<p>I agree that one bad experience can be shaken off. We had a bad experience at BU on a tour in the Spring with a student who was way over full of herself. This cast a bit of a negative on the program but a very good experience at her recent audition has enabled her to put in perspective as just an attribute of that student and not a reflection of the program. </p>
<p>But there is something to the overall culture and feel of a program that you can get through multiple interactions which says something much more significant about the nature of the place, program, etc. I’ll give a non-school example because it comes from a kind of place even less likely for people to have positive experiences. My wife is getting knee replacement surgery and she is having it done at the Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC. After experiencing positive interactions with literally everyone we came in contact with, it was no surpise to learn that it is ranked as the #1 hospital for orthopedic surgery. In my opinion, the type of positive interacting we’ve had with everyone we’ve dealt with there does not happen unless its reflective of some leadership at the top about the way the organization is run.</p>