Just back from a few days in the midwest with S25, saw four schools and visited family.
Notre Dame - UP I knew he’d love it, he knew he’d love it. It’s Harvard for Catholic school kids and S25 is definitely a Catholic school kid. Loved the dorm system, loved the campus, just the right amount of fun and just the right amount of nerdy. The area around ND is much nicer than it was 15yrs ago, the last time I was there. Of course, it was 50 degrees and sunny so a freak day in Northern Indiana. If by some miracle S25 is accepted, I’m going to send him on a freezing day. Downside of ND is simply that my average excellent kid will probably not get in, especially not to Mendoza, which would be his goal. Oh and the outrageous cost that we would cough up if he gets in.
Miami University (Ohio) - UP If you had talked to me halfway through our Miami tour I would have said that it was too midwestern for my PNW kid. Maybe too big too. But the Farmer School of Business does an excellent presentation. It was held by a retired business professor, which is such a great idea, and we sat around a conference table and learned about the business school. The professor had photocopied news articles about the school, extra stuff he thought the kids would like, the man is a treasure and I hope Miami knows how lucky they are to have such a great resource. I think if S25 was admitted to Honors and Farmer, it would be a great option for him.
U of Dayton - DOWN Beautiful campus, nice kids, good business school. But it’s in Dayton and S25 was a quick no on Dayton the city. We live in WA and felt like he might as well go to Gonzaga, same idea. I don’t want to denigrate UD though, really nice kids and a nice school overall.
Denison - SAME Love Granville, love Columbus, love the campus. The vibe was not nearly as preppy or fratty as I had been led to believe. It did feel like everyone we met was from NY or NJ, and looking at their demo, Denison has a large number of kids from the NE. Nice school, downside is mostly that they don’t have a true business program. S25 liked it though and still wants to apply.
SE trip to come in April and maybe one or two California schools in the summer.