With Columbia, I felt like I was in the middle of Roman Senate buildings. With NY Univ, I couldn’t tell if there was a campus. With Pomona, Claremont, Harvey Mudd group of LACs, I felt like group of high schools got together to form a college.
Villanova… Took 5 minutes…too preppy, too holy…too whatever…lol.
For my S19 it was NYU…the info session seemed to completely focus on study abroad and the Qatar and Shanghai campuses (I think those are the locations) and being away from campus…and then stepping outside to see there is no campus. Less than 20 minutes into the tour he said “we’re out” and we went to lunch instead.
Agree about NYU. I thought the info session did a very good job explaining what NYU was about – so appreciated that – but what they were selling my D wasn’t buying. My niece transferred there and loved it – but said you have to be bit of a ‘lone wolf’ to like NYU. She ‘commuted’ everyday from Brooklyn where she lived with other upperclassmen b/c it was cheaper.
I also had no idea how big NYU is until the tour. Crazy that a university is that big right in the middle of NYC. All the many brochures, etc. they sent my D after her visit seemed to be selling NYC more than NYU. I can see stars in students’ eyes b/c New York is great – but NYU itself seemed overwhelming and overpriced.
@cleoforshort none of mine really liked Elon - granted we made them all go on the oldest one’s tours and the youngest was 10 at the time. All 3, however, were enamored with High Point - mostly because the school is manicured like Disney World and they have an ice cream truck. 
We actually visited South Carolina on that same trip and determined it was too big for the oldest. We left with only a lukewarm feeling because we sort of just milled about and had no clue what we were doing. Fast forward 8 years - we visited SC again. It was a totally different experience, the place looked great, and the youngest loved it.
Really had a negative reaction to Lehigh. I went in ready to like it - it’s the size my DC wants and has great programs. I had heard it was on a mountain … but we had no idea how “mountainy” it would feel. We were there earlier this summer and drove around the campus at dusk the night before the tour. When we got to the upper part of the campus and continued our ascent up near the sorority and fraternity houses we were blown away by the number of deer out grazing - we counted at least 10. We stopped so my DC could take pictures of them and they really didn’t even react - they weren’t scared at all, which left me thinking that they must be used to the people and come around quite regularly.
We were so freaked out by the deer (not to mention the steep roads and staircases that would be difficult to traverse when icy or snowy) that we figured they must be a big deal on campus, but the tour guide didn’t mention anything about them. That made us even more upset.
There were a few beautiful buildings on campus, but the business school (which is the primary reason my DC is interested) was built in 1990 and felt outdated - we noticed that it lacked large gathering spaces for hanging out in between classes (the “lounge areas” might have been sufficient for 1990 but are not big enough by today’s standards and I didn’t really see many plugs for kids to use to recharge phones/laptops while hanging out). The lack of upperclass housing also was a negative in our book.
One other thing that bothered me was that during the info session, the admissions rep made some remark along the lines of “no one pays the full sticker price.” I get it that they are saying that their financial aid is generous, but really, not everyone applies for or qualifies for aid, and it was such a flip remark that it rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it was the also the extremely fast rate of talking and the New York accent that the rep had. And frankly, brown is just not a favorite color of mine.
DC liked it well enough so I guess it stays on the list, but I would need a really positive return visit to be happy to send my kid there!
@rednile I hate when a school says that hardly anyone pays sticker price when they offer no merit and just need based aid since we would be full pay.
But what’s wrong with deer? Lol.
@rednile why were you so freaked out by the deer? They are very common in the suburban and rural areas on the east coast. They don’t bother anyone and most of us like them (except for the ticks).
@rednile - I’m also laughing about the deer. Where are you from? I think they’re gentle and lovely to watch - they never let you get too close b4 scampering off.
We loved the deer at Lehigh, but we are used to having them in our neighborhood. We did think the same about the potential difficulties of getting around the hilly campus in the winter. On the plus side, our tour guide said no one at Lehigh gains the freshman 15.
Ha about the freshman 15 and the hills! I love this thread
Just finished the thread and I’m so sad that every one of the schools on D17s list got brutalized, so now I’m recommending that she look into a career in HVAC!
Actually,we just visited Georgetown, Princeton and Lafayette…Princeton is third right now. I think it’s more that Georgetown had a great presenter at the information session followed by a funny and interesting tour guide, then the day after at Princeton, there were all of these middle aged men and other odd looking folks, walking around campus with their heads buried in their phones playing Pokemon.
I hope @rednile comes back to say where they’re from! I live about an hour from Lehigh, so deer are so nothing! Bear are the new big thing! It’s funny because we drive by Lehigh/Lafayette/Moravian area all the time but have never really even seen the campuses. I’m going to have to make a point of visiting when I’m killing time during D21’s practices in the area!
Please with the deer. I run in the woods near our house (which is only one mile from our house in suburbia) and I see deer almost every day on those runs.I’m still laughing! I did see one post once where the poster was excited about seeing squirrels. That was funny too. (Sorry I know this is off topic).
@tpike12 I consider it a badge of honor for a college to be “brutalized” on this thread!!
A quick glance at Google Maps would tell anyone that there is no real campus at NYU, GWU and BU. What do visitors to these urban campuses expect? An arboretum?
@happy1 @tpike12 Ah-haha! I’ll be happily reading this thread, going “heh heh” to every slam no matter how petty, and then - bam! - someone criticizes my alma mater, and I’m like, this dumb thread is dumb .
I’m back with a deer explanation. We’re from the south - an urban area, in case you couldn’t guess. What startled us is that (1) there were so many - we are used to seeing one or two here or there in wooded areas of our city, mostly running away when they hear our car, and (2) that they were out when the sun was still up which made me wonder if they were ill.
Now that I’ve been told that they came in peace, yes, I guess I can see that they’re gentle and cute and furry. I just would have preferred to have been informed of their contributions to the scenery ahead of time. Forewarned is forearmed.
I thought it was weird that the deer weren’t mentioned on the tour because other schools seem to mention squirrels with a fair amount of regularity and I’d think Lehigh might have wanted to use them as a competitive advantage.
DC1 had an unfortunate encounter with a rabid bat in a mountainous area while at camp about 8 years ago and had to take the rabies series, which was unpleasant AND forced us to cancel a beach vacation. Net, I am very cautious around wildlife now. (We are sort of mean and irreverent in our household and have told DC1 that if a dog/raccoon/squirrel frothing at the mouth ever comes near our house, she is the one to deal with it b/c of her rabies immunity).
I still stand by my statement that the admissions rep, who identified herself as being from Brooklyn, talked too fast.
@JenJenJenJen yes, it’s all fun and games til someone disses your school!
Deer aren’t nearly as scary as the giant alligator my friend’s daughter saw across the street from her bus stop at UF. Shudder.