Credit to @Old_parent for this idea! Just wondering because I visited Hamilton today, and fell in love even though many schools without much of a college town appealed to me (Holy Cross also did). Any schools out there people unexpectedly fell in love with?
Love, exciting and new.
Come aboard; we’re expecting you…
I thought it only fitting to help kick off this thread with the first two lines from the Love Boat theme song.
My favorite LAC campus (that I’ve seen personally) is Bowdoin’s: flat, compact, nice buildings, nice overall look.
My favorite U campus that isn’t UW-Madison (because that would be a spoonful of bias…) would have to be Yale. Those lovely gothic structures with the little nooks and crannies and… that… library.
*even though many schools without much of a college town did not appeal to me.
@prezbucky I’ve always been very intrigued by Bowdoin, and hope to visit one day. People love the place!
I fell madly in love with Hamilton’s campus too. I really liked Bucknell and Lafayette too, especially Bucknell, because everything about it got my D very, very excited about college. Whether she goes there or not remains to be seen, but the visit helped us realize the kind of school she’s looking for.
After looking up and down the east coast, my S decided that he liked mid-sized urban schools. One day he got one of those mass mailings for Fordham – we live close by and had our preconceived notions about the Bronx so the school was never really on our radar. But the mailing spurred our curiosity and we visited Fordham - Rose Hlll on a whim. All of us were sunned by the beauty of the campus, the educational opportunities etc. Fordham immediately and quite unexpectedly rose to be our S’s top choice and I’m happy to say that he had four great years there and a wonderful grad school outcome.
We also loved Lafayette, my D’s school, when we visited, but that was not unexpected.
University of Montana: a sweet campus that seemed from a different time in a really wonderful little college town (Missoula)
Another vote for Hamilton.
Our DD’s looked at every NESCAC school, except Connecticut or Trinity, and their favorite campuses were Hamilton and Middlebury - they both decided on Hamilton.
When my older D was looking, we toured University of Denver as her safety. I was hoping she’d like it enough to simply apply. We both really liked it. It’s a beautiful campus-looks like an East coast school.
Went back recently with D18. The day we were there happened to be an admitted students day. I was even more impressed this time around. My D talked to professors and people from different clubs at their activities fair. Denver is currently her top choice.
I have taken many tours with my daughters. Top schools like Brown, Tufts, the Claremonts. The Denver tour guide was the second best (after Tufts) that we ever had. She was a freshman and it was only her 4th tour ever. She led such a good tour that I went to the admissions booth at the fair to let them know how impressive she was.
I only toured a few schools but UW Madison really stuck out. Only problem was the cost.
Middlebury. I wish I could go back and do college all over again there. They even have their own ski hill!
Concur with patatty – Middlebury was gorgeous. We also loved Brown, Penn, Yale, Chicago, Swarthmore, and Williams (where son will be attending in the fall).
Wellesley was amazing… never thought an American college could come anywhere near Cambridge University in sheer beauty, but Wellesley comes closer than any other one I’ve seen. Was also amazed how nice U of Richmond was.
I visited twelve schools with my daughter, and have seen (at least) an additional eight or ten for various reasons over the years. The most unexpected visit was at Hamilton, not because I didn’t think it would be good, it was on her list because we believed it would be – but because the standard at that level of school is high. However, Hamilton truly blew me away. The blending of the old and new sides of campus (and the sense of the school’s history that imparts), the beauty of the architecture of both, along with a dazzling natural setting, nicely distinguished Hamilton from its (also superb) academic peers.
@apple23, we went through a similar process with twins DD’s (we visited about 15 schools), and came away from Hamilton feeling the same. Most visits had a list of pluses and minuses from our DD’s, but they couldn’t figure out anything to throw against Hamilton except not being walkable to a bigger village.
We visited over 25 schools between our two children.
The first wanted a small school. On one trip we visited Middlebury, Dartmouth, Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan, Brown and Tufts. Going in we expected to like Tufts the best because we are big city people. Instead, Amherst felt the best. It felt like the archetype of a liberal arts college. Self contained walking campus, very pretty in a low-key way and with lovely mountain views, bordering a cute small downtown on one side and 1000 acres of woods and streams on the other side, friendly people, diversity, and just a good overall vibe. It didn’t feel as isolated as Midd, Dartmouth, and (especially) Williams, and it didn’t feel as busy as Brown, Wes and Tufts. We couldn’t find any downsides other than cold weather in the winter.
Our second child wanted something bigger and busier. She loved Yale and UChicago, which didn’t surprise us, but she also really ended up liking Vassar, which has a totally different feel. Vassar is an overlooked gem, IMO.
I just reread this and realized that it is boring. Sorry. It’s a lot easier to be entertaining about the places you didn’t like. 
@ThankYouforHelp Vassar is very much in demand. Not overlooked at all. I too like the town of Amherst. It has a very nice feel to it.
University of Richmond. Wasn’t even planning on visiting it on a college tour up the eastern seaboard, but I stopped in and it was absolutely incredible. Definitely a hidden gem!
University of Scranton. Easy access to the airport and the friendliest group of admission people of all the tours we took. Daughter loved the Wellesley campus but nothing else about it. I loved the Vassar campus but was really put off by all the students dressed-down and smoking, yuck.