My daughter really likes schools that give her a free t-shirt.
I get annoyed by schools with little parking at the admissions office.
Yeah, the parking ticket we got at Tulane when the tour ran long did not leave a great impression. [-X
I would send that parking ticket to the admissions office and have them deal with it. Remember they want you to choose them just as much you want them to choose you.
I appreciated the schools (Wooster) that had lots of extra, oversized umbrellas to borrow on rainy days. Clearly marked parking also very helpful.
Ah, yes, the parking ticket we got years ago at Swarthmore did not endear us to the place. The signage was confusing–we didn’t intentionally park in the wrong area. At Wesleyan, campus security instructed us to park in a lot a good distance from the admissions office, as their lot was full. Then when admissions handed us a permit to be placed in the car windshield, someone had to walk all the way back in the cold and rain to put it in the car. That was not a pleasant way to start our visit.
The only things that seems to impact my daughter were class experiences and vibe. She tried to visit at least one class at each campus and often she attended two or more. Her experiences varied greatly at each school and definitely shaped her order of preference. There were schools I urged her to reconsider but her class experience had formed such an impression that it wasn’t worth trying to point out other good things. One example was Wooster, which I really liked. She had a terrible class experience where she felt the students were completely disengaged and the professor wasn’t interesting - and this was during their junior visit day in a class they advertised. She had the complete opposite experience at Denison where she showed up for a class that had been cancelled and had students see that and come over and urge her to come to another class, which she loved. For vibe she just LOVED Oberlin - she said that everyone there was “chill” and the classes were great. She also loved the town of Oberlin and how connected the college and town felt (Dickinson scored high on this too).
I tended to think more in terms of what food was good (Bates and Hamilton are great) and how convenient it would be to get from the furthest point on campus to classes, especially when it’s the middle of winter. I also loved certain admissions buildings (again Bates and Hamilton) but not others (Grinnell) - just a vibe. Grinnell was also by far the least friendly admissions office - they barely acknowledged we were there and set up an overnight for my daughter with a senior who didn’t really show her around at all. This was after we flew all the way across the country to check it out - an epic fail in my opinion.
@LMC9902 Interesting how different the experiences can be (and frustrating how similar, as well). We love Grinnell’s admissions building, a modern take on prairie style. Sorry you had a frustrating Grinnell experience, it remains one of my favorite schools. On the other hand, similarly, class visit at Wooster (so much to love about the school) did not impress my kid, an upper level class in a major of interest to him, which he said was not challenging and where students were passive. At Knox and Denison, he came out of class, beaming with excitement about the professor and the student engagement, and couldn’t wait to be a college student.
@Midwestmomofboys I totally agree that it’s frustrating when you really want to love a place but you have a negative experience. I agree that the building for Grinnell’s admissions was pretty and different but the vibe we got was off putting so the experience felt cold to us. She did love the classes and would have likely turned around her opinion if they hadn’t stuck her with a very antisocial senior who didn’t introduce her to anyone - why would they even have a senior do a prospective student overnight??
My daughter hasn’t seen Knox but has applied EA and really loves everything she hears.
We now look for the Purple Hair Factor (PHF). If a decent percentage of kids have hair dyed an unnatural color, we know there’s probably enough artists, theatre kids, and off-beat types for my Californian DD to find her crew. It’s like an anti-preppy indicator.
Sometimes, the coed bathrooms in coed floors are that way because the dorms are old ones built for single-gender floors or entire dorms with one gang bathroom per floor.
But many newer dorms are suite-style, with single-gender suites.
The nurse at Moravian used to pas out chocolate chip cookies to any students who stopped in. Almost enough to get my kid to change her degree fro PA to nursing so she could go there.
For My D, who has a skeptical approach to all things at campus visits, what worked was to talk to current students from the college and her intended major. That gave her immense insights into the realities of that college as against someone “selling” the college campus to her. A peer-to-peer talk was the trick where they could discuss everything under the sun without any bias. I believe she used an iPhone app called Mentr where she could chat freely with these students from different universities.
When we visited Rice, the parking lot for the admissions office was a gated pay lot that only took credit cards. That was not a way to make a good first impression.
@LMC9902 Knox was the hidden gem on our search, I knew nothing about it except knew one phenomenally impressive grad from Knox. The President is engaging, smart and strategic. Finances have turned around, and money raised, and spent, for renovations and expansions. The faculty my kid met with blew us away – they were talented, attentive and inspirational. Student body is a blend of types. We were on campus on a Saturday night, and there were not bands of drunk kids reeling from party to party, which was a huge relief to my kid. Greek life is there, but small and non-traditional. Town isn’t much – a fading industrial town which has seen better days – but there ae some “hip” student places a couple of blocks from campus with good pizza, good coffee etc. I think this is one of those schools that just “gets it”, even though a lot of people don’t know about it.
(I thought I posted this yesterday, but didn’t, so apologize if the conversation has moved past it).
“the PC police said that everyone had to be allowed to join, even if they couldn’t carry a tune.”
What PC police? Members of the group who voted to change its mission to be more inclusive? Or was this some kind of pressure from the school? (I have thin skin when it comes to bad a cappella.)
“I have thin skin when it comes to bad a cappella”
But there is sooo much of it. 
I worry about “social justice warriors” on campus. Thus, second thoughts about Berkeley. It looks horrible in the news, but students (children of friends) say that the atmosphere on campus is friendly, without hostility between different groups. I want to avoid any campus with major racial issues. Safety first.
Don’t like reports about faculty turning against students because students are perceived as “too rich”. Duke is out of question - too much drama. Big social rift between faculty, that champions social justice, and students, that are perceived as “rich and spoiled”. Faculty stands against students, not for them. IMHO, unacceptable.
I am looking for faculty that will teach / work / do research. I don’t want faculty to use my D as a pawn to promote their petty grievances and agendas. Looking for solid education, not social cause. Just IMHO.
Speaking as a professor: Physical plant.
Are building exteriors dirty? Is landscaping scruffy? Do metal handrails have rust patches? Are the sidewalks cracked? Fresh cracks aren’t an issue—maybe they’re just not fixed yet—but ones that have been there a while? I start worrying about the cost of deferred maintenance and funding streams if the little stuff isn’t being covered.
<are building="" exteriors="" dirty?="" is="" landscaping="" scruffy?="" do="" metal="" handrails="" have="" rust="" patches?="" are="" the="" sidewalks="" cracked?="" fresh="" cracks="" aren’t="" an="" issue—maybe="" they’re="" just="" not="" fixed="" yet—but="" ones="" that="" been="" there="" a="" while?="" i="" start="" worrying="" about="" cost="" of="" deferred="" maintenance="" and="" funding="" streams="" if="" little="" stuff="" isn’t="" being="" covered.="">
My alma mater was shaggy and unkempt. Yet, it is a wonderful university. I am rather concerned about the 5-star-spa facilities at universities. Make me wonder, whether education or entertainment is a priority for this college.
visibility
do i need sunglasses every time i walk outside of the classroom? if so, what’s the point? i can’t even see the campus because i have to wear dark shades. can’t live in a place like that.
also cold weather. im from california so anything under 60 feels freezing.
and i know this probably sounds bad but “how expensive” do the buildings look. im low income so i would like to move up, i have no shame in saying that i want to be surrounded by nicer things lol. this also might be correlated with how safe the buildings are and how clean the campus is in general.
flyers are something i always look out to. are people alone, on their phones, headphones? or do they actually have conversations with people? and not just cliques like in high school, but do they involve all students or different type of students? not just your own personal best friends but will someone who doesn’t even know another student that well or probably just share one class or are strangers be able to interact in an intellectual discussion? do they leave people out of the loop or are they inclusive to everyone?
are professors and admin nice? or are they snarky or rude or look like they’re always in a rush and too good to talk to you. do they smile?
are students around on campus even when there’s no class? (weekends, night time)
i visited ucla on a sunday and by evening there were still students hanging out around campus, not necessarily studying but they were just socializing or talking and relaxing.
ucsd though, i think i visited on a saturday, and the place was just empty and if i did see people they were always alone or simply walking to study. ive gone on a friday too and it was a bit similar, everyone looked like drones looking to just get to class or study…no actual conversations going on or anything. it was really sad.