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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter was pretty much convinced she was going to go to ED to Williams…until the tour.

The horrible weather that day and a very stressed out tour guide talking about how intense the school was did a double whammy on her. I know that both of those factors were random fate, and who knows, if she would’ve had a beautiful spring day and an upbeat tour guide, maybe she would have applied.

A week later, we found ourselves touring. Davidson on a warm day with a lovely guide, and that’s where she is now.

Weather makes such a huge difference.

[Anonymous]

Va Tech - didn’t love it, they start the tour in the football stadium for good reason (although, not this year). Kept talking about the food.

Elon: was very impressed with the school and the admissions session and the campus. Town is just too small and rural for DD though.

Pitt: was beautiful, saw that earlier in HS and I should have saved that for when DD was closer to late junior/ early senior year. They kept talking about research, which really turned my kid off.

JMU: beautiful campus, very big admitted students day. Not impressed with the dorms or some of the student presentations. The lunch line management in the various cafeterias for ASD was horrible.

Penn state— this one was the worst. Admissions presentation just seemed to just keep talking about how large the school was. Over and over. DD hated it and was in tears by the end of the tour.

South Carolina- pleasantly surprised. Nice campus, although it was hot of course. It’s a great college “town” (city).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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).

This is exactly my DS. We are planning similar visits over spring break. Can you share which SoCal schools you looked at? And by Arizona, I assume you mean U of AZ? Good luck to your DD!

If she’s going out west, please tell her not to use the phrase “Cali”. Natives hate it. If you don’t believe me (a native) then google. It will
make your daughter look like a rube.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those who loved Columbia, what did you love about it?

My child was admitted off the waitlist last year and we never toured. The most we ever visited was a 10 minute walk across campus a few years prior.
They ended up taking another waitlist offer so I'll forever be a tiny bit curious about Columbia.

People tend to have sharply divided views about Columbia/Barnard (and politics sometimes enters into the equation but if you love them it's probably because:

- they have defined campuses within the crazy, amazing, chaotic city that is New York City (so more of a campus than NYU or GW, for example)

- some of the main buildings like the Low Library (main administrative building at Columbia) and Butler Library (main library) are stunning pieces of architecture but there's also a main yard between there where students hang out

- in Barnard's case, it's much smaller than Columbia so is even more an oasis in the big city

- the surrounding neighborhood, Morningside Heights, is very student-oriented and quite safe (just north of the Upper West Side), though there are areas nearby like Morningside Park best avoided alone or at night

- there's a subway station right outside the campus gates to whisk you away to other parts of NYC to explore

- the vibe is intense but bustling and engaged, with plenty of international students and students at different levels of their education (undergraduate, graduate, and Ph. D programs).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Impressed with GA Tech

Yes, us too. We were shocked how nice the campus was and how at times on the West campus it felt as if we were at a nature preserve and nowhere near the city. But, getting admitted there OOS was the problem. :/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Looks just like a prison.

I’d turn to a life of crime if prison was like UVA.

We were pleasantly surprised by JMU’s
school of art and design. Absolutely beautiful facilities. Didn’t love the rest of campus so much, though.

We kind of dragged kid to Pitt since we were in town anyway. Didn’t expect much, but she loved it and has applied.


Lafayette was a bust.

Seriously a strange comment. UVA is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I know of some Cal States that look like prisons but that’s because they were built in the 60s, but no one has said that about UVA before …

What I got from that is that if UVa was a prison, they would WANT to go because they like UVa so much.

[Anonymous]

Not super recent, but when I was a student at one of the schools previously mentioned, I visited VT several times (a HS friend was a student) and saw Duke due to an athletic match.

I frankly disliked both. Found them depressing. I just wasn't into the architecture at all.

I know others love them, so this is just my opinion.

I fell in love the moment I stepped onto the campus of my school - it looked exactly like what I thought college should look like. It felt like home and I loved being there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Loved: Brown, Lafayette, and Carleton.

Liked: Haverford, Penn, Amherst, Williams, Hamilton, and Yale.

Meh: Harvard, Wesleyan, Vassar, Lehigh, and Cornell.

Did not like: Tufts and Swarthmore.

My DD ended up at Swat, and I still don't like it. It has a dreary and serious vibe (the campus is beautiful, though). DS is headed to Carleton, which is kind of nerdy like Swat but seems to have an air of conviviality that Swat does not.

Very much my impression of both. Every Carl I've met absolutely loved their undergraduate experience. My kid was dead set on a WASP school (which I was okay with because NPC indicated we'd get aid there), but I was so impressed by Carlton. Swat is a fabulous school for the right kid, but does have a different vibe.

Not my DH! really regretted going to Carleton. Said it’s wayyy too liberal and intolerant-no other views are to be tolerated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Surprised we liked:
-Binghamton: Campus was nicer than we'd imagined based on reviews, and the vibe felt relaxed.
-Clark U: Brimming with intellectual energy, at least in my dc's desired field (STEM). Seemed like a place where a bright student would really be seen, would receive personal attention, and would be given opportunities to shine.
-Muhlenberg: Campus was lovely, tour guide was great, and everyone we interacted with gave us a good feeling. Hard to explain, but the "vibe" was just good.
-Fordham Rose Hill (Bronx): Campus is gorgeous! Totally its own enclave, and beautiful in a classic way. Students seemed earnest and smart.

Is your child in one of the above or still deciding? Just curious if it’s Binghamton or Fordham and how they like it ?

Still deciding. I think Fordham might come off the list just because they're not as strong in his desired major, but the campus was wonderful. If you have a student going for business, pre-law, pre-med, etc., it seems like you couldn't go wrong there. Meanwhile, Binghamton is still a top contender for my student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn't like BU - bailed on the tour halfway through.

We had a good, engaging tour guide and the students we encountered were friendly, but you have to like an urban school. One of the top choices last year for my DS.

+1
We liked BU, but NYU didn’t really click with us.
Surprisingly, the two schools feel very different in terms of their urban setting. BU has more of a contained campus vibe, mostly students hanging around, while NYU feels busy and touristy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought Furman’s campus was beautiful.
Davidson wasn’t as attractive as I thought it would be but I loved that our tour guide seemed to know a lot of people we passed by during the tour.

We wanted DS to look at Furman but one of his friends visited first and said it was like a prison. Nothing I said could convince him to tour after that review.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did not like RPI. On paper it checked all our boxes, but DC was really turned off by the campus (and Troy).

Really liked Clarkson. One of the best, most welcoming tours and the students were so friendly -- DC was invited to dinner and ended up spending the whole evening with one of the tour guides. Wasn't a top choice because of location, but it came close.

Really liked WPI, despite Worcester not being the nicest city. Strong campus feel and the IQP and ability to go abroad is really unique among engineering schools.

Funny we felt the same way about RPI (such an unhappy feeling campus) and WPI (one of DC’s top choices). Didn’t visit Clarkson bc of the location.

Other unexpected impressions:

Loved RIT. Such a happy seeming campus. Felt like STEM heaven.

Liked Lafayette. Great vibe there. Excellent tour guide.

Hated U of Rochester. Depressing and dark inside the buildings.

Did not like Bucknell. Those of us on the tour were mystified by how completely dead the campus was. To the point where we asked if the school was on a break. It wasn’t.

Also hated Stevens Institute of Tech. This one was disappointing as it seemed like a good possibility on paper. Felt grimey and rundown. Low energy. Left the tour before it ended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not impressed by UVA tour.
VT tour was 100% better.
Kid still ended up at UVA and loves it there!

Our first UVA tour was a miss but it was our fault because we did it during summer (fewer students running around), it was miserably hot and humid, and we were tired having seen Wash & Lee (also miserably hot and humid) earlier in the day. But DC was up for a Jefferson Scholarship so we returned for a second tour during the school year and the experience was like night and day. Kid picked UVA over two Ivies and Georgia Tech for aerospace engineering and loves it there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought St. Johns, Annapolis was going to be amazing. It was a shit hole.

I liked Columbia, Yale, Georgetown, American University (surprisingly)

didn't like Colby, or Barnard (again, shit hole).

Columbia and Barnard are basically the same campus, I don't see how you can like one and think the other is a sht hole.

This is true …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter was pretty much convinced she was going to go to ED to Williams…until the tour.

The horrible weather that day and a very stressed out tour guide talking about how intense the school was did a double whammy on her. I know that both of those factors were random fate, and who knows, if she would’ve had a beautiful spring day and an upbeat tour guide, maybe she would have applied.

A week later, we found ourselves touring. Davidson on a warm day with a lovely guide, and that’s where she is now.

+1 Davidson is an amazing place to spend 4 years! Very strong academically, friendly students, engaging and supportive professors, charming campus/town, and a variety of activities/sports to support! I'm happy for your daughter!