<p>Agreed with sly_vt from my experience. The visits alone with an almost 18 year old were illuminating…but from the point of view of my S, he actually did not know how he felt about a place and its culture until he visited and attended classes. He loved and revered a school with no frats and he was crazy about a school that was heavily Greek, too. Some people are just very eclectic, geographically unfettered, etc. His criteria turned out to be diversity in student body, quality of orchestra to fit his own personal pleasure zone and talent level, high levels of school spirit and smaller classroom size (access to full profs).<br>
It is possible to truly respect schools with wildly different personalities and still be sane. I learned a great deal about my son that I had not understood before just watching him get out of cars, arrange interviews, and arrange college classroom visits and overnights on his own. He is very fulfilled and happy at Duke culturally and socially, but he feels great respect for all the colleges on his list and could have made a life at any of them.</p>
<p>Definitely important- it was one of the reasons I transferred out of my first college. I just could not mesh with its campus culture and it often made me feel very stressed. Unfortunately, sometimes you don’t always really find out until you actually get there as a student.</p>
<p>What the guidebooks say about Colgate, especially Fiske’s, is… pretty true 
Flaunting Mommy’s and Daddy’s money is a huge turn-off though we dress well. We also have pretty good sense of humor when it comes to academics- supporting each other instead of competing against each other. People are simply very friendly and posess lots of loyalty and love for Colgate. There’s a huge push for student cooperation to cut down the number of similar little events into several huge events with many co-sponsors. So you get a idea that this campus can get pretty close-knit, maybe a little too comfortable at times Right now the only thing I find annoying is the freshmen who just feel the need to be very trendy, including hairstyles with those bangs… I’d like to say that Colgate is apathetic but is becoming more politically aware but just not with the same kind of fire and passion that you see at very liberal schools.</p>
<p>Carolyn, you are so right! The start of the search is within the student himself. There are kids who can do just fine and enjoy a school where the predominent culture is not his type. But there are those who just can’t stand certain settings, and with such kids, more attention is needed to the culture of the college.</p>
<p>I think that the smaller schools,and the schools where there are a small number of kids staying on campus for weekends, is where the culture has the most impact. When you have the larger numbers, it is easier to find any kind of niche, and even a tiny minority often has good numbers. A bit tougher if you are only one of 10 gay students at a school, or there are only a handful of rabble rousers and no they are the only ones interested in social concerns on a campus. Or if the only parties are way off campus, with the school pretty much shutting down weekends and your child wants an on campus social life. Doesn’t always help to say that the city is the social life–not the same as that stereo-typical campus experience that some kids really want. It is also harder to make friends when many kids live in off campus or apartment style housing, something that kids who tend to stay too much to themselves should note. </p>
<p>But I have seen seriously preppy kids happy at Wesleyan, for example, whereas some of them find it too quirky. And I have found the more “goth” type kids who have loved going to their preppy school. It is really what the kid is willing to accept in the environment.</p>
<p>In response to the poster who talked about CTY as a model for possible “fit” – that is also a valuable barometer! My son attened a six-week math program last summer at a small college. It was quirky, intense, and a place for people who love to play with their math. </p>
<p>What stunned us afterwards was how that experience shaped what my son viewed as important characteristics of any college he would be interested in attending. Things like undergrad emphasis, close student-faculty interactions, small size, specialization, etc. were suddenly qualities that mattered to him <em>and that he articulated to himself and to us.</em> Never would have guessed these things mattered so much to him!</p>
<p>He went straight from the program to a family vacation where we also visited a couple of colleges. His summer experiences definitely influenced how he evaluated the schools, and in a good way. So I would say that those summer programs can be a good measure of qualities you’d want (or not want!) in a college.</p>
<p>CTY comes up first in my mind, which has very warm, quirky, tradition-filled culture that includes cross-dressing days and geeky injokes. >></p>
<p>Lingbo, CTY is also my son’s measuring stick for his college hunt. If it doesn’t have that CTY-ish feel, it ain’t going on the list. I actually think it is a very useful sorting tool, although I am not sure how many colleges will fully live up to the glory of CTY in his mind. So far he has Reed, Macalester, Carleton, Oberlin, Sarah Lawrence, Beloit and Grinnell on his list. I think that MIT has CTY-ish characteristics as well, but he’s leaning towards a humanities/social sciences major. My son, by the way, is of the mind that all CTY-ers should band together and form their own college. Of course, the school theme song would have to be American Pie and the team mascot pulled from Rocky Horror. ;)</p>
<p>Goodness, my cousin’s going to a CTY this summer… I’d be scared if he turns into one of those “typical” CTY student as you guys are describing because it is not SO him at all… very brainy scientist who has no life other than to figure out to put together an amazing fort with strings and sheets all over the place for his siblings and younger cousins to sleep under for a night…</p>
<p>D and I eliminated a school because of fit. The school was heavy Greek and of the 12 tour guides, all were Greek. When queried during the tour, our guide said you didn’t have to belong to have fun, that there were all kinds of other things for kids to do. When we asked what they might be, he was vague. Since D is a FA student, and we knew we couldn’t afford a sorority, (didn’t matter to her, because she is opposed to belonging, anyway) she opted not to even apply. Her choice has no Greek life, and she is very happy!</p>