Review your spring break college visits / tours

[Anonymous]

Pps who have experience with Swat - is it as pressure filled and grind-y as reputed? Did your DC have fun? Do they wish they had chosen elsewhere?
TIA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would love thoughts from poster who visited UVM.

My daughter and I both really loved both the campus and Burlington. I went to a smaller school (WFU) and UVM was the first state school campus I’ve ever been on that didn’t feel like a city. I think the enrollment is 13000ish? But don’t quote me on that. The size seemed very manageable and the honors college area was small and well located. And the fact that the Lake Champlain waterfront is walkable was amazing.

My daughter goes to a serious pressure cooker high school and she really loved the relaxed vibe she got on campus at UVM. She said it was refreshing and just seemed like a happy place. It’s not the strongest for her prospective major but she liked it so much that it’s staying on the list regardless.

My DS had the same impression as your daughter. We went on a cold day in January, but the campus was alive. Lots of students out and about who looked happy.

DP, but we also really liked the campus and the vibe. UVM has definitely made our DDs list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious about Dartmouth - we didn’t make it that far

DP. We went last year on an overcast and slightly rainy chilly spring day. It was a bit of a turn-off for DD, but an accurate depiction of Spring there. Good to see that, since she was considering ED. A little put off by core requirements. And, (this is more me) the traffic around the main quad kind of wrecks the charm. It's very loud and exhaust-y with all the buses. Then, there's 2 blocks of expensive stores and 1 cool used record shop.

Also, I'm not sure she's as gung ho outdoorsy as most and definitely not a drinker, though will probably drink some in college. So, it just wasn't a slam dunk for her.

It was our last stop on a loop of Brown, WPI, Olin, Tufts, Smith, Dartmouth. Regret going to WPI right after Brown. Hard for it to stand out, also Worcester just feels so ex-urban compared to Providence. Still, a lovely campus with engaging students and a passion for learning. Good spaces for classes and maker areas. A lot to love at WPI.

Next, Olin. Very impressed with the support and investment in students. They will fund passion projects, buy any books students request for library, and community seems great -- sewing machines in library, musical instrument library, classrooms that look like lounges, and students leave laptops lying out, a lot of trust. Very small though. Babson right next door and Wellesley 10min drive, but wish it were reversed.

Tufts - could not get a tour, so did self tour. Pretty campus. Don't understand why people don't like this campus. Lots of students hanging out on lawn, beautiful buildings. Didn't learn alot on self tour. Went mostly just to see it and log in interest. Knew DD would not apply ED because NPC did not look great, but thought it would be worth RD consideration.

Smith -another gorgeous campus. Love the house system. Really nice tour guide -- bright, engaged. Felt very personalized. Got a sense of a lot of student and institution support. Also, strong alum network.

Started the loop with Brown. Tours were ok. They don't show a lot. Did an engineering tour which went inside and had more to it. Met a current student and had a great in-depth chat about the program. Also, Ruth J Simmons seems so badass. Glad there is a quad named for her.

Our impression of Tufts was similar. Will apply RD for similar reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS graduated from Swarthmore and I haven’t been back since. What are they doing with all the construction?

They are converting the entire campus to geothermal heating/cooling. We were there in February for a tour. Construction didn't bother me at all. Don't get why other people thought it was a big deal.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:In particular how was Dartmouth and Hanover compared to Swarthmore ? My DC found Swarthmore and the town too quiet - though liked what they heard about the academics

They’re really different in my opinion. Hanover has gotten *very* fancy since I visited when I was in high school. It’s small and all the shops and restaurants are very high end where Swarthmore felt more middle class to me. And its other main facet is its isolation. I loved that swarthmore has Philly just 20 min away by train. Dartmouth is just the Main Street in Hanover and then a very long drive to Boston if you want to get of campus.

DP. I just noted similar observation about the shops in Hanover.

I had a delicious honey coffee with oat milk from a bakery on the main street in Hanover. If my ds goes there, I'll be happy to visit that bakery!

My 11 year old was with us for our tour and tells everyone she wants to go to Dartmouth because of the boba.

This makes me smile. Lesser things have swayed lives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swarthmore info session - 10/10. Swarthmore campus - 95% construction. It was a bummer.

So funny because it was 95% construction when I was there 30 years ago. Class of ‘97!

We actually thought the info session was kind of all over the place compared to other schools we saw
during the same week

We went last year and also thought info session was odd. Great tour guide and beautiful campus. But quiet. Nice that it is near Philly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious about Dartmouth - we didn’t make it that far

DP. We went last year on an overcast and slightly rainy chilly spring day. It was a bit of a turn-off for DD, but an accurate depiction of Spring there. Good to see that, since she was considering ED. A little put off by core requirements. And, (this is more me) the traffic around the main quad kind of wrecks the charm. It's very loud and exhaust-y with all the buses. Then, there's 2 blocks of expensive stores and 1 cool used record shop.

Also, I'm not sure she's as gung ho outdoorsy as most and definitely not a drinker, though will probably drink some in college. So, it just wasn't a slam dunk for her.

It was our last stop on a loop of Brown, WPI, Olin, Tufts, Smith, Dartmouth. Regret going to WPI right after Brown. Hard for it to stand out, also Worcester just feels so ex-urban compared to Providence. Still, a lovely campus with engaging students and a passion for learning. Good spaces for classes and maker areas. A lot to love at WPI.

Next, Olin. Very impressed with the support and investment in students. They will fund passion projects, buy any books students request for library, and community seems great -- sewing machines in library, musical instrument library, classrooms that look like lounges, and students leave laptops lying out, a lot of trust. Very small though. Babson right next door and Wellesley 10min drive, but wish it were reversed.

Tufts - could not get a tour, so did self tour. Pretty campus. Don't understand why people don't like this campus. Lots of students hanging out on lawn, beautiful buildings. Didn't learn alot on self tour. Went mostly just to see it and log in interest. Knew DD would not apply ED because NPC did not look great, but thought it would be worth RD consideration.

Smith -another gorgeous campus. Love the house system. Really nice tour guide -- bright, engaged. Felt very personalized. Got a sense of a lot of student and institution support. Also, strong alum network.

Started the loop with Brown. Tours were ok. They don't show a lot. Did an engineering tour which went inside and had more to it. Met a current student and had a great in-depth chat about the program. Also, Ruth J Simmons seems so badass. Glad there is a quad named for her.

Our impression of Tufts was similar. Will apply RD for similar reasons.

Good to hear. My DC was just admitted RD even though we weren’t blown away by our tour last year. Right now it is the frontrunner, for various reasons (size, location, interdisciplinary curriculum). We are going for admitted students day next week and I hope DC likes it better! Barring some miracles this week I really do think it’s the best option of our acceptances.

[Anonymous]

We did swat and haverford on the same day. My kids have very little interest in SLACs (good to know!) but haverford was more appealing IMO.

[Anonymous]

There was a recent episode of the Your College Bound Kid podcast on Swarthmore and Haverford.

"Lydia Dagenais, a former admission officer at Haverford College and Swarthmore College is joined by Julia Esquivel, a co-host for YCBK but also a former Haverford College admission officer to discuss Haverford and Swarthmore."

https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/2024/03/14/ycbk-413-understanding-haverford-college-swarthmore-college-marquette-university/

The title of the episode also says Marquette, but that was a separate discussion and great for anyone looking into Marquette.

[Anonymous]

Went on the looooongest tour in the history of tours at UNC admitted students day. The guide was nice and gave some really good insight but 3 hours of tour is way too long. Part of the problem was parents on our tour--someone actually asked the price of making copies...

[Anonymous]

We hit upstate NY and visited Ithaca, Cornell and Syracuse. My DC won't get into Cornell, but wanted to see it, and did really love it. Also really liked Syracuse, and will consider Ithaca as a safety. Considering some sort of media-related major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Went on the looooongest tour in the history of tours at UNC admitted students day. The guide was nice and gave some really good insight but 3 hours of tour is way too long. Part of the problem was parents on our tour--someone actually asked the price of making copies...

No! Don't they know that they give you a card for the copier, and no one ever runs out of money on their card?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would love thoughts from poster who visited UVM.

We visited UVM last summer and when we were in the science building a guy walked by wearing a rainbow lab coat and a ski hat and the only thing that could have made it more on-the-nose was if he had been kicking a hacky sack. Highlight of the tour!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went on the looooongest tour in the history of tours at UNC admitted students day. The guide was nice and gave some really good insight but 3 hours of tour is way too long. Part of the problem was parents on our tour--someone actually asked the price of making copies...

No! Don't they know that they give you a card for the copier, and no one ever runs out of money on their card?

How many copies are students really making these days, anyway?

[Anonymous]

Swat made a BIG deal about how the copies were FREE* there! Mentioned many many times!

*once you pay them 85k