For fun: first impressions of colleges based on tours...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this an American thing to choose a college based on kids impressions from a campus visit? I am a immigrant and this feels so strange and random to me.

If my kid is going to spend 4 years and I'm going to spend $100,000+ on something, my kid's feelings at a school are something to consider.

But these first impressions are so irrelevant to the product you are paying for.

I disagree. And with many schools to choose from, how else should a kid pick where to go? If a kid just gets a "not the right place for me" vibe from a visit, would you double down and drop $100,000+ and insist he goes there anyway? Take a risk that he is miserable, becomes depressed, and ends up flunking out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this an American thing to choose a college based on kids impressions from a campus visit? I am a immigrant and this feels so strange and random to me.

If my kid is going to spend 4 years and I'm going to spend $100,000+ on something, my kid's feelings at a school are something to consider.

But these first impressions are so irrelevant to the product you are paying for.

I disagree. And with many schools to choose from, how else should a kid pick where to go? If a kid just gets a "not the right place for me" vibe from a visit, would you double down and drop $100,000+ and insist he goes there anyway? Take a risk that he is miserable, becomes depressed, and ends up flunking out?

How else you would choose? You can consider graduation rates, graduates salary, where they go after college, class sizes, college reputation, resources, faculty caliber, aid, merit scholarships, etc, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this an American thing to choose a college based on kids impressions from a campus visit? I am a immigrant and this feels so strange and random to me.

If my kid is going to spend 4 years and I'm going to spend $100,000+ on something, my kid's feelings at a school are something to consider.

But these first impressions are so irrelevant to the product you are paying for.

I disagree. And with many schools to choose from, how else should a kid pick where to go? If a kid just gets a "not the right place for me" vibe from a visit, would you double down and drop $100,000+ and insist he goes there anyway? Take a risk that he is miserable, becomes depressed, and ends up flunking out?

How else you would choose? You can consider graduation rates, graduates salary, where they go after college, class sizes, college reputation, resources, faculty caliber, aid, merit scholarships, etc, etc.

And again, if your kid is miserable, becomes depressed, and flunks out--none of that matters. Who cares what the "graduates salary" is for a school your kid didn't graduate from becomes they dropped out after christmas break their freshman year?

[Anonymous]

^ "becomes they dropped out" should say "because they dropped out"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this an American thing to choose a college based on kids impressions from a campus visit? I am a immigrant and this feels so strange and random to me.

If my kid is going to spend 4 years and I'm going to spend $100,000+ on something, my kid's feelings at a school are something to consider.

But these first impressions are so irrelevant to the product you are paying for.

I disagree. And with many schools to choose from, how else should a kid pick where to go? If a kid just gets a "not the right place for me" vibe from a visit, would you double down and drop $100,000+ and insist he goes there anyway? Take a risk that he is miserable, becomes depressed, and ends up flunking out?

How else you would choose? You can consider graduation rates, graduates salary, where they go after college, class sizes, college reputation, resources, faculty caliber, aid, merit scholarships, etc, etc.

And again, if your kid is miserable, becomes depressed, and flunks out--none of that matters. Who cares what the "graduates salary" is for a school your kid didn't graduate from becomes they dropped out after christmas break their freshman year?

Well, if your kids impressions from a campus visit is a good predictor of their graduation rate then you are right

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this an American thing to choose a college based on kids impressions from a campus visit? I am a immigrant and this feels so strange and random to me.

If my kid is going to spend 4 years and I'm going to spend $100,000+ on something, my kid's feelings at a school are something to consider.

But these first impressions are so irrelevant to the product you are paying for.

I disagree. And with many schools to choose from, how else should a kid pick where to go? If a kid just gets a "not the right place for me" vibe from a visit, would you double down and drop $100,000+ and insist he goes there anyway? Take a risk that he is miserable, becomes depressed, and ends up flunking out?

How else you would choose? You can consider graduation rates, graduates salary, where they go after college, class sizes, college reputation, resources, faculty caliber, aid, merit scholarships, etc, etc.

And again, if your kid is miserable, becomes depressed, and flunks out--none of that matters. Who cares what the "graduates salary" is for a school your kid didn't graduate from becomes they dropped out after christmas break their freshman year?

Well, if your kids impressions from a campus visit is a good predictor of their graduation rate then you are right

The "graduation rate" isn't as important to me as MY specific kid graduating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These impressions come from my two DCs and myself over many years (OP asked for fun takes):

UVA - very pretty and charming, but AO's presentation was offputting and student guide kept talking about how he had really wanted to go to an Ivy

VTech - Gothic prison run by turkeys

W&M - retirement home run by colonial-era cosplayers

Villanova - very small (I know it's not), very Catholic, very safe

Georgetown - compressed feel; younger child said it looked like a larger version of Gonzaga College High School

UNC - more accessible version of UVA (town and university better integrated)

Duke - very high-end shopping mall

Stanford - even higher-end shopping mall

Berkeley - students and homeless reeking of pot

Pitt - area near Tower of Learning is very nice, surprisingly international; area near hospital looked more run down

Michigan - 1950s era architecture surrounding faux-Ivy (law school) and ultra-modern (business school)

Harvard - confused about who is from the university and who is a tourist

Amherst - mini-Harvard, but with a beautiful hill/cliff overlooking the athletic fields

Dartmouth - upscaled prep school in the middle of nowhere

Williams - mini-Dartmouth

Yale - beautiful campus surrounded by meh

Wesleyan - mini-Yale

Cornell - peaks and valleys everywhere

Brown - should have been named Beige

Penn - criticisms of location and environment overblown, actually pretty nice

Columbia - Ghostbusters!

NYU - who actually attends classes here?

Johns Hopkins (medical school) - felt like the Matt Damon movie Elysium brought to life

BU - Fenway Park

Most of these are dumb and unfunny.

+1

And untrue

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this an American thing to choose a college based on kids impressions from a campus visit? I am a immigrant and this feels so strange and random to me.

If my kid is going to spend 4 years and I'm going to spend $100,000+ on something, my kid's feelings at a school are something to consider.

But these first impressions are so irrelevant to the product you are paying for.

I disagree. And with many schools to choose from, how else should a kid pick where to go? If a kid just gets a "not the right place for me" vibe from a visit, would you double down and drop $100,000+ and insist he goes there anyway? Take a risk that he is miserable, becomes depressed, and ends up flunking out?

How else you would choose? You can consider graduation rates, graduates salary, where they go after college, class sizes, college reputation, resources, faculty caliber, aid, merit scholarships, etc, etc.

You would consider those criteria when building a list of colleges to apply to (and visit) but when it comes down to Amherst vs. Williams or Michigan vs. Wisconsin none of those are meaningful differentiators so leave it up to your child’s instinct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard: Bland and a little drab, too touristy.

Yale: Stunningly gorgeous in every way. A+

Princeton: Also beautiful but felt like it lacked patina/character and felt a little too pretentious.

Columbia: LOVED this campus. Gritty, beautiful, classic. NYC.

Northwestern: Another favorite - great mix of modern and classic, and absolutely stunning location on the lake.

UChicago: So classically beautiful. Felt almost European, or stately, but felt extremely gloomy and gray, even though we visited same day as NU.

Cornell: Another great one - stunning location. Friendly, collegial.

I loved Northwestern. Daughter ended of choosing UPenn because her friends went there. She has regretted not choosing NU ever since, and she's already graduated.

Aw, my kids LOVED Northwestern and ended up elsewhere, too. Would have been thrilled to send at least one of them there if they got in! But things happen for a reason.

Best friend attended Northwestern and, while they overall liked the school, they were put off by the school’s over-the-top pre-professional vibe (compared to other schools where students were more intellectual and interested in learning for the sake of learning).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this an American thing to choose a college based on kids impressions from a campus visit? I am a immigrant and this feels so strange and random to me.

If my kid is going to spend 4 years and I'm going to spend $100,000+ on something, my kid's feelings at a school are something to consider.

But these first impressions are so irrelevant to the product you are paying for.

You can tour a campus an know that you will or will not fit in pretty quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this an American thing to choose a college based on kids impressions from a campus visit? I am a immigrant and this feels so strange and random to me.

If my kid is going to spend 4 years and I'm going to spend $100,000+ on something, my kid's feelings at a school are something to consider.

But these first impressions are so irrelevant to the product you are paying for.

I disagree. And with many schools to choose from, how else should a kid pick where to go? If a kid just gets a "not the right place for me" vibe from a visit, would you double down and drop $100,000+ and insist he goes there anyway? Take a risk that he is miserable, becomes depressed, and ends up flunking out?

How else you would choose? You can consider graduation rates, graduates salary, where they go after college, class sizes, college reputation, resources, faculty caliber, aid, merit scholarships, etc, etc.

You would consider those criteria when building a list of colleges to apply to (and visit) but when it comes down to Amherst vs. Williams or Michigan vs. Wisconsin none of those are meaningful differentiators so leave it up to your child’s instinct.

+1
This is exactly it--once you've figured out where you are going to visit based on meaningful reasons, you narrow down the list based on gut reactions/preferences--it gives kids a sense of control in an anxiety-ridden time. Alternatively, sometimes kids are visiting schools just to get more accustomed to the idea of college, what to think about--not visiting places they are truly considering--they just happened to be in Boston so go to a handful there etc. Also there's a bit of sour grapes that can be helpful--Harvard isn't so amazing so it's not the end of the world that I can't get in. Even in state-- there's rain at UVA, there's tourists at W&M, VTech is in the middle of nowhere etc. so if you don't get in one of those it's not like they are so much more the perfect dream than the ones you do get into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this an American thing to choose a college based on kids impressions from a campus visit? I am a immigrant and this feels so strange and random to me.

If my kid is going to spend 4 years and I'm going to spend $100,000+ on something, my kid's feelings at a school are something to consider.

But these first impressions are so irrelevant to the product you are paying for.

So true and yet they really affect the kid's thinking in some cases. If a school is a real contender and a good fit, plan the visit wisely to hope for a good impression and experience.

That said, my DCs met many kids that chose a school without ever having seen the campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this an American thing to choose a college based on kids impressions from a campus visit? I am a immigrant and this feels so strange and random to me.

If my kid is going to spend 4 years and I'm going to spend $100,000+ on something, my kid's feelings at a school are something to consider.

But these first impressions are so irrelevant to the product you are paying for.

I disagree. And with many schools to choose from, how else should a kid pick where to go? If a kid just gets a "not the right place for me" vibe from a visit, would you double down and drop $100,000+ and insist he goes there anyway? Take a risk that he is miserable, becomes depressed, and ends up flunking out?

How else you would choose? You can consider graduation rates, graduates salary, where they go after college, class sizes, college reputation, resources, faculty caliber, aid, merit scholarships, etc, etc.

You would consider those criteria when building a list of colleges to apply to (and visit) but when it comes down to Amherst vs. Williams or Michigan vs. Wisconsin none of those are meaningful differentiators so leave it up to your child’s instinct.

Just admit a weekend trip to Williams or Amherst is a lot more fun than nagging your DC to write supplemental essays for both. The probability that your kid ends up with a real choice between the two is tiny.

[Anonymous]

I think now that so may kids apply early decision or maybe single choice early action...they have to narrow it down to one top choice so a visit can be important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think now that so may kids apply early decision or maybe single choice early action...they have to narrow it down to one top choice so a visit can be important.

Kind of makes sense from that perspective