We did 3 Bowdoin tours and visits (2 with one child to give them another chance and thinking we were unlucky the first time re: tour guide/reception in admissions). They were all less than welcoming and came across as snooty. Surprising because it was a sharp contrast to pretty much all the other LACs we visited. Also surprising because it is is so unrepresentative of the state of Maine as a whole.
We only visited two LACs, Kenyon & Bowdoin, and Bowdoin was definitely the classier & more welcoming of the two. And that is not saying much.
All of the National Universities we visited, whether announced or unannounced, treated us as if we were dignitaries. Some were highly ranked elites (for example:Northwestern & Harvard) & a couple were not.
At the University of Alabama we were overwhelmed with the attention & gracious hospitality given to us. President Witt, now Chancellor I think, invited us for a lengthy interview & coffee in his conference room, had us sit down with a prominent Alabama official & their applicant son, given lengthy tours, lunch, interviews with professors & final farewell from President Witt. We left & after about an hour into our drive were called back & invited to stay overnight with the football team in a hotel on campus & invited to spend the next day in the Presidentās box at the game (we rooted for Alabama). Then were offered Honors College admission with a full scholarship plus University Fellows (although still were required to return for a weekend with all other Fellows or Fellows candidates), paid travel abroad for our son to Cuba & elsewhere.
I graduated from a LAC & expected a warm cozy environment. Yet the experiences of my sons and his classmates & friends were eye-opening.
@Publisher So I guess that means your son was a football recruit? No surprise that Alabama pulled out all of the stops then, no?
No. My son was not a football recruit.
@homerdog: If I recall correctly, someone suggested that your son apply to the University of Georgia Honors College & then to the Foundation Fellows program. Both are outstanding.
Unfortunately, with the ridiculous readjustment of the SAT scoring last March, it probably takes about a 1580/1600 to be a serious Foundation Fellows contender. The Honors College used to average about 1460 or higher, so that it is probably at 1500 or so now.
In the interest of being helpful (sorry for not spewing hate, I will think more about it), we visited several colleges several times and had vastly different experiences within in each college.
The FIRST time my D18 and I visited W&L, it was sleeting/snowing and visits werenāt cancelled but later classes were. The ātalkā in admissions was ok, but the lack of greeting us, directing to water/coffee/restroom was noted. I am a teacher at an independent school, and I would NEVER be so dismissive of visitors on campus. I believed, as a person from the deeper South where EVERYTHING shuts down during that kind of snow, that I had done well to get my daughter to the session and tour! LOL. The subsequent visits were so much better.
Davidson was AMAZING the first visit and really āEHā on the subsequent one, all around. First Admissions Talk was good, secondā¦not so much. First tour was great, second not so much. The highlight of that visit was talk from a department head in an area my daughter cares deeply about. That chair stayed late to speak to us on Good Friday, on a day of a long weekend, which was noted and appreciated.
My D18ās first visit to University of Richmond was a day of 18 degree weather, wind, and being told that the arts building was ātoo farā to walk to. The second visit was very fulfilling with a full artsy tour.
Maybe the point is that because some schools ticked our boxes so strongly, we looked at them more than once with a critical eye. We could, because they are within a 3-5 hour drive.
@Publisher then why would you stay overnight with the football team? Interesting!
^ wondering same!
Interesting similar reactions to Bowdoin here. It was definitely more snobbish feeling (from the adult in admissions, not students) to us, and we saw in same road trip Colby, Middlebury, and Bates for comparison. My dad, I thought unreasonably, hates Bowdoin because he once worked with a jerk who had gone there. But maybe there is something to it!
The hotel on campus hosts the football team, coaches, prominent alumni, big doners, etc. At that time there was a three year waiting list for a room on a home football weekend.
It was just an extraordinary gesture on behalf of the university.
The point of sharing this experience was as a contrast to how we were treated when visiting National Universities versus small Liberal Arts Colleges. Some suggest that large universities are impersonal & LACs are warm & welcoming. Not so in our limited experience.
I have visited well over 60 or 70 colleges & universities on other matters.
I forgot to mention Middlebury College. Truly a very welcoming school. The parents were wonderful & very interesting & open. Cannot say enough positive about Northwestern, Harvard, Chicago & a few others.
Tulane was surprisingly a bad experience. The tour guide was great, but the buildings seemed to be falling apart, and the campus was dirty.
@treschicos On the subject of disliking schools because a ājerkā you once knew went there, it may sound silly, but that stuff sticks with you. I feel the same way about Bucknell. I know nothing more than the fact that I once worked with a former Bucknell frat guy, and, letās just say, it ruined the school for me.
Exactly. I couldnāt stomach the thought of my daughter at Lehigh after a neighbor bragged constantly about all his female conquests during his time there. nauseating. I am happy to report he has three daughters now.
@Veryapparent sounds like karma is an angry female dog, especially in regards to your neighbor.
āOn the subject of disliking schools because a ājerkā you once knew went there, it may sound silly, but that stuff sticks with youā
Falls into the same camp as not wanting to name a child after a jerk you knew with the same name. 
Post #1344 has a pleasant description of the Wellesley campus. Public U of Wisconsin has all of that (well, the lake is much bigger and public) and more. Some flagship Uās try harder to recruit top students while others donāt need to.
@doschicos, lots of teachers have that issue. One bad kid can ruin a good name forever!!!
In reference to the comments about Tulane: Iāve never seen the campus, but Iāve read parts of the campus were under a great deal of stress after Katrina. A number of buildings were severely damaged, and the university had to farm out its students to other universities for a semester while the repairs occurrred.
Amherst: I did visit on a rainy day after doing the BBC the days prior so my bar was pretty darn high, but the whole campus felt like it was on edge and perpetually anxious. It felt plain and boring and the person who gave the admissions presentation was a pretentious jerk who gave the āour way or the highwayā vibe.
Bates: While I loved how they emphasized a global education and apparently loved IB(so much credit opportunity :(( ) I didnāt like the campus. It felt dreary and rundown to me.