That’s funny. We’ve been to Lafayette 3 times - info session/tour, interview, and Marquis assessment - and do not recall anyone mentioning Lehigh even once. Already very aware of the rivalry since we are from PA so maybe I just didn’t notice lol.
I think these experiences where the tour guide or info session keep mentioning rival schools is entirely dependent on who you get that day. I have toured a couple of the schools used as examples above and not heard a single reference to their rival schools. It’s like anything else where the experience is colored by the luck of who you encounter which is why it’s so important for the schools to pick their guides and info session leaders carefully and maintain quality control over them (by randomly auditing their tours, etc.).
I should have noted that we loved our Lafayette tour. The student was very enthusiastic. I wrote about it a few hundred posts back. But the rivalry talk was a bit annoying. I’m sure it was tour guide specific.
@STEM2017 Funny, we had the exact same experience about hearing way too much about that rivalry – but it was at Lehigh not Lafayette. What a difference a tour guide can make!
I just wanted t say that after attending a research conference at the Freie Universität Berlin recently, i find the description of pretty much any US university’s buildings as “huge” highly amusing. (I mean, any building with enough acreage that office locations get referred to by street grid addresses…)
Haha! I went to Lehigh. But, I have nothing bad to say about Lafayatte. I consider them a smaller, more liberal arts version of Lehigh. I loved my time at Lehigh, and I majored in an artsy thing.
@citivas Thank you for your opinion!! Regarding Haverford, there is nothing wrong with the tri-college consortium, but our tour guide kept bringing it up as if it was the highlight of going to Haverford. I have gone to 2 different grad schools and I now work at a different college. It’s difficult getting used to which school uses ecampus, which school uses canvas, how to register for classes or check out grades or find the location of different buildings where you take classes. Coming from a person who has been on 3 different campuses in the last two years, I can’t imagine it being one of the best attributes of the school. Honestly, most colleges will allow you to take a class at another local college and transfer the credits in. Regarding Rutgers, the buildings along college ave are beautiful. Like your daughter, my daughter had the attitude that she was too good for a state school especially Rutgers (she is number 6 in her class out of 550). She and I were both shocked that she ended up loving it and disliking Haverford. My daughter also loves the idea of hoping on the train (right near campus) and visiting NYC. My daughter gets bored easily, she likes the idea of exploring Rutgers’ other campuses. You mentioned the school being disjointed. The sports teams, especially the Big ten football, really bring the school spirit out of the students at the games. My brother, an alumni, age 47, still yells “R U Ra Ra!!” all the time. I posted this on another thread on College Confidential: Rutgers honors program info session was incredible. First of all, my daughter was not on board with me about going to Scholars Day. As we were leaving the house in the morning, my daughter says to me “I’m not going to Rutgers, I’m just going to this program to make you happy.” When we arrived, at the SAS presentation, we met with the deans, professors, and current students and we were able to talk to them one-on-one over lunch. You could feel the love and passion that all of these people had for this program. The students were so impressive doing so many things like internships, research projects, going on trips to Mexico, Ireland, Spain, Poland through the “global experiences.” They have “tea with the dean” every week so the students develop close relationships with the faculty. The students during the student panel answered many questions and you could tell they were very happy there. They admitted they were accepted to some ivy league schools and ended up at Rutgers because of financial reasons but when they talk to their friends at these prestigious schools, they realize they are so much happier at Rutgers and they do not regret their decision at all!!! I like the fact that they have honors housing as well. At McCormick (honors housing on Busch), the dean is in a near by building and drops in on Sunday mornings with bagels to chat with the students in a casual setting. On the way home, my daughter asked if we could walk around College ave because she could definitely see herself going there:)
I’m going to comment not discuss whether Rutgers is better than Haverford but just to comment on a few of your remarks in case others are reading here about Haverford. Everyone has different tastes and preferences and that’s perfectly ok.
“there is nothing wrong with the tri-college consortium, but our tour guide kept bringing it up as if it was the highlight of going to Haverford.”
It is actually worth highlighting as many LACs don’t have a consortium set-up. It allows a student to get the benefit of a small school community and atmosphere with less restriction on academic course offerings. It’s also part of the Quaker Consortium which includes Penn although Bryn Mawr is the most common place that Haverford students take classes due to the proximity and seamless organization of the Bi-College.
“I have gone to 2 different grad schools and I now work at a different college. It’s difficult getting used to which school uses ecampus, which school uses canvas, how to register for classes or check out grades or find the location of different buildings where you take classes. Coming from a person who has been on 3 different campuses in the last two years, I can’t imagine it being one of the best attributes of the school.”
It’s actually a very easy process at Haverford. The Tri-Co uses the same registration tool across the three colleges. It’s not challenging at all as each campus is not overwhelming and the registrars and other administrative types are very accommodating and helpful.
“My daughter gets bored easily, she likes the idea of exploring Rutgers’ other campuses.”
Kind of ironic? 
About 10 years ago I was following a group of visitors on a tour of Stanford, and the thing I remember most was the tour guide ripping on Berkeley. It was surprising because I always felt like Berkeley was the more thin-skinned school among the two.
While the students at Cal and Stanford may get overly caught-up in the rivalry, among the faculty of both schools I sense a tremendous amount of respect for each other. There’s a huge amount of research collaboration going on between the two schools.
@momoffive Also just clarifying about the Haverford-Bryn Mawr relationship – it is very different from simply taking classes at another school, over the summer for instance, and transferring the credits. The two schools have an integrated curriculum – students register at both schools, can major at both schools, classes taken on both campuses count for requirements etc. Class times are set up so students can have a class at one campus, then hop on the bus for the 1 mile trip to the other campus for their next class, maybe eat there, and return for an afternoon class or EC in the afternoon to their “home campus.” The two schools traditionally built complementary strengths rather than try to duplicate each other’s academics – BMC historically had extraordinary classical archaeology program, Hford had stronger fine arts. I’m sure those strengths have evolved over the years, but it affords the BiCo student access to double the academic and EC opportunities. It is unique among LACs because the schools are so close, much more so that then 5 college consortium with Amherst etc. That opportunity resonates with some, or not. But that, along with Haverford’s distinctly Quaker honor code system which permeates all of student life on campus and not just academic honesty, are what defines the Haverford community. It speaks to some, and not at all to others, and that is how students choose where their “home” is. It is marvelous when our children discover something exciting, as your daughter did at Rutgers.
@momoffive My kids dislike of Rutgers had nothing to do with feeling “too good for” it. They had no interest in applying to Columbia or UPenn either because they found them too urban. In the case of Rutgers it was entirely about not liking the separated campuses or what they physically saw, with perhaps a little bias from the awful tour guide experience in the mix. Even now my son’s friends there complain about busing around the campus. When we toured they were just starting to construct the Honors College (not to be confused with the the Honors program). Of course the guide knew nothing about either. When it was ready they sent my son a ton of marketing materials about it but by then he was settled in his opinions and application plans. It looked interesting. Not sure what sports or school spirit has to do with the physical campus being disjointed by the separation of the highways and river etc. but in any event, sporting events are not really a draw for them.
I said before and will again that I have respect for Rutgers academically. And my wife and I enjoyed the cafeteria Sunday brunch better than almost any other college cafeteria experience (we try to make a point to eat at them on every visit). And that includes being better than my son’s current college which is famous for allegedly having some of the best college food in the country. All five of us just didn’t like the physical campus or New Brunswick. Of course this is all subjective.
@Midwestmomofboys @doschicos Thank you for explaining the relationship of Tri-co among the three schools. You present it much better than our college tour guide. It makes more sense to me now. @doschicos Your last comment made me smile, “Kind of ironic?” If my daughter went to Haverford, I would have no doubt that she would be exploring Bryn Mawr and Penn. However, it would cost me $69K for her to “feel her oats” there whereas Rutgers will cost me $20K.
@citivas Thanks for the reply!! Maybe not your kids, but I’m around teens a lot. It’s my job and I’m a mom of five, most kids (not saying yours) have a sense of entitlement and think they are “too good” for certain schools. We all know that community college is the most practical way to go. Heck, my daughter could go free for two years and it would save me tons of money but there is the connotation it carries. Sometimes kids feel the same way about our state schools. When you wrote that “the problem with Rutgers is it isn’t a cohesive campus at all,” I assume you were talking about both the physical aspect and feeling among the students. The feeling of unity among the students and being in a supportive environment along with the school spirit is how interpreted the meaning of cohesion in a college. Sorry for the miscommunication!
So great to read all of the positive comments about Union. Even though we live in So Cal, Union became my S16’s short list because of LAC/Engineering combination and then our visit just solidified it for him. Everyone there is so nice- students, admissions office, professors, even the financial aid office. Great info session and tour! Son is a freshman there now and they continue to impress me! Here is a summary of the other schools we visited and their impact on my son’s search:
Claremont Colleges- loved campus and people we came across. Loved that you could take classes and have meals in any of the colleges. Didn’t apply because baseball team didn’t come across as being competitive enough, too close to home, and didn’t think he’d get in
Cal Poly Slo- excellent engineering, didn’t do info session or guided tour, campus was ok, loved SLO area, applied but got waitlisted. Only Army ROTC.
Denison- loved campus and everyone we met. Surrounding area a little small but cute, people were really nice, loved baseball coach, ROTC too far (OSU), ended up applying and getting in with good aid but got full ROTC at Union. Would have been very happy here!
RPI- this was top 3 until the tour, son thought the prospective students and tour guides were a bit too nerdy. Didn’t apply, but truth be told his ROTC unit is hosted by RPI so he attends class and training with his unit here 4 days a week and has made some of his best friends here
RIT- loved campus, a little weary of the wind and snow but liked the idea of the tunnel, loved the people. Applied and got in but chose Union. ROTC would have been off campus here as well (U of R I believe) Facilites were awesome
BC- applied because I was an alum, got in, loved campus, but no engineering and off campus ROTC at BU seemed a little too challenging. He now calls it a safety school just to make me angry!
Campuses he loved but didn’t apply: UNC, Wake, and Georgia Tech
Campuses he visited but didn’t love: Emory, Virginia Tech, Univ of San Diego (beautiful but too small),
Now, we’re starting again with D18. Love what I’m reading about F&M, Michigan, Gettysburg, and some Ohio LACs. She also loves Penn State, Quinnipiac, Albion, Bard, and Vassar (last three because LAX coaches interested in her)
@ericbird91 I’m confused by one thing you said under campuses your son visited but didn’t love. They included Univ. of San Diego and you said beautiful but too small. U of San Diego had 5711 undegrads in 2016. Isn’t Union quite a bit smaller?
@CAtransplant You are correct, there are many more students. The two reasons he didn’t apply to USD were too close to home and no big time sports. Even though USD is D1, he didn’t feel there was going to be a lot of rah rah sports cheering going on. Union afforded him the opportunity to play D3 sports and still watch big time D1 hockey. Sorry for the error.
I’m always fascinated by the stories of kids who picked their schools based on sports – not sports they were playing but big spectacle sporting events. I know many people whose kids did so. I’m not dissing it – it’s common and whatever is important to someone is great for them. I just can’t personally relate to it. And I went to a big sports university. My kids are even more extreme (so far) – it was a non-factor in my college decision but my son held it as a major con if a college he was considering had D1 sports and applied to very few. It reminded me of the daughter of a friend who lasted less than two months at her school because when she didn’t get into the sorority she coveted she moved home and enrolled in the local college instead. And she had picked based on a big sports school too.
My daughter attends a big sports school, but that was not her main criteria at first- her original first choice school had no sports at all. I am actually happy that she loves the school spirit and sense of community. She is a type A perfectionist who works hard and takes her academics very seriously, and this gives her a much needed break ( along with her clubs which she is very involved with). I didn’t understand it either until recently.
Off the list:
DeSales U. It felt like a high school and not a college environment. It was a safety, but we wanted to give it a chance. The town has nothing around, just houses and small farms.
U of Bridgeport: Another safety, but wow the school seems like they do not care about it. The location seems a bit sketchy, close to the beach, Buildings seem like they are about to fall. We went on a Saturday and everything was closed. Mostly a commuter school.
Rowan U. They have put a lot of money into this school, new buildings, dorms etc., but it seems it has become a money machine where they want students to take extra “preparatory courses” they want to be Rutgers, when they were doing just fine being Rowan before.
Down The List:
Monmouth, Beautiful campus, but students do not seem too smart. My son try to engage the guide with smart and interested questions and she just kept quiet.
Arcadia, another beautiful campus, but they need to invest in more dorms. They seem crowded and they put to many students in the castle, but charge them more to live there.
Hofstra, (Awful financial Aid assistance). In the middle of nowhere close to NY city. Felt like a long drive even when it wasn’t that far.
NJIT, police treated us like we were about to steal the school when we were looking for registration. Rude people, not worth it.
Up The List:
Susquehanna, Beautiful campus, happy students, wonderful staff. A bit remote, but once you’re in Selinsgrove, the town has many things to do around.
Ursinus: Small but well kept and nice college feel. The admission office was very helpful and the tour guide was great and very informative.
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Down The List:
University of Florida. DD visited with her HS AP Bio class, and we did their “Afternoon with the Honors” lunch/tour and Heavener Business School tour a couple weeks later. I’m not sure why she didn’t like it to be honest. The tours were very good and the college seemed really lively. I also felt that UF has a better study abroad offering, especially for Engineering majors (DD is leaning toward Engineering thanks to some excellent teachers at HS).
Up The List:
Florida State. This one surprised me a lot. She’s wants to go to school in an urban setting, and I didn’t think Tallahassee would feel urban enough for her. We stayed at the Sheraton downtown, so I think that helped her get a decent feel of the state capital. The tour was decent, and we’re pretty confident that she can get into the Honors College. I’ve got my reservations with respect to the FSU Engineering School, since it’s a joint program with FAMU and I can imagine there is some political/cross-school tension. It also doesn’t look like FSU has the breadth of study abroad opportunities for Engineering majors. However, the combined BS-Chemical Engineering, MS-Biomedical Engineering program stands out as a unique offering.