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

[Anonymous]

Left early at big concrete schools like Oregon State, Indiana, Michigan State. Kid didn't like Case or Cleveland. Felt tour guide at Kenyon was obnoxious and location too remote/rural (I thought the campus was gorgeous) especially compared to Denison which is only 30min outside of Columbus but similar feeling schools. UChicago tour guide was a turn off during our tour but not sure my kid was really gunning for that school anyway (again, I thought the campus was beautiful).

Of of all the schools we've toured the last few years, they liked more than they didn't so that's the good news!

[Anonymous]

Our two Dartmouth visits were both frustrating and poorly run. The admissions presentation was boring and lackluster. We were very surprised after having been to others. The tour guides were better but not great.

[Anonymous]

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.

If you think so, definitely don't visit VMI.

[Anonymous]

Exceeded expectations:
Davidson
Elon
Denison
Kenyon (but way too remote)
Fordham

About what we expected
UVA
Wake Forest
William and Mary
Villanova (But the tour was awful. Groups was way too large and couldn’t hear the guide. Didn’t actually go into many building.)

Didn’t meet expectations
Bucknell (campus is nice but surrounding area felt depressing)



Disappointment

[Anonymous]

I liked USC

[Anonymous]

Another vote for University of Georgia; exceeded expectations at ASD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were really hoping to love UPenn. Some of us found it to be too busy and noisy and urban (not surprising, just hoping for more of a green insulated campus). Didn't get the spark that made kid feel fully confident about ED.

Funny, we had the exact opposite reaction. Found UPenn to be appropriately busy and surprisingly quiet given location. Added to kids list upon leaving. Drexel was axed before tour even finished. Temple liked.

Dartmouth liked but too remote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our Georgetown tour guide talked about the high percent of GU alum who marry each other, then she made a cringey joke about coming to college to get her diploma and a ring. I'm actually an alum who married another alum, but the whole thing made me roll my eyes.

Likewise a different Georgetown tour guide who, when asked why he chose Georgetown said something about it having a strong pre-med program, which I took to mean he didn't get into wherever else he applied.

Also did not like the U Penn tour, which did not take us into a single building other than the admissions office and the tour guides seemed supremely uninterested in the people on the tour.

Never considered this before. But come to think of it, the one Georgetown alum I personally know is indeed married to a fellow Georgetown alum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were really hoping to love UPenn. Some of us found it to be too busy and noisy and urban (not surprising, just hoping for more of a green insulated campus). Didn't get the spark that made kid feel fully confident about ED.

Funny, we had the exact opposite reaction. Found UPenn to be appropriately busy and surprisingly quiet given location. Added to kids list upon leaving. Drexel was axed before tour even finished. Temple liked.

Dartmouth liked but too remote.

That's an apt description and our takeaway too. Love the vibe there!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Loved both UVA & WM. Kid attends UVA and is super happy with all aspects of her Hoo experience. She chose it over other top admits. Virginia residents are blessed to have great in-state options.

DD had the opposite reaction to UVA. She said it felt like a giant frat-party and also felt extremely impersonal. She compared to other large, state-flagship schools, which gave off the vide of being “diploma - mills.”

UVA is hardly a diploma mill. Good grief, do you even know what that means?? Giant frat-party - how would she get this feeling from a tour? Loads of Hoos don’t frequent frat parties or the bars, but rather they find entertainment in the vast happenings on Grounds.

What other large state schools? Has she toured an SEC school becuase that is Giant frat party.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wellesley was a huge letdown. We visited years ago when things had started to open up after the pandemic but were not completely back to normal. Oddly they had an in person info session in a room inside with us all crammed in (wearing masks at the time), but did not offer outdoor tours "due to the pandemic."

It was so illogical that they were obviously using the pandemic as an excuse not to offer tours. So we wandered around in a "self guided tour," got lost, got nothing out of it, and were bitter we went all that way. Did not apply.

Also turned off that they are not welcoming of gender expansive students. No that doesn't apply to my kid, but I didn't like the non inclusivity. Nor did she.

Thought my kid would love Wellesley. Couldn't have been more wrong.

[Anonymous]

Just getting started with a junior: we've visited Swarthmore, Haverford, Penn, Wesleyan, and BC. We had great tours at Swat and Wesleyan; they are now high on the list. Only walked through Penn but was impressed by Locust Walk. Turned off by both Haverford and BC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Left early at big concrete schools like Oregon State, Indiana, Michigan State. Kid didn't like Case or Cleveland. Felt tour guide at Kenyon was obnoxious and location too remote/rural (I thought the campus was gorgeous) especially compared to Denison which is only 30min outside of Columbus but similar feeling schools. UChicago tour guide was a turn off during our tour but not sure my kid was really gunning for that school anyway (again, I thought the campus was beautiful).

Of of all the schools we've toured the last few years, they liked more than they didn't so that's the good news!

Indiana is largely limestone, not concrete. Did you miss the mass timber building at Michigan State?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Loved both UVA & WM. Kid attends UVA and is super happy with all aspects of her Hoo experience. She chose it over other top admits. Virginia residents are blessed to have great in-state options.

DD had the opposite reaction to UVA. She said it felt like a giant frat-party and also felt extremely impersonal. She compared to other large, state-flagship schools, which gave off the vide of being “diploma - mills.”

Glad we’re not the only family that didn’t love UVA. Felt like one big white frat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wide lists - 3 kids.

exceeded expectations:
Claremont Colleges
UCLA
GW
Bowdoin
Columbia
Middlebury
JHU
UNC
Yale
Rice

about what we expected/all positive:
GW
Princeton
Penn
Holy Cross
USC
Davidson

meh/came up short:
Villanova
Tufts
Amherst
UChicago
Bates
Colgate
Hamilton
Georgetown (x100)
Dartmouth
Harvard
BU
Swat

How did Dartmouth come up short?

so pretty - but admission session was very blah, then the tour was this guy who kept saying how really impossible it was to get in - and also the kids there were POPULAR and SOCIAL and EMPLOYABLE and COULD LOOK PEOPLE IN THE EYES unlike all the other Ivy League schools (I guess those Princeton and Harvard kids aren't popular or employable). Then we had lunch and - nothing changed my kids' minds. It was a v pretty day and a pretty campus in a pretty corner of the world

oh lol, yes that is pretty bad. We had a guy who was the perfect blend of nerdy and super cool. By the end of the tour all the guys wanted to be him and all the girls wanted to date him and everyone wanted to attend Dartmouth. My kid ended up matriculating there and at the parents' weekend this year we took another tour as my husband had never seen the campus. Our tour guide this time was a guy who mentioned how he chose it over Yale and then went off on this for awhile and I tuned him out. It's never great to mention another college when you're a tour guide.

Our all-time worst tour (2 kids, 2 admissions seasons) was Swarthmore. The student actually told us all she that was only there for the financial aid money and really didn't like the school. Great.