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

[Anonymous]

Bryn Mawr: seemed tradition-bound; info session felt like a poorly run class; student guides were nice
Swarthmore: beautiful but too small
UPenn: info session did not convey any intellectual excitement; campus was meh
Columbia: great info session but reaffirmed that the Core Curriculum was not a good fit
Tufts: that hill!

[Anonymous]

Boston College - they had an entire stage full of students during the info session, DC leaned over and said "this many kids and they couldn't find a single black or brown student?", felt very disconnected from Boston, didn't like the separate campus (Newton) for many of the students, horrible tour guide who complained constantly

Lehigh - way too much Greek life, depressing area, felt too focused on engineering which DC wasn't planning to study

Wesleyan - looked perfect on paper and had a great tour guide but really didn't like the campus, felt more arts oriented compared to other NESCACs, wasn't as far north as DC wanted to be

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bryn Mawr: seemed tradition-bound; info session felt like a poorly run class; student guides were nice
Swarthmore: beautiful but too small
UPenn: info session did not convey any intellectual excitement; campus was meh
Columbia: great info session but reaffirmed that the Core Curriculum was not a good fit
Tufts: that hill!

LOL! My daughter said Bryn Mawr felt like Girl Scouts camp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Alum here- Yes, surrounding area (city of Syracuse) is depressing. Syracuse University revolves around the amazing, self-contained campus. In large part, the campus greatly contributes to the school spirit, and close-knit environment (especially for a large school.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bryn Mawr: seemed tradition-bound; info session felt like a poorly run class; student guides were nice
Swarthmore: beautiful but too small
UPenn: info session did not convey any intellectual excitement; campus was meh
Columbia: great info session but reaffirmed that the Core Curriculum was not a good fit
Tufts: that hill!

LOL! My daughter said Bryn Mawr felt like Girl Scouts camp.

Not to keep piling on Bryn Mawr (because we thought we’d love it), but it was the worst open house we’d gone to. Just so boring. And two of the students we met said they just watched Netflix on the weekends to relax. We weren’t expecting big parties, just wanted to hear that they did more than watched Netflix.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boston College - they had an entire stage full of students during the info session, DC leaned over and said "this many kids and they couldn't find a single black or brown student?", felt very disconnected from Boston, didn't like the separate campus (Newton) for many of the students, horrible tour guide who complained constantly

Lehigh - way too much Greek life, depressing area, felt too focused on engineering which DC wasn't planning to study

Wesleyan - looked perfect on paper and had a great tour guide but really didn't like the campus, felt more arts oriented compared to other NESCACs, wasn't as far north as DC wanted to be

So true about Boston College. We noticed the same thing. No diversity at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boston College - they had an entire stage full of students during the info session, DC leaned over and said "this many kids and they couldn't find a single black or brown student?", felt very disconnected from Boston, didn't like the separate campus (Newton) for many of the students, horrible tour guide who complained constantly

Lehigh - way too much Greek life, depressing area, felt too focused on engineering which DC wasn't planning to study

Wesleyan - looked perfect on paper and had a great tour guide but really didn't like the campus, felt more arts oriented compared to other NESCACs, wasn't as far north as DC wanted to be

That's interesting because my kid like Wesleyan more after visiting (although we visited during summer and my kid ultimately didn't apply).

[Anonymous]

Harvard. Seems like only a-holes come out of that institution. Besides it discriminates against Asian-American males anyways so he would rather go elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

William & Mary - we wanted to love it but after the tour, we just felt like it was a stressful and unhappy place to be. Could be wrong but that is the feeling we had when we left

[Anonymous]

Wesleyan’s campus seems to be polarizing. My DC loved the big pathway, with an interesting mixture of older and contemporary buildings, and the somewhat bigger feel relative to some other SLACs, but some people seem to hate it. Perhaps it may seem a little neither fish nor fowl; not a quaint quad-style but not quite a university feel? In any event, it is an interesting place that seems to combine a big focus on the arts with a more traditional college experience. Seems like it’s possible to be an athlete, artist, or more traditional scholar (or two or all three). The school seems to get some more mixed reviews in general here.

[Anonymous]

Hated BU…info session felt like a corporate sales pitch; tour guide was a total ass (talked about how kids should befriend upper class men to get better housing and go to professors’ office hours so they’ll know you to write you recommendations for jobs…basically suggested that everything is transactional)…

[Anonymous]

Macalaster— it had a very blah, going through the motions feel

Coby, Colgate, Hamilton— all had a sport-centric frat kid (even if no frats), prep school vibe.

My kid from a diverse, but excellent, public who is into music did not feel like she’s fit in.

Conversely, likes Oberlin, Kenyon, Vassar, Bates, Bowdoin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:William & Mary - we wanted to love it but after the tour, we just felt like it was a stressful and unhappy place to be. Could be wrong but that is the feeling we had when we left

I had very mixed feelings after the tour. But a lot of those very weird people in the tour didn’t get in. DC lived W&M. You don’t actually go to college for the dorms. It’s interesting the focus on having a 17 yo HS student make such a big decision.

[Anonymous]

If I had to do it again I would pass on so much emphasis on student tours and especially student overnights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I had to do it again I would pass on so much emphasis on student tours and especially student overnights.

Do wonder about the impression specific student tour leaders leave on prospective students; not clear it is always reflective of the school...

Feel like I would put more emphasis on walking around the campus to get a sense of the place/location/size, talking to students if possible and then looking at specific programs to see if there are things that are specifically appealing or problematic.