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

[Anonymous]

Don’t get so hung up on campus “tours.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The helicopter parents at William and Mary were a trip. We were at a an info session in a large auditorium with a dean and this girl must have told her mom to "be quiet and stop embarrassing me". She got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the presentation and her mom stood up and enrolled a long list of questions and started asking them, then abruptly stopped and sat down when the girl came back in the room. And the admissions dean used that language about " one fun major for you like literature, and a second more practical major for your parents."

You do get that the parents at an info session aren't W&M parents, right? They are parents touring all the schools. There was a parent like that in the info sessions at most of the schools I toured. I think that's one of the reasons why tours aren't great for figuring out your opinion of a school--your most contact is with people who are also touring and have nothing to do with the place really. We felt we got a better sense when we lightly attended the official sessions and instead did our own touring.

[Anonymous]

Clemson's biology program was nothing to write home about

[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.

This is also what turned us off from Boston College -- there appeared to be a lack of ethnic and socioeconomic diversity. It came off the list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is also what turned us off from Boston College -- there appeared to be a lack of ethnic and socioeconomic diversity. It came off the list.

I went to Boston College and knew FOUR men named Patrick Walsh there if that tells you anything hahahah

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Syracuse (with merit aid) was way too expensive

Alum here- understood, but it is a great school.

The surrounding area is so depressing though.

Alum here- Yes, surrounding area (city of Syracuse) is depressing. Syracuse University revolves around the amazing, self-contained campus. In large part, the campus greatly contributes to the school spirit, and close-knit environment (especially for a large school.)

And, Syracuse has had a consistent problem with racial incidents and lately a big protest about an alleged rape on campus. We passed on it too because of the high tuition in spite of merit aid. I kept saying to myself with all the great schools, which are more reasonably priced, who would waste $80K for this school?

+1

[Anonymous]

Virginia Tech. Declared it "in the middle of nowhere" and "bleak."

[Anonymous]

I was told that one school in New England was "dirty."

I'm not even going to mention the name. It's objectively gorgeous there and there was no issue with litter or maintenance. I think they just didn't feel it was the right place for them and couldn't articulate exactly why. Oh well! There are lots of fish in the sea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Tech. Declared it "in the middle of nowhere" and "bleak."

+1 This was unfortunately DC's response also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oregon — Eugene sucked

UDenver and Colorado — not near water???

DU and CU aren’t near water, they’re near the mountains. That’s the point.

My kid had CU at the top of her list before the visit; didn't like the campus (way to large/open, all the building the same) and we picked up a strong "Stoner Bro" vibe from many of the students we ran into. She crossed Wisconsin off the list when she saw a weather report showing a low of -11 degrees. I personally liked Wisconsin. UMD was too close, and she didn't like UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The helicopter parents at William and Mary were a trip. We were at a an info session in a large auditorium with a dean and this girl must have told her mom to "be quiet and stop embarrassing me". She got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the presentation and her mom stood up and enrolled a long list of questions and started asking them, then abruptly stopped and sat down when the girl came back in the room. And the admissions dean used that language about " one fun major for you like literature, and a second more practical major for your parents."

You do get that the parents at an info session aren't W&M parents, right? They are parents touring all the schools. There was a parent like that in the info sessions at most of the schools I toured. I think that's one of the reasons why tours aren't great for figuring out your opinion of a school--your most contact is with people who are also touring and have nothing to do with the place really. We felt we got a better sense when we lightly attended the official sessions and instead did our own touring.

DP. The above response is an excellent point.

You can get a tour with a student guide who is engaged, knowledgeable, and frank, or you might end up with a guide who, that particular day, is distracted, down, preoccupied. The impression you get is as much of that student as it is of the college, if you aren't careful to separate the tour guide from the tour itself. Do your own walking around; eat in at least one of the dining halls if it's allowed, or at least walk into a dining hall or two; have your HS student contact a department of interest, or admissions and see if he or she can sit in on a class (or two); stick around to attend an event, student play or student concert in the evening; see the campus not just during the day but by night to get a feel for where students are going and what they're doing. Of course this is too much effort to do for every college on a list! But if there is a clearly preferred one, I'd do all this. We did tours where we spent a night near each college and then had day buffer between schools, so we could have ample time to walk around campuses, walk around the surrounding town, attend a play on campus (DC is a drama student) etc.

Also, I've posted on here before about this but:

If there are colleges of strong interest, see if they hold a special full-day event in the fall that is more than just "turn up for a tour and info session."

These are days where they line up a boatload of things: Panels with current students, panels with professors, chances to attend classes, meal tickets so you can eat in dining halls, specialized tours (for instance, walking tour of just the science buildings so you get to see inside labs; tour of just the arts campus so you see actual practice rooms, performance spaces that usually are not open by day, art studios in action, etc.). And so on. You must register for these special days well in advance and they do fill up, so you have to hunt for them early. I am not talking about "accepted student days" held in spring and designed for those who have already applied, by the way; I'm talking instead about days in the fall, for interested potential applicants. We did these days at four SLACS and they were invaluable at really seeing much, much more of the college than we would ever have seen on the basic daily walking tours they give.

I don't know if large universities have days like those but LACs definitely do. Of course these days are intended to sell the college to you but I also was glad to find that administators and professors and students were usually pretty frank about issues like how hard it could be to get into certain classes, or how the homework load really affected students, etc.

[Anonymous]

My daughter was interested in several NY/NJ/PA catholic schools based on the vibe, as presented on the internet - pretty campuses, down to earth students, emphasis on social responsibility that did not reek of posturing. They all emphasized how they are welcoming to all sorts of people (we are not Christian). When we visited, most of them turned out a bit too much for her, religion wise.

[Anonymous]

UVA - weak STEM programs and too "Southern".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is also what turned us off from Boston College -- there appeared to be a lack of ethnic and socioeconomic diversity. It came off the list.

I went to Boston College and knew FOUR men named Patrick Walsh there if that tells you anything hahahah

This is so different from our lives. I may send my kids to Boston College just so they can have a different experience!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The helicopter parents at William and Mary were a trip. We were at a an info session in a large auditorium with a dean and this girl must have told her mom to "be quiet and stop embarrassing me". She got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the presentation and her mom stood up and enrolled a long list of questions and started asking them, then abruptly stopped and sat down when the girl came back in the room. And the admissions dean used that language about " one fun major for you like literature, and a second more practical major for your parents."

You do get that the parents at an info session aren't W&M parents, right? They are parents touring all the schools. There was a parent like that in the info sessions at most of the schools I toured. I think that's one of the reasons why tours aren't great for figuring out your opinion of a school--your most contact is with people who are also touring and have nothing to do with the place really. We felt we got a better sense when we lightly attended the official sessions and instead did our own touring.

DP. The above response is an excellent point.

You can get a tour with a student guide who is engaged, knowledgeable, and frank, or you might end up with a guide who, that particular day, is distracted, down, preoccupied. The impression you get is as much of that student as it is of the college, if you aren't careful to separate the tour guide from the tour itself. Do your own walking around; eat in at least one of the dining halls if it's allowed, or at least walk into a dining hall or two; have your HS student contact a department of interest, or admissions and see if he or she can sit in on a class (or two); stick around to attend an event, student play or student concert in the evening; see the campus not just during the day but by night to get a feel for where students are going and what they're doing. Of course this is too much effort to do for every college on a list! But if there is a clearly preferred one, I'd do all this. We did tours where we spent a night near each college and then had day buffer between schools, so we could have ample time to walk around campuses, walk around the surrounding town, attend a play on campus (DC is a drama student) etc.

Also, I've posted on here before about this but:

If there are colleges of strong interest, see if they hold a special full-day event in the fall that is more than just "turn up for a tour and info session."

These are days where they line up a boatload of things: Panels with current students, panels with professors, chances to attend classes, meal tickets so you can eat in dining halls, specialized tours (for instance, walking tour of just the science buildings so you get to see inside labs; tour of just the arts campus so you see actual practice rooms, performance spaces that usually are not open by day, art studios in action, etc.). And so on. You must register for these special days well in advance and they do fill up, so you have to hunt for them early. I am not talking about "accepted student days" held in spring and designed for those who have already applied, by the way; I'm talking instead about days in the fall, for interested potential applicants. We did these days at four SLACS and they were invaluable at really seeing much, much more of the college than we would ever have seen on the basic daily walking tours they give.

I don't know if large universities have days like those but LACs definitely do. Of course these days are intended to sell the college to you but I also was glad to find that administators and professors and students were usually pretty frank about issues like how hard it could be to get into certain classes, or how the homework load really affected students, etc.

+! These are usually called "Open House". We went to one for Washington College this weekend. DD's primary interest is environmental science and we were very impressed with the resources there and she got to talk for a long time to the director of their Chesapeake Semester. Would not have gotten that on a standard campus tour (the environment stuff is away from the main campus). Similarly, we'd planned a day to see Juniata but learned she could not see their field station on a standard visit but can if we go to an Open House so that's the plan now. IME, on the standard tours (this is my 2nd kid going through it) they all start to look and sound the same.