Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Surely there's a reasonable middle ground between country club and moldy dump dorms?

Some campuses have both

[Anonymous]

Rollins in Orlando has nice dorms, especially for upperclassmen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quite frankly I don't care if the buildings are beautiful or up to date. These schools aren't ranked highly because they won a beauty contest. I care about the intellectual rigor, student culture, research opportunities, etc. If different factors are important to OP and OP's kid, that's perfectly fine! It's better if people really prioritize what is important to them, rather than just looking at rankings and piling up to compete for the same schools regardless of their interests or priorities.

+10000

DS was in a pretty gross dorm his freshman year and he just had to suck it up. It is a short time in their lives. Whatever. It made him appreciate his later living situations much more

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised about Hopkins. The dorms are pretty 80s, I agree. Renovated now with AC and clean but drab. Not much they can do but start over and they're not that bad. The apartment style ones way nicer but less social.

But the rest of Hopkins? The gym? The new science building? The interiors of the old buildings are so well done. The new student union is going to be amazing. I feel like that campus drips with Bloomberg money.

Ok, I was a bit harsh. I thought the campus as a whole was nice, but the food was not good. Hopefully DC by now has found some food to eat for bfast, lunch, and dinner. Considering we took a cross country flight out there, I began to think is it really worth it $90K for this. Today we got an email that one of the dorms has bedbugs and they're helping the kids wash everything... thank goodness DC is in another building. I feel like the quality of college life has stated the same but the cost has outpaced inflation.

I went to a women's college, and yeah, it was very nice and worth every penny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised about Hopkins. The dorms are pretty 80s, I agree. Renovated now with AC and clean but drab. Not much they can do but start over and they're not that bad. The apartment style ones way nicer but less social.

But the rest of Hopkins? The gym? The new science building? The interiors of the old buildings are so well done. The new student union is going to be amazing. I feel like that campus drips with Bloomberg money.

Ok, I was a bit harsh. I thought the campus as a whole was nice, but the food was not good. Hopefully DC by now has found some food to eat for bfast, lunch, and dinner. Considering we took a cross country flight out there, I began to think is it really worth it $90K for this. Today we got an email that one of the dorms has bedbugs and they're helping the kids wash everything... thank goodness DC is in another building. I feel like the quality of college life has stated the same but the cost has outpaced inflation.

I went to a women's college, and yeah, it was very nice and worth every penny.

Out of all the tours we went on, the women's colleges were easily the best quality. The dorm life at Scripps and Smith made me jealous at parts of the tour!

[Anonymous]

We just visited U of Chicago and were surprised by how crummy it was. I had heard it was a beautiful campus. It looked like there hadn't been any maintenance or landscaping in 3 years. Overgrown weeds, peeling paint, dead Ivy everywhere. Endless orange construction fencing (so this is probably good?) I know, I know. None of this matters for academics but I was expecting more--I seriously thought it was going to be charming and it looked run-down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just visited U of Chicago and were surprised by how crummy it was. I had heard it was a beautiful campus. It looked like there hadn't been any maintenance or landscaping in 3 years. Overgrown weeds, peeling paint, dead Ivy everywhere. Endless orange construction fencing (so this is probably good?) I know, I know. None of this matters for academics but I was expecting more--I seriously thought it was going to be charming and it looked run-down.

Prospectives get old mixed up with "beautiful." The campus is seriously deteriorated and poorly kept. Some halls like Rosenwald, Cobb, Goodspeed, and parts of Harper are pretty dilapidated. Reg (the library) is utterly depressing, and I only go when an assignment is very serious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a rising senior and have been doing the rounds of many top 25 schools (universities and colleges). We started with safety schools last year and then junior year grades came back so this summer we've been touring some top schools. My kid is trying to figure out an ED.
We have a rising junior as well so we have a couple of kids with us.

The more of these schools we tour, the less impressed I am. They're sort of all a bit falling apart, poorly maintained, with pretty odd students (tour guides, summer students and especially touring students alike--don't jump all over for for saying this--being brutally honest), little sense of community, same-old, same-old stuff about study-abroad, etc. Many have very large class sizes, etc.

I feel like we're (kid and parent alike) are supposed to love these schools and want to pay $90K for them and my kids can't find one they really like. I very, very, very much feel like we're being sold a product that we're supposed to want to buy because of prestige and name but when we see the product up close it doesn't look great and I feel like a sheep lining up to say "yes sir. let me put my kid through mental/emotional twister for a 5% chance of being admitted to your school and then I will gladly pay you $90K for the honor. Yes sir." It just feels... gross. Maybe not gross but yucky. My kids are like, "well I didn't really like this or that here but I could probably make it work." They too feel the pressure to LIKE these places. The Almighty XYZ or ABC school! It's supposed to be their dream!

Please don't jump on me. I know it's summer and we're not seeing the universities at their best but ugh. They're all kind of disappointing. I can't be the only one who feels this way? (I'm not going to name university/college names because then this post will turn into a giant thread about whatever school(s) I name.

Interesting. After visiting some elite private schools, I gained a greater appreciation for state schools.

At a state school, one can usually get a single dorm room if one is prepared to pay a little extra, while one generally has less control of one's dorm situation at a private. The residence halls at the state schools we visited were generally nicer, and the food was usually as good as or better than at the private universities. State schools often have more mental health resources and accommodations for kids with issues. One of my kids went to a very good OOS state university (engineering), and another to an elite private SLAC (biology and social sciences). My state university kid lived much more comfortably in air-conditioned dorms with laundries and kitchens in every residence hall, and the food was excellent. My SLAC kid lived in dorms without A/C and with decrepit bathrooms, had to lug their laundry to a different building, and was underwhelmed by the dining hall offerings. Of course, academics are more important than lifestyle, but people need to be comfortable. Both received excellent educations.

My SLAC kid had the advantage of being at a tiny school, meaning they enjoyed small class sizes and received lots of individual attention and support. My state school kid may have learned more though, because they took a very demanding program with a heavy course load. My state school kid earns about double what their sibling earns, primarily due to being an engineer. The state school kid also had better research opportunities.

One advantage of the private school, imo, was that my DC had friends with unusually supportive and nurturing parents. This was a huge advantage to my SLAC kid's social life as my kiddo was always welcome to visit friend's homes (in fact, they had several "second homes"), and the kids themselves were generally more self-confident and polished. My DH and I bonded with several of private school DC's friends' parents, who are now close friends (people we vacation with), while we hardly know the parents of state school DC's friends.

I've read that state and elite private schools are no longer very far apart in terms of quality of education. They often use the same books and cover the same material. Some state schools have excellent honors programs/colleges. Studies suggest kids with similar stats have similar outcomes, regardless of where they go to school. That said, a degree from Stanford or Williams must open doors and confer a sense of self-confidence. Good luck with the college search! I know how stressful that process can be!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a rising senior and have been doing the rounds of many top 25 schools (universities and colleges). We started with safety schools last year and then junior year grades came back so this summer we've been touring some top schools. My kid is trying to figure out an ED.
We have a rising junior as well so we have a couple of kids with us.

The more of these schools we tour, the less impressed I am. They're sort of all a bit falling apart, poorly maintained, with pretty odd students (tour guides, summer students and especially touring students alike--don't jump all over for for saying this--being brutally honest), little sense of community, same-old, same-old stuff about study-abroad, etc. Many have very large class sizes, etc.

I feel like we're (kid and parent alike) are supposed to love these schools and want to pay $90K for them and my kids can't find one they really like. I very, very, very much feel like we're being sold a product that we're supposed to want to buy because of prestige and name but when we see the product up close it doesn't look great and I feel like a sheep lining up to say "yes sir. let me put my kid through mental/emotional twister for a 5% chance of being admitted to your school and then I will gladly pay you $90K for the honor. Yes sir." It just feels... gross. Maybe not gross but yucky. My kids are like, "well I didn't really like this or that here but I could probably make it work." They too feel the pressure to LIKE these places. The Almighty XYZ or ABC school! It's supposed to be their dream!

Please don't jump on me. I know it's summer and we're not seeing the universities at their best but ugh. They're all kind of disappointing. I can't be the only one who feels this way? (I'm not going to name university/college names because then this post will turn into a giant thread about whatever school(s) I name.

Interesting. After visiting some elite private schools, I gained a greater appreciation for state schools.

At a state school, one can usually get a single dorm room if one is prepared to pay a little extra, while one generally has less control of one's dorm situation at a private. The residence halls at the state schools we visited were generally nicer, and the food was usually as good as or better than at the private universities. State schools often have more mental health resources and accommodations for kids with issues. One of my kids went to a very good OOS state university (engineering), and another to an elite private SLAC (biology and social sciences). My state university kid lived much more comfortably in air-conditioned dorms with laundries and kitchens in every residence hall, and the food was excellent. My SLAC kid lived in dorms without A/C and with decrepit bathrooms, had to lug their laundry to a different building, and was underwhelmed by the dining hall offerings. Of course, academics are more important than lifestyle, but people need to be comfortable. Both received excellent educations.

My SLAC kid had the advantage of being at a tiny school, meaning they enjoyed small class sizes and received lots of individual attention and support. My state school kid may have learned more though, because they took a very demanding program with a heavy course load. My state school kid earns about double what their sibling earns, primarily due to being an engineer. The state school kid also had better research opportunities.

One advantage of the private school, imo, was that my DC had friends with unusually supportive and nurturing parents. This was a huge advantage to my SLAC kid's social life as my kiddo was always welcome to visit friend's homes (in fact, they had several "second homes"), and the kids themselves were generally more self-confident and polished. My DH and I bonded with several of private school DC's friends' parents, who are now close friends (people we vacation with), while we hardly know the parents of state school DC's friends.

I've read that state and elite private schools are no longer very far apart in terms of quality of education. They often use the same books and cover the same material. Some state schools have excellent honors programs/colleges. Studies suggest kids with similar stats have similar outcomes, regardless of where they go to school. That said, a degree from Stanford or Williams must open doors and confer a sense of self-confidence. Good luck with the college search! I know how stressful that process can be!

Thank you for sharing this! So helpful as I have several kids heading off to college in the next few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Surely there's a reasonable middle ground between country club and moldy dump dorms?

Some campuses have both

That must feel worse for the students in the moldy dump dorms...

[Anonymous]

Georgetown is the most strikingly rundown place I have ever seen.

(That suggests incompetent leadership to me, in that they can’t manage a foundational aspect of managing any organization:maintenance ).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Picking a school based on thinking you'll be doing high level research as an undergrad is a mistake.

Disagree.

At my kid’s (non-elite) SLAC, she published multiple peer reviewed papers as a undergrad, which likely helped her win two fully funded admissions to graduate programs.

Depends on the major.
If you’re doing science in grad school, it’ll be fully funded.

But those slots are highly competitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Surely there's a reasonable middle ground between country club and moldy dump dorms?

Some campuses have both

That must feel worse for the students in the moldy dump dorms...

Some things in life are luck of the draw, and most of us are grown up enough not to whine about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Picking a school based on thinking you'll be doing high level research as an undergrad is a mistake.

Disagree.

At my kid’s (non-elite) SLAC, she published multiple peer reviewed papers as a undergrad, which likely helped her win two fully funded admissions to graduate programs.

Depends on the major.
If you’re doing science in grad school, it’ll be fully funded.

But those slots are highly competitive.

All decent grad schools are highly competitive. There's no "safety" for grad school, you just have to put your best foot forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised about Hopkins. The dorms are pretty 80s, I agree. Renovated now with AC and clean but drab. Not much they can do but start over and they're not that bad. The apartment style ones way nicer but less social.

But the rest of Hopkins? The gym? The new science building? The interiors of the old buildings are so well done. The new student union is going to be amazing. I feel like that campus drips with Bloomberg money.

Ok, I was a bit harsh. I thought the campus as a whole was nice, but the food was not good. Hopefully DC by now has found some food to eat for bfast, lunch, and dinner. Considering we took a cross country flight out there, I began to think is it really worth it $90K for this. Today we got an email that one of the dorms has bedbugs and they're helping the kids wash everything... thank goodness DC is in another building. I feel like the quality of college life has stated the same but the cost has outpaced inflation.

I went to a women's college, and yeah, it was very nice and worth every penny.

Out of all the tours we went on, the women's colleges were easily the best quality. The dorm life at Scripps and Smith made me jealous at parts of the tour!

I can attest that both Smith and Scripps have great housing and beautiful campuses. I think Scripps beats Smith in the food department though.