@timekeeper that is awful! If we are going to invest the effort to get D there for an overnight the least they could is have a host who at least tries to put their best foot forward!
My D did one overnight; the next ones will come as accepted student. She did overnight at Vassar. It went from being high on her list to #1 on her list. Host and her friends sound like they were perfect.
So much of this is really luck.
@swtaffy904 could you be a little more specific about what your D liked about Vassar? We looked at it recently, but are still trying to form our opinion
Sorry to intrude in the discussion but the positives for me for Vassar areâŠ
- Gothic wonderland. Imagine this school during Halloween!
- Awesome library. I would never leave!
- CIA just due north. You can actually get an incredible meal each time you visit. BTW Malcolm Gladwell did an excellent episode of his podcast ârevisionist historyâ, which explained why the food at Vassar being horrible is a good thing.
- Non descript dorms, but a grand piano is a nice touch.
- Anthony Bourdain dropped out of here.
- 2 hour train ride to NYC.
@Old_parent
Thanks - I did not know about #5. Heâs such a foodie, perhaps that is why he dropped out - lol.
I was aware of the others you mentioned, but trying to get more of a read on student vibe. The gender imbalance was worrisome for my D, though not so much different than at other LACs. But what is different about it, is that they get so few male applicants. They admit 55% of males and 15% of females. Wondering if the genders are equal academically with that imbalance?
I did listen to the podcast too. I thought it was a little silly, though our tour guide did hint that the food was not a highlight!
We were told on our Vassar tour that it was lucky (I think for admissions purposes) to see groundhogs on campus. We actually saw two, who were kissing. I hope that brought luck to my two kids!
We grabbed lunch there and it was not good, but they were completely revamping their dining hall and had contracted with the same food service company that serves Wesleyan, where the food was terrific.
Oops, sorry, this is the hate on colleges thread and I am off topic, but I will just leave my inappropriately positive post in place.
@wisteria100 my D is an artsy kid. She is looking for a place where she will be academically challenged but also able to play music and do theatre. The vibe just was right for her from the minute she got out of the car. Im having trouble putting my finger on it but some of it was the little things, the Shakespeare garden. She loved the library. She didnât mind the food at all; I didnât eat on campus so canât comment. She is aware of the gender imbalance but she is also applying to Smith so that is not a huge factor.
We saw Vassar and then Skidmore. We were completely underwhelmed by Skidmore and left scratching our heads because we know a couple of friends who preferred Skidmore.
I guess itâs good they donât all feel the same way. It work be a free for all
@swtaffy904 , did you look at Bard? Our guide told us it was known as the "dinner party school ". Apparently, all dorms have cooking facilities so students wonât set the place on fire with toaster ovens. Our tour there included a lot of very funny moments. âŠ
@gardenstategal we did look at Bard and it is on her to apply there. I liked it less than Vassar, didnât quite get the intellectual vibe there. But my D did feel she would be happy there
I just saw that Satchel Ronan Farrow, son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen (now doing the expose on Harvey W), graduated from Bard at age 15, and went on to Yale Law School, and got a Rhodes to Oxford in Journalism which he did not complete.
@preppedpolished FWIW he actually started college early at Bard College at Simons Rock which is a program specifically geared for HS aged students who are ready for college level work.
He and I have that in common, never knew!
Ronan Farrow started at Bard/Simon Rock then transferred to Bard.
In keeping with the spirit of this thread, child #1, the artsy one, and I thought Bard was a wonderful fit on paper. Not in real life, though. It struck us as a bunch of angsty types, guys all wearing skinny jeans, and the real killer - more smokers than Iâve ever seen in my life and butts littered across the otherwise pretty campus.
@doschicos I saw more than a few smokers at Reed. Disgusting to me, likely a plus for D17, who is a Freshman there. Observing the student body is maybe the most important info picked up on a campus visit. The guides are chirpy backwards walkers, the info session may be dry or loud or useful (Smith, Bryn Mawr, Reed, Lewis and Clark), and questions about majors, international study, fin aid, etc., can largely be found on websites. But for your kids to encounter dozens, hundreds, of students a few years older, hear what they are talking about, see what they are wearing or eating or smokingâ can they imagine themselves on that campus? A much truer guide than canned YouTube infomercials, or CCers bummed by a rainy day.
Hear, hear, @PetulaClark! The school this kid eventually chose was largely due to meeting and interacting with a variety of kids who were all very different from each other yet all very welcoming and the types that kiddo knew could be friend material.
St. Johnâs of Annapolis got crossed off the list because of smokers. It was always a long shot because itâs just a bit too close to home, but we had a great tour guide and my kid was grooving on it. I actually saw the change, the moment my kid had to walk through a cloud of cigarette smoke to get into a building and turned against the place.
I didnât go on the tour, but according to my wife Tufts was rather underwhelming since the tour guide seemed to mention the history and traditions of Tufts more than the academics and facilities. Meaning the hour was spent on Jumbo and vandalizing the cannon. Son thought it was cool and applied, but withdrew the application when he got into his ED choice.
We never toured the campus, but the regional presentation for Northwestern didnât go well. The alumni presenters didnât seem like they wanted to be there and 2 of them were recent grads still looking for their first job. My son wasnât considering Northwestern anyways but the local representatives could have done a more professional job with the presentation.
Hated Tufts. See post #545.
I hate to say this about my daughterâs school, but Middle Tennessee State was about the ugliest campus Iâve ever seen. She was commuting to class from Nashville, so I guess the aesthetics and atmosphere didnât matter to her.
Our sonâs visit to Sewanee was unimpressive. Very Greek which didnât sit well with his interests. Also lots of talk about partying and getting drunk was a turn off. However, the campus is beautiful and he loved the class he attended.
The school that he truly hated above all others was UTK. First we sat in a large room with about 50 others for a sort of pep rally / info session. âWhen I say Big Orange you say Go Volsâ was the biggest part of the presentation. It felt wrong. The emphasis was definitely not on academics. Couldnât leave quick enough. Even though they have a good Engineering program he decided to not even apply.
NC State - Too big and spread out. Kids waiting for busses on every corner in order to go from one place to another. D18 was really turned off by that.