Would certainly not want to pay private school prices for a triple, so totally get the point @CAtransplant is making. fwiw, one of the significant factors in not choosing UCLA was the triples and the random room mate placement - being an engineer or pre-med with absolutely no matching of two room mates in a cracker box didn’t interest us. For that money, def want the option of a double or single. I remember the triples at Cal Poly red bricks were omg, tiny - I was claustrophobic walking by them on the tour. But it’s a lot cheaper to attend there, so not such a shock. But when paying $70K+ expecting good housing options with that price tag is certainly reasonable. And if you don’t get them, it is reasonable to take a pass on the school, if that is an important criteria in one’s search.
UW-Madison found that random roommates worked just as well (better?) than filling out questionnaires for those without a specific roommate in mind.
Not sure what the debate is about, since (as CAtransplant said) this is a thread about personal preferences. Can’t people dislike certain things just because they do? (Especially if they have other options on the table…)
I, for one, am all for learning to share and making do under difficult circumstances. But immature young adults are notorious for getting into unfair social hierarchies in groups. As a young person, I can remember too many times I having to choose between showering or missing a meal because of queen bees deliberately dawdling in the bathroom. So I’ll give anyone a pass who turns down the opportunity of six girls learning to share one shower!
Actually, the thread is about unexpectedly not liking a school. If I were looking at UCLA, I’d expect not to like the triple rooming situation, but I’d know of that requirement so it wouldn’t be an unexpected thing.
Unexpectedly - Princeton. My grandfather was an alum, my father was an alum, I grew up going to reunions (the best) and two of my siblings are alums. I figured my eldest would like it. But when we visited during her east coast tour, we both hated it. The tour waiting area was super formal, the admissions people were unfriendly, our fellow tour attendees all seemed stressed (one kid was actually crying because his tiger parent was insisting he had to like it), the student tour guide was condescending. The whole attitude seemed to be “you’d be lucky to come here”. Well - screw that. Just hated the attitude. I didn’t even bother to visit with my youngest. Not honestly saying either of my kids could have gotten in if they had applied (!) but very interesting to me that after visiting as a potential applicant parent I no longer wanted either of them to do so!
CaMom13 Sounds like we were on the same Princeton tour. I loved the beautiful grounds but that was it. In addition to condescending tour guides, we were there on a gorgeous early October day, all day, and saw not one student just out enjoying the day or even a student who would nod and say hello. Vastly different from ever other school we visited. I figured maybe it was midterm time and they were all inside studying.
@Buddyparent - oh yes, that’s right! When we left campus my D told me not a single Princeton student we passed, either while we were on the tour or walking on our own, had smiled at her. I had been more focused on the architecture so I hadn’t noticed but that was a huge red flag for her that the student body overall wasn’t very open or friendly. Very much in keeping with the impression we got on the tour! We toured in early April but it seems we had the same experience. 
Adding MIT for my son. Not to dispute it being the top (at least top 3) engineering and science college, the attitude was too much. My son wasn’t impressed with the campus. The admission’s officer had an indifferent attitude and the tour guide straight out said that you have to be an engineering or science major to have any credibility on campus.
Wow altaSki64. I just love visiting the CSAIls building. The one for CS, and the brain/cognitive sci bog across the street. I love modern architecture and the wide open spaces. Still, there are many other choices for your son.
Getting in late but saw a few UMASS posts. As a mid 80s grad, I thought it was pretty nice; the beautiful fall with big trees around the campus pond, springtime, etc. There were a lot of concrete buildings (in addition to beautiful old brick).
Fast forward a few years ago. Wife and I were excited to see campus with our kids. Were on a family trip and went out of our way to spend a day in Amherst, take a tour, etc. Both kids thought the place was a dump. They both said “why were you so excited to be here…?” In defense, there was a tremendous amount of construction going on so parts of campus were closed off. Anyway, not the effect we were looking for.
This thread does make me smile.
Each time a poster says something not so positive (and that IS the point of the thread) about someone’s pet school, they’re treated to a counter argument.
The idea is to talk about negative impressions on YOU-- your opinion, your reaction, your feelings. And, yes, every single point is valid-- for the person making it.
So my kid’s favorite doesn’t have to be your kid’s favorite… and that’s OK.
@CaMom13 / @buddyparent - things haven’t changed at Princeton in years…
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20385605#Comment_20385605
No @bjkmom you are missing the point. MY kid’s favorite has to be everyone’s favorite. :))
@bjkmom
Thank goodness that your kid’s favorite is NOT my kid’s!!! Lol. Wouldn’t that be nice for every school we looked at!
Case Western did nothing for any of us when we visited. It was funny when my D17 was wait-listed there after being accepted at every other school.
I didn’t go, but wife and daughter were both turned off by UVa - everyone came across as very arrogant. It’s a good school, but it’s not Harvard.
Carnegie Mellon, my son wanted to like it but all of the engineering students looked depressed and did not smile. We eat lunch near the E-school and the students eating looked stressed, Not one student was talking or smiling. I asked someone if they were in the middle of tests and they said, no, they just finished tests and are at the beginning of the semester. Many of the E-school classes are in the basement of an old building and if there are windows they looked out at a dirty side street with garbage everywhere. The tour guide also acted like the students on the tour had very little change of being admitted. DS unfortunately applied before visiting but after the visit did not want to attend.
Our tour at UVA was wonderful and the E-school classes looked out to a beautiful campus with trees and squirrels and smiling laughing students. They did not seem arrogant at all. He loved the school after the visit.
Just finished visiting a ton of colleges.
RPI fell off the list immediately. Sad little town, sad big campus. Yes, it was summer-empty, but so were all other campuses we visited. This one felt especially deserted somehow. The admission officer asked who drove more than two hours to get here. Although there were several people from out of region, that gave an impression RPI considers itself a regional school. The tour guide was unenthusiastic, said food was mediocre and when asked why he chose RPI said he just wanted to get out of his hometown (which happened to be the home of WPI).
Liked Williams’ campus and the tutorial system, but it got crossed of the list because there’s pretty much nothing there besides the campus and gorgeous nature. You really have to be the type of kid who always wanted to be a forest ranger.
UMich - there was a lot of people at the info session, and the admissions guy started by asking people to raise their hands if they’re from MI…West Coast…East Coast…Midwest…South…international… Wait a minute, we in Colorado do exist and are nowhere near the West Coast. He also said “I hope there’s nobody from Ohio”, and there was actually one kid from Ohio who must have felt uncomfortable. Ridiculously, exactly the same thing, minus the Ohio part, happened in Northwestern. Now does this mean that a kid from CO would be that rare and exotic applicant these colleges will love? Somehow I have my doubts.
Actually, Colorado is considered to be in the Western region of US, mountain division. (Vs Pacific region)
@yucca10 the Ohio thing is a reference to the rivalry between Michigan and OSU (so all in jest). It’s kind of like a UNC kid being on Duke’s campus.
@yucca10 - I teach in ohio, and went down to OSU last year to present at a professional development workshop. The information included instructions from OSU administration NOT to wear any form of blue and/or yellow to the conference. They take the rivalry seriously…