I loved Elon, too and was hoping my D would land there. Felt like a safe bubble. They would be smart to buy up some of the real estate directly off campus and fix that block up so it’s a little more attractive to future students.
It’s super nice - but other than the one small strip - there is nothing there.
I totally thought mine would love it. I loved the tour.
People on here (past parents) get mad when you say it’s isolated - but while it may be a 10 minute drive from Burlington…it’s a ten minute drive from Burlington.
That’s isolated 
Gorgeous campus though.
I loved JMU too - but daughter hated that the I-81 intersected it - even though you’d be on the West side all the time.
Our kids sometime think differently than we do.
1 Like
well I definitely can’t tell my kid that someone else actually got to sneak out of the Skidmore tour! 
Even almost a year later he would be like: SEE?! I TOLD YOU.
I couldn’t get mine to look at Union. But I wanted to!
3 Likes
If St. Olaf gets too competitive look at Luther College. It is such a hidden gem (if you’re looking for a lovely school in the middle of a corn field in Iowa).
I started at Luther and while I ultimately transferred, it’s a great little LAC. St. Olaf was our big music rival. Their Messiah got picked up by PBS, but our Juletide concert did too.
7 Likes
I know there’s the conventional wisdom. You visit schools by type to help narrow down the search. Interestingly, on our first trip, we drove across PA from NJ and visited Bucknell, Penn State, and Pitt—an LAC, a big State University, and an urban campus. He liked Bucknell and Pitt but not Penn State. Then, we thought he liked Pitt and would like BU, but before we got out of the car, he was writing it off.
We didn’t do any big state schools after Penn State. A year later, when he was a freshman at a school similar to Bucknell, he visited his buddy in Indiana, loved it, and eventually ended up transferring to a bigger school. He wished he had not written off the big state schools. I know there’s a limited amount of schools you can visit, but for us, the conventional approach kind of backfired,
8 Likes
Could it have been that he didn’t feel comfortable at the big on the initial visit (overwhelming) but when he got to the small school, he found aspects - social or otherwise - limiting?
No matter who it is - you can get a comfort level on visits - but it is so hard to understand the remaining aspects - until you’re truly living the situation.
3 Likes
Part of it was that, but I also think the Penn State campus was just so large and spread out. He felt Indiana was more manageable in terms of size and layout. I do believe, though, that a 17-year-old high school senior can I have a very different take when they are a 19-year-old college sophomore.
10 Likes
IU is beautiful and Bloomington is a great college town! I get it!
So many kids change their preferences, and this is one of the reasons for not starting the search too early. What may seem comfortable and safe to a 15 year old may seem stifling 2 years later. And the intimidating schools may be exciting and attractive.
For parents, a year or two makes no difference, but for kids, it can be a lot! (Not that I don’t understand the challenges of finding time to visit – just pointing this out. )
8 Likes
It’s funny that it kind of flipped the other way with my S23. He was very excited about all kinds of far away / international schools when he was a HS junior and senior. Living in a foreign city like London or Montreal seemed perfect.
Now that he is a college freshman he is very happy to be at our local university 15 minutes away from our house, where he can come home to pet the cat and get comfort food any time that he wants. College is stressful enough!
(Of course it’s also a big university rather than a small school… that would feel limiting to him.)
9 Likes
It’s interesting. Our S20 had it narrowed down to Richmond and Bucknell. He ended up at Richmond, but until the end, he would say," I have not totally eliminated Pitt." We had a veteran college counselor say that he would be very happy if he chose Richmond as a freshman, but he probably wants something more when he’s a sophomore. She was exactly right.
Speaking specifically of Pitt, it seems to be the school that surprises a lot of people, all in a positive way. Even the last two posts from this original thread both really like Pitt. Of the 15-plus schools we visited, Pitt was the biggest surprise in terms of how impressed we were by it.
7 Likes
I wonder what kind of donations that Pitt and St. Olaf should make to CC. We definitely have given them lots of positive publicity! 
18 Likes
We should have a sticky explaining why everyone should apply to Pitt and St Olaf, plus 6-10 colleges of their own choosing . . . .
11 Likes
I loved Pitt! Unfortunately DD did not love the open campus and distance from home. I wish I knew about Pitt when I applied to schools. Hindsight being 20/20 I had the worst guidance counselors ever! Its amazing I ended up at a decent college (Rutgers). But I agree - great school to apply to - plus the added bonus of rolling admissions.
1 Like
Yeah, obviously not EVERYone should actually apply to Pitt. But the ability to get a very early decision (not binding, not subject to deferrals, and with no real evidence of yield protection) is a huge plus, I think enough to justify the application as long as it is even a plausible affordable fit.
3 Likes
It kind of amazes me that more schools haven’t figured out that a sure-fire way to get attention and applications from students is to offer a non-binding, rolling option.
9 Likes
Another aspect of visiting is the campus, which has the real estate term “great curb appeal.” I get the beautiful lake, the quad with the Adirondack chairs, and the stunning architecture of the library. IMO, that can get old fast, and it comes down more to the vibe, the campus culture, and the size—also visiting while school is in session.
I wonder how long this Pitt college application hack will last before this starts to become a thing.
3 Likes
I don’t know if they would ever need to yield protect. Admissions are rolling, so they can just admit the top ones and hold off on making a decision for the others, like McGill.
2 Likes
We applied early to pitt, loved having one in hand so early and the merit gave us confidence that her app was good. Happy to pay $50 for that peace of mind
2 Likes
Yes that makes sense. If they switch away from rolling then we’ll know
1 Like