A friendly reminder that this is a no replies thread, as the title clearly states.
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Tufts- SAME- I love Tufts and I wanted my son to love Tufts. Tufts did not sell itself well on our visit. The information session was hosted by a soft spoken unenergetic presenter in a large auditorium. I was sitting in the back and could see how a majority of attendees, parents and students alike, were all on their phones, because the presentation was so boring. It was mostly an open Q&A session, which unfortunately meant a lot of questions that could be answered by a quick website search “How many students go here?” or something hyper specific “Is it possible for my pre-vet daughter who wants to double major in astrophysics and theater to study abroad in Patagonia?”. I couldn’t wait for it to end. The campus is beautiful, and the tour groups were moderate to large in size. The tour guide loved to emphasize the non traditional courses “We offer a course on the Kardashians” “My friends took a class on Italian food where they basically just ate” “My roommate is taking a class where you play lots of board games”, which my son found amusing. Surprisingly, there seemed to be no students out and about during the middle of a gorgeous Saturday. The campus was empty- it was very weird. My son couldn’t tell if he could find his peeps here because there were no peeps to be seen. My son came away typically without much to say “It’s fine, it’s ok, I guess it’s good”
Travel tip: if you register for a Tufts visit, you get a parking pass for their garage which is good until midnight on the day of your visit- and it’s directly across the street from a T station (subway). So after Tufts you can leave the car and explore Boston or visit another school- although it’s an outlying station so it’s still a bit of a ride- but free parking!
Boston University- SAME- very busy day at the admissions office with what seemed like an endless amount of tour groups. The information session was also in an auditorium but hosted by an animated engaging speaker and a representative student and was pleasant enough. We were broken up into many tour groups. Our tour guide spoke very quickly and walked at a very fast pace- even with a wireless microphone on her if you were not at the front of the pack you wouldn’t hear anything. Much larger in terms of a student population than other schools we’ve visited but without as relatively large a campus footprint. It wasn’t quite as urban as NYU (to my son’s relief) but still had less of a campus than Columbia. My son is still in the “everything’s fine, I guess I could go here” phase so for now it’s still on the list.
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Deleted.
A quick but very impactful trip to Minnesota:
St. Olaf - DOWN. It pains me to say that, as I still think Olaf is a great school that deserves its popularity on CC (and increasingly in the real world, if shout-outs in Selingo books are any indication). This was the #1 choice and likely ED 1 going into October; D26 is a choir kid and potential music major who wants an LAC, and Olaf is essentially the perfect place on paper. The visit was designed to confirm that state of affairs.
Unfortunately, a bunch of little things added up to make a disappointing day. D26 enjoyed the class she attended - interesting subject and great teaching - but it was curious that current students seemed to be struggling with material that D26 found pretty straightforward. Maybe a random blip, but it did raise an eyebrow in the context of D26 being well above the typical stats range for Olaf. On to panels, in particular a fine arts student panel where we expected to hear about choir stem to stern. Except that none of the students were choir kids - one of the four mentioned singing in a casual, hobby-type choir but focuses on instrumental performance, and the rest are not involved in choral music as far as we could tell. Which is wild, because choir is the thing Olaf is most known for! Based on the student panels (the other was study abroad), I would’ve said that they are trying to play up sports more than music, as many of the speakers (including the admissions rep) were current or former varsity athletes. This theme continued at lunch, with lots of athlete-looking folks everywhere, and on the guided tour, which made no mention of music at all but lingered in the admittedly-lovely athletic facilities.
Overall, the vibes were just off, and Olaf is probably more of a solid RD option than ED right now.
Carleton - WAY UP. Since we had time the next morning before an afternoon trip home, we decided to tour Carleton, which was on D26’s list but hadn’t really been her primary focus of attention at any point in the process.
And reader, what a fateful decision that may have been, because D26 LOVED it. L-O-V-E-D it. Everything that went wrong at Olaf went very right at Carleton. I’ve seen many, many student Q&A panels in my journeys through the admissions process with D22 and D26, and Carleton’s was easily the best. The students were bright, thoughtful, candid, and clearly thrilled to be on that campus every day. I know that admissions offices can handpick these kids, but at so many campuses, the responses are rote and panelists act as if they would rather be almost anywhere else. Not here. In response to a question about how you would describe Carleton students, one panelist said that the typical description is “quirky” but proceeded to illustrate that idea with a mind-bending story about one student’s devotion to rescuing wild beavers and how that turned into a campus festival complete with beaver-themed t-shirts reading “I Don’t Give a Dam.”
The tour was similarly fabulous - a diverse student body where everyone seemed to know everyone, and there was nary a mention of varsity athletes (although I know they exist in numbers similar to other LACs). All the traditions were a hit - Friday Flowers! - and one tour guide casually dropped a Shakespeare reference in discussing local coffee shops with the other guide, which isn’t something you hear from student tour guides. As we left, D26 mentioned the amazing experience that D22 has had at Rice and said, “This feels like my own version of Rice.” 
The trip home was spent obsessively listening to YouTube performances by the Carleton Choir to see if it passed muster (verdict: Yes!) and reading every student review that Niche has to offer. After subsequent weeks of research, we have a new ED 1.
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Funny that I happened to click on this topic right below the above poster. I was planning to do a quick “School my daughter attended that fell off the list and school she loves”
Hamilton- way down, my daughter actually attended for one semester. I have posted many times before about how she ended up there… She did not enjoy any of her classes, the dance program was not what she expected as someone who just wanted to continue recreationally, the dorm she was first in was full of mold, and she lost weight because the food was terrible. She didn’t find people she clicked with, and there was a large drinking culture. She didn’t return in January 2024.
We toured St.Olaf and Carleton. Carleton fell off the list after the tour and she didn’t apply. To be fair most students were on spring break. We did see dancers rehearsing and it was NOT her style. The tour guide and vibe of the campus felt too much like Hamilton.
St. Olaf had a much more welcoming and friendly admissions staff, and tour guide, there was an interview with an admissions person who was genuinely interested in her. It has Friday Flowers too…. and a very active student programming department with lots of planned weekend events. Carleton seems to be the place to go for St Olaf students looking for a party. And the St Olaf food is pretty darn good, you can even go eat at Carleton on your meal swipes if you want to. The dance building wasn’t part of the tour schedule but there were only 3 in our group and the guide had done dance so took us through. Tours can’t hit every space and guides vary depending on their own experience so if there is something you want to see just ask. She ended up applying as a transfer and got in with the highest academic scholarship and a dance scholarship (even though not a dance major). She has been thriving. They let her do orientation with Freshmen so connected with people immediately. She joined Dance Team. This year she is a SOAR leader, a Student Instructor for math (she sits in on a calc class and holds 2 tutoring lessons a week) and a co-captain of the dance team. She has also just re-classified as a Junior so will graduate with her original class year even though she took off a semester. I would not worry that classes are “too easy” by what you might see sitting in on one class. Her classes at a top 20 LAC were nothing special. You will find good and bad teachers and classes at every school. You get out what you put in.
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My kids visited lots of schools so I will do a condensed version. Happy to expand on more via PM if people have questions. Most of the schools listed are not popular on this site.
Lawrence University: Off. I forced my kid to tour. I knew it would be too small for him and it was. Nice small contained campus on the river. Small town area was cute. Great for double majors of interest. He didnt like the limited dining options and minimal gym equipment for students. Excellent school for the right kid.
UW-Madison: Neutral. My kids refused to apply as they thought it was high school 2.0. Nice campus and we love it being on the lake and at the state capital. Tons for the students to do. Daughter felt it too big for her. She isn’t a fan of walking so far to class. Obviously an amazing school (no hate at all, just not right for my kids).
Carroll University: Off. Nice contained and small campus. Downtown Waukesha has a nice quirky art and music scene. Again, no hate, just not what they were looking for.
Marquette: Neutral. Urban school with some great programs. Downtown Milwaukee has tons to do. More diverse. Daughter didn’t want to be in a city and didn’t feel safe around campus. Seems lots of Chicago suburb students and my kids felt it would be like high school 2.0. My daughter may consider for grad school though due to opportunities there.
Baldwin Wallace: Off. Again, just too small of a school for my son. Amazing music areas. Newer athletic building. Close to the airport but 25 min to Cleveland. My daughter hated the school colors.
University of Indianapolis: Up. Daughter went in pretty neutral but actually really liked the contained campus and loved the admissions staff. Loved the programs offered for her major. Only downside was that she didn’t feel as safe walking off campus. They gave great aid. This ended up a top 3 for her for criminology type programs.
Saint Josephs: Up. This was my daughter top choice for awhile. Campus felt homey to her. She loved the people she interacted with there. She didn’t want urban but this was tucked away enough for her. She wished there was more to do around campus without needing a ride/car. She loved the Jesuit education plan.
Stockton: Down. She thought she wanted a contained campus but this was too much and felt like a compound. The tour guide mentioned how campus is set up similar to an airport (with the “gates” or buildings being letters) and we couldn’t unsee it. Dorms older but the main buildings are nicely updated.
Rider: Up but off the list. She went in neutral being unsure of how far from home she wanted to be but liked the programs there. She liked the size of campus and the green spaces. Wished there was more to do that was walkable from campus. It was a school she said was “fine” but we wanted her to be excited about her choice.
Jacksonville U: Neutral. Small contained campus. Buildings had been updated. He liked the admissions staff. They gave amazing merit money. He wanted more urban and bigger school but the proximity to the city and the beaches was a plus so he would have considered it. Still ended up on the final list because the money was right. (glad he didn’t choose it as his major was ended the following year).
U of North Florida: Down. No formal tour. Just wasnt exciting enough or special enough to keep on the list. Another school where he thought it was just okay.
Stetson: Off. Campus itself was nice the kids thought. Being from the midwest the kids loved the palm trees. Both kids a bit turned off by the tour guide mentioning multiple times on the tour about free narcan.
Loyola New Orleans: Up. He wanted a big urban school and Loyno is small. This was where he really verbalized that although he liked historic buildings, he didn’t like dated buildings. Huge bonuses were being in New Orleans (he loves big cities and loves music) and having Tulane right next door which made the small school feel less small.
Tulane: Neutral. We knew it was out of budget and likely wouldnt be admitted (mostly high stat willing to pay full price kids who apply ED get in is basically what they told us on the tour). Great school for many kids, just not my kid. We toured to see what resources were shared with LoyNo next door. A sideway is all that separates the two schools.
Syracuse: Way up. The money came in mid April and we booked the last admitted student day event end of April. The second we stepped foot on campus I knew he was in love. He loved the extreme school spirit, the contained campus, the mix of historic and new buildings, and overall just all the social opportunities there. He bought the sweatshirt and put in our deposit just before the May 1st deadline. He is a happy junior there who feels blessed he got the opportunity to attend Cuse.
Central Michigan: Up. After many tours and conversations, we found out daughter didnt want small as in number of students, she wanted small as in campus acreage (again, this girl does not like to walk far to classes). I heard about Central Mich on this site and that they didn’t have oos tuition. She wasn’t in love with any of her financially affordable options so she had a rare weekend off from dance and I dragged her to CMU and You day. She toured campus, talked with professors, and we even attended a football game. She loved the campus size and that it was flat. She loved that there were a ton of stores and shops right next to campus within walking distance. She loved the school spirit and the program options. She loved the dining options and all suite style dorms with no communal bathrooms. She asked for a sweatshirt but sat on her decision for a few weeks. When we got down to the final list we found her comparing every other school to CMU. She had received 5 free tuition offers and she knows she would be a fool to turn those down. The final fin aid came through for CMU and that was it (she is only paying 8k this year). She is a very happy freshman there loving her college choice.
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St. Olaf went way up in my child’s estimation after our tour, due in large part to the class he was allowed to sit in on.
UT-Austin went way down after the tour, for the same reason. It was the exact same course (musicology) that he sat in on at St. Olaf, and, in his words, the UT students “seemed like they didn’t actually want to be there”.
Whether that’s a fair assessment is pretty debatable, but that was his takeaway.
The University of North Texas (for music) also suffered after the tour. The visit experience felt very haphazard and the tour guides didn’t seem to take the job seriously.
Trinity (TX) had a very good tour and probably rose somewhat. May just be that LACs do a much better job of the campus tour.
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We’ve done a number of visits so far- I’ll keep it relatively short here and the impressions are more from the adults rather than S’27 because he is still keeping pretty mum about things.
Rose Hulman Up Had an impressive tour guide chemical engineer who had a variety of internship experiences. Campus was a bit tired (and a bunch of dorms lacked AC) but some construction was happening to hopefully remedy it. Visited on a Friday afternoon and lots of students still studying hard or working on robotics projects late in the day but the fraternity on campus had a baby pool and campus golf happening out front! S’27 was not super impressed with the level of the orchestra repertoire.
U Chicago Adults Up, Kid Down There on a Saturday and there were LOTS of people in the library studying! Tour and information were both well-done. Gorgeous campus. Really intrigued by the very different academic calendar and strongly articulated core curriculum. S’27 less enamored of the core and fewer engineering options made him less excited about it.
Wash U Up Impressed with the physical plant and the freshman sophomore housing area. We did both the regular tour and the engineering tour with all their fancy toys. So much research in the STEM fields. Lots of dining options scattered around campus - many work through GrubHub. Our Maps program kept taking us to the wrong places on totally opposite sides of campus which was frustrating. There are multiple things with the same names, so be careful!
Kenyon Up S’27 was excited about no limits on food. Loved the specific athletic and science tours. Gorgeous campus and trail system nearby. Our tour guides were fabulous and seemed to have excellent experiences there. Faculty doing research were happy to chat with us about opportunities as we walked through the science building to ask questions. Quintessential SLAC, which I loved.
Oberlin Down Felt like the general tour was not all that helpful. We tried poking around the science building on our own but people didn’t seem interested in interacting with us. Conservatory tour was very helpful (and they were willing to take time to meet with S’27 despite not being interested in majoring in music) but there were some weird things (do non-majors really have no place to store large instruments?). I had a hard time with the lack of cohesion of the architecture, but I am weird that way.
Case Western Up Big intro classes a concern for me, and lack of AC in dorms a concern of S’27. but overall the campus was nice and programs seemed strong. Huge community/campus incubator maker space with different levels representing the different stages in bringing an idea to market.
Carnegie Mellon Kid: Up Adults: Down Although S’27 really liked this school, the adults were not excited about it. Definitely did not like the idea of having to apply to a specific major without really knowing what they want to do yet. Admissions rep couldn’t answer questions about the general distribution requirements or articulate the why behind them. Campus was huge and tour was really long as well.
Bucknell Up Impressed by the small individualized attention in the engineering program and reasonable class size in introductory courses. Love the fact that they don’t have to declare a major until after finding out more about the different fields. Lots of project based work even in early classes. Physical plant was a bit dated.
Colorado School of Mines Up Interesting personal stories from the tour guide who was a more non-traditional student, impressive engineering facilities and maker spaces, good tour guide and helpful information session.
Temple Crossed off This was kind of a tack-on tour that we weren’t particularly serious about. I was surprised at how much of a garden-y campus feel it had for being in the middle of the city. The information session was good, but the tour guide struck me as unserious about her college experience and the tour was WAY too long and repeated a lot of stuff in the information session. Overall I’d say better than I expected, but still low on our list.
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Elon is on and staying on. We visited with our S26 last Friday. It was cold and raining, the kind of day when you are outside, you want to get inside ASAP. My wife had visited the school previously with our older kids, so we knew what to expect. Even on a day like this, the campus showed well. For lack of a better description, a sort of traditional feel with modern touches. Well-maintained buildings and grounds, big but not too big. Our tour guide called Elon “Smedium.” Our son called it a bigger Susquehanna.
At some point, having done a number of these tours and info sessions, there are many more similarities than differences. One aspect that stood out was what they call the Elon Experience. Five different experiential offerings, and you are required to complete two to graduate. Travel abroad, research, internship, campus leadership, and service. They emphasized the hands-on approach in both the info session and the tour, which other schools also do, but not as strongly or as structured. The quote that stood out was “It’s not only what you learn inside the classroom at Elon”.
The other aspect that didn’t happen on the tour but did in a webinar for applicants was how advanced Elon is in AI. Several other colleges use Elon’s AI academic handbook. Where we found schools had started more formally introducing AI into the curriculum in the last year, Elon had had it as part of the curriculum for 3 years. The AI component was a tipping point for our son and motivated us to take the last-minute visit.
Also need to mention that the largest class size is 33, which is even lower than the other LACs we visited, even though it has a third as many kids.
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University of Wisconsin-Whitewater: UP for D28 and parents. A nice public with great COA. Strong in Business and Education, a large music/fine arts program plus champion wheelchair basketball and D3 football. D is interestsed in the media arts/game development program which looks very cool. Campus was beautiful-lots of flowers and well kept (clean), also very flat as it is designed to be highly accessible and there is an emphasis on student accomodations. Attended an Open House day that was well staffed and organized. Info session speaker was engaging and we learned a lot beyond the website. Students were friendly, helpful, and laid back. It was a nice, relaxed vibe all around. Buildings were in good shape and classroom buildings were updated while dorms were mostly traditonal–clean, well kept, not fancy. Tour was a little long and hot, but we liked the layout of campus, felt like there was a lot for students to do. A lot of emphasis on making college accessible, affordable and helping students succeed. D would like an LAC but felt like the campus and student body could be a good fit.
Cornell College (Mt. Vernon, IA). Down and Off. Alas. I’ve toured before with S24 and had better experiences. I think it can be an excellent option just not for D28. Love the one-course-at-a-time calendar which is unique to Cornell and Colorado College. A panel with faculty and students was very impressive. Clearly bright, curious, engaged student body. Cornell also ends all classes by 4pm so students can move on to sports, clubs, theater, leisure, etc. Lots of cool things going on in classes and Mt. Vernon is a charming but small town. Cedar Rapids and Iowa City have plenty big city attractions nearby. D just didn’t feel the fit for her.
University of Wisconsin Eau Claire D28 Down/Off, Same Parents. I love this campus, this town, and wish one of my kids would love this school. We know lots of happy students and alums. Info session emphasized opportunities on and off campus including a positive relationship with town and job/intern opportunities. A brand new science building is going up for 2026-7, there’s a great new athletic facility, a 450 person marching band, lots to do on campus and around. The relationship with the Pablo center offers music/theater students really cool opportunities. We had a terriffic tour guide and all students we met were happy with their classes and activities. One significant feature is that the dorms are higher on a bluff and academic/music/athletic buildings are below on a lovely and level campus. There are buses and a heated sidewalk to ease the journey. I hope S30 applies and I wouldn’t hesitate to send him here but for a few specific personal reasons it likely won’t work for D.
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UNC - down, though not off. A lot of the tour was geared towards in-state students, especially those who weren’t very familiar with college or for whom Chapel Hill is the big city. So the admissions lecture included tips like “make sure your high school sends in your transcript” and a major part of the campus tour was around safety (my son, who has lived his whole life in one of the highest-crime cities in the US, found it laughable). They showed us a dorm room but no classrooms, and academics weren’t even mentioned until about 2/3 of the way through the tour. Minimal discussion of honors college, internships, research opportunities, much more about support if you’re not doing well.
There’s a positive side to all that but for the OOS for whom it is super-competitive, it was a turn-off to have the strong academics so downplayed.
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Took D27 on a quick overnight in Kansas City (3 hours from our home) to check out some engineering schools that would be (for her current stats) safety schools, just to make sure that we have (when the time comes) all our options on the table (we’ve visited schools in the the Northeast, and other states as well).
Rockhurst University. Down, and Off. I wanted to like Rockhurst, because it fits my idea of what college is - it’s Jesuit, small, focused on community, and has a solid reputation for building communities that enhance student success. That said, nothing on the visit seemed to click. The admissions presentation was weird. RU’s motto is “In the City. For Good” which is clearly a Jesuit mission-oriented motto, but they kept saying, seriously, with no hint that they were joking, that the college had no plans to leave the KC area. I’m certain that’s not what the motto means. The campus itself was okay, but nothing stood out at all. It simply seemed “okay”. The tour guide didn’t seem that excited, and committed a number of unforced errors, telling us that the school is a ghost town over the weekend, and that people he knows sometimes cut classes though this is hard to do when classes are small. Meh. I kept coming away with the impression that RU was a fine school if you lived in the KC area and wanted to stay close to home and just get your bachelors degree. It has the buildings, teachers, dining hall, and dorms that are needed for that.
University of Missouri-Kansas City. Up. I expected this school to be a bomb in many areas. But it wasn’t. The campus itself is actually very pretty (I expected Rockhurst to be the attractive one of the two), and it has a distinctive vibe. Lots of old architecture style buildings. The Engineering building is pretty new, and seemed to me well resourced. On the bad side, the tour guide was a dud, he was very flat affect, and he barely took us to see 30% of the campus. Not sure why. We had to double back on our own to check some things out. The main issue with this school is that it is considered a commuter school. There are only dorms for 1,000 students, and there are 10,000 undergrads. Many either live in apartments nearby, or go home. That’s a drag if you’re looking for a good campus community. That said, I wouldn’t put this school at the top of our list, but I’d say it’s a nice safety. Nice campus in terms of its look, decent vibe, and right near the Plaza area, which is a very cool part of Kansas City.
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Went to Colorado College for admitted student day.
On the positive side –> The academics are really terrific. The professors seem to really know and care about their students -no one slips through the cracks here. Their global travel opportunities are amazing. I see why the retention rate is so high. Mock class and student panel were really well done. The school spends their money on supporting student experiences rather than fancy dorms or new buildings -which I think shows what they think is important. We both think the block plan would take some adjustment but would work well for her.
However – my daughter did not vibe with Colorado Springs at all. We both thought it was going to be more city adjacent and it’s really in the city -although not skyscraper city. My daughter can’t exactly put her finger on it, but she definitely didn’t like Colorado Springs. It may be simply that she doesn’t want to be in a city or that city’s vibe specifically. Funny because she also didn’t like the tiny town of Oxford Ohio (Miami University) when we went to visit. Perhaps she is a goldilocks kind of person like her mother 
But more importantly - she’s not sure she would fit with the student vibe. It’s very, very outdoorsy – and a lot hippie/boho. (If this is YOUR kid -then definitely apply!)
This is a wealthy student body -but there is a lot of financial support for students with need. According to the students, the wealth difference isn’t noticable day-to-day. You see it during block breaks.
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We’ve just returned from a week of PacNW visits, so I thought I’d add some thoughts to this thread.
- University of Puget Sound — UP for my kiddo. They did a nice all around. Warm, welcoming, personalized, and it didn’t hurt that the “campus cat” (named Blue) followed us around for the last third of the tour. We had a great faculty meeting, and he was very encouraging and understanding and responsive. Surrounding area was great.
- Western Washington — DOWN AND OUT for my kiddo. Smaller schools are generally our focus, but WWU seemed to check a lot of boxes. So we visited. Indeed too large. But also the visit was messy. They changed the meeting spot without telling us, gave us a parking code that didn’t work, and overall seemed to not really focus on what makes the place special. It was all sort of run of the mill, rather than telling us about unique things (which I know exist from my own research). Also kiddo called the dorm we toured “dilapidated.”
- Lewis and Clark — UP for my kiddo. Lovely campus. Very, very good faculty meeting. Lofty, but approachable place. Definitely secluded, but not as a turn off. The only ding was the info session was Q&A only without a formal presentation, which seemed like a missed opportunity to us.
- Willamette — DOWN BUT NOT FULLY OUT for my kiddo. Wasn’t sure how much impact it would have on her because she’s undecided, but their lack of an education program was a bummer for kiddo. The surrounding area okay, but downtown seemed a tad sketchy during our visit. As an urban campus, they keep all the buildings locked. We asked if students feel comfortable going downtown at night, and our tour guide said “if you bring pepper spray.” Gave kiddo a bad vibe.
- Pacific University Oregon — NEUTRAL AND STILL CONSIDERED for kiddo, UP for me. I was impressed by campus. Faculty meeting was good. Small campus and small town. Very approachable and open. Personalized packet was a nice touch. I think we were all a bit tired by this point in the week. But while it’s not a prestigious place, it has a lot of positives. Will be interesting to see the impact of the proposed merger with Willamette.
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University of Puget Sound — UP for my D28 as well. Kids were mostly on a MA trip, but stopped here on the way home because it was easy to visit while staying with Seattle relatives. She said she hadn’t really thought much about it and had thrown it on the visit list because it was in an easy location and had a high acceptance rate, but was surprised to really like it. After visiting, she was telling me that she didn’t like calling a place like that a “safety” school, because it implies she’d only go as a last resort. I agreed with her that the terminology is flawed and does seem to imply a kid wouldn’t want to go there.
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Amherst – DOWN and out for both D27 and D28. Neither was super excited in any case, but the open curriculum was appealing, and D28 wanted to visit the women’s colleges nearby (which she did like). D28 described Amherst as “too sporty and too snobby”
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We took our D28s (triplets) on a spring break road trip to visit D25 at Creighton and visited some schools in southern MN and IA along the way:
St. Olaf - UP - the campus was covered in snow and ice from a recent winter storm. The sidewalks were a little icy but the campus still looked beautiful. Everyone we encountered was friendly and welcoming, the students seemed engaged in classes, and there was a positive energy on campus. We drove through downtown Northfield and loved all the local shops.
Carleton (from a previous visit with D25) - DOWN - we toured last year with D25 and it was too much like her current high school - small and quirky. She was looking for something bigger. It’s a great school for the right student but it wasn’t for her.
Luther College - UP - it’s a smaller, liberal arts school in the beautiful driftless region of NE Iowa. They reached out ahead of time to set up individualized meetings for each of our D28s, which included meetings with faculty from studio art, biology, musical theater, a choir rehearsal, and a meeting with a coach from a sports team. There is definitely a focus on music and the arts at Luther. The only negative we heard from D28s is that it is a little small at 1,500 students.
Grinnell - DOWN - when we first pulled up to campus, we were really impressed. They have some great buildings and facilities. Things started to go downhill starting with the info session. The entire session was an admissions officer interviewing a current student and it was the most boring session I’ve sat through. The campus tours weren’t much better. They split up the parents from the prospective students, and our guide wouldn’t stop talking - we never had a chance to ask any questions. We all agreed that Grinnell was not a good fit.
Drake - UP - the school was on spring break, but we still scheduled a visit since we were in Des Moines. We had a fantastic meeting with an admissions representative to start out the visit, and then a tour of campus. Despite the campus being absent of students, all three of our kids enjoyed it and want to learn more about the school.
Creighton - UP - beautiful, urban campus in the heart of Omaha. There have been a lot of recent investments in campus, some of which are still in progress. The campus is attractive, clean, and well-maintained, and they are adding a large quad/green space in the middle of campus, which is something that was missing. Great business school, nursing program, an underrated studio art program, and pre-health studies (over 50% of students are on a pre-professional track). Lots of school spirit. Omaha is a fun city with lots of restaurants and coffee shops near campus.
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Pitzer & Scripps - crossed off. Too small for my kid, not too interesting, it was just fine. Campus & sessions were meh.
UW - moved up into top choice as of right now. Loved the large beautiful (in April) campus, the big school vibe, the school spirit & the discussions with professors and current students in the social sciences.
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Adding our recent Virginia tours. We are merit chasers from the West, and this is our second college application cycle, so we have already done a bunch of tours. This area was new to us. I will go from least favorite to favorite.
Washington and Lee - Went in with low expectations given how Greek the student body is, and our visit definitely confirmed those concerns. 70%-80% Greek. The vast majority of women we saw on campus were wearing their sorority insignia; the vibe was extremely Greek and extremely preppy, and really not our Ds scene at all. Our tour guide was quite good. She was a non-Greek-affiliated recruited field hockey player. She said it is possible to have a good social life on campus without being in the Greek system, but she mostly referenced “being able to go to the Greek events even if you aren’t a member” vs. “there is a robust social life completely outside of Greek life”. It is a small school (1800), and it definitely felt small. The info session was good. It is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which has its own charms, but being from the Mountain West, we couldn’t convince our D that they were even mountains at all. lol. We have a very different sense of scale for calling something a mountain vs. a hill.
The campus itself is nice, but nothing spectacular. The academic area was quite compact, all matchy-matchy red brick. Jeffersonian design is clear. A lot of huge white columns. Some probably love that, just not our vibe, and we found that there was too much of it in too small a space. Having visited it the day after the gorgeous University of Richmond campus definitely didn’t help matters. There is a small acknowledgment of the college’s specific ties to slavery (the college itself owned slaves). I know it is a difficult historical reality for schools in the South to grapple with and take ownership of, but I wasn’t particularly impressed with their commitment to the issue; it didn’t feel full-throated, and maybe wasn’t, given that Lee is obviously a major factor in the school’s past. Lexington is very cute, and the school abuts the town, so it is extremely easy to get into town. The Virginia Military Institute also abuts the campus, and it is a unique experience to see all the military kids in their camo or all white in orderly groups streaming to the different (all beige and militaristic looking) buildings.
The full-ride Johnson Scholarship, given to 10% of the incoming class, is an amazing opportunity, but she will not be applying. Off the list.
University of Richmond - Probably the nicest campus we have ever visited. Solidly near the top of our top five in terms of the beauty of the campus itself (the others being St. Olaf, University of San Diego (beautiful campus, but student body very much not her type), University of Arizona, Santa Clara). Pristine grounds, beautiful buildings. Although all were matching red(ish) brick, there was enough variety in the buildings themselves, and new vs. old, to make the campus look interesting. The dining hall is really nice (St Olaf beats it for design of the space itself, and maybe University of San Diego for the food, but it is one of the best we have experienced). The student commons spans the lake on campus and has floor-to-ceiling windows and a balcony overlooking the lake. Truly spectacular. Diversity was decent. Academics seemed very solid, size is great (3200). The city of Richmond itself is very cool. We stayed in “The Fan” neighborhood and really loved it. Cute shops, good restaurants, fun area to visit. The campus itself is a bit secluded from the city, though, off in its own swanky area, so I imagine it is only on occasion that students spend significant amounts of time in the city.
The only downside was the vibe of the student body. While not as preppy and certainly not as Greek as Washington and Lee, it was still way more so than D’s preference. I think it would be possible to find her people there, but it would definitely be a minority of the student body. She was very impressed with the academics, and the campus and the available PPEL and Leadership majors. Not sure if it will make the final list though due to the student body.
William and Mary: Definitely our favorite college visit of this trip. Campus was lovely. Not in the pristine, manicured manner of the University of Richmond, but historical, stately, warm, inviting, green, with big trees, etc. Felt like a quieter, smaller UNC-CH. The academics felt very aligned with our daughter’s interests, and the student body seemed much more her style than any school we have visited in the East / Southeast. (which, to be fair, only includes these three plus UNC and a brief stroll through Georgetown). Have read a lot of negative reviews of the food and the dorms. It appears they are working on improving both - replacing or updating all dorms and building a new (really nice!) dining hall. Because of that, there was quite a bit of construction on campus, but even with that, my D loved it. I read someone describe it as “Colonial Hogwarts for Ravenclaws”, and it is a pretty good description.
Smart, engaged, interesting, well-rounded students; “East coast” feeling but not overly preppy or Greek. Seems it is a lot of Northern Virginians. Williamsburg itself is kind of an odd aspect of campus life. Campus is right next to the start of Colonial Williamsburg, so there really isn’t a college town / strip of college-oriented shops, restaurants, etc. It is campus, then a cool but not college-focused massive tourist area and then outside of that just regular suburb stuff (strip malls, etc.) There didn’t seem to be anywhere cool for students to hang out off campus. (If someone knows where students hang out, please add to the “off-topic” thread - we are genuinely curious). She will definitely be applying. Older D received the Monroe scholarship, but it was still expensive. If D27 gets lucky enough to receive the 1693 Scholarship it would be her top choice right now (along with St Olaf).
[Adding: I forgot to mention we did notice a lot of kids sitting / eating /studying alone at William and Mary. Maybe a more introverted student body, or maybe it was the culture itself? Not sure. Worth nothing and doing a bit more research into. Also adding: if a student wants to work in D.C. or politics or the East Coast generally, W&M seems amazing - the alum network, specifically for politics, is truly incredible. Our D doesn’t want that though, and likely will live somewhere West of the Mississippi where W&M isn’t well known and doesn’t have much of a network.]
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