This is the best thread on CC! I log on everyday just to check this thread. I am also waiting on my tippy toes for @SwimmingDad’s reports.
I saw UC Davis today from the windows of an Amtrak train as we sped by. The almond trees were in full bloom in the surrounding area and it was an unseasonably warm day. On paper Davis was always my top pick for my daughter. Like most California campuses it is ultra modern but is less homely than many and both the campus and the town have always been ahead of the curve ecologically. Everyone is on bicycle, and the terrain is much flatter than all of the UCs I’ve seen, making biking practical.
Unfortunately, the pollen count is very high in Spring and five minutes after my daughter got off the bus at Davis, on her junior year high school college tour, she and several of her classmates had bad allergic reactions. They were immediately escorted back to the bus and she, in fear for her health, never applied. As I’ve said before my dream of her minoring in wine was dashed forever.
@4kids4us , it’s called metathesis and is a common deviation in language development. Compare Germanic “milk” to Slavic “mleko”. In a hundred years, everyone in that region will say “FASFA” - and you heard it first!
Unexpected Least Favorite from four visits during this past weekend: Marist College. I really, really wanted to like this school for my son. I grew up in the mid-Hudson Valley, knew MC from its days as a small Catholic school, spent lots of time there swimming in youth meets. We are from northern NJ (Stevens is just fine, you know…and Hoboken is fun and vibrant), so the drive time is right. Heard extremely positive things about their new upperclass housing and overall investment into the school. Son also wants to do program - perhaps even a year - abroad in Italy, so the Marist program was obviously a draw.
Turn Offs: Didn’t love the presentation by admissions officer - far too focused on certain programs within the school, bit too many “clearly reused” jokes and punchlines, felt it was a bit smug. Really disappointed with our tour guide. Huge emphasis on the words “like” and “super”, was constantly flipping and fixing her hair, couldn’t answer questions beyond what was just presented in the information session - she literally even used his tired jokes. But what really caught me off guard was how unhappy the students seemed. Not a Marist sweatshirt to be seen. Not a single student or group of student even said “hi” as we walked by. Caught lots of eye rolling by some of the current female students re: a young woman with blue hair and a funky hat in my group (she’s a fashion student). And I’m also the parent of a college freshman girl, so I know classic “resting bit** face” when I see it…and this was a school with a lot of it. I was truly surprised to see the amount of makeup and thought out outfits, as well…again, I have already been through college selection with a daughter, so I catch different things.
But, with all of that said, the campus is beautiful, and as long as you head north up Rt 9 to Hyde Park instead of turning right to Poughkeepsie, you’re safe…but my son also caught onto no blue boxes and a profound lack of security visibility during the tour. And security are guards, not officers, and are not armed. Feel as you may about armed campus security, but I know Poughkeepsie, and that could be challenging at some point in time.
Wanted to love it. Was a miss.
Lewis and Clark College: beautiful campus in the lovely suburb of Portland, Lake Oswego; wanted to like it, but after visiting twice …meh. On a hill in a residential area, with nowhere to go without a car. Where is the off/campus beer and pizza? 20 minutes to downtown Portland by bus.
Georgetown. Wanted to like it, but didn’t. Disjointed campus layout. Lacked the charm of the surrounding neighborhood. Tour group divided into three sections with individual tour guides. Great, right? No. Each group followed the same route at the same time, resulting in a crush of bodies with each tour guide yelling over the other. Reminded me of Stork leading the marching band down a blind alley in the Fabre College Parade. Best and the brightest?
UCSD. Criminal waste of a location.
Davidson and Wake Forest. Expected to love them. Didn’t. Both felt a bit Disney/Stepford without a sufficient local community to really engage.
All four came off my felon’s list of schools.
“Reminded me of Stork leading the marching band down a blind alley in the Fabre College Parade”
Thanks for the laugh.
“UCSD. Criminal waste of a location.”
Really. The whole stretch above the Torrey Pines Beach, and they turned the campus into a concrete jungle mess. What a shame.
In preparation for upcoming visits…I thought perhaps this crowd could give me an idea of what awful things to keep an eye out for at the following campuses - I wouldn’t want to miss the worst of the worst!
Mt. Holyoke
Smith
Wellesley
MIT
Swarthmore
Haverford
Bryn Mawr
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern
Grinnell
Ah, @CValle, you must go in with high expectations. I’ve visited 6 on your list but as fun as it is to snark after the fact, I truly hope you and your offspring love them all. 
Don’t sabotage your trip before even leaving! Besides, we want you to have your own original snark and not be influenced by group think snark. 
@CValle I’ve been to your first 4. Be prepared to overpay. It doesn’t get worse than that. Well, that is, unless you’re turned off by signs about shower sex.
Cvalle, keep an eye open for the ugly new-ish wings of the main library at Northwestern…they clash with many of the beautiful buildings nearby. Also, the new business school building is so spectacular you will want to save Northwestern for your grad-school list. Also, note the affluent smugness a few too many students carry around-- though judging from your list, you are from a place where such a look is the default setting.
Wellesley is almost too beautiful.
Re Grinnell, driving through the rolling Iowa countryside is one of the most enjoyable things I discovered on college road trips. Those beautiful Grant Wood landscape paintings pop to life. Hope you get to see Iowa before all of it is covered with windmills.
@moooop I had to laugh at your comment - “judging from your list, you are from a place where such a look is the default setting.” We are American expats in India. I think judgment from our list led you astray.
@CValle The only one on your list we visited was Grinnell. We liked it a lot more than our daughter did, but I do have a sort of funny thing to look out for. Maybe this would only happen in the fall as we were there in October, but there was some sort of weird insect migration going on or something, and floating through the air were these very long strands of spiderwebby material. They were literally everywhere on campus. During the tour, our guide even had one floating upwards from her head because it was stuck in her hair! If anyone knows what these things are, please tell me because it was like some strange science-fiction movie.
That wasn’t the reason my daughter disliked Grinnell; it was more that she got the feeling that there’s a lot of substance use there. Not sure if that’s true or not but it turned her off.
I won’t include any of the positive impressions we had at the school, since I’ve seen people on this thread get chastised for saying anything nice, LOL! I’m doing my part to keep the tone of this thread negative and snarky! :))
@IBviolamom When we toured Davidson last April, we saw those weird floaty spiderwebby things, too!
Spiderwebby things would knock Davidson off my son’s list for sure. Almost 18 and still unable to kill a spider on his own.
Oh no! This is horrifying! My kid is deathly afraid of spiders and refused to consider University of Richmond for that reason (team mascot).
@prodesse My daughter had to get used to the idea of being a Spider. UR is one of her top two choices right now.
Yes, the Richmond “spider” mascot and the Conn Coll “camel” mascot were turn-offs to my kid (who was looking to play D3 sport). “Go spiders” or “go camels” just didn’t have the right ring . . . .
My DD was really put off by the “Tars” mascot of Rollins college. However, after visiting she decided she could live with the mascot if the trade-off was attending school in such a beautiful place.
@Midwestmomofboys Go Banana Slugs?