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

[Anonymous]

Harvey Mudd. Coming from the east coast I’d never heard of this place until we started researching schools for DD. When we stepped on campus I was like “ugh! So ugly” but DC who until then had been very swayed by the look of a college was enthralled: “These are my people!” Sadly way too pricey in the end though.

[Anonymous]

Loved UCLA- beautiful. Amazing tour guide.
Loved Brown- so supportive, kind, fun.

Turned off at Princeton. The AO who did the presentation was so pretentious. During the 2 hr tour, on a regular school day, we literally saw only a handful of students outside and it was nice weather. We were so weirded out that the campus was so dead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those who loved Columbia, what did you love about it?

My child was admitted off the waitlist last year and we never toured. The most we ever visited was a 10 minute walk across campus a few years prior.
They ended up taking another waitlist offer so I'll forever be a tiny bit curious about Columbia.

The buildings are majestic, but not gothic, gives a sense of history but isn't gloomy. It's also much more green than you might expect given its urban location. No through traffic so students are hanging out, studying on the steps etc. The size, about 35 acres (for comparison Northwestern's is over 200 acres), means that students are constantly passing each other which gives it a sense of community.

Small size makes it handy when, like, you unexpectedly come across a societal outrage on your way to class & have to dash back to your dorm to fetch your bullhorn and drum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Were any of you put off by the guide versus the campus?

The opposite for us at UMass Amherst. The campus is not the selling point but our guide was so good, I don’t think you could finish the tour and not want to go there.

You going to hang out with the tour guide for 4 years?

[Anonymous]

Villanova was a great visit

[Anonymous]

JMU-loved it. Everyone seemed really happy and the facilities were gorgeous. Not applying because not great for the major but it seems great. I was surprised because back when I was in college, it was not impressive. Would be fine if my kids decided to apply there.

RIT: the faculty and courses seemed great, it seemed very nuturing. I liked it for my introverted son. But, he didn’t like the vibe. It was very quiet, the students seemed to walking and eating lunches by themselves, and he said it seemed depressing which I guess I can see but I thought he would like that type of environment.

Marquette: beautiful campus, loved Milwaukee, faculty and students seemed nice and cared about each other.
Had never been there before and it was really surprising.

[Anonymous]

I am now touring schools with my 4th kid, so I have been on A LOT of tours. UGA is the best tour I have been on and it isn’t even close. I wasn’t expecting to love the campus and Athens so much. Playing REM while everyone was settling into the info session gave off such a fun vibe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Really? We had the opposite experience. Both DS and younger sibling who was along for the ride loved it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:JMU-loved it. Everyone seemed really happy and the facilities were gorgeous. Not applying because not great for the major but it seems great. I was surprised because back when I was in college, it was not impressive. Would be fine if my kids decided to apply there.

RIT: the faculty and courses seemed great, it seemed very nuturing. I liked it for my introverted son. But, he didn’t like the vibe. It was very quiet, the students seemed to walking and eating lunches by themselves, and he said it seemed depressing which I guess I can see but I thought he would like that type of environment.

Marquette: beautiful campus, loved Milwaukee, faculty and students seemed nice and cared about each other.
Had never been there before and it was really surprising.

I wound up elsewhere 30+ years ago, but I applied to JMU from oos. Visited after I had already been accepted EA (was waiting on the honors college acceptance) and really enjoyed it. I would have happily attended - it was a nice campus full of happy kids.

[Anonymous]

We did a bunch of visits during family travels, so not all were ‘official’ with tour guides.

St Andrews- underwhelmed, couldn’t believe what all the fuss was about. Remote, small village. Lots of tiny rundown buildings and apts.

Edinburgh- large, vibrant campus, close proximity to town, though many, many tourists. This would have been my pick of the three Scottish campuses.

Glasgow- best “campus within a city” layout of all the tours, US included. Hogwarts vibes. Happen to be there on graduation day. Lots of happy students and families. Great high street with lots of shops. DC seriously considered it.

UW- visited on a sunny football game day and it really did check a lot of big campus boxes (not really what DC was looking for) and had a nice high street nearby. Lots of walking, it’s kind of spread out.

NYU and BU were both high on DC’s list of “city colleges” but after tours, particularly NYU, where we just walked along the streets and looked at the outside of buildings WITH a tour guide, they were very underwhelmed.

Drexel- quite impressed with the co-op program and campus. It was on the list.

USC- really nice small tour with the admissions director at Annenberg School, personal and interesting with tips for applying. Campus was bustling.

Loyola Marymount- beautiful campus, good location in LA, Palm trees and pacific views. Guessing it’s a backup for students who didn’t get into USC or find Pepperdine too religious.

Vassar - beautiful campus, nice, interesting tour guides. Quintessential NE college campus. Great library. Happy students. Decent walkable small town. New hotel and restaurant across from campus.

[Anonymous]

With DC1:

Wanted to Like but Hated: UVA (awful tour, snobby students both on tour and ones we know from home) and Catholic U (it’s DC, way too urban)

Wanted to like and thought OK: JMU, Franciscan

Liked way more than anticipated: Longwood, WVU

With DC2:

No, thank you (wanted to like, just didn’t): Ole Miss and Kentucky

Mom (and School field trip tour) made me do it and still hated it: UVA (after three strikes….you’re out)

Knew it would be liked (and did): VT and Auburn

Way better than we all thought: Tennessee

Still to Come (so advice and experience appreciated!): Texas A&M, LSU, Shenandoah, and ODU (loved hearing positive vibes on the last three from upthread!!)

[Anonymous]

Visiting during big sports events can really give you a special peek into school spirit.

As I said above, I enjoyed my JMU visit. It was during March Madness and they were actually in it that year. The students were pumped up.

The next day, we visited the school that became my alma mater. They had won their game the night before and the signs of the celebration were all around campus. It added a little something extra during the visit and tour.

[Anonymous]

We all liked University of Scranton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With DC1:

Wanted to Like but Hated: UVA (awful tour, snobby students both on tour and ones we know from home) and Catholic U (it’s DC, way too urban)

Wanted to like and thought OK: JMU, Franciscan

Liked way more than anticipated: Longwood, WVU

With DC2:

No, thank you (wanted to like, just didn’t): Ole Miss and Kentucky

Mom (and School field trip tour) made me do it and still hated it: UVA (after three strikes….you’re out)

Knew it would be liked (and did): VT and Auburn

Way better than we all thought: Tennessee

Still to Come (so advice and experience appreciated!): Texas A&M, LSU, Shenandoah, and ODU (loved hearing positive vibes on the last three from upthread!!)

I’m the poster who liked Shenandoah and ODU. They are completely different schools, obviously. But I hope you enjoy your visits. I think it helped that we visited for a planned event day vs just going on the everyday tour.

[Anonymous]

Marist had a beautiful campus and more kids interacting with each other than all other colleges combined. Kids were in groups at outdoor tables, on the grass, at indoor tables, and on benches.

My daughter felt self-conscious about her outfit after seeing the fashion majors walking around and chose a different college. Sometimes she wishes she had gone there instead.