S/O - any disappointing tours?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA. I felt that the campus and immediate surrounding area was very overrated.

+1 I just don't get the allure of UVA.

[Anonymous]

Our first tour at Holy Cross was really disappointing. The group was way too big for the number of tour guides and they seemed flustered by more people showing up than they expected (There's a tour registration for a reason! Don't just show up thinking you can squeeze in!.

We didn't have to rush to another school, so we ate lunch in the student union and went back to admissions to ask if there was space for the afternoon tour. There was and we went on that. It was smaller and great!

I honestly thought Holy Cross was coming off the list because of the morning tour, but the afternoon tour kept it back on.

I guess it's a good lesson: don't let one tour sour you on a school that has a lot going for it.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote: My DS couldn’t wait to get in the car and leave W & M. The tour guide seemed kind of blah about selling it and overall looked bored and miserable. The school was a lot smaller than we thought but I would say of all the tours we had in VA , this one was the worst.

I was just about to write exactly the same thing! W&M seemed utterly miserable. My DC didn't even want to stay for the information session, even though I insisted. DC couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Why/how?

The entire vibe - the students we encountered - the incredibly dull presentation - the types of kids who were in attendance - I could go on and on. There was honestly not one appealing thing to list. I kept all of that to myself at the time, but when it was clear DC was totally turned off and wanted to leave, I had to agree.

What about the kids who were in attendance was not pleasing?

I think people have gotten so used to the over the top, rah-rah instagram style presentation of big sports schools that when they visit a public school that projects a more low-key, studious and artsy vibe they get turned off.

It’s like people need a cheesy sports-focused hype video at every info session or else they think the school is weird.

Our tour guide was visually offensive and her spiel was riddled with unfunny, uncomfortable sarcasm. Complete and absolute turnoff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS talked about his upcoming Annapolis tour for weeks beforehand (we don't live in the DMV and had never been), then hated every second of it. Thought it was depressing, cold, and the students looked stressed and unhappy. He still had a hard time turning it down when he was accepted and ended up at another academy, where I personally thought everyone looked just as miserable.

I feel like the service academies are like our medical education system - where it sucks and people who go through it think, yeah, I did it so you do it. They could attract a whole new population if they were 20% less grim. We could use some of those MIT kids.

He's actually pretty happy now! Exhausted and cold (to think he thought MD was freezing), but super excited whenever he calls. Annapolis just didn't do a great job recruiting during tours - but then, they don't need to, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA. I felt that the campus and immediate surrounding area was very overrated.

+1 I just don't get the allure of UVA.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our first tour at Holy Cross was really disappointing. The group was way too big for the number of tour guides and they seemed flustered by more people showing up than they expected (There's a tour registration for a reason! Don't just show up thinking you can squeeze in!.

We didn't have to rush to another school, so we ate lunch in the student union and went back to admissions to ask if there was space for the afternoon tour. There was and we went on that. It was smaller and great!

I honestly thought Holy Cross was coming off the list because of the morning tour, but the afternoon tour kept it back on.

I guess it's a good lesson: don't let one tour sour you on a school that has a lot going for it.

I'm so glad! I went there, and think it is a great school with a pretty campus and friendly people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote: My DS couldn’t wait to get in the car and leave W & M. The tour guide seemed kind of blah about selling it and overall looked bored and miserable. The school was a lot smaller than we thought but I would say of all the tours we had in VA , this one was the worst.

I was just about to write exactly the same thing! W&M seemed utterly miserable. My DC didn't even want to stay for the information session, even though I insisted. DC couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Why/how?

The entire vibe - the students we encountered - the incredibly dull presentation - the types of kids who were in attendance - I could go on and on. There was honestly not one appealing thing to list. I kept all of that to myself at the time, but when it was clear DC was totally turned off and wanted to leave, I had to agree.

What about the kids who were in attendance was not pleasing?

I think people have gotten so used to the over the top, rah-rah instagram style presentation of big sports schools that when they visit a public school that projects a more low-key, studious and artsy vibe they get turned off.

It’s like people need a cheesy sports-focused hype video at every info session or else they think the school is weird.

Our tour guide was visually offensive and her spiel was riddled with unfunny, uncomfortable sarcasm. Complete and absolute turnoff.

Visually offensive?

[Anonymous]

Hideous and morbidly obese. Is that description enough?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hideous and morbidly obese. Is that description enough?

Wow.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like someone else is the offensive one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like someone else is the offensive one.

[phone]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like someone else is the offensive one.

And the hideous one based on behavior.

[Anonymous]

Our guide at Franklin & Marshall was really nice and tried really hard. But everything else was just... unimpressive. I don't know how else to describe it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: My DS couldn’t wait to get in the car and leave W & M. The tour guide seemed kind of blah about selling it and overall looked bored and miserable. The school was a lot smaller than we thought but I would say of all the tours we had in VA , this one was the worst.

I was just about to write exactly the same thing! W&M seemed utterly miserable. My DC didn't even want to stay for the information session, even though I insisted. DC couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Why/how?

The entire vibe - the students we encountered - the incredibly dull presentation - the types of kids who were in attendance - I could go on and on. There was honestly not one appealing thing to list. I kept all of that to myself at the time, but when it was clear DC was totally turned off and wanted to leave, I had to agree.

What about the kids who were in attendance was not pleasing?

I think people have gotten so used to the over the top, rah-rah instagram style presentation of big sports schools that when they visit a public school that projects a more low-key, studious and artsy vibe they get turned off.

It’s like people need a cheesy sports-focused hype video at every info session or else they think the school is weird.

Our tour guide was visually offensive and her spiel was riddled with unfunny, uncomfortable sarcasm. Complete and absolute turnoff.

Our William &Mary tour guide was a hottie. My with wanted to get his number, I'm not sure whether for her or our daughter.

[Anonymous]

Ew.