@kimfeth: How was Lewiston, Maine as a town/city ? (Bates College).
Lewiston is the Worcester of Maine. Bates is a great school but Lewiston is quite frankly a depressing dump.
Dallas Baptist University. We walked through the academic buildings in like 5 minutes.
@Publisher â My husband and son liked Lewiston. (I missed that tour as I had to work that week.) They had a nice time walking in a lovely park near the river. The town has many restaurants (at least compared to Williamstown!). I understand that the town is interesting with Somali and French Canadian immigrants, and that Bates students get involved in community service projects for the town. Plus Maine is a great state with lots of natural beauty and outdoor activities.
@TheGreyKing , I agree with your assesment of Lewiston and itâs grown on me a lot. However, this a a thread for haters and I totally respect the misguided opinion of the poster who dissed my kidâs college. 
WashU. I figured itâd be a pretty intellectual school connected with the cool city of St. Louis, but in reality it seemed like a lot of the students only cared about partying/were very shallow and the school seemed extremely disconnected from St. Louis (which turned out to be kind of a dump imo). I just got really weird vibes like it was very isolated, and that no one really was happy to be there.
@kimfethâwe had a negative impression of Amherst as well. At the info session, a parent asked what the SAT scores of the typical accepted student was. The stuck-up admin officer said 700âs, but 600âs if you can play football and 500âs if you can play ice hockey! When parents began to grumble he said âHeyâthe alumni like winning teams!â
What a turn off.
Itâs an honest answer, though, right?
@katespeare - we are looking at the same schools for my DS19. Still have Richmond to go (among others), but W&L and Davidson are done. So far, so good with us. What did your daughter decide, or is she still deliberating?
Hey @Lindagaf and @TheGreyKing - agree with you about Lewiston, but perhaps thatâs because I have a D in college in Worcester, which also has been a pleasant surprise in terms of what it has to offer!
Dickinson seemed to have a swamp on campus (or a pond filled with green moss) and the sample dorm room had been decorated with every piece of school merchandise imaginable. Tour and presentation dry and not fun.
I believe that whoever is posting positive things about UW Madison esp in comparison to Stevens need to rethink the trash factor on this thread!
Consequently, itâs time to trash Public State Flagship U of Wisconsin â cold. Architecture: blah. As in really blaaaah as in flat and cement looking. Those darn lakes that are constantly touted by UW people: as someone who has spent years upon years going to UWMadison for this that and the other thing: those lakes are not that amazing. Sure, you can sail there when thereâs no ice, but for students: thereâs ice there 99% of the time. Food: awful. (Kielbasa and cheese and beer, while fun for a party once in awhile, only take you so far, my people!) There are one or two great little noodle shops near campus, but for the most part youâre in sad food territory there.
Stevens may not have all of the offerings of UWMadison, but it does have small intimate classes and not the weed-out classes of UW Madison. Besides that, itâs in a wonderful location for internships, has one of the worldâs most fabulous views of the Manhattan skyline from the classrooms, and has one of the highest ROIs of any school.
In addition, UW Madison is currently resting on laurels it once had when it was properly funded. Now it is slipping in standards and it is slipping in the ratings. The governor has taken away literally hundreds of millions of dollars from the system and applied that funding in part, in his great wisdom, to a sports stadium in Milwaukee for professional teams. The governor has also gotten rid of tenure but in name only, by putting in place a panel that he hand selected of his political favorites, a panel that can get rid of academics as they see fit, thus driving away the best professors (those who could leave did leave). One of the few things that attracted top talent to UW Madison in the past (despite the cold, the food, the isolation, and the ugly buildings) was the fact that at least they could get tenure there . . . .
Another turn-off for me at UW Madison was how on game days the area is flooded with what looks like an army of team-jersey-wearing young women tripping along the sidewalks towards the frat houses.
The school obviously has many fans, but this person isnât one of them.
Thanks @Dustyfeathers ! Youâve gotten this thread back to its âweaned on picklesâ roots.
@IronMaiden you are spot on! Having grown up about 20 minutes from Lewiston (and still having my parents and various family members still there) AND now living about 20 minutes from Worcester I am in the unique position to know both areas extremely well, especially now coming from the point of view of a parent of a soon to be Freshman in college with 3 other kids fast approaching the same! Lewiston and Worcester are very similar, have seen better days a long time ago and donât seem to be getting any better any faster.
No hate speech here - I have no skin in the game - as my kids are not looking at schools in either area - its the truth even when they talk of spending money in those areas it just has not worked in the 30 plus years they have tried. I would love to see those areas seen as âup and comingâ or seeing them re-tooled as the South End of Boston has been over the years but it just does not seem to catch on there.
@KatzHerder D18 is still deliberating, as she has a merit opportunity to see about, and Davidson and W&L havenât released their RD deciions yet.
@Dustyfeathers Where to begin. Mendota rarely freezes over at all during Fall semester. On average thaws by April 1. But those intervals are declining and last year the thaw date was March 7.
Food in walking distance.
https://isthmus.com/food-drink/madison-chefs-restaurant-scene-2017/
http://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/2013/09/13/forget-new-york-why-madison-wis-is-top-foodie-paradise.html
UW trending UP
Over 42,000 apps this year for freshmen
Faculty losses were within the normal turnover despite increased outside offers. As things have calmed down now and regular raises are coming they dont expect similar efforts going forward.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/10/17/u-wisconsin-pays-millions-and-manages-hold-most-professors-recruited-leave
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/university/uw-madison-announces-percent-pay-hike-for-faculty-staff/article_aecb17da-7150-555d-a321-fd10ccb785b2.html
Major fundraising and other budget enhancement well underway
https://chancellor.wisc.edu/blog/chancellor-blank-remarks-to-the-uw-system-board-of-regents/
My H didnât want my Dâs to consider Carnegie Mellon because of his memories of being in a frat there.
We like to say Worcester is the New Haven of Massachusetts.
I have been in and out of Worcester, MA for the past 30 years and been working in downtown for the past ten years.
In defense of Worcester, the city has been under revitalization for the past 4-5 years. If you come to downtown at and around the city hall, you can see the positive changes, from Hanover theater to the new court house. Old buildings are being renovated. New buildings are going up. So are many trendy, new restaurants around city hall.
Unfortunately, Clark U., a very nice liberal arts university, is in the MainSouth area which has not been quite transformed. Clark is the best thing happening in Main South. Worcester is Improving steadily these days.
Holy Cross ?