@Hanna please report back on your findings.
Iāve never been to Hoboken but had a great conversation with a policeman in the Newark train station, while on a business trip years ago.
Me: Can you please give me directions to the Hilton (knowing it was 2 blocks from the station).
Policeman: Are you running or taking a cab?
I took a cab the two blocks.
@GnocchiB I answered you on post 1202 when you asked the first time. It was austere and cold to me, almost dark. D17 really wanted to love it and thatās why we visited more than once. Had D17 decided to row, it would have been a player regardless - but she was injured so that was that.
Iāll chime in on Stevens, I went there for a bit. Lived in Secaucus and Hoboken for a few years. Back in the day it was very international. I lived off campus and walked a path from my apartment to class. I donāt remember much about it, as I was taking a couple of classes part time. Hoboken was starting to get a bit gentrified. Hobokenās strength was itās view, we could see the NYC skyline from every window in our apartment and it always made me stop in my tracks.
@SwimmingDad , we were reprimanded for smiley faces! Knock it off! :))
@Hanna , my son received an unsolicited mailer from Stevens just the other day. I can describe it and save you a visit. The envelope is a little drab, but it does say āThe Innovation Universityā, which is kind of interesting. Now I will open it. (Shh, donāt tell anyone I am breaking the law.) The contents are super uninteresting, alas. I was hoping for an obligatory aerial shot, but there isnāt one. I am going to judge Stevens on this mailing though and say that I will expectedly not like it. 
My wife is in the other room talking to my daughter, who has called home more in the last week than I did my entire 12 years in College.
Were we too kind? Did anyone else have the mistaken idea that their children would flee home and never come back?
Back to the original programmingā¦ @Lindagaf donāt think youāve gotten one past me. Iām only letting you get away with it because of your snide tone, which of course I appreciate.
When we visited BYU Hawaiāi, I had high hopes. Unfortunately, despite beautiful surroundings, the campus buildings were run down and old. It also felt cramped and small (not surprising given the location and small student population). Iām sure this is not a deal-breaker for many people given the massive upsides of living on Oahu, but it was a deal-breaker for me.
To each his own.
Parents liked Stevens, son did not so much.
Parent graduated (and loved) Boston U.
Kid did not like the campus except fancy new luxury dorms.
Parents didnāt love Worcester (neighborhood), but we all loved WPI the school.
Same for Johns Hopkins and Union NY. More of a ācould you tolerate this neighborhoodā feeling.
Didnāt stop the process but lowered the ranking.
Only one hard no agreed by all. Binghamton.
So much for saving $ at a SUNY.
@Lindagaf , thank you for bringing unadulterated, seat of the pants, negativaty back to this thread.
I was getting worid that we might try to seriously debate the merits or demerits of a particular school!
@Lindagaf- Why not check out Stevensā website www.stevens.edu? There are many photos including aerials, that you wonāt see in a mailing. Stevens is one of the leading technological universities (and one of the first) in the US. The website has all the information you would want. Deciding whether or not to visit a school merely on the basis of a mailing is essentially judging a book by its cover.
Years ago when we toured colleges for #1 S, we gave Hampshire a HUGE thumbs down. It was not the prettiest campus and felt a little creepy (maybe because the kids werenāt there. and we just didnāt like it). This time around, for #2 S, we found that Hofstra was a big NO for all 3 of us. The buildings were old and ugly, and the admissions staff and their presentation were underwhelming. We actually thought about ditching the tour halfway through but stuck it out.
@GnocchiB Princeton does feel soulless. Iāve spent a lot of time there and the only thing there is to do beyond attend classes, it seems, to compete with the others socially. Over the years three tenured professors Iāve known left for other jobs. Yes ā tenured at Princeton ā couldnāt wait to get out.
There seems to be a superiority/inferiority issue here. Superiority = Weāre Princeton! Inferiority = Weāre in New Jersey! Which is a really nice state and has a great coolness factor, but Princeton people have trouble simultaneously embracing the two extremes of their Princetonness and the Jersey-shore-ness and gorgeous rural farms that surround them. They just canāt get them to mesh in their heads or something, so they push their noses higher into the sky. Or whatever.
In any event, it seems a place very concerned about social class over other things. You know, how much was your couch? Do you live in Princeton itself or do you have to āsufferā outside of the wee town? That sort of thing.
As for StevensāIāve visited and itās high on my list for underappreciated schools. Excellent academics. In cute town. Overlooks Manhattan skyline. A short ferry ride into the City . . . etc. But Iāll stop there because I donāt want to fawn too much on this thread of bitter hate.
This thread makes me want to go on a college visit just so I can trash the place. Iām going to Charleston soonā¦
@megan12 Way back when I was visiting colleges, my parents drove me up the Hampshire driveway, I saw a bunch of goats running around, and immediately told them I was not going there.
I SOOOO needed this humor this morning. I love this thread. Feel like Iām in a comedy club. One school: Pitzer. I wanted to like it, I really did. But to tout environmental everything, then have a 'UGE swimming pool in the middle of the residential quad is mind-bending contradictory. Itās the desert. Water in CA is a precious resource. They have to refill it frequently. Say whaaat? It negates everything that is being taught in the classrooms around it. I couldnāt get over it from the minute the tour started (which started AT the pool). Would love to checkout Stevens next time I fly thru Newarkā¦
Nobody has an opinion of Faber College?
The one thing nobody on a WashU tour ever mentions. Harold Ramisā old frat house near the South 40 is still in existence and is one of the inspirations for Animal House. So WashU isnāt the perfect campusā¦
" Feel like Iām in a comedy club."
Even the posts with no humor intended.
@Engineer80 Be a sport and say something funny or self-deprecating and we can all find some love for Stevens. Anyone who loves his school as much as you do canāt be all bad.
@GnocchiB there is only ONE yurt at Hampshireā¦and the goats are on a farm that provides food for the college and community (via CSA).
Iāve driven through the campusā¦itās, well, āeclecticā comes to mind.