Schools you toured that you were surprised you liked or didn’t like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVM - almost skipped visit, we knew would be lovely to look at but I guessed would be too lefty/crunchy for my kid who I perceived to be more middle-of-road. It ended up being his top choice (choosing between there and UMass) and so far he is loving his first year.

Is your kid woker than you thought or is UVM more moderate than you thought?

[Anonymous]

Loved Rutgers when we saw the main campus. Didn’t love Rutgers when we discovered you had to get yourself to four different campuses, several of which seemed to lack any real inspiration.

[Anonymous]

JHU: we thought this would be an intense and dull campus but not really. we saw kids in coffee shops and lunch places, and we can see light in their eyes.

Tour guide was super energetic, but not polished like at other places Georgetown or Williams.

Prospective students in our group are on the more nerdy side. Interesting contrast with current students on campus. Maybe they screen out, or maybe they change them.

[Anonymous]

UVA was the #1 choice before starting campus visits and then we didn't even apply.

[Anonymous]

I was surprised how much I like Fordham’s Bronx campus. They were crystal clear on what made them unique and the campus was absolutely lovely. It was so quiet on campus I couldn’t believe we were in such an urban area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Carnegie Melon--felt so joyless. It was fall break and so many kids were still there. I felt sorry for them. I had visions of something more inspiring. I mean, Lenny and Squiggy went there.

Same experience here, and we had an identical reaction to Case Western. We left the tour early.

[Anonymous]

Most impressed by Colorado State. Great campus, kids seem so happy, pretty town and area plus it just has a fun vibe. I can't explain it but we visited it on vacation randomly and now we compare all schools to CSU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thought BU might be a good fit for my kid but they were overwhelmed and turned off by the it’s urban nature. Good thing they figured that out early and then targeted schools that weren’t quite as urban.

I remember feeling this way when I visited 15 years ago. It had zero of the "college town" or "college campus part of a city" feel that I wanted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVM - almost skipped visit, we knew would be lovely to look at but I guessed would be too lefty/crunchy for my kid who I perceived to be more middle-of-road. It ended up being his top choice (choosing between there and UMass) and so far he is loving his first year.

Is your kid woker than you thought or is UVM more moderate than you thought?

Well he is definitely becoming more socially and politically aware since starting college (a good thing) but mostly I think the school is big enough that there are all kinds of kids there who are happy and find a sense of community. I think a politically conservative student might be happier elsewhere, the school and Burlington in general lean left, but starting school kind of apolitical/moderate so far hasn’t been a problem and he’s found the campus culture fun and inclusive

[Anonymous]

Daughter wants to go out west. Visited Arizona and ASU first. She had thought she wanted ASU, but hated how spread out the campus was. She loved Arizona because it was a small and very pretty campus. I was surprised at how much I liked it, too.

In Cali, for the colleges she could get into, none made her jump for joy. So overall, we were very surprised that she left with Arizona as her favorite (and where we expect her to enroll).

[Anonymous]

Were any of you put off by the guide versus the campus?

[Anonymous]

Cornell --thought we'd love it but it just seemed soulless, unkempt (peeling paint, weeds everywhere), and kids seemed intense and unhappy. Actually went back to Ithaca to officially tour it a second time 2 months later to see if we had just caught it the campus on a bad day but it was the same.

Dartmouth --the prettiest campus we visited with one of the best vibes (happy looking kids) but ultimately not the right fit for our kid.

Vanderbilt --loved the campus, loved the tour guide, loved the freshman dorm situation, really did not like Nashville. I hadn't been since my 20s and I remember it being great and this time my overwhelming thought and that of my kid was: "ugh."

Northwestern --lake and visitor's center are beautiful but the campus was so random. Felt like there was "no there, there." Kids seemed happy enough. Tour guide was from the DMV and was great but it just seemed like a very generic place.

Davidson --toured randomly on our way to WF and UNC and LOVED it. Tour guide was great, students seemed very happy, nice cross section of kids, seemed great for pre-med.

Michigan --loved the campus, vibe, etc. Kid expected to love it and did.

UVA --never thought kid would apply (we are in DMV but not VA) but kid loved it. Right size, right vibe, beautiful campus. Ended up choosing it over 3 top20 schools. Who knew. It was nowhere near the top of the list when the kid started the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Were any of you put off by the guide versus the campus?

We were very put off by the guide at Clark, who didn't appear to know anything beyond his narrow experience. But it was never going to be a good fit for DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Georgetown

Unhelpful. You loved it or hated it? Why? If you can't complete the assignment, don't bother to respond.

Tell me where the assignment (aka original post) asked for anything other than the exact information I provided

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brown - we didn’t like it.

Same here and we were really surprised by that. Amherst was also underwhelming.