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

[Anonymous]

Hands down UChicago was best tour, but that included a first trip to the city itself which my kid loved - would only apply to cold weather schools
Loved Oberlin, despite middle of nowhere in OH, which is a shame
I loved Case Western, surrounded by culture and pretty campus, but kid put off for some reason
Kid loved BU, I hated the constant wind from the river, would drive me mad
I liked Carnegie Mellon, kid was done with Pittsburgh after Pitt tour, wouldn't get out of care for CM
Kid hated Lafayette but like Lehigh, I didn't care for either, but seemed like decent schools, just depressing towns
Kid hated Drexel, for a cold city kid I didn't get this, I didn't mind it
Kid hated Bucknell, seemed too fratty, loud music on our Sat 9am tour from frat house literally smack dab in middle of campus, kids in house seemed obnoxious - and middle of absolute nowhere, 90s buildings only, seemed a bit dated
Vassar campus was a pleasant surprise but Middlebury was a turnoff, wanted to leave tour asap. No landscaping, seemed like random allocation of buildings on campus, 90s library and science center
Skidmore seemed - damp
Surprised by American and GW, liked both campuses, the landscaping on American's campus was nice

In general, I hate to say some campuses were pretty bad compared to kids current, lovely private school. The small LACs seemed really like high schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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!

I think it was about 2 years ago now, a student was down to these two and there was a boyfriend going to charlotte. The parents asked for advice and everybody was like "she should absolutely go to Williams-it's a better school" I understood the concern about picking a school to be closer to a boyfriend, but in terms of the schools, I honestly thought they were both solid choices. Picking Williams just felt like it was all for the bragging rights of going to "the #1 LAC". I think Davidson is also an excellent school AND the weather is better. I think about that post so much.

I guess it depends on the type of weather and scenery you prefer. The scenery around Williams is stunning and North Carolina can be hot and humid.

DP. North Carolina isn’t hot and humid during the school season. I have a kid at Davidson, and he has remarked that the weather is essentially ideal.

I am a 7th generation North Carolinian so I know about the weather in the state. The temperature can be nice, so on any random spring day it might be warm in Davidson when it's freezing cold up north. But you could have bad stretches at other times when students are in school, especially in August and May.

Also, Davidson isn't Asheville or Boone, so you've got some nice hills and a lake nearby, but it's not knock-out stunning like the Berkshires.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pleasantly surprised by Carleton. Almost didn't visit because of the location and because DD had several other colleges she liked and felt pretty settled on for ED1 and ED2 after touring colleges all over the country, but Carleton bewitched all of us and shot to her new ED1.

+1. After touring Carleton, it shot up to the top of list. One thing that people may not realize about Carleton are the number of Carleton organized study abroad options. They are outstanding!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disliked BC. The admissions presentation wasn’t a presentation, just an hour where 200 people had the opportunity to randomly ask questions that only mattered to them.

Left feeling like BC’s perspective was “if you feel like you deserve a presentation on what makes us interesting or unique we are too good for you.” Blech.

This is very weird. I toured BC with my kid in August and they had a long presentation by an admissions officer, followed by a student panel with lots of time for Q&A. It was almost too much! Maybe you missed the beginning? My kid decided BC isn't right for them, but it was the most detailed and extensive information session we attended - we'd been mostly touring SLACs which only had a single student tour guide around during the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

In tears, seriously? I can understand someone nit liking a school but what is wrong with your kid that a college tour brings her to tears?

Seriously, just cross it off the list and move on! Only excuse would be if someone had been putting heavy pressure on the kid to attend Penn State and she realized it would be a bad fit.

[Anonymous]

Alabama. Went just to see, not really serious. Just incredible and college search finished (high stats kid in Randal).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hands down UChicago was best tour, but that included a first trip to the city itself which my kid loved - would only apply to cold weather schools
Loved Oberlin, despite middle of nowhere in OH, which is a shame
I loved Case Western, surrounded by culture and pretty campus, but kid put off for some reason
Kid loved BU, I hated the constant wind from the river, would drive me mad
I liked Carnegie Mellon, kid was done with Pittsburgh after Pitt tour, wouldn't get out of care for CM
Kid hated Lafayette but like Lehigh, I didn't care for either, but seemed like decent schools, just depressing towns
Kid hated Drexel, for a cold city kid I didn't get this, I didn't mind it
Kid hated Bucknell, seemed too fratty, loud music on our Sat 9am tour from frat house literally smack dab in middle of campus, kids in house seemed obnoxious - and middle of absolute nowhere, 90s buildings only, seemed a bit dated
Vassar campus was a pleasant surprise but Middlebury was a turnoff, wanted to leave tour asap. No landscaping, seemed like random allocation of buildings on campus, 90s library and science center
Skidmore seemed - damp
Surprised by American and GW, liked both campuses, the landscaping on American's campus was nice

In general, I hate to say some campuses were pretty bad compared to kids current, lovely private school. The small LACs seemed really like high schools

Yes, American has about the best landscaping of any college in America.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disliked BC. The admissions presentation wasn’t a presentation, just an hour where 200 people had the opportunity to randomly ask questions that only mattered to them.

Left feeling like BC’s perspective was “if you feel like you deserve a presentation on what makes us interesting or unique we are too good for you.” Blech.

This is very weird. I toured BC with my kid in August and they had a long presentation by an admissions officer, followed by a student panel with lots of time for Q&A. It was almost too much! Maybe you missed the beginning? My kid decided BC isn't right for them, but it was the most detailed and extensive information session we attended - we'd been mostly touring SLACs which only had a single student tour guide around during the summer.

I assure you we were there the whole time!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Liked Drexel much more than anticipated. Gettysburg showed DC they did not want a small college. Pitt was their favorite of the ones we visited.

Same on Drexel. Thought we’d like it but it became the school all others would be compared against.

[Anonymous]

WPI was just lovely, but was a beautiful day and kids out having fun on lawn and perfectly happy STEM kids all around. We told the tour guide that this seemed like a disney version of a college tour, smiling, happy, smart kids all around, and nice campus. STEM ds would have been thrilled to attend if this was the only school he got accepted to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hands down UChicago was best tour, but that included a first trip to the city itself which my kid loved - would only apply to cold weather schools
Loved Oberlin, despite middle of nowhere in OH, which is a shame
I loved Case Western, surrounded by culture and pretty campus, but kid put off for some reason
Kid loved BU, I hated the constant wind from the river, would drive me mad
I liked Carnegie Mellon, kid was done with Pittsburgh after Pitt tour, wouldn't get out of care for CM
Kid hated Lafayette but like Lehigh, I didn't care for either, but seemed like decent schools, just depressing towns
Kid hated Drexel, for a cold city kid I didn't get this, I didn't mind it
Kid hated Bucknell, seemed too fratty, loud music on our Sat 9am tour from frat house literally smack dab in middle of campus, kids in house seemed obnoxious - and middle of absolute nowhere, 90s buildings only, seemed a bit dated
Vassar campus was a pleasant surprise but Middlebury was a turnoff, wanted to leave tour asap. No landscaping, seemed like random allocation of buildings on campus, 90s library and science center
Skidmore seemed - damp
Surprised by American and GW, liked both campuses, the landscaping on American's campus was nice

In general, I hate to say some campuses were pretty bad compared to kids current, lovely private school. The small LACs seemed really like high schools

Skidmore was “damp”? What does that mean?

We had a great tour at Skidmore. Really kind and engaged tour guide. Students on campus were really enthusiast and positive, shouting affirmations about the school for our tour group. Also appreciated the handwritten postcard my student received in the mail after our visit.

[Anonymous]

Impressed with both Oregon and Univ of Washington- everything was great and both seemed like ideal state universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Locust Walk at Penn is one of the most dynamic parts of a college campus that I've ever seen. Absolutely loved it - DC, too.

It's really special. I went to law school at Penn and found West Philly to be ... unappealing. It's better now, but still rough around the outskirts of campus.

[Anonymous]

We loved Holy Cross. Students on campus were very polite and radiated school spirit. Tufts seemed old and kids more nerdy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hands down UChicago was best tour, but that included a first trip to the city itself which my kid loved - would only apply to cold weather schools
Loved Oberlin, despite middle of nowhere in OH, which is a shame
I loved Case Western, surrounded by culture and pretty campus, but kid put off for some reason
Kid loved BU, I hated the constant wind from the river, would drive me mad
I liked Carnegie Mellon, kid was done with Pittsburgh after Pitt tour, wouldn't get out of care for CM
Kid hated Lafayette but like Lehigh, I didn't care for either, but seemed like decent schools, just depressing towns
Kid hated Drexel, for a cold city kid I didn't get this, I didn't mind it
Kid hated Bucknell, seemed too fratty, loud music on our Sat 9am tour from frat house literally smack dab in middle of campus, kids in house seemed obnoxious - and middle of absolute nowhere, 90s buildings only, seemed a bit dated
Vassar campus was a pleasant surprise but Middlebury was a turnoff, wanted to leave tour asap. No landscaping, seemed like random allocation of buildings on campus, 90s library and science center
Skidmore seemed - damp
Surprised by American and GW, liked both campuses, the landscaping on American's campus was nice

In general, I hate to say some campuses were pretty bad compared to kids current, lovely private school. The small LACs seemed really like high schools

Yes, American has about the best landscaping of any college in America.

AU and Swarthmore are similar in that respect, both with accredited arboretums. I really was surprised to see such a gem of a campus in DC.