Northwestern is such a great university that it’s disconcerting to hear about the poor attitude at the front desk. A friend of mine who took a tour there with his son and encountered with similar reception. Needlessly to say they were totally unimpressed and took NU off the short list. What a shame.
I can’t believe Northwestern still has that attitude. I was accepted there for grad school more than 25 years ago and was trying to decide between Northwestern (very expensive) and a school that gave me a full ride. I can still hear the admissions person on the phone telling me, “Well, if it was between us and Columbia, I could understand, but, really, Indiana University?” I did not go to Northwestern, based partly on that phone call and to some degree on the weather. I must say I was surprised by the number of sub-zero days they had in southern Indiana, though!
We went to Bard in February last year and my car wouldn’t start. Had to call Triple A. Much fun was had by all. Definitely our most unpleasant college tour experience – though it was really nobody’s fault.
@billcsho – Don’t get me wrong. My wife and I, and more importantly my son, had no problem with Bursley. It was better than the dorm I had when I attended college. Sophomore year he lived in Stockton (recently remodeled, very nice, single room, on the Hill and the Courtyards last two years with three roommates he met during his first year in Bursley. If a kid is picking a college to attend based on a dormitory his/her thinking is misplaced
Is there a thread on the hottest most unpleasant college tour? We are from Texas, so we know hot. But when we first toured colleges in North Carolina and Virginia with our oldest D in June of 2008, they were having a major heat wave (with high humidity). During our tour of Duke, our tour guide stopped in a non-shady spot EVERY time she talked (as if Duke didn’t have have any trees). It was disconcerting. The best part of the tour was when we went inside to an air-conditioned classroom for the Q & A.
Yes, my most unpleasant tour was a heat stroke inducing one. Florida Southern. Often wins the most beautiful campus because of all the Frank Lloyd Wright structures but it is built into the side of a hill, and when it is 95 and humid and you go up and down that hill a few times, the complementary bottle of water just doesn’t cut it. We were praying for rain. About 3/4 of the way through the tour, I threw in the towel and asked to go back to the admin building, so they took our tour group to stand in the sun while the golf cart came and got me. I felt sorry for the others having to stand in the sun and wait.
Coldest (in attitude) was Oberlin. Coldest (in temperature) was actually one of the warmest in attitude, the College of Wooster on a blizzard-y day last February. Staff was warm and gracious. Everything about it was great. And the campus was gorgeous in the snow.
You guys who have had a negative reception from Northwestern should really tell them about it. They should hear it. There’s always going to be one or two people who have a negative response to something, but this seems to be a consistent theme.
I thought I’d share something from our Campus Day visit to U of Michigan. During the big group meeting at the Union, they took an informal poll. They asked the students to raise their hand if they shared a room at home. Not a single hand went up, that I could see. Then they asked the parents to raise their hand if they shared a room when they were growing up. It looked like most of those in attendance had.
The general reaction was laughter. I found it interesting that they had asked the question.
So it got me thinking…I wonder how much dorms influence our children in their school selection. I agree with @PeterW that it shouldn’t be that big of a deal…but then again, I also feel that way when it comes to the weather. 
I agree that dorm condition should not be a prime factor particularly there are many dorm halls and on/off campus options available. Most of the students who had problem with the dorm are usually with their roommate or allergy issues. All the schools we visited in the mid-west actually have similar dorms just as Bursley at UMich. So Bursley is actually not that bad, however, the newly renovated ones at UMich are really nice. @PeterW, it is Stockwell for Sophomore. It is one of the best one after renovation, but it was below average before the renovation. A recent ranking gave 4-star to the housing at UMich. I guess they should have gotten 5-star if they can renovate the remaining few dorms and get rid of the Northwood 1-3 Apartment for undergraduates completely.
Although my daughter has always had her own large room at home she has attended summer camp where she was housed in places that can only be considered repulsive and was crammed in with 8-12 other kids. This experience taught her that no matter how bad her housing conditions were it really didn’t matter if she liked her roommates. Indeed her happiest summer was when she was with great friends in a place so dark and tiny I couldn’t stand to be in there for more than 3 minutes when i saw it at pick up.
Son had a HS cross country camp on a U campus one summer- three of them shared a two bed room without problems I discovered when picking him up. I think they moved a mattress. Apparently the third guy was escaping his assigned roommate- someone also from their CC team they weren’t happy with.