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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:W&M came off the table for my DD, she HATED the sample dorm room and we were there on a beautiful day in the fall and no one was outside hanging out, every one was in the library (which we also toured and was packed)

Curious where your DD ended up going? Or what are her top choices if she is applying this year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Where did your DS end up going?

[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

What about your visit made it seem stressful and unhappy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

What about your visit made it seem stressful and unhappy?

Not the PP but also came away with that impression. Kids not smiling, looking stressed, crowded library at 11 am on a Monday. We had a great tour and loved our guide but this was our overall impression.

[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.

Are you the one that keeps saying Notre Dame looks bad from the ground? LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The overall military vibe felt bullying

Yes! Why so much military? The cadets, all the ROTC groups, everyone in uniform everywhere you turn. It feels like VMI.

What on earth is wrong with that? My daughter thought that was extremely cool on our tour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Texas Christian University is off the list for very predictable reasons

Such as?

DP. Are you asking for real or baiting the PP above you?

It's Texas, which has just recently swung so far right that women are racing to neighboring states for abortions and voting rights are under serious attack. Not to mentiom the hysteria in school boards over so-called "critical race theory."

I get it -- none of that is IN colleges there. But it's become a toxic environment overall in that state. I wouldn't let my kid go there unless it was sole home to the one magical college that was the only one on the planet teaching the only subject on the planet in which DC was interested. Maybe not even then.

DP. Jeez - you don't sound overly dramatic at all. I was also wondering what the cryptic "predictable reasons" poster was getting at. Not all of us have clutch our pearls at the idea of Texas.

right back at ya. You knew what that PP meant as soon as you saw "predictable." You knew it was about the entire climate there.

Wow, the chip on your shoulder must be enormous. I had no clue what that PP was talking about and in fact, assumed it was something about rich kids, or the Greek system at TCU, both of which have been mentioned here before. I'd actually love to know what the PP meant, and not what YOUR hyper-partisan interpretation is. Maybe next time, let people speak for themselves?

The anti-choice vigilante enforced law recently enacted in texas is huge news. How could you have no clue about it and how it might influence reactions and opinions about going to texas for colleges students and anyone else? If your student is clueless about this, I would suggest filling them in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

BC alum who loved it there and received a great education...but have to agree, no diversity. (I didn't realize this until I showed up....)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA. There is something just so sinister about Charlottesville. I can’t put my finger on it.

To quote my child, a first-year, "it's too elitist."

I mean, there's no "campus" only "grounds" and all that high-falutin' nonsense for a school populated by overachieving Ivy League rejects (my child included).

Of course, Ivy League is full of elitists who put on airs too, as I reminded my child.

I hope your DC finds his or her people. I found the misfits and adored UVA.

[Anonymous]

loyola maryland felt a little cliquey

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Texas Christian University is off the list for very predictable reasons

Such as?

DP. Are you asking for real or baiting the PP above you?

It's Texas, which has just recently swung so far right that women are racing to neighboring states for abortions and voting rights are under serious attack. Not to mentiom the hysteria in school boards over so-called "critical race theory."

I get it -- none of that is IN colleges there. But it's become a toxic environment overall in that state. I wouldn't let my kid go there unless it was sole home to the one magical college that was the only one on the planet teaching the only subject on the planet in which DC was interested. Maybe not even then.

DP. Jeez - you don't sound overly dramatic at all. I was also wondering what the cryptic "predictable reasons" poster was getting at. Not all of us have clutch our pearls at the idea of Texas.

right back at ya. You knew what that PP meant as soon as you saw "predictable." You knew it was about the entire climate there.

Wow, the chip on your shoulder must be enormous. I had no clue what that PP was talking about and in fact, assumed it was something about rich kids, or the Greek system at TCU, both of which have been mentioned here before. I'd actually love to know what the PP meant, and not what YOUR hyper-partisan interpretation is. Maybe next time, let people speak for themselves?

The anti-choice vigilante enforced law recently enacted in texas is huge news. How could you have no clue about it and how it might influence reactions and opinions about going to texas for colleges students and anyone else? If your student is clueless about this, I would suggest filling them in.

Good grief. Still nattering away about this? Of course I'm aware of the Texas law, as are my kids. However, in a thread about COLLEGES, that's not the very first thing that comes to mind. Maybe get off your one-issue soapbox and let people talk about the COLLEGES their kids are and are not applying to. You still haven't even allowed that PP to say what she was going to say about TCU. Go away and take your politics to the political forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Where did your DS end up going?

He’s still a senior. All the schools that stay on his list, reach/match/likely, need to be attached to a city with plenty of cultural offerings. Enough for 4 years. That rules out a lot of excellent schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Texas Christian University is off the list for very predictable reasons

Such as?

DP. Are you asking for real or baiting the PP above you?

It's Texas, which has just recently swung so far right that women are racing to neighboring states for abortions and voting rights are under serious attack. Not to mentiom the hysteria in school boards over so-called "critical race theory."

I get it -- none of that is IN colleges there. But it's become a toxic environment overall in that state. I wouldn't let my kid go there unless it was sole home to the one magical college that was the only one on the planet teaching the only subject on the planet in which DC was interested. Maybe not even then.

DP. Jeez - you don't sound overly dramatic at all. I was also wondering what the cryptic "predictable reasons" poster was getting at. Not all of us have clutch our pearls at the idea of Texas.

right back at ya. You knew what that PP meant as soon as you saw "predictable." You knew it was about the entire climate there.

Wow, the chip on your shoulder must be enormous. I had no clue what that PP was talking about and in fact, assumed it was something about rich kids, or the Greek system at TCU, both of which have been mentioned here before. I'd actually love to know what the PP meant, and not what YOUR hyper-partisan interpretation is. Maybe next time, let people speak for themselves?

The anti-choice vigilante enforced law recently enacted in texas is huge news. How could you have no clue about it and how it might influence reactions and opinions about going to texas for colleges students and anyone else? If your student is clueless about this, I would suggest filling them in.

Good grief. Still nattering away about this? Of course I'm aware of the Texas law, as are my kids. However, in a thread about COLLEGES, that's not the very first thing that comes to mind. Maybe get off your one-issue soapbox and let people talk about the COLLEGES their kids are and are not applying to. You still haven't even allowed that PP to say what she was going to say about TCU. Go away and take your politics to the political forum.

DCUM exists for nattering. The poster that wants to avoid texas schools because of the oppressive politics is not nattering anymore than the one that thinks syracuse is expensive and depressing or middlebury is too preppy or harvard is too full of arrogant snobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I should add that my DD who didn't like the dorm room at W&M also hated that Colonial Williamsburg was right there. Didn't feel like a college town to her, just a tourist trap. My DS loved it and probably would have ended up giving tours or working in CW had he gone there.

Tourist trap? Well, duh, it’s Colonial Williamsburg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Where did your DS end up going?

He’s still a senior. All the schools that stay on his list, reach/match/likely, need to be attached to a city with plenty of cultural offerings. Enough for 4 years. That rules out a lot of excellent schools

Enjoy George Washington.