S/O - any disappointing tours?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't go to WVU for a tour, but we went so my husband could go to a game there and take our older daughter (the little one was a toddler at the time)

I agree with the assessment of the area - so run down. We eventually found the mall outside of town, but it was a very disappointing visit.

My husband went back with our then-teen a couple years later and some drunk townie who was probably our age was mouthing off to my daughter who was minding her own business. It was so bad that even the home fans (my family was there supporting the opposing team, but not obnoxiously) were telling the woman to shut her mouth and sit her behind down. I know it took everything in my husband, who is ex-military, not to grab that chick by the throat.

Yeah those townies really tell you what it’s like to be a student on campus. Same thing could’ve happened at Fenway if you were wearing Yankees garb. Bet you wouldn’t blame it on Harvard or BU.

+1
Same with Johns Hopkins, UChicago, Yale, etc. Every school has its own townies.

It does not reflect well on the school when a fan that is a grown woman gets tanked at a game and decides to scream at and loudly insult a 13 year old unprovoked

And how many townies go to games at the 3 schools you mention?

Look, I was sharing the impression our family has of the area based on a few visits. I think the surrounding area is pretty depressing. I just added the story because that further turned us off to the area. It isn’t a school we will be pursuing.

You took your 13 yo on college tours? Honestly, I think you’re just being purposely obtuse because it was West Virginia and that woman fed into some preconceived stereotype you already had. It wasn’t like you were ever going to actually let your snowflake attend WVU, amirite?!

The 13 year old could be a younger sibling. My 14 yo has been on a lot of college tours because we go as a family.

[Anonymous]

VT - our DD was ready to leave within 15 minutes. Nothing about it appealled to her. She found the buildings too office park ( Hokie stone only on the front facing sides), campus size, she found the open field without charm or character, and too much hoopla around sports.
It was organized well, but just not her fit.

[Anonymous]

JMU - couldn't get over being split by a highway. Plus the downtown is too far, and it's not that great of a downtown anyways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't go to WVU for a tour, but we went so my husband could go to a game there and take our older daughter (the little one was a toddler at the time)

I agree with the assessment of the area - so run down. We eventually found the mall outside of town, but it was a very disappointing visit.

My husband went back with our then-teen a couple years later and some drunk townie who was probably our age was mouthing off to my daughter who was minding her own business. It was so bad that even the home fans (my family was there supporting the opposing team, but not obnoxiously) were telling the woman to shut her mouth and sit her behind down. I know it took everything in my husband, who is ex-military, not to grab that chick by the throat.

Yeah those townies really tell you what it’s like to be a student on campus. Same thing could’ve happened at Fenway if you were wearing Yankees garb. Bet you wouldn’t blame it on Harvard or BU.

+1
Same with Johns Hopkins, UChicago, Yale, etc. Every school has its own townies.

It does not reflect well on the school when a fan that is a grown woman gets tanked at a game and decides to scream at and loudly insult a 13 year old unprovoked

And how many townies go to games at the 3 schools you mention?

Look, I was sharing the impression our family has of the area based on a few visits. I think the surrounding area is pretty depressing. I just added the story because that further turned us off to the area. It isn’t a school we will be pursuing.

You took your 13 yo on college tours? Honestly, I think you’re just being purposely obtuse because it was West Virginia and that woman fed into some preconceived stereotype you already had. It wasn’t like you were ever going to actually let your snowflake attend WVU, amirite?!

I noted in my first post that it wasn’t a tour, but several visits for football games.

My first post was responding to a prior poster who found the area depressing. After seeing it on a family trip, I concur with that assessment. I thought it would be nicer because the university is there, but that was a no.

My child is the furthest thing from a snowflake. That said, I am unlikely to send any of my daughters to the states with lack of reproductive freedom, and that includes WV. But the incident with the drunk fan happened 4 years ago, so Dobbs hadn’t happened yet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VT - our DD was ready to leave within 15 minutes. Nothing about it appealled to her. She found the buildings too office park ( Hokie stone only on the front facing sides), campus size, she found the open field without charm or character, and too much hoopla around sports.
It was organized well, but just not her fit.

Re: the buildings - Hokie stone (bluestone) is on all sides.

[Anonymous]

Wake Forest - we toured it four years ago with our junior and freshman at the time. Both absolutely HATED it and wanted to leave before the tour was even over. They didn't like the vibe and I think the tour guide didn't help. The buildings we toured seemed run down and dingy. We couldn't get out of there fast enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:JMU - couldn't get over being split by a highway. Plus the downtown is too far, and it's not that great of a downtown anyways.

The highway is a non-issue that no one on campus even notices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:JMU - couldn't get over being split by a highway. Plus the downtown is too far, and it's not that great of a downtown anyways.

The highway is a non-issue that no one on campus even notices.

Why do people keep arguing with people about their tour impressions? The question was what was a disappointing tour. Some people have bad experiences on tours, even as really fabulous schools. We all get that's not the totality of the experience of a college. Geez, so sensitive. My kid is happy at VT but it doesn't hurt me that it's not someone else's cup of tea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wake Forest - we toured it four years ago with our junior and freshman at the time. Both absolutely HATED it and wanted to leave before the tour was even over. They didn't like the vibe and I think the tour guide didn't help. The buildings we toured seemed run down and dingy. We couldn't get out of there fast enough.

We didn’t like Wake Forest at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wake Forest - we toured it four years ago with our junior and freshman at the time. Both absolutely HATED it and wanted to leave before the tour was even over. They didn't like the vibe and I think the tour guide didn't help. The buildings we toured seemed run down and dingy. We couldn't get out of there fast enough.

We didn’t like Wake Forest at all.

I wonder if they haven’t done much to the original buildings while focusing on building new as they have added 2k students since I attended? I haven’t been back since probably 2000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wake Forest - we toured it four years ago with our junior and freshman at the time. Both absolutely HATED it and wanted to leave before the tour was even over. They didn't like the vibe and I think the tour guide didn't help. The buildings we toured seemed run down and dingy. We couldn't get out of there fast enough.

We didn’t like Wake Forest at all.

Based on the rave reviews on the other thread I was going to put it on our visit list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Obviously everyone has a different experience. Pur children (twins) both wanted what I can only refer to as schools in cold places. To be certain, I scheduled visits in January and February, when it was certain to be cold and gray!

U of MI - loved it
Wesleyan - loved it
Northwestern - hated it (never saw a smiling student the entire visit)
BU, NEU, Brown - same trip, loved all 3

We also visited safetys Pitt and Penn State (kids originally listed PSU above Pitt, but changed their minds after visiting - for rival schools, they are so different! Pitt is urban, PSU is in the middle of no where rural (although they do have happy cows and delicious ice cream, and incredibly happy looking students, most in Penn Staye garb)

One of them also expressed interest in Vanderblt, so off we went. Campus is nice, the city was covered with cranes (lots of building going on), but the focus of the info session was living with/access to professors (kid didn't care), and nothing about being a D1 school. Fortunately, our tour guide told us about taking the bus to away football, basketball and baseball games, and our child became interested again.

S


Seriously, you went to Chicago in winter and expected smiling students and blame that on the school? It's winter in Chicago

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obviously everyone has a different experience. Pur children (twins) both wanted what I can only refer to as schools in cold places. To be certain, I scheduled visits in January and February, when it was certain to be cold and gray!

U of MI - loved it
Wesleyan - loved it
Northwestern - hated it (never saw a smiling student the entire visit)
BU, NEU, Brown - same trip, loved all 3

We also visited safetys Pitt and Penn State (kids originally listed PSU above Pitt, but changed their minds after visiting - for rival schools, they are so different! Pitt is urban, PSU is in the middle of no where rural (although they do have happy cows and delicious ice cream, and incredibly happy looking students, most in Penn Staye garb)

One of them also expressed interest in Vanderblt, so off we went. Campus is nice, the city was covered with cranes (lots of building going on), but the focus of the info session was living with/access to professors (kid didn't care), and nothing about being a D1 school. Fortunately, our tour guide told us about taking the bus to away football, basketball and baseball games, and our child became interested again.

S


Seriously, you went to Chicago in winter and expected smiling students and blame that on the school? It's winter in Chicago

Seems like a good reason to cross off a school to me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wake Forest - we toured it four years ago with our junior and freshman at the time. Both absolutely HATED it and wanted to leave before the tour was even over. They didn't like the vibe and I think the tour guide didn't help. The buildings we toured seemed run down and dingy. We couldn't get out of there fast enough.

We didn’t like Wake Forest at all.

Based on the rave reviews on the other thread I was going to put it on our visit list.

Remember that everyone has different opinions.

I personally disliked VT and Duke. Others love them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wake Forest - we toured it four years ago with our junior and freshman at the time. Both absolutely HATED it and wanted to leave before the tour was even over. They didn't like the vibe and I think the tour guide didn't help. The buildings we toured seemed run down and dingy. We couldn't get out of there fast enough.

We didn’t like Wake Forest at all.

Based on the rave reviews on the other thread I was going to put it on our visit list.

Remember that everyone has different opinions.

I personally disliked VT and Duke. Others love them.

+1 I have one kid at VT who loves it and another who would not consider it. She's heading off to a tiny LAC. My kids hated urban campuses like VCU and GMU but I know plenty of kids love those. This is why you need to look at a variety of schools.