tell me about colleges that didn't make your kid's list

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvey Mudd - My daughter did not like the 1960s motel-like dorms.

I tried very hard to interest DD in Harvey Mudd, but it is rather amazingly ugly, especially compared to the other 4 schools in the Claremont cluster. We were feeling a little shell-shocked on our self-guided tour between the Soviet gulag-looking dorms and a near-collision with one of the several students on unicycles. A nice lady stopped us and said she was a Pomona admissions officer with a kid at Harvey Mudd, and she made a great case for the school based on her DD’s experience. My daughter, sadly, had no interest in applying there, and she wouldn’t get out of the car at MIT (which DH and I also really liked).

Surprised to hear upthread that a poster didn’t like the area around Macalester. I think that part of St. Paul is lovely.

I agree with the poster who said that Charlottesville is somehow sinister. I went to law school there and enjoyed it (other than the attending law school part), but there is definitely a lot of weirdness, violence, and unresolved racial issues mixed in with the many great things about the area. It has much more of the worst of the south than is apparent if you are just a visitor.

Current UVA parent here. Just want to concur with this assessment of the area despite loving the school and Grounds. And it’s 100% worse this year with all the shootings, some seemingly random. But one bullet hit a student at one of the taverns on The Corner. Both times I have stayed overnight, there have been shootings. UVA police is trying to help Charlottesville police to deal with the problem. It seems Charlottesville is similar to larger urban areas in the uptick we have seen in gun-related violence. And it has encroached on off-campus apartment areas near The Corner.

[Anonymous]

Northwestern. After a weekend in Chicago, he thought Evanston was gross. Stepped on the campus, and said, "I am not going here." Will agree we did not see smiling happy students, but being right on the lake, and the proximity to Chicago - oh to be a student again!

Also Penn State. Was going to be a safety school, was excited about the giant football stadium. But if the highlight of the tour is happy cows and good ice cream, it isn't the right place. Although it was the compete opposite of Northwestern: Happy Penn State, sweatshirt wearing people everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvey Mudd - My daughter did not like the 1960s motel-like dorms.

I tried very hard to interest DD in Harvey Mudd, but it is rather amazingly ugly, especially compared to the other 4 schools in the Claremont cluster. We were feeling a little shell-shocked on our self-guided tour between the Soviet gulag-looking dorms and a near-collision with one of the several students on unicycles. A nice lady stopped us and said she was a Pomona admissions officer with a kid at Harvey Mudd, and she made a great case for the school based on her DD’s experience. My daughter, sadly, had no interest in applying there, and she wouldn’t get out of the car at MIT (which DH and I also really liked).

Surprised to hear upthread that a poster didn’t like the area around Macalester. I think that part of St. Paul is lovely.

I agree with the poster who said that Charlottesville is somehow sinister. I went to law school there and enjoyed it (other than the attending law school part), but there is definitely a lot of weirdness, violence, and unresolved racial issues mixed in with the many great things about the area. It has much more of the worst of the south than is apparent if you are just a visitor.

I was the one who said my child didn’t like the area around Macalester. I didn’t have a problem with it but my child didn’t like it because he doesn’t like urban areas.

Coincidentally, I also went to UVA law and loved living in Charlottesville and loved attending law school too. I was not aware at the time (but more aware in the last several years) of some of the issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Syracuse (with merit aid) was way too expensive

Funny. We visited Syracuse and DD liked it, but we were both like...yeah, not paying $75k for an experience that did not seem discernibly different than our state school...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Syracuse (with merit aid) was way too expensive

Alum here- understood, but it is a great school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Syracuse (with merit aid) was way too expensive

Alum here- understood, but it is a great school.

The surrounding area is so depressing though.

[Anonymous]

William and Mary - DS ruled it out immediately because of the town or lack thereof. Not enough live music venues, Indian food ... he says the commerce there appears to cater to tourists (artisan pewter galleries).

Washington and Lee - again, the town is almost non-existent >>for the purposes of college life.<< Shocked to find out school is essentially attached to VMI.

Emory - grim or joyless vibes and Atlanta was ... disappointing.

[Anonymous]

Wisconsin- went in expecting to love this one, but just...didn't. Campus really disjointed.

Syracuse- depressing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have to say Georgetown was on the list and we love the area but almost stepping on a dead rat on the sidewalk led to some more google research and finding out about the widespread rat and cockroach problem. That was enough for my DS to take it off his list haha

Georgetown is one of those schools that looks great from the air but looks really dingy and, dare I say, ugly from the ground. There are only one or two beautiful buildings on campus and the rest are quite shoddily built.

Story is too funny because my sister went to Georgetown and woke up one night the first month of school to a rat licking her neck. According to her as big as a cat. She stayed and graduated but was spooked for years…,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have to say Georgetown was on the list and we love the area but almost stepping on a dead rat on the sidewalk led to some more google research and finding out about the widespread rat and cockroach problem. That was enough for my DS to take it off his list haha

Georgetown is one of those schools that looks great from the air but looks really dingy and, dare I say, ugly from the ground. There are only one or two beautiful buildings on campus and the rest are quite shoddily built.

Story is too funny because my sister went to Georgetown and woke up one night the first month of school to a rat licking her neck. According to her as big as a cat. She stayed and graduated but was spooked for years…,

Spooked? I would need to go into an insane asylum to recover from that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wisconsin- went in expecting to love this one, but just...didn't. Campus really disjointed.

Syracuse- depressing

Sorry to hear that, as my daughter is considering both schools. We haven't visited yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have to say Georgetown was on the list and we love the area but almost stepping on a dead rat on the sidewalk led to some more google research and finding out about the widespread rat and cockroach problem. That was enough for my DS to take it off his list haha

Georgetown is one of those schools that looks great from the air but looks really dingy and, dare I say, ugly from the ground. There are only one or two beautiful buildings on campus and the rest are quite shoddily built.

Story is too funny because my sister went to Georgetown and woke up one night the first month of school to a rat licking her neck. According to her as big as a cat. She stayed and graduated but was spooked for years…,

My bedroom is so dead now. I would love to have a rat lick my neck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I found it interesting how visits really impacted DD's opinions on the midwestern SLACs.

Going in, her preferences were:

Carleton, reach; Oberlin & Macalester, targets, Wooster, likely/safety

After visits:

Carleton, reach; Kenyon & Macalester, targets; Kalamazoo & St. Olaf, likelies/safeties

We had talked with her extensively about needing to find a likely that she loves that would also be a financial safety (we need aid to afford the SLACs she wants). On paper, Wooster sounded 100%--she loved the focus on student research, they offer great merit aid, she had talked with a student on the phone ahead of time and was really enthused. I liked it , but she found the campus a bit too remote and it just didn't connect with her anymore. She said she just felt "blah" about it. (I think she may have built it up too much in her mind).
Meanwhile, Kenyon, which is even more remote, surprisingly rose to the top based on her tour of the campus, discussions with students, she just really loved it. So I don't really see how the remoteness of Wooster was the real issue.

Conversely, Oberlin. She originally had it as a top target, on paper she's a great fit (loves music, STEM major) but decided it would be a fantastic school for several of her friends, but not for her. Not sure why.

Kalamazoo, however, we just visited because it was mid-point on a 5 hour drive between Detroit and Chicago. But she loved it-- the study abroad options, internships, the people and the campus and town and now it's her top "likely" (and one which they gave her an estimate of merit aid based on her scores and it would be very affordable).

Similarly, St. Olaf--visited because we were in the area. She said that she had never felt so peaceful in a school before, it fit with her music interests and that everyone was nice without being boring (and again likely great merit aid).

So, Wooster and Oberlin fell off the list and Kenyon, Kalamazoo, and St. Olaf came on the list--for hard to pinpoint reasons, but more "feelings." Just glad she's figuring things out. Also very glad we opted to go to colleges we happened to be nearby on trips!

We loved St. Olaf too! Wasn't even on the radar screen for dd, but we were in Northfield to tour Carleton and thought we might as well look while we were there. It is on her list now!

We were just out there too and really did not like St. Olaf's. Funny to hear everyone liking it. We found the campus buildings off putting and felt like it looked like a giant parking lot. Carlton seem so much more attractive to us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wisconsin- went in expecting to love this one, but just...didn't. Campus really disjointed.

Syracuse- depressing

Sorry to hear that, as my daughter is considering both schools. We haven't visited yet.

I disagree that Wisconsin is "disjointed"

It has one major quad on Bascom Hill and a second quad that is the Agriculture/Natural Sciences nestled between the two unions and the lake and University Avenue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have to say Georgetown was on the list and we love the area but almost stepping on a dead rat on the sidewalk led to some more google research and finding out about the widespread rat and cockroach problem. That was enough for my DS to take it off his list haha

Exact same response for us. Such a shame. When will Georgetown get its act together?
They are starting to build a bad reputation that could take a while to undo.

A reputation for dinginess is not the same as a reputation for everything else that is actually quite excellent. Yes, I'm a parent of junior there and they could not be happier. Believe it or not, smart kids don't care about a little dinginess. Honestly, it just emphasizes that Jesuit vibe. I guess you have to get it, to get it.

yeah, you plebs! Smart kids don't care about norovirus. It just emphasizes that Jesuit vibe.