they really encourage you to pick a major by the end of freshman year.

Univ of Tampa-(down) Main building on campus is stunning and the location is great. Campus seems small for the number of students. No guaranteed housing even for freshman year (although they said that was not an issue this year). Off campus housing is super expensive and many places you have to drive to campus so it almost seems like it has a commuter vibe when you are a junior/senior. Buildings were very nice and pool was beautiful. This was a reach anyways but my son just didn’t like it.

[goldbug]

Abbreviated notes from Tour de Blizzard 2025:

1. Pitt: same for me, down and out for S25.

• What we all liked: Pittsburgh! Lots to do and see, manageable size, seems to have a solid bus program that students actually take advantage of. Interesting neighborhoods, access to outdoor stuff, museums, good restaurants, etc.
• What impressed me about the program we were touring (engineering school specifically): once admitted to the engineering school, sounds like they do their best to keep you. The program is fairly small (maybe 2000 students?), compared to the scale of the undergrad student body (~20K). They have a lot of majors and encourage students to take freshman year to figure out what they want to study before deciding. They require that students maintain a 2.0 GPA to continue in engineering and don’t have secondary admissions.
• Tour, dorms, food, etc: seemed fairly standard. It’s a city campus and maybe feels a little more fragmented than, say, your typical liberal arts college. But students we encountered seemed diverse, friendly, purposeful. I’d have been happy to send S25 here but it didn’t really speak to him.

2. Case Western Reserve University: UP for the whole family. This was S25’s favorite of the schools we visited and I think this was true for us parents as well.

• What we all liked: location was amazing – we’d never been to Cleveland and we saw a house on fire (literally) while driving into town. Also it was about 10 degrees not counting the windchill. Nevertheless, this part of Cleveland enchanted us: museums, parks, a botanical garden, the conservatory, the symphony, and major healthcare systems surround a campus that feels both historic (including a gorgeous chapel with Tiffany windows) and modern. There were great restaurants within walking distance of campus.
• Academics: seemed much more flexible than Pitt. You get admitted to Case and then you can pick any major (aside from music performance). The students we encountered seemed well-rounded, intellectually curious, happy, and busy.
• Dorms impressed my son. Lots of space; fridge/freezer in each room.
• The seven-story maker space is a true highlight, and not just in the “here’s an impressive building” sense – students were there making use of it, and we got to interact with them.
• The clubs are not competitive. You don’t have to have any experience to join. I think this was true for most of the schools on our visit but it’s a healthy contrast to some of the more rejective schools (e.g. Michigan, Cornell, etc.)
• Places we liked: Sittoo’s for shawarma and fried cauliflower; Glidden House Hotel (plan on eating breakfast there – it’s magnificent.)

3. University of Rochester: UP for the whole family

• What we all liked: the open curriculum (easy to double-major, etc.), access to all majors (similar to Case), physical plant (great library, tunnels and skyways for days when you just can’t quite stomach the outdoors), interesting city, students seemed smart and well-rounded. Eastman School of Music is such a cultural gem and if one enjoys music, there’s a ton going on there.
• Not quite as great as Case: the physical setting – it’s hemmed in by a river, a medical center, and a graveyard. Feels more suburban than urban. I’m guessing most of the social life happens on campus, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but you’d definitely need wheels (public transit, a bike, a car) to get to city life.
• Maybe exactly as scary as Cleveland: the winter weather. I’ve not researched this but we got our first taste of lake effect snow and it’s real.
• Places we recommend: the flagship Wegmans was astonishing. Good for lunch; give yourself time to figure out what you want.

4. RPI: Same, I guess?

• What we liked: the performance space on campus is stunning. The views of Troy are lovely. Troy itself is clearly on an upswing and it seemed like the kind of place our son would enjoy exploring and making his own.
• The tour itself left us a bit cold. Sometimes tours seem to bring a campus to life. This one, for whatever reason, did not. Unlike some tours we’d been on, the participants didn’t really interact with each other (or the tour guide). We did see students hanging out and working together in the engineering building, the dining hall, and the student center.
• Dorms, campus, etc. weren’t quite as nice as what we’d just seen in Cleveland and Rochester. Everything felt a little tired. But maybe WE were just tired. Anyway, hard to argue with RPI’s reputation as an engineering powerhouse. S25 would get a stellar education there. It’s still on the list. It just wasn’t love at first sight.
• Places we recommend: Little Peeps Cafe for breakfast. It’s an amazing space in which you’ll want to linger.

5. Union College: UP for mom and maybe pop; down for the kid.

• What we liked: campus is compact, seems well-maintained, feels small compared to all the schools we’d seen but this isn’t necessarily a minus. If you like Davidson or Colby, you’d probably like Union.
• We met two faculty without even really trying, and both of them independently sold us on their ability to engage students in research and the obvious pride and interest they took in their work with undergraduates. This is the big selling point for liberal arts schools and we were both hooked.
• Unfortunately for reasons that he couldn’t quite explain, S25 wasn’t as excited.
• Schenectady is a great little city. Places we enjoyed: Arthur’s Market for breakfast; Simone’s Kitchen for dinner or lunch.

6. Lafayette College: down, a little, maybe, for me. Same for S25 (who had no preconceived notions about the place).

• What we liked: beautiful campus, seems to offer the same sorts of benefits as Union. Plentiful on-campus housing, including some newer apartment-style dorms. Robust engineering department. If you like Union, you should also visit Lafayette.
• What we didn’t get a sense of: what the campus feels like when students and faculty are awake and present. Saturday tours are maybe a little bit of a let-down in this regard. The common areas were all completely deserted.
• Place we enjoyed: Mojo 516 Cafe for great muffins and breakfast sandwiches (cinnamon roll was way too sweet though).

[SpreadsheetMom]

Miami of Ohio - UP, but mostly for the specific program that I’ll get to in a second.

We had perfect weather, which helped a lot with the general morning tour (which was too long). D26 thought the school was perfectly…nice. It’s a pretty campus, but all the buildings kind of looked the same.

Nothing was objectionable – dorms were fine, if a little small. We didn’t get a chance to see the honors dorms, but I’ve heard those are nicer. The student activities center with additional dining options was decent. There’s a Starbucks on campus.

The little town of Oxford is cute, quiet, seemed perfectly safe. Fun little shops and places to eat. We saw Skyline and Graeter’s – both of which were novelties for us, so that was fun.

The student body is definitely majority white – we saw very, very few people of color, and that bothered D26 a little bit. Specifically there were no Asian students, and maybe that stood out because some other schools we’d toured were the opposite. The students did seem friendly and down to earth. We’d heard about some specific stereotypes of students who attended, but we didn’t see that. Definitely not much diversity, though.

Everything about the tour was just “fine” or “nice” – but nothing wowed my daughter, either. But THEN, we toured the Emerging Tech department in the afternoon. It’s in a brand new building, which also houses the Games and Simulation major.

We got lucky with a private tour given by the chair of the department (one other scheduled family didn’t show up). He was super nice and informative, and he spent a lot of time with D26 showing her all the technology and telling her about various opportunities. He even gave her some tips on how to apply to gain an advantage (the Games major is limited to 50 spots per year).

My daughter lit up after this – the university as a whole was a little bland, but the specific department she’s interested in was really appealing. That, plus the opportunity to join a real marching band that isn’t too competitive (something RIT – her current front runner – doesn’t offer) – made the school move up on her list.

[txfriendly]

Three visits in the NE over a snowy February weekend.

Colby - WAY UP. We drove through heavy snow for 4 hrs from our trip base in Boston for this, and a few times I wasn’t sure we were going to make it, but I’m glad we did. The info session was a little abbreviated, as only one other family had braved the weather, but it was actually nice to be able to skip over some of the basic website info and ask questions directly to the admissions rep. We then headed out on our walking tour in moderate snowfall, with 3-4 inches on the ground already. By the time our 90+ minute tour (!) was over, it was snowing heavily with 6+ inches on the ground, but may have been the best college tour I’ve ever experienced. Guide was easygoing and very informative, just shrugged off the weather and answered every question. The campus has the idyllic New England feel - stately buildings and a main quad on the edge of a frozen pond, all surrounded by woods (though Waterville is actually just a half mile down the road and around a corner). The relatively new (2020) athletics facility is incredible, to the point that non-sportsy D26 could see herself using the fitness facility and cheering for the hockey team. Of even greater interest was the brand-new fine arts facility - D26 will definitely participate in vocal ensembles and could end up as a music major. The whole thing checked every box, even boxes that we didn’t know existed. Leader in the clubhouse.

Wellesley - DOWN AND OFF. The info session was pretty standard; the one notable item that I had previously come across but forgotten about was that Wellesley is only loan-free for students with <$100k family income. A step behind its peers nowadays as far as financial aid for the 100k-200k bracket. The campus is beautiful, and the weather was actually beautiful as well, but the whole experience fell flat. Our tour guide was ultra-professional and seemed very driven and ambitious, which are not really bad qualities but didn’t mesh with D26’s more casual, artsy vibe. The group was divided into parents and students, and one of the main points of the tour was the study area in the STEM library where the seniors work on their senior projects. We got the distinct feeling that the vibe of the campus was heavily academic and career-oriented. I think the turning point for D26 was when a prospective student asked the guide what people do for fun, and the answer was essentially “take the shuttle to other colleges that have fun activities.” D26 is an excellent student, but the atmosphere seemed intense and a little competitive. She will not apply.

Barnard: SAME. In fairness, D26 didn’t really know a ton about Barnard before, other than that it’s in NYC…and that ended up being the relevant factor. Because it was Saturday, there were no official tours or info sessions, but with a reservation, we were able to check in with security and get a map to do our own self-guided tour. The campus is very compact, as everything in NYC is, and we chuckled at the size of the “lawn” where students gather in good weather. Currently there’s a ton of construction, most notably the gutting and reconstructing of the tower that houses many of the science departments, so some of the pathways around campus are blocked semi-permanently. The old dorm complex is beautiful and allows most of the students to live together in close proximity to everything, though there are some juniors/seniors who live in Barnard housing several blocks away. We also ate at a local market and enjoyed wandering around Morningside Heights, which is lovely. On the whole, it would be a great place for a student who wants to be in New York, but the big takeaway from our day in the city was that D26 isn’t that kid.

[sandokan]

UC DAVIS
UP. Our first college visit! DS is a sophomore so this was a very low stakes, ‘see what a college feels like’ type of visit. Neither of us had ever been to a big state school, so we didn’t have a ton of expectations going in, though I was thinking Davis was mostly an ag school in the middle of nowhere. Easy drive from the Bay Area.

The campus itself is very large (largest in the UC system) with very well-maintained and beautiful plants and gardens. Lots of big, old trees and lawns. The architecture is a sort of California brutalist but not harsh and ugly, more sandy and blending into the landscape with a modernist feel. Bikes are everywhere and you definitely need one, or a scooter. It was quite a hike walking around. They also have free buses that take you into Davis and there’s a bus to Berkeley, their ‘sister campus’. Lots of green spaces to hang out in and outdoor seating everywhere.

Vibewise, it felt very chill and collaborative. Kids seemed friendly and laid back. Finals were coming up and there was a fair amount of studying happening, but I wouldn’t say it felt high stress. Very eco-friendly with several environmentally-friendly initiatives mentioned. Also very access focused. The Eng school had a bit more edge to it, but again, seemed very collaborative.

The info session was fine. Nothing special and didn’t honestly add much that we couldn’t find on the website. The tour guide was perky and sort of what you expect a tour guide to be like. She was a pre-vet major, and agriculture is huge at the school. She kept talking about the cold and wet winter, which I found kind of funny, but I guess that’s a valid impression for someone from Arizona. They spend a fair amount of time talking about how they’re not ‘in the middle of nowhere’ and are in fact ‘in the middle of everywhere’… meaning that SF, Tahoe and Sacramento are all fairly close. I definitely didn’t feel like I was in the middle of nowhere. They touted their enology major (master’s I think) and the fact that they have a brewery and vineyard. Our tour guide had delivered foals recently. They also have a ‘design of coffee’ class that teaches engineering concepts through coffee.

Several students raved about the food and there’s a lot of farm-to-table type stuff happening. Davis has its own farm from which they source a lot of the veggies. Kids can buy an ‘unlimited swipes’ meal plan. In addition to dining halls, there are also food trucks and little cafes dotted around.

Housing is only guaranteed freshman year, if I’m remembering right. That said, it sounds like it’s easy and inexpensive to find off-campus housing which was nice to hear for a UC. We didn’t get to see the dorms but the guide seemed to feel they were pretty decent and you could choose whether you wanted more apartment style or more traditional.

We did the College of Engineering tour as well. It’s relatively small and not hugely known. They seem to be trying to expand. It felt very supportive and several students mentioned the great tutoring and other support services. Lots of female engineers wandering around.They also mentioned doing research and that being something pretty much anyone could do if they wanted. We saw a cool nano fabrication lab type of room. They also have a great, large and what looked to me to be quite well-resourced maker space that only the engineering school can use. There was a formula 1 car being built, some sort of rocket part and other cool stuff. A lot of double majors. Both our Eng guides were first-gen.

The town of Davis is a small college town. Very bikeable with great bike-friendly road signage and so on. Crazy amounts of boba shops and lots of the types of restaurants you’d imagine college kids eating at. The burger place we ate at was really good. I think you’d quickly have eaten everywhere and I could it see it feeling a little too small after awhile but it was nice.

UC BERKELEY
UP. Our second college visit, done the day after Davis. We did a tour followed by an info session. The tour was a little too large and unlike at Davis, the guide didn’t mic up, so it was hard to hear her at times but she had a good energy. The campus is very different, as you’d expect. I’ve been to Berkeley (city) but never actually been to the campus and was surprised by how tucked away and up on a hill it feels. The academic buildings are quite grand and feel East Coast-y. Many are from the 1800s. Lots of big, old trees as well. Apparently it was founded by some Yalies, so maybe that explains it. This all gave it the feeling of being more of an academic powerhouse and it just generally gave off more of that energy though again, I wouldn’t say people looked stressed out. Beautiful library and apparently a huge one underground. Lots of traditions around doing this or that for a 4.0. Great views of SF and the bay from parts of campus.

Perhaps because it’s so much smaller sizewise (but comparable in terms of undergrad population), I noticed more chatting and socializing. I think maybe also because you’re walking, not biking (too hilly), it’s easier for people to walk together for awhile as they move from class to class. That said, it felt like there were way less places to sit down and hang out outside when compared to Davis. So not really sure where all that happens. We didn’t get to see indoor areas though. According to our guide, you end up taking classes all over campus and it’s not really the case that all of a certain type of class take place in the same building. The tour started at the football stadium, which looks quiet and grand. Students get discounts on the tickets and it seems like the Stanford rivalry is alive and well.

Housing is guaranteed freshman year. Didn’t get much info on housing other than, ‘it’s fine’. I don’t get the impression it’s a highlight. Food sounds pretty average and nothing to get excited by. Finding off-campus housing is fine ‘as long as you start looking really early’… The guide mentioned shuttles that would take you door to door, even to off-campus housing at night. There were also a couple other safety options they had, like I think you could call someone to walk back with you and stuff like that. The entire time I was on campus, it felt very safe and just full of Berkeley students and staff. The area near the admissions office has lots of student org booths set up. Our guide talked up Berkeley being the ‘home of the free speech movement’ but it seemed to be more of a talking point than anything. I didn’t see nearly as much of the protest culture as I thought I might and the students we saw for the most part did not come across as very activist.

The part of Berkeley that’s adjacent to campus is full of shops and restaurants. We had dozens of places to choose from, when we were getting lunch. I felt very safe and, having lived in many cities over the years, I found nothing particularly bad about the part of Berkeley we wandered around in. The area of campus that’s right near the restaurants felt a little dirty and less well-maintained but not unsafe. I can see choosing the shuttle or an uber to get home if you’re alone late at night.

The info session started off with a very long land acknowledgement and was not super helpful, more just regurgitating basics. I guess I’m learning that these info sessions just repeat what’s on the website. A surprising amount of out of state and even international visitors at the session who didn’t seem to know much about Berkeley. Also a surprising lack of CS/Eng students in the room.

[wesbound25]

I drove with my D up to 10 hours for all visits, bunching several of them up on 3 or 4 different occasions. I learned from my D that she was looking for a nice campus with hip and artsy (non-preppy) students. I’ll try to be short with my impressions of each school (as well as hers) but this is a very long post. Overall, I loved the experience of doing this because it allowed me to know how best to support her through the process, it let me see how various schools try to showcase themselves, and it also let me intervene when I needed to (she placed WAY too much emphasis on the tour guides, and that was the biggest drawback of the whole process).

1. AMHERST: NEUTRAL. First school visited, great tour, loved the presentation space at the end of the tour, D liked the guide and her sense that this was a place for intelligent hip kids, I was pulling for Amherst knowing the school has an endowment which allows them to support students. D thought the campus was shabby for a school of its sizeable reputation. I told her this means they emphasize teaching and learning. The money has to go somewhere. She applied, although it wasn’t as high up the list as I imagined. Compared to Swarthmore, Amherst dropped.
2. BOSTON U.: DOWN (DID NOT APPLY). 2nd school visited (all others in order of visit). My alma mater. She did not like urban setting. Tour guide was nice but not too informative. On that day, women pledging sororities marched down Comm. Ave in cocktail dresses (many hundreds of them). I knew the school was done for when she saw that. The BU presentation was glitzy and short on substance.
3. TUFTS: NEUTRAL (DID NOT APPLY). I was wowed by Tufts, loved it, loved the campus and the city (but I went to school in Boston). Great tour guide, happy, upbeat, informative. D also liked it for the description of student life and academics, sensed it was perhaps very science driven, which dropped it in her estimation. She has many questions about the curriculum, which I admit confused me as well. Had some qualms about the campus. I was disappointed when she dropped it, but when I found they do not have the most resources for aid, I was fine with it.
4. BROWN U: UP. Her mother’s alma mater. She grew up wanting to go there like Mom. Loved the tour and the tour guide. Loved Thayer St and the shops. Easy to impress her with academics, Brown has the 2nd best program in writing in the country (next to Columbia). She’s a little intimidated at the thought of applying to an Ivy even if her profile fits w/ average Brown admittee. One of 4 schools targeted for eventual Early Admission application (Brown, Swarthmore, Wesleyan and Vassar).
5. CONN. COLLEGE: UP. We stopped because we were swinging by. I was impressed by the campus. The SE coast of Conn. is just an ideal place in the world. Location is great. Tour guide impressed w/ academic knowledge of the school, we liked the curriculum. D liked the campus a lot, did not expect to include it among schools to apply to. (I noted to myself that aid would be a stretch here given resources). D learned that the school is heavy on professional or pre-Pro majors (finance, econ. Etc.) and less so on Humanities. Coupled w/ what appeared to be a prep/sport lifestyle (she is an athlete herself but somehow made her best HS friendships w/ more offbeat quirky types). Applied as a school she would most likely be admitted to with no worries.
6. WESLEYAN: UP. I pitched it as a school she might really like. She loved the tour guide, the description of academics, social life, she liked the dorms. Loved the campus vibe, emphasis on the arts, art performances outside of class. D was not impressed with the campus. Loved the school, but the campus prevented it from rising to the very very top of the list. Still, she liked the Middletown strip quite a bit.
7. VASSAR: UP. Loved the students, campus vibe, ease to NYC, beautiful library, access to faculty. Tight community. Barely anything other than a café off campus, ended up being one of her top 4 schools. Liked the dorm situation.
8. SWARTHMORE: UP. Loved the tour guide, talked to many other students, felt “this was the place for me and people like me.” No other school felt more like home than Swarthmore. Loved academics, programs with Philly, saw herself double majoring and in general wowed by all the offerings. Campus was the nicest campus of any with only Brown and Vassar competing.
9. HAVERFORD: NEUTRAL. I have friends with kids who attended; they have described the students as nice, friendly, quirky, good people. The tour experience gave my D the sense that the student body was more like Conn. College’s. Haverford ended up moving down the list even though getting admitted is difficult, she still applied but it was not a top consideration. The campus was small and reminded her a bit of her own school.
10. UPENN: UP. I was a little leery of Penn’s top heavy orientation toward grad programs, a little like U. Chicago. Still, we were impressed by how integrated Penn is with Philly in terms of campus (don’t know about town/gown relations). Campus is semi-enclosed and really nice, but you can venture into the city easily. While we talked about limiting her to 2 Ivy applications maximum (because of highly rejective admissions) she wanted to add Penn to the mix.
11. JOHNS HOPKINS: UP. Liked the campus. She liked the immediate area just southwest of campus, funky little strip of shops. Nice tour guide, knew of lots of interest in JH’s renowned writing programs, which made my D feel less nervous about being an outlier (writer) among Pre-Med and Engineering students. I like JHU because they are more generous than others when it comes to aid for middle class students. JHU ended up in the middle of the pack of schools for her since she was still leery of the heavy science orientation.
12. COLUMBIA: NEUTRAL. Liked the campus despite it being urban (opposite of feelings for BU [damn cocktail dresses!]), loved their #1 writing program and journalism, so many questions about the protests directed at the tour guide however, ate up all the time to talk about students, academics, general vibe. Always thought this would be one of her 2 Ivy applications, so applying was a natural. She really fits more in a traditional campus, so even though academics were a great fit, it didn’t rise to the level of Brown. If she got into both, she’d choose Brown despite Columbia’s #1 program.
13. BARD COLLEGE: UP: Loved the students, especially loved the curriculum, the artsy vibe, great writing program. Ended up applying EA, admitted, and the scholarship was generous. Loved the campus but, like me, was a bit unnerved by the dorm situation (they are opening a massive new dorm complex for 2025). After being admitted early in the process and before hearing back from her ED school, she said she’d be happy to go there, and could envision herself there. Also easy access to NYC. Bard is a jewel. I remarked how the buildings were a bit in need of repairs, and she said the school cares more about funding students. NOTED.
14. ROCHESTER: UP. Loved the campus, the dorms, the tour guide and the students, who took more time to talk to her about theater and writing, social culture etc. UR has a scholarship for LGBTQ+ kids so she had a real sense of inclusion. Academics impressed. She wondered why more people don’t talk about it. She said for a state school, “this place is a jewel.” “Um, darling, it’s a private school that costs as much as any other.” “Oh, no wonder it’s so nice.” UR stayed in the middle of the pack.
15. BOWDOIN: NEUTRAL: this is one of the schools I hoped she fell in love with. Had good things to say about tour guide, about campus, about Maine and Brunswick. Met with faculty member. They give so much extracurricular support to students. Ideal, I thought; great endowment for aid. Please, please, please like it. She was non-committal. Got the sense it was rather small (but just like her #1 Swarthmore?) and heavy on sports. She might not have sensed the intellectual verve. And yet, the admissions experience was the best of all. She had a great interview w/ a student who took me aside to compliment me on having her as a daughter, relayed their conversation. I thought, “Great, she’s in with her interviewer!” Bowdoin never really made it above 6 or 7 on the list.
16. OBERLIN: NEUTRAL: Surely, she would love the most off-beat quirky school of all, the most artsy vibe, right? The guide was nice, but my D had the sense she was at Haverford or Conn. College, not Oberlin. Campus was nice, but not like Vassar. She has qualms about Ohio and its treatment of women on campuses. As for me, I knew Oberlin did not have the greatest endowment and that aid would be in question. Oberlin ended up below Bard and maybe even with Rochester but above Conn. College on the list.
17. DID NOT VISIT BUT APPLIED: BRYN MAWR (we were right there! After the fact realized it was a great fit); STONY BROOK (admitted EA to Creative Writing major); BINGHAMTON (admitted EA, but she would choose Stony Brook if it came down to the two).
18. WESLEYAN: in the fall, we visited Wesleyan again because it had risen up the ranks of her thinking over the summer. And she wanted to get a sense of the campus on its own. She liked it more on 2nd look. It was now ahead of Vassar, but behind Brown and Swarthmore. How close was Wesleyan to her top choices? Almost even with them. So we had a long talk. I would support her if she wanted to apply to Brown or Swarthmore ED, but she had to know that admission at both for women was close to 5% or lower for RD, and just marginally higher for ED. In other words, she had to consider, “Would she regret not applying to those 2 schools if she were admitted to Wesleyan?” And also, “Would she regret it if she applied to Brown, was denied, then also rejected from Wesleyan in RD, and ended up at Bard [a fine school!]?” Which of the two scenarios did she find herself comfortable with? In the end, she felt strongly enough about Wesleyan that she applied ED to it, and she was admitted with generous funding.

[NemesisLead]

Visited Vanderbilt and Washington University at St. Louis with my D26. I will compare the two experiences for those who might be considering making these trips.

Both campuses were incredibly beautiful. Vandy had a lot of new buildings going up–probably the most construction that we have yet seen and it wasn’t even summer time. Both campuses were very clean, well maintained, and updated. I thought that WashU had a slight edge over Vandy in campus aesthetics as the “front gate” and South 40 were really, really cool.

The info session and tour at Vandy were both far superior to the ones at WashU. Information was conveyed more efficiently and in a far more interesting way at Vandy. The admissions rep and the tour guide at Vandy were just more personable, interactive, and polished than their WashU counterparts. The WashU info session and tour were also not really interactive and the delivery of both was mechanical with sidebar points being made that didn’t lead anywhere and took a lot of time. Our WashU tour guide didn’t seem to want any questions and the WashU admissions rep set aside all of 2 minutes for questions at the end of the info session.

WashU also had slightly better dorms, but it was the case of the WashU dorms getting an “A+” and the Vandy dorms getting an “A.” Both schools have awesome dorms. Clean, spacious, bright, well thought out, and with great common areas.

The food at WashU was outstanding. Another A+. The food at Vandy was pretty good, but not nearly at WashU’s level. No waiting in lines at either place, but this may have been because students were just getting back from break. The cafeterias were both very nice, bright, and clean.

We stayed at the WashU-owned hotel (the Knight Center). This place sucked. Crappy rooms and very few visible employees. WashU does not appear to understand how to run a hotel. The on-campus location is the only thing going for it. Avoid.

The kids at Vandy were uniformly terrific. Helpful, polite, kind. They made eye contact and said hi. They seemed happy. They held doors open. They engaged us in conversation. My daughter dropped something and a woman ran it back to her and politely returned it. She must have run 100 yards total. So sweet.

One thing stood out…the ROTC program seemed really, really big at Vandy. More kids in uniform than we have ever seen at any school outside of a military academy. Having said that, this appearance may be a mirage because school was not fully in session.

The kids at WashU…I will get to that in a minute.

Two big knocks against each school:

1. At Vandy, we picked up on animosity between lower paid service employees and students. We would order food, for example, by saying, “Can I please get two tacos?” and then would get the two poorly-made tacos without a word or a smile from the server. We would say thank you and leave and the server would still say nothing. This happened over and over again and not just to us. I am a big believer that when the lowest paid employees are good ambassadors for the school, this is a great indication of a healthy school culture. There is an UGLY and obvious divide between the service employees and the students at Vandy and I didn’t like it. It feels like there MUST be a story behind this (maybe a labor dispute?). Perhaps someone can enlighten me in the comments thread?

2. We are veterans of 16 college tours at this point. I am very sorry to report that the WashU kids were the absolute worst group of kids that we have seen yet. At dinner our first night, a group of them sat near us. There were plenty of open tables and they did not have to sit right next to us but they clearly sat next to us on purpose. They went on to (purposely) have one of the most inappropriate (sexual), loud, and obnoxious conversations that we have ever heard while also rudely invading our space. We got up and moved tables. I told my daughter that these were just a few bad apples and told her not to judge the school too harshly. While the WashU kids never fell to this level again, they also didn’t do much to impress us. The WashU kids were just more arrogant, self-absorbed, and loud than anyplace we have been yet by a factor of 10. Kids would stupidly yell obscenities to greet each other. Poorly formed opinions were shouted as facts. Few people even looked at us and almost no one spoke to us. People burped out loud and thought that was funny. Doors closed in our faces all the time and few people said thank you when we held doors open for them. My daughter and I did not have a single positive interaction with a student. Not one. Something that has never happened before. The contrast between the kids at Vandy and WashU was absolutely shocking. It was like we were in a different country.

In the final analysis, people and culture matter more than food and facilities. D26 will not apply to WashU (she could not wait to leave), but she will enthusiastically apply to Vandy.

[randommom1]

St. John’s Annapolis - UP!

Admitted students day. This school (locations in Annapolis and Sante Fe) is a small, rigorous liberal arts college where students study the Great Books. This is not a college with a lot of fancy amenities, but it does shine. St. John’s will not be for many kids, but if it is your jam, here is the scoop:

Tour was short and sweet. Annapolis has around 500 students total on a 36-acres
campus in downtown Annapolis. Tour included the inside of library, but not dining hall or gym (though kids who stayed over the night before ate in the hall).

Admitted students from 44 states and about 20 countries. Capitol building across the street and various state offices in immediate area, along with Naval Academy, Harbor & lots of historic homes, shops, and restaurants. Few intercollegiate sports available (just sailing, crew, and croquet) but almost everyone (including staff and “tutors” participate in intramural sports. Clubs include the usual suspects, but also Walz, Fencing, and Sword-Fighting.

Everyone studies the same thing, essentially the old University of Chicago curriculum circa 1937 (with several modern additions). My kid was pleasantly surprised at the level of the conversation in seminar. Had to look up a word or two. Thought Greek was rough, but liked the other two classes and reflected on being challenged. He enjoyed the people he met, some of whom he spoke to in depth.

Financially supported summer internships are available (guaranteed funding for at least one internship or summer program, some do more). Lots of discussion in career panel about how the Program is “future-proof” and builds confidence (“I learned Greek, so I can do this!”).

Student services, including health center, gym/gym classes, art studio, are available and the College implemented a huge wellness initiative post-pandemic. Psychoeducational groups and individual counseling available. Medical referrals to local providers as needed.

All freshman and sophomores live on campus in Annapolis and half the juniors & seniors. (In Sante Fe, many more live on campus as it is much larger).
[As an aside, some kids transfer to Sante Fe or from SF to Annapolis for a change of scenery]

[TeamZissou02]

Spring break trip to New York City, with a couple college tours mixed in.

NYU - Up

S26 has expressed a desire to attend NYU and we planned a trip based around that. Well, it managed to exceed his expectations.

We had the best tour guide of the roughly 10 official tours we’ve been on thus far, so that helped. But the university really leans into the idea of NYU is my school, NY City is my campus - the tour was really a showcase of that. Turns out that’s what my kid’s looking for.

For those reading this, don’t make the mistake I did- the engineering college (alone among the university’s colleges) is in Brooklyn on a separate campus. So we essentially toured the wrong campus and S26 didn’t even care…

Columbia - Down (and off the list)

Same results here as with Pitt/CMU. There was a great contrast between the open, urban fabric of the NYU campus with the insulated, self-contained Columbia campus. Columbia was beautiful, but it really turned S26 off how separated it was.

We also only took the engineering tour. The tour showed off the engineering labs which were very impressive in their own way, but subterranean. It left an impression of spending all your time in windowless laboratories below the ground. As a prospective CS major, it also largely wasn’t applicable to the experience and we would have been better off just taking the general tour

[TeamZissou02]

Finishing up the spring break trip.

Stevens Institute- Same

Hoboken was lovely, the CS tour was engaging and in-depth, the facilities were nice and the view of Manhattan was amazing. There was a lot to like here but it was a little flat for S26. His chief complaint was that the campus was too small and he would prefer a bigger school.

Looking back on other schools we’ve visited, there have been a couple smaller liberal arts colleges that were definite “no’s”but this was the first mid-size university we’ve toured. Columbia is probably mid-size as well but had double the undergrads of Stevens, and the physical infrastructure supports a lot of grad students as well. Not a match, I think we’ll limit any future visits to schools with 10,000+ undergrads.

UPenn - Up

Ended up on a self-guided tour after missing the one we registered for. The campus was urban enough for S26 and large enough. Location was great and he could see himself attending there. We spoke to a couple of students seeking some directions and the limited interaction and self-guided tour formed a very positive impression.

I’m very upfront on what we can afford and UPenn offering free tuition for families earning under $200k made this the most affordable of the schools we toured this trip. S26’s favorite was NYU but I’m a bigger fan of UPenn.

[Ally86]

D26 and I enjoyed a spring break college tour of the Pacific Northwest. She is likely a humanities-type major who says she doesn’t want to go too far from California and doesn’t want freezing winters, but is okay with gray rainy weather. Hence, our plan for touring schools in the PNW.

I had pre-conceived notions of all of the schools we visited (but hadn’t seen any of them) and D had zero pre-conceptions of any of them so her UP vs DOWNs are truly starting from neutral. First stop:

University of Puget Sound: For me, way UP! For D, still neutral; she liked some things, disliked others and really had no concept of a liberal arts school vs. a university. She has already stated, “There’s no way I’m going there. I can’t stand the name. I don’t want to be telling people for the rest of my life that I went to Pew-get Sound!” But the campus is gorgeous, even on the drizzly gray day that we were there. The buildings are brick and interesting and cohesive, even though they are not all built in the same era. The trees were blooming, the grass was lush and expansive, and there were small forested areas. At first I was concerned about the lack of students about, but as soon as we entered the student center I realized the weather was not conducive to them being outside. Inside there was a bustling, yet warm and cozy feel. The café was hopping (I had a great chai latte!) and some students were making posters on the floor, while others had a display table set up about student mental health. Students at UPS seem happy. Our tour guide was excellent, very engaging, and it seems she is hyper-involved on campus—works in one of the cafes, is in a sorority, participates in some kind of all-inclusive dance performance, studied abroad in Germany, and obviously, gives school tours. She made it seem like all these extra-curriculars are easily accessible to any student. We did see inside a dorm room and it was spacious and pleasant. The surrounding neighborhood is charming older homes and there are two different commercial areas within a 10 minute walk. D and I enjoyed a banh mi and a boba tea, as well as a little shopping on one of the streets nearby campus. This school is generous with merit aid and would be a likely admit for D should she decide to apply (if she can get over the name!).

Whitman College: DOWN for both of us. I expected to fall in love with this school, and while it definitely has its good points, I wondered why the acceptance rate is so low compared to the other PNW LACs (about 50%) and why the cost is higher. Whitman is incredibly remote. We had a beautiful 4+ hour drive from the Seattle suburbs but D ruled out the school as soon as she saw Walla Walla. It’s actually a charming small town of 30,000 people, but D didn’t like it. We toured Whitman anyway and D did not change her mind. The students seem fine but the campus did feel a little sleepy. There are only 1500 students and if you don’t find your people on campus, you probably won’t find them anywhere else in Walla Walla. I guess that is a risk at any rural/small-town LAC. The campus is gorgeous though and D actually thought it prettier than UPS (but Whitman does have a few ugly buildings in the mix). We saw a dorm room here too. It was fine, not too small, but smaller than the one at UPS. We also ate in the dining commons, D with a current student, and me by myself and the food was tasty and healthy, with a wide range of options. But D will not be applying and it actually feels pretty good to cross one off the list.

Lewis and Clark: NEUTRAL for both of us, I guess? The campus is gorgeous! Forests, winding paths, a covered bridge over a fern-filled canyon, and a couple of the prettiest buildings I’ve seen on a college campus. It felt like we were in a fairy tale. But the campus is very much removed from the busy part of Portland and there is absolutely nothing you can walk to. The tour guide was fine, but there was nothing that really jumped out at us, or got us excited. We started the tour on the residential side of campus (and the dorm room we saw was large and bright), which seemed very still and quiet on a rare sunny morning in Portland. But then we made our way to the academic side of campus and it was more lively. There were lots of students hanging out in groups and even a couple of girls tossing a Frisbee. The students overall are pretty eclectic and artsy looking. There’s a definite vibe at Lewis and Clark. D’s friend was with us on this tour and got excited learning that she could compete in her sport here. D’s friend will likely apply and D might also, but she did not seem too excited.

Oregon State University: UP. D’s friend joined us on this tour also and both girls lit up instantly. The Welcome Center is strategically located in the newly renovated Beavers stadium. That stadium made you want to be a Beavers fan! So shiny and new, and so much orange! Plus it was a glorious sunny day and there was lots of energy on campus. The students are pretty wholesome looking. The tour was fine, but a bit long, with tons and tons of information thrown at us regarding all the resources and opportunities and events at the school. It was a bit overwhelming and I wondered how students even find out about all the things because there are so many of them. Again, we saw a dorm room which was pretty standard, but the dorm building itself was hideous—concrete and so depressing. I would cry if I had to live there. Most of the rest of campus is very pretty though, with older charming buildings, large quads, and lots of trees. There are streets and even a railroad track running through campus. Oh, and multitudes of robots delivering food! They are comical and “not very smart” as our guide kept telling us. It was funny watching them trying to navigate around our large tour group. We’ve seen these in Berkeley but not so many at one time. We were given a coupon for the dining hall and were pleasantly surprised at how good the food was. I know Corvallis is supposed to be an excellent college town, but unfortunately we barely had a chance to see it. D’s friend was excited about being able to continue her sport on a club team and I could see her being very happy at OSU. D and her friend will definitely apply and will almost certainly qualify for WUE. I kept reminding D that the sunny day was highly unusual and we weren’t seeing the real OSU. She says she doesn’t care!

University of Oregon: UP for all. Both girls and their moms preferred UO to OSU, but we are having a hard time articulating the precise reasons. It felt a little more serious perhaps, with lots of talk about research. It’s also not in the middle of nowhere, so it is easier to get to. The Welcome Center is slick, with mock dorm rooms set up inside. They also have VR headsets for a virtual view of the dorms (we did not try those out). The campus is very pretty, like all of the campuses we’ve seen in the PNW. We were shown the “2nd ugliest building on campus,” but it was still more attractive than the hideous concrete dorm at OSU. The neighborhood next to campus seems very student oriented and reminded me a little of Berkeley, although we were not able to spend much time there. Unfortunately, UO is probably out of our budget even with the merit scholarship that the NPC says D would receive. We toured because the friend wanted to. Will my D apply? I’m really not sure. UO freezes tuition for five years, which is a nice bonus, but I don’t know if we’re willing to cough up the cash for a large public university when we have so many to choose from in our own state.

All in all, it was a successful and exhausting spring break trip. What was unsuccessful however, was the weather! 75 degrees in Eugene! So these girls did not really get to experience typical Oregon weather at all. If D applies to these schools and they remain under serious consideration, she’d have to see them in their normal gloomy weather conditions before committing.

Best tour guide: University of Puget Sound, with UO as second runner up.

Longest tour: University of Oregon—2 miles!

Most blue hair and piercings: Lewis and Clark, by a lot.

School with former Olympian currently enrolled and competing: OSU! That would be Jade Carey. She’s a senior now.

Most ducks on campus: not UO! It’s actually Whitman. They are everywhere, cruising around, snoozing in random places on the grass. It was D’s favorite thing about Whitman.

[COMom3]

Clemson- S25 hated that it was in the middle of nowhere and that the “town” seemed like a few t shirt shops on a dusty road. Granted we were there in July but we managed to sneak into the football stadium and not even that did it for him. I suspect he may have had a different opinion if we went on a gameday weekend, as he chose VT that is also in the middle of nowhere!

[Momof242729]

We did Spring Break trip for D27 to the five-college consortium in Western Mass. She didn’t go in with any kind of list, so there isn’t so much up/down/off, just impressions. Out goal was to (a) let D27 see a different region of the country, and (b) show her a few different kinds of schools so she can start thinking through what she wants in a college. We toured four of the five consortium schools.

UMass Amherst: The first school we toured, and D27 really liked it (until she saw the other schools). From my perspective, a great school. The campus was really beautiful but also seemed easy to navigate. I’m a sucker for a good library, and Umass’s is amazing. The tour was fairly scripted (and inflexible; our guide spent 15 minutes talking about study abroad as we absolutely froze in a wind tunnel outside, and at no point did it occur to her to move our group somewhere more protected), but it was also super informative. D27 was impressed by the sheer amount of resources available on campus, but once she’d seen all four schools this sunk to the bottom of her list. She wants a smaller school.

Hampshire College: Oh, this school. If D27 had had a list, this would have shot straight to the top. We had three tour guides, each of whom openly loves Hampshire. The info session was incredibly inspiring – it’s clear that this school sees itself as nurturing world-changers, and takes that very seriously. A theme that repeated throughout the tour was “a student/group of students thought the campus should have this, so they went ahead and created it..” The campus center was designed by an architectural student as his senior project.

The campus is incredibly quiet; it’s set on a farm so it seems very still. But town is just a few minutes away, and we did see several groups of kids hanging out around campus. And one nice thing that I noticed was that our tour guides greeted every student we saw by name (perhaps normal in a school this tiny, but still a nice thing).

If it weren’t part of the Consortium, I’d worry about sending my kid to a school with fewer than 1k students, but that access to four other schools really helps (according to our guides, most Hampshire students take advantage of the Consortium for classes and extracurriculars). It’s also pretty clear that Hampshire is a school for a very particular kind of kid – someone who craves structure might struggle there, I think. D27 walked away musing about whether she’s self-directed enough to thrive at Hampshire, but in a “I want to be that kind of person” way, not a “this isn’t for me” way.

Smith College: Gorgeous campus, but I think this is where the tour guide makes a difference. Ours was very serious and studious (in fairness, we chose her – the school had six or seven tour guides introduce themselves then we could choose one to tour with. Ours had just returned from study abroad and we wanted to hear more about it). I found the school’s vibe energizing, but D27 thought it was too intense. One thing I disliked is that our guide seemed a tiny bit snotty when talking about the Consortium. According to her, few Smithies (less than 30%) take advantage of the other campuses because they have everything they’re interested in at Smith. Lots of students around campus, but we didn’t notice many socializing, and the campus center – billed as the social hub of campus – was a relative ghost town.

Mount Holyoke: This ended up being D27’s second-favorite school of the four. We had a 1:1 tour, and our guide was very relaxed and down to earth. D27 got the impression that MH is more balanced than Smith, with extracurriculars given equal weight with classes. I could have done with fewer “if you do this/don’t do this, you won’t graduate on time” traditions (does any school need more than one?), but it didn’t seem to bother my kid. I liked seeing groups of students walking together and hanging out in the academic buildings/library – it seemed very friendly.

Overall, C27 learned that she likes SLACs and is worried about getting lost at a much larger school. I learned I’d be happy to send her to any one of the schools we toured, and that I absolutely adore the idea of the consortium.

[beefeater]

Rutgers - New Brunswick: WAY UP. This is our in-state flagship and has quickly become the benchmark for D26. We got there early and took one of the (in)famous Rutgers buses to head over to another campus since we were pretty early. Walked around a bit and went into New Brunswick for a quick bite to eat. Very pleasant on the College Ave campus and NB seemed like it had plenty of stuff for students. We’ve heard about the safety issues off-campus, but we didn’t see anything amiss ourselves and are overall pretty comfortable with areas like this. Then we made our way back to the info session, which was good for a high-level intro. They did some Rutgers trivia, gave away some prizes, and overall this was a good start. Then we did the bus tour, with descriptions of what we were seeing given by two honors college students. They were excellent! Informative and interesting. They answered lots of questions, some simple and some more complex. D really liked that Rutgers is big and has everything BUT with multiple campuses each one feels more manageable. She takes the bus to school today, so the idea of hopping on a bus wasn’t a big deal for her.

Princeton: NEUTRAL. This was a relatively easy tour from where we live, and she wanted to visit an ivy to see what the fuss was about. The admissions session was fine, but all the questions were about admissions itself (“What if I took x AP classes my senior year, would it help my chances?”, etc.) I asked a question about their mission of “in service of the nation and humanity” and got a response back about how any type of volunteer work is valued in the admissions process. No, my question was how does that manifest itself at Princeton, not how my D should use it to gain admission. Anyway, we took the tour, and our guide was great. Very personable and explained what he liked and what he didn’t (as he stated, the ugliest building on campus is the new art museum.) He answered lots of questions about life on campus. We were there on a very warm day and someone asked about air conditioning in dorms. Of course, many don’t have this, but he noted the administration was good about bringing lots of fans for the students to use. Anyway, overall a good tour and the campus is, of course, beautiful.

Haverford: UP for both. We self-toured Haverford since we were there just as people were returning to campus from summer break. The campus is beautiful (iT’s aN aRBorEtUm!), but the campus looked much more manageable compared to Princeton. Then, we attended the live information session. This was excellent! Haverford does have a very unique vibe with their honor code, and this was really brought to life. D LOVED IT! She really responded to the uniqueness/specialness of a very tangible element of student life.

Franklin & Marshall: UP for me and NEUTRAL/DOWN for D. She wanted to see another smaller, liberal arts college, and I wanted to see something that might be closer to a target school that might throw some scholarship dollars at her. There was no information session the day we attended, just a student-led tour. The tour, I thought, was really good. The student answered lots of questions really well. The campus is beautiful, the dorm rooms looked nice, and it has the program she’s looking for. D thought it was fine. It just didn’t have the uniqueness of Haverford. Overall, it probably stays on the list, but it’s not a first choice.

Swarthmore: UP for both. We grabbed some lunch in the ‘ville (Village of Swarthmore) and then headed to campus. The information session was good with some highlights around the Quaker origins of the school and what they valued. They had one student that would add some color/context around each of the elements they were taking about (athletics, academics, student life, etc.) They emphasized the very collaborative nature of the school, which came up during the tour as well. This doesn’t seem like the stress-inducing culture that’s portrayed everywhere else. The students seemed fun, friendly, studious, and highly collaborative. We heard it more than once, and I don’t think they’re just being told to say it. My D particularly liked it.

University of Delaware: UP for both. We went early to UDel to grab some breakfast in Newark before the tour. Town of Newark seems really pleasant. Then we did the admissions presentation in a pretty packed auditorium. The presentation itself was just ok. The presenter was a UDel alum, but just wasn’t a very compelling speaker and glossed over lots of stuff. That said, my daughter thought it was just fine and took away some insights from it. Then we did the tour, which was really comprehensive. The dorm rooms looked nice and the campus itself really presented well. The tour guide answered lots of questions and we got the sense that students there were really happy. The campus is a little big for D26, but she thought it would be manageable as an option.

The College of New Jersey: WAY UP for both. We went to one of TCNJ’s open house days, and it was really excellent. We started with an admission presentation, which was fine. But they were cognizant of time and finished up with enough time to let us get to whichever session we wanted to go to. We went to the physics one and it was EXCELLENT. They had several professors there as well as lots of students of all years. The physics session itself was informative with insight into the types of research they did, their focus on teaching versus research (but research is part of their teaching process), and then discussed the outcomes of physics students. Then we did a big tour of the department and labs with various professors taking the lead on discussing their research and how students get involved. It ended with a planetarium showing that was delivered by two students who personalized their presentation (“this is my favorite planet because it’s BIG!”) They even did a bit of a scavenger hunt/trivia game as part of the department tour with prizes at the end. A very personable and active department - this was great.

Cornell: UP for me and WAY DOWN for D26: The tour was, I thought, pretty good. The student guide answered lots of questions and we got a good sense of the place. I would have enjoyed going to school here. My D26 didn’t like that the campus was quite hilly and that the school gives off a pre-professional vibe. We ended up skipping the admissions session since D had already ruled it out after the tour.

UPenn: DOWN for both. We self-toured Penn after the visit to Haverford. D26 did not like it at all. Too urban and too crowded. She’s right - it was too crowded. There were SO MANY PEOPLE walking down Locust Walk. It just felt unmanageable. The area around campus is quite dense/urban as well, which isn’t quite what D was looking for either. Ruled out.

[SJ2727]

CU Boulder: UP. This was already C26’s top choice on paper for their environmental design (EnvD) program, but the visit confirmed for them they wanted to be there. For us parents, it went up significantly (I’d been indifferent about it as an option). We did both the general tour and the department tour.

This is the first college tour I’ve done since D19 so it’s been a while, but the admissions presentation felt more fresh than what I remember. They really leant into what they see as their strengths (not all of which are necessarily relevant to C26). More specifics about our impressions:

• I know people here say a lot can depend on the student ambassador of the day and that’s true, but hear me out … the one that spoke during the presentation was fabulous, the one that led our tour less bubbly but still enthusiastic. Very informative tour. The reason I think it’s not just the ambassadors they gave us is that we spent some time in Boulder itself and every place students congregated - restaurants, froyo, even TJs for the Sunday evening grocery shop - we picked up what I can only describe as a happy buzz. These students clearly enjoy being here.
• Health center on campus - has everything except surgery and dentistry (PCPs, pharmacy, x rays etc) - I know of some people whose kids can’t get their prescriptions easily on campus so that stuck in my mind
• Top 9 allergens listed on foods in the dining halls. C26 doesn’t really care about the food but we had a peek around one of the main ones anyway and it looked fine.
• Freshmen, unless very local (30 miles) with a waiver, live on campus. RAs check in on students regularly to see if they are fitting in, making friends, feel like CU is right for them, coping with the work etc. laundry is free. Almost all upperclassmen move off campus unless RAs, need accommodations etc.
• iclickers (sp?) used not only for attendance but also use multiple choice questions so that profs can see if students are understanding the work and where they need to focus. Recitations are 20 max and also help keep students on track with work
• The advisors are divided into freshman advisors who help freshman navigate everything /figure everything out and major advisors for later. Not relevant for c26 but they also have specific pre-health and pre-law advisors to ensure those students are on the best track for grad school.
• C26 has ADHD so disability services is important for us. The disability office will take the high school 504 and try match accommodations as closely as they can. EnvD has an embedded therapist available to all its students that can also help with things like planning out homework and other executive function help so that’s a big plus for us.
• They ensure their students get the most out their surroundings. At no extra cost, there are buses from campus around Boulder (including target, WF, Safeway, pearl st mall etc); to and from Denver airport every 20 minutes, every day (obviously parents love this!); to and from Denver itself to do stuff in the city; to and from the closest ski mountain a few times a day on weekends in ski season. There is an also a REI type place on campus where they can rent free or cheap (he wasn’t sure) outdoor gear and get advice about hikes, camping etc.
• The rec center is amazing. C26, who has shown pretty much zero interest in anything athletic, looked around and said ‘I can’t spend 4 years here and not use this place if I get in”!
  In general, the facilities etc we saw were pretty impressive. EnvD looked like it could maybe do with a refresh but an internal change in who manages it is supposedly giving it more resources. As is it was fine. We saw various studios as well as peeking in on classes, showcases etc. They mentioned they get people from local design/arch firms coming in to give input on the projects etc and there seems to be a fair focus on employability of their design grads. Most of the students in the program are architecture majors (as C26 would be).
• EnvD is the smallest program on campus so classes are pretty small -so benefits of both that and everything big school offers. We don’t really have anything to compare the studios etc to yet but we liked what we saw in terms of facilities available to the students -a tbd after visiting elsewhere though here.
• Oh, and the campus is beautiful. C26 also loved the city of Boulder. Apparently it has been voted the happiest town in the US at some stage and it really felt like that!
• I had more notes but that’s probably enough for this! Long already

We came away feeling that C26 would be very happy in all of the department, the college and the town.

[LighannML]

Penn State University Unfortunately, they didn’t have space at the main campus, so she was offered the 2/2 and the Beaver County campus. She did not like this, as she wouldn’t be able to dorm there since we live less than 15 mins from it. She also didn’t like spending 2 years at one campus and 2 finally on the main.

University of Pittsburgh UP after visiting and doing an admitted students tour. We have lived in Pgh our entire lives, so of course we have been on and around the campus, but never inside or with all the info we received during our tour. Loved the energy and our guide, I honestly have no idea where she found the time to tour us as she was involved with a lot of clubs and other extra curriculars.

Williams College This was her top pick. We toured the campus last spring break AND LOVED ALL OF IT. Sadly, she did not get accepted. But, it set the precedent for what she wanted out of a campus, and college. We also visited Harvard just because we were staying outside of Boston. It was.. a lot. But the museum was amazing!

Carleton College TBD - we are visiting them on the 18th for Carl Days and this is one she is really excited for. I’ll have to update how it goes when we get back.

[Wjs1107]

We just returned from the Pacific Northwest to visit a few schools for S26. For context, S26 likes cities, is very undecided but has interest in fine arts, math, physics and chemistry. Sometimes he talks about linguistics and philosophy. He definitely doesn’t know what he wants to study yet. We are from the Bay Area.

Reed College: Down/off list. This was S26’s first liberal arts college visit. It was not a fit for him. It was too small, with just 1400 students. The students we saw and met didn’t seem like his people, including our tour guide. They were quite political, and while S26 may share some of those same perspectives, it was off-putting in a group tour situation and left a lot of awkward pauses while the group sort of ignored or fell silent. I felt bad bc I know it’s a hard job, but the political commentary wasn’t landing and they didn’t seem to notice.

On the admissions presentation, it was a full 60 min with no slides and 1 speaker. Some of the info shared was great. Learning about Humanities 110, which all freshmen take, seemed great for S26–a real chance to explore a variety of topics. It would have been lovely to hear from some sophomores on a panel about how the class shaped their paths at Reed. But we grew restless listening to the same rather dry speaker. Anyway, Reed is a hard no, but the takeaway that S26 wants a bigger, more vibrant and interesting social experience was helpful.

University of Washington BIG UP. S26 loved loved loved UW. The clouds parted, the sun broke through, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and the campus was stunning. Lots of kids hanging out, walking around, too. The place was buzzing. Our tour guide did a great job and talked a lot about how she found her communities at UW. She also gave us a great lunch recommendation on The Ave. we learned about open, minimum and capacity-constrained majors, which was a bit difficult to process considering how undecided S26 is at the moment. More to research, but UW is the kind of environment he is excited to be in.

Seattle University down/off
I picked this one. My motivation was to find a school in the city that would be a safety for S26. I knew it was a risk as he’s an atheist and very aware of anything remotely religious. But Jesuit schools are often in urban areas so I wanted to test the waters. And SU claims it is welcoming of all beliefs (if not no beliefs).

Unfortunately, our admissions rep did a deep dive into SU’s Jesuit mission, spoke at length about the 3 beautiful chapels on campus that they encourage (but don’t require) kids to attend. She also spent a good amount of time taking about required religious classes. S26 likes philosophy and learning about religion from a historical perspective but all of this was too much for him. He gave me a look and we dipped before the walking tour began. What we did see of campus looked modern and even cozy, tucked into Seattle’s popular Capitol Hill neighborhood. Takeaway: he’d rather choose a safety OOS public in a fun college town than be at a Jesuit school in a big city.

University of British Columbia: Neutral. I had high hopes that this would be another UW-level win. It wasn’t that, but it wasn’t awful either. Vancouver is a beautiful city with a lot to do. UBC is a massive school with so many parks, museums, and even a clothing-optional beach. S26 was overwhelmed by the size of it. He also noted that it wasn’t buzzing with energy the way UW did. Maybe bc it’s so spread out, it’s hard to see it? We did see kids going here and there but it lacked the density I think S26 really enjoys. He’s not sure he wants to go to school in Canada, but he’s thinking about it.

We also drove through Bellingham and Western Washington University on our way to Vancouver. Wow, what a beautiful spot in the world. We emerged from a thick forest into the university and it looked like a lovely place. Kids were jogging in groups, hanging out in quads and it seemed like a place worth trying to get to know better. Not urban but it’s a WUE school so maybe something to keep in mind.

All in all, UW wins the trip and certainly gets a spot on S26’s list.

[evanescent471]

My D26 and I completed our east coast college tour last Friday (we live in southern CA).

First was Fairfield University. Stayed the same. Both of us thought it was a fine school; D26’s synopsis was that you could do a lot worse. The two tour guides were outstanding ambassadors of their school and did a great job, eagerly answering all of our questions (it was admittedly a small group-- three families, I think). This was the first of the four Jesuit schools we looked at; although D26 is not religious we both respect the values of Jesuit schools as promoting the idea of “people for and with others.” Anyway, she didn’t get the “WOW” feeling, but if Fairfield was her only choice, she’d be fine with going there.

Next was my alma mater, Holy Cross. UP. I am secretly (I am trying to exercise restraint in pushing my agenda to D26) thrilled that she really liked it. The school is far ritzier than it was when I attended, with some beautiful new buildings, but it seems like the core experience (small classes, top notch academics, strong community) is still in play. Cheerful student body too. As of now, she will apply ED1.

Next up was Boston College. Same for me, DOWN a little for D26. Like Holy Cross, this one had a wow factor for me too, but I don’t think D26 allowed herself to get too attached to it, as it is a bit of a reach. She also said it felt a little too big, and it’s so costly that if she got in, she wouldn’t be able to, for example, jet off to Bermuda for spring break along with her wealthier classmates, because we’d really have to scrape up the funds for her to attend. The information session was the only one that made me tear up a little, and the students on the panel were all cheerful and articulate. D26 might apply ED2 here.

Then it was Fordham. D26 really liked it; UP; I thought it was ‘eh.’ I found it much grittier than the first three schools-- probably inevitable as it’s in the Bronx. The information session was read off a screen by some admissions official, and the student panel was just OK. The tour guide was good, though… she really loved her school and was sad to be graduating soon.

Finally we had Connecticut College. Again, D26 liked it and will probably apply; I thought it was “fine” (on par with Fairfield, I guess). It’s a smaller student body (1,995) so there’s that… I just didn’t get a strong sense of the academics there. It was also a cold, gray day so that will usually have some emotional effect on me… also D26 and I were in a little bit of a tiff at the time The Conn mascot is the camel and they really played up the Camel stuff, which felt tiresome. I’m not the hugest fan of camels and as the financial sponsor of this whole experience I don’t think I want to see that many camel faces for four years (don’t take this too seriously. I know it’s a silly thing to affect one’s impression of a school, and it’s not about me anyway, but there you have it).

There are 12 other schools across the country that D26 will also be applying to, but I think that’s it for the east coast contingent. I’m very much rooting for Holy Cross though

[James_West]

We visited Dickinson yesterday with our D26. We had visited there with our eldest six years ago. I looked through the notes we took from our first visit, which was on a Saturday, and yesterday was a Monday. There was a great deal we liked about Dickinson. Our daughter is interested in Environmental Studies, and Dickinson has been carbon neutral for five years. This is a socially conscious school that fits in well with our daughter. She liked the size of the school; for her, it was just big enough.

In short, she liked everything about the school but crossed it off the list for one main reason. The town runs right through the middle of the school. Two roads cut through campus, and on a Saturday morning six years ago, it wasn’t that intrusive. On a busy Monday morning, it was loud and intrusive, plus many people pass through campus all day. Other similar schools don’t have this issue, so it’s off her list.

If Dickinson seems like a school your kid would be interested in, I would suggest a visit. It is an excellent school for a specific student and definitely worth consideration to judge for yourself.