S/O - any disappointing tours?

[Anonymous]

UVA was a disaster for us - went in with such high hopes. DC felt that it completely lacked authenticity - tour guide spent half the time talking about her sorority

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA, don’t understand all the hype

The hype is only local. Outside of the DMV it is not as well regarded or known. It is a regional school in that regard.

This is complete bull

I’m surprised the “UVA is regional” poster is still around. Or it’s a kid from rival VT or UMD. UVA is the no 3 public in the US per USNWR. That’s hardly “regional” as UCLA, Berkeley snd Michigan are not regional.

UCLA, Berkeley, and Michigan are internationally well known. UVA not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:However, we toured on a Saturday morning and saw only 2-3 students. I would caution against Saturday morning tours!

We visited a different LAC on a Saturday morning tour, and barely saw a single student other than our tour guides. My kid had been interested in it, but it came off his list. He claims there were other reasons he lost interest, but the early-morning weekend vibe — with most students cozy in their dorms away from public view, and nearly empty classrooms and libraries — certainly didn't help.

[Anonymous]

Wake Forest was pretty horrible. Just not a great vibe at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northwestern. I really wanted to like it. Thought it might be a great fit. The guide was informative. But so full of himself. Can ignore that because he's one of thousands of students. The geographical location is great. On Lake Michigan. Can see Chicago in the distance. But the campus felt dismal and very cynical. The nice buildings on the lake are the meeting center for parents and potential students and the football complex, which is basically the Starship Enterprise. The rest of it seemed bleak. Students didn't seem particularly cheerful or happy. I know that's not a fair judgment, but first impressions are what they are. Evanston seemed fine. But that's the best I can say of it. It's fine.

I went to Northwestern in the 1990s and can definitely say that much of the charm of the campus has been lost in the intervening years because they decided to build things in just about every open space on campus. The lakefill (the strip of campus along the lake) used to be much more open; there used to be tree-lined quads in the north part of campus. Now it's just a bunch of buildings. I still like it -- they can't build away Lake Michigan! -- but it's not what it used to be.

Fellow 1990s alumnus here. Yours, sigh, is a fair take. I'd also add that while some of the post-WWII, pre-1990 buildings are plain, they also were built on a more human scale than some of the post-1990 structures. I loved NU and would recommend it to most of the high school kids I know, but I preferred the campus as it was.

I have to push back on the earlier post you quoted, though. If strolling from the sorority quad, past Harris, University, and Annie May Swift Halls to Deering Library is "bleak", then I'll take bleak any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

[Anonymous]

Amherst. It is truly a depressing, sprawled campus with nothing to do.

[Anonymous]

Richmond. Everyone seems to love it but the lake seems random and the lack of a traditional quad made it seem a little disjointed. The downs were super dark and bleak.

[Anonymous]

So interesting how many parents care about the hustle and bustle of people moving around or sitting around campus. College is an education and requires...well, work. It is kind of a ridiculous assumption that students will just be laid out on the quad smiling all day.

[Anonymous]

Did not like Duke - something about the Gothic architecture seemed intimidating. Had great tour guides at Wake and Davidson - think that made a HUGE difference

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northwestern. I really wanted to like it. Thought it might be a great fit. The guide was informative. But so full of himself. Can ignore that because he's one of thousands of students. The geographical location is great. On Lake Michigan. Can see Chicago in the distance. But the campus felt dismal and very cynical. The nice buildings on the lake are the meeting center for parents and potential students and the football complex, which is basically the Starship Enterprise. The rest of it seemed bleak. Students didn't seem particularly cheerful or happy. I know that's not a fair judgment, but first impressions are what they are. Evanston seemed fine. But that's the best I can say of it. It's fine.

I went to Northwestern in the 1990s and can definitely say that much of the charm of the campus has been lost in the intervening years because they decided to build things in just about every open space on campus. The lakefill (the strip of campus along the lake) used to be much more open; there used to be tree-lined quads in the north part of campus. Now it's just a bunch of buildings. I still like it -- they can't build away Lake Michigan! -- but it's not what it used to be.

Fellow 1990s alumnus here. Yours, sigh, is a fair take. I'd also add that while some of the post-WWII, pre-1990 buildings are plain, they also were built on a more human scale than some of the post-1990 structures. I loved NU and would recommend it to most of the high school kids I know, but I preferred the campus as it was.

I have to push back on the earlier post you quoted, though. If strolling from the sorority quad, past Harris, University, and Annie May Swift Halls to Deering Library is "bleak", then I'll take bleak any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

[b]


You are talking to
a poster long gone some 10 months ago. Why reactivate such an old thread?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northwestern. I really wanted to like it. Thought it might be a great fit. The guide was informative. But so full of himself. Can ignore that because he's one of thousands of students. The geographical location is great. On Lake Michigan. Can see Chicago in the distance. But the campus felt dismal and very cynical. The nice buildings on the lake are the meeting center for parents and potential students and the football complex, which is basically the Starship Enterprise. The rest of it seemed bleak. Students didn't seem particularly cheerful or happy. I know that's not a fair judgment, but first impressions are what they are. Evanston seemed fine. But that's the best I can say of it. It's fine.

I went to Northwestern in the 1990s and can definitely say that much of the charm of the campus has been lost in the intervening years because they decided to build things in just about every open space on campus. The lakefill (the strip of campus along the lake) used to be much more open; there used to be tree-lined quads in the north part of campus. Now it's just a bunch of buildings. I still like it -- they can't build away Lake Michigan! -- but it's not what it used to be.

Fellow 1990s alumnus here. Yours, sigh, is a fair take. I'd also add that while some of the post-WWII, pre-1990 buildings are plain, they also were built on a more human scale than some of the post-1990 structures. I loved NU and would recommend it to most of the high school kids I know, but I preferred the campus as it was.

I have to push back on the earlier post you quoted, though. If strolling from the sorority quad, past Harris, University, and Annie May Swift Halls to Deering Library is "bleak", then I'll take bleak any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

[b]


You are talking to
a poster long gone some 10 months ago. Why reactivate such an old thread?

^^ actually some 22 months ago

[Anonymous]

UNC - I am so sad to say this. In fairness it was summer in the record breaking heat - so everyone was dying including the tour guide. But it really did put a damper on the experience. I am from Texas and I never knew NC could be so hot in the summer.

Best tour though - Michigan - two tour guides who clearly loved Michigan and put their hearts into telling us every detail they could - plus they sorted us by intended major

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s so strange to hear how many tour guides are poor representatives. Isn’t there usually a screening process? You would think those types would be weeded out

It's just parents not respecting that students can be different from their own. Every time I talk to parents about these "horrible" tours, they are angry, because the kid isn't some attractive blonde guy in the Econ department who is a super whizz but also a partier but not too into partying. They can't accept that some kids are shut ins, others are nerdy beyond measure, or have neurodivergence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:William and Mary. Horribly dull, current students wouldn't look anyone in the eye, dreary feel all around.

Students at W&M hate the tours bc they always block pathways and academic buildings and I don't blame them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:William and Mary. Horribly dull, current students wouldn't look anyone in the eye, dreary feel all around.

Students at W&M hate the tours bc they always block pathways and academic buildings and I don't blame them.

No one likes tours on their campus. Get out of my way, I have class! You can marvel somewhere else, but it isn't going to improve my Linear algebra grade. Students aren't depressed, because they aren't smiling at your tour group, they have $hit to do.