We’ve visited Lafayette twice, and had mixed but mostly positive experiences. The way our first visit was arranged my son’s interview was even before the info session. His interviewer was warm and conversational, and she completely won S over. Campus tour and engineering info session were good, however the general information session was the strangest one I have ever attended (I’ve been to close to 20). It was like the admissions rep was trying to impart some philosophical approach to the college app process rather than telling us what we needed to know about the school. Did not like his approach at all, but the interviewer left such a positive first impression that the school stayed on son’s radar. Our second visit was to attend an open house last fall. The dean of the engineering school did a wonderful job describing the program, and the labs were open and staffed so kids could ask questions. It remains one of his top schools.
It sounds like Lafayette needs some serious feedback from some of you if the admissions people are turning people off to this extent!
I don’t think Lafayette has any problems attracting students:-)
Neither of us cared for Lafayette, but that’s because it was clearly too preppy for my D. We didn’t attend an info session, seems we made the right choice. Our guide was good, the library was impressive. We both thought a plus was that despite the emphasis on sports, the school attracts kids who are both smart and sporty. Didn’t mind that it’s on a hill. Liked the working class town with a fun area of shops and restaurants.
A question from above (#1565) was could I provide more detail on my WPI housing observation.
To answer, I have to briefly recap our WPI tour: Academics – check plus. Students – check plus. Atmosphere – check plus. Things are going well.
Then the guide takes the tour group into a sample freshman dorm room. At first I thought, “pretty standard double room.” And then I took another look around and realized that it was actually a quad room. Spouse and I stare at each other at the same moment. Surely, they jest–a double room that has been converted into a quad room? But no, they are serious. Spouse quote: “Well, props to them for the honesty.” WPI was off the list.
@Postmodern, re: RPI…what hotel would be the “right side” of campus if we visit?! They may have great program for for my DD interested in Comp Science/Business…but she hates the cold. I was hoping maybe the campus/dorms/area may sway her but I’m not getting that impression.
@Postmodern, I kept reading down the thread…what website are you referring to? Thanks!
University of Oregon UP (again) after second visit. I went with D this time.
D thinks it possesses the west coast liberalism, but with that down to earth easy going approach to things. I find students are nice everywhere, but goodness, these kids were so gosh darn sweet. She thought it was a good combination of her west coast values with her childhood ideals of the midwest if that makes sense. Honors program there gives lots of nice perks, they seem to have plenty of on campus housing and lots of options - singles, doubles, and suites, many with private baths.
They have many themed residential communities that also defines where you live physically - besides honors, sustainability, LGBTQ (the usual suspects) there is a “live the language” residential community where she would be living with other students immersed in one of the languages she is into (fluent in a couple besides the ol’ English). So thinking she would either do honors or the French floor. Would be a way for her to keep up language without necessarily minoring in it. Learned they are a solid research university. Half the kids are from out of state which creates a great mix.
Campus was really pretty, safe area, well contained and maintained. Pleasantly surprised how much I liked it as well. Knight of Nike just gave $500M (yes $500M) so they are well backed. I drove all around at 10pm on Thursday night, which can be the “Friday” night at many campuses and it was alive but not crazy like some others I have seen, but it was just one Thursday. The area around the rec/workout center was buzzing. When I saw a Pottery Barn and Costco, I realized Eugene wasn’t the one horse town I thought it was.
UCLA is gorgeous in its own right and different way obviously, but U of O reminded me of UCLA without all the stress and anxiety to get things done, whether that is parking on campus, getting to class, eating, getting in classes you want, or changing majors. Seems like a really good, but simpler life at U of O.
Mods please delete this post with my apologies if it is not allowed
The website is just tripadvisor.com
the hotel we did not care for in troy was the hilton garden inn
here is a pic of the room https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g48739-d1503581-i219141184-Hilton_Garden_Inn_Troy-Troy_New_York.html
Doesn’t look so bad in the pic, right? I checked my receipt and it was $199 not $179 for pres suite as I had formerly claimed
A quick google street view shows the area where I stayed
Is rougher than the best western on other side of campus (which isn’t 5th avenue either, but at least there is a Dinosaur BBQ next door!)
Despite my first-worlder complaints I think RPI is a great school @tpcrd66 . It’s 69%-31% M-F, which might be a good or bad thing, depending on perspective.
@Postmodern, thanks for this…we may actually do the RPI Spring Preview the end of April…I may take your advice since we love Dino BBQ…lol! I always look for the best food in the area! Funny, we visited RIT a few years back and made a point to go to Dino BBQ. I’m just fearful of the bad weather…especially after we visited LA this weekend and needless to say, it was perfect! 
I have spent about 1/4 of my life in upstate NY, and from July-Mid Oct it is as beautiful as anyplace… the rest of the year, not so much.
Come back and post your thoughts after the visit!
Combined list of colleges visited with both daughters, HS classes of 2013 and 2017:
Moved down:
- Tufts: exact same experience @ThankYouforHelp had. Between the completely generic non-impression of the academics, and the undue preoccupation with taxidermy, D’s interest in Tufts was zero by the time we boarded the bus back into the city. Too bad, as it might have been a good fit for her if she’d gotten a better impression.
- BU: D actually did a summer program there - enjoyed herself but couldn’t see the linear urban campus as a home for four years.
- Brown: D #1 applied but did not visit - had the worst alumni interview of all time, wherein the interviewer stared out the window, refused to make eye contact, and generally acted put-upon to be there. D #2 and I went on a tour, which began with desk people who didn’t even pretend to keep track of who showed up. We were herded into a too-small auditorium where we had to sit on the floor for the presentation - what’s the point of taking reservations if you’re neither going to track who comes, nor limit the size of the group to fit in the room? Tours were similarly overcrowded, and poorly scheduled such that half our group had to find their own way back before the tour was over, in order to catch up with the overlapping Engineering tour. (The departing sub-group looked completely lost and stressed-out, but the tour guide just vaguely waved them in the direction of their destination and wished them luck.) The whole vibe reeked of “We’re doing you a colossal favor to even let you visit.” D was unimpressed and disinterested in applying.
- RISD: Actually a terrific presentation, which was very interesting and made 100% clear to my D that she is not a RISD person… but that isn’t a negative at all. It’s an amazing place for the right people, and they do a great job of clarifying what the attributes of those right people would be. Not my D (who was really only interested in cross-registration from Brown, which had totally turned her off already that morning), but I highly recommend their sessions for anyone interested.
- Berkeley: Stressful, overstimulating. Much more car traffic on campus than I expected. Housing all embedded in the urban “grit.” Emphasis of the tour was on the historical background and the faculty and grad-school glory in which undergrads are privileged to bask - much was made of the Nobel Prizewinners and their designated parking spaces, and of the advantages Cal grads have in angling for venture capital in Silicon Valley. Overall it made a better case for the merits of coming here for grad school, vs. the undergrad experience. Tour guide was very, “The moment I stepped onto this campus I new I had to come here!!” and D was very, “I am not having that realization!”
- Carleton: visited with my older daughter, who ultimately ended up at Rice. Possibly the most socially awkward tour guide of all our college tours. Beautiful campus, but the vibe just did not “click” for her - everybody was nice, but all of her interactions somehow felt forced.
- Gustavus Adolphus: People were really, really nice… but in a way that seemed to lack “quirk” or “edge” or… something. Eurasian daughter, accustomed to CA diversity, blanched and said she had never seen so many blonde people in one place, ever. It was just too much Midwest culture shock.
- Beloit: Saturday tour was probably a mistake. Nothing going on, and admissions people not very enthusiastic (probably wishing they weren’t there on a Saturday.) Layout felt unfocused, and D felt like, “Where’s the rest of it?”
- Carnegie Mellon: Atmosphere felt much more “corporate” than we expected. Constant talk of employment outcomes, big-name corporate employers, salaries, etc. (And of course employability is important, but this seemed to be to the exclusion of learning-for-its-own sake.) The social sciences people we talked to seemed to be all about the business applications of those fields, and the STEM folks were all about how many companies they’d launched and how many graduates they’d placed with Google. Nobody seemed to claim that the much-touted interdisciplinary ethos plays out in real life - the combined majors seem less common than they appear and not particularly encouraged by the participating departments. It came off like a high-pressure corporate boot camp. Was one of D #2’s top choices before we visited (we even scheduled two days there to see everything and have the appropriate meetings and interviews) but after digesting how she felt about the visit, she didn’t even apply. The Phipps Conservatory was the best part.
Moved up:
- UChicago: D #1 loved the campus, the tour, the vibe. I had reservations - I felt like I saw too many kids walking by themselves, heads down, looking stressed. But D #1 was really sold by the admissions presentation and the gorgeous campus as well as the nearby cultural stuff. Would have been hard to walk away if she’d gotten in, and the price tag with no aid was appalling, so getting waitlisted was kind of a blessing.
- Lawrence: Probably the most socially-comfortable campus visit of any we ever did. Really nice kids, and a very familiar music-geek vibe (kids come from a performing arts high school) because of how integral the music conservatory is to campus life. We observed a choir rehearsal in the chapel, which was awesome. Admissions people were super welcoming and helpful. Had lunch with a student and her friends and they were all bright and funny and easy to be with. It made me wish that I could go back in time and go there for college! It was a safety for D #1, but one she could have been very happy going to.
- Rice: I found it a little flat and arid, but D #1 really liked it, and especially loved the residential college system. She’s a senior there now.
- UC Davis: Expectations were low, but campus and town were both really appealing - arboretum was beautiful, and underclass housing was impressive, especially in contrast with the veal-crate-like freshman triple we saw (through a friend, not an official tour) at Berkeley. Much emphasis on the undergrad experience, also unlike Cal.
- Northeastern: D #2loved the “feng shui” of the urban-oasis campus, the proximity to public transit, the tunnels… the whole ambience. The only negative was that the admissions reception area itself was so splashy-high-tech as to feel a bit manipulative. (“Take your husky-hashtag photos here!!!”… purple neon and interactive displays everywhere… it seemed to presume the stereotypical screen-centric, social-media-obsessed, low-attention-span Millenial persona as a target market.) The “real” buildings we went into were great though - a variety of styles, but all with personality and a sense of place and interesting exhibits by the residing departments.
- UW Seattle: D #2 really, really loved the campus, as well as the city. Housing tour was great. Informatics lecture we sat in on was fascinating. If it didn’t require two years of gladiatorial stress-fest to get into the impacted majors, she would have been totally sold based on the campus visit.
- Cornell: Info sessions for specific colleges (CALS and Human Ecology) were excellent, especially the latter, which was highly interactive, unexpectedly almost like a group interview. Everyone was very welcoming and helpful. D #2 loved the campus and environs. It was summer though, so of course ideal weather and not the normal population of students that you’d see during the semester.
- U of Rochester: Excellent info session, really nice campus tour, and they make a clear effort to accommodate families with parking/shuttle and well-planned timing. Bright, friendly, seemingly-happy people. D #2’s impression was that it had all the good things about Brown (open curriculum, research, brilliant people), but with better music (Eastman, etc.) and without the haughty, dismissive attitude.
Regarding Hamilton, this largest-in-the-NESCAC campus may be impossible to show satisfactorily during a brief tour. Nonetheless, the school’s 26 exceptionally beautiful and varied residence halls should be experienced by prospective students in one form or another, even if through photos:
https://www.hamilton.edu/campuslife/where-to-live/residence-halls
Anyone, it would seem, would like at least one of South, Wallace Johnson, Wertimer, Skenandoa, Morris, or Major, for example.
Wow @aquapt what a memory for all those details.
Best line (of many good ones) from your post, a classic and keeper, earning quote of the week honors in my book, was regarding UW:
“If it didn’t require two years of gladiatorial stress-fest to get into the impacted majors…”
Between that and @RustyTrowel’s quote last week - about needing a machete to cut through the pretentiousness at Duke - I’ve had some really good chuckles. As they say, it’s the little things in life…
Speaking of Hamilton, when we saw the campus last year it became my dream school for my daughter. She thought it was stunningly beautiful, but she may have a different dream for herself. We still have time to go back and go on a real tour and see if she feels the magic. It’s not good when the parent falls in love with a school, lol. From what I hear, even if a parent does fall for a school, they should keep their thoughts to themselves, which is hard, Constantly, reminding myself that these colleges are for her, not me. I already had my turn
One of my favorite things about the Hamilton campus is the thought put into creating varied and plentiful student spaces.
@aquapt , if your D who liked Washington is the one with the “3.97 UW GPA, 1480 SAT,” she should not have a problem getting into any of the “competitive” majors there, assuming she continued to take her studies seriously.
Thanks, @UWfromCA - yes, that’s the D… she applied to HCDE, and if she gets one of the few freshman admit offers, it will be well worth considering. (Though we won’t know until mid-April - not much time to decide between then and May 1st!) We went to an HCDE info session during our visit, and the stats given for applying once on campus were daunting - they reportedly admit 11% of the applicants in each of the twice-yearly application cycles. (The large group of undergrads in attendance at said session looked rather resigned and downtrodden upon hearing these figures.) CompSci and Informatics admit around 30% each year. Yes, she may have what it takes to make the cut, but paying >$46K/year total OOS costs for that kind of uncertainty and competition-for-resources just doesn’t feel like it adds up. If UW defies expectations and comes through with a direct-admit offer and/or some merit aid (which I understand is fairly scarce) then we’ll definitely reassess, but for sticker price and going in undeclared, I would rather throw that kind of money at a school where my D’s options will be more wide open. She got in EA at Northeastern and already requested a change of major in the portal - from Urban Landscape to CS+Design - and it was approved within a couple of weeks, couldn’t have been easier. To me, there’s a lot of value in that kind of flexibility. She really did love UW though - she walked around all day saying, “I like this so much better than any of the UC’s!!” Ah well - we’ll see! 
Good luck to you and your D, @aquapt . Northeastern is a nice one to have in the bag. I was born and raised in Boston but had not seen the school in about 25 years when I visited last summer and was very impressed with what they have done there.
That’s funny about the UCs (I live and work near UCSD). They are all so different, as a number of posts in this thread have discussed. UW enrolls about 800 freshmen from California each year. Seattle, like Boston, is a great place to be a student. UW’s OOS merit scholarships are usually between $5,000 and $8,500 per year. I’m sure your D will be offered one, given her academic profile.
Sounds like she will have several excellent options to choose from this spring. Very exciting time.
@citymama9 : If you think it’s a really great place for her, introduce the idea of a few “parent picks” just in case. Sometimes it’s good to have a few of those in the mix, just in case their mood shifts when the results come in. But yeah, don’t say much beyond. “This might be good to have as an option.”
I insisted my D look at a parent’s choice school that she had no real interest in. U of Rochester. It became one of her final choices. Still view it as the one that got away. Great school, hard to fault. The parking situation is a pain. Campus is very university-ish, next to a lovely river. Definitely doesn’t feel small, lots of diversity, all different types of kids (nerds, hipsters, preppies, you name it), great academics, great profs, lots of actvities and involved, friendly students. Attached to a medical center and of course, the Eastman School of Music.
Ultimately D preferred the vibe of a LAC, and ended up at Bates. She also never loved Rochester itself, despite the fact that there is a lively arts scene, and a lot of music and foodie restaurants. There is a gorgeous park near the university, and the new “downtown” extended campus has several shops and food places, but Rochester itself isn’t a huge draw. I really urge people to visit in the fall. You will get a better idea of how nice the city can be.