S/O DCUM vs. reality: which colleges are very different IRL vs. what you read here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Penn is nicer than people here assume. So is Chicago, which has a really outstanding campus. Vanderbilt is much more a nerd school than frat school, and also has a great campus. Notre Dame is indeed super Catholic, but they do have the nicest students. WashU is not in the ghetto of St. Louis, but is actually a lovely campus in a really nice area. Northwestern and Columbia are more - I don't know the word, maybe unpleasant - environments than you'd expect. Harvard is lame and not at all what you'd expect it to be. Like, Harvard, take care of the lawn with your billions. I super-liked McGill, but apparently it gets cold in Montreal in January.

I’ve never been able to see the beauty in Vandy’s campus. It’s got a great location for kids looking for an urban campus but so many urban ish schools have nicer campuses— I’d put the urban Ivies, Hopkins, GaTech, Chicago, UCLA and USC over Vandy. Just my personal opinion.

The Vandy campus is basically a sub-tropical garden with very well-maintained buildings from the late 19th and early 20th century era. It does not have the grandeur of a Chicago or Yale. But I like it. It's very lush. And that greenery is there all year round. The Harvard people should hire the Vanderbilt landscapers and gardeners. And their maintenance people too. So many colleges have beautiful exteriors, but the Vandy buildings are all very nice on the inside too. It's a nice campus for an urban school. Maybe not the bestest, but when you get inside the buildings you can see they are taking care of things.

The Ivies have the Harry Potter grandeur in some of the interiors. The freshman dining hall at Harvard or the Yale main library. Vandy just leaves me cold. No discernible architectural style. I guess there are. a lot of trees, but not manicured like Duke. Just don't see the appeal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA is not this amazing place where people float on rainbows. It’s a normal place with pros and cons and nice people and mean people. It is not the key to happiness, as it sometimes sounds like to people in FCPS or on this board. I know, I went there.

Similarly, JMU, Radford, CNU, VCU are all good schools in their own right and people should be less snobby about them.

Radford will never beat its reputation as a party school. I’ve known many students who struggle with unexpected pregnancy, partying, and everything but the academics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Literally every school has its misconceptions on here. Remember, a the majority of DCUM is UMC women who went to college in the 90s. Many think nothing has changed, and they couldn’t be more wrong.

Duke and Dartmouth are not these fratty upper crust places anymore.
UChicago is hardly where fun goes to die.
Northwestern isn’t really a big work-hard play-harder place unless you’re a wealthy white person.
MIT has the most popular frat parties in Boston.
Vanderbilt isn’t brimming with MAGA.
Brown isn’t where quirky blue haired LGBTQ liberals who smoke pot 24/7 attend.

I could go on. I’m sure people with argue with what I say above using their DC’s n=1 anecdotes. Just know that over the last 10+ years, the student demographics and archetypes of T20 schools have become more similar than different.

oh and Cornell is where no one smiles and the bridges are dark forbidden places! Far from the truth.

Insensitive. Please go read “Cornell suicide Gorges” in Wikipedia before posting again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Literally every school has its misconceptions on here. Remember, a the majority of DCUM is UMC women who went to college in the 90s. Many think nothing has changed, and they couldn’t be more wrong.

Duke and Dartmouth are not these fratty upper crust places anymore.
UChicago is hardly where fun goes to die.
Northwestern isn’t really a big work-hard play-harder place unless you’re a wealthy white person.
MIT has the most popular frat parties in Boston.
Vanderbilt isn’t brimming with MAGA.
Brown isn’t where quirky blue haired LGBTQ liberals who smoke pot 24/7 attend.

I could go on. I’m sure people with argue with what I say above using their DC’s n=1 anecdotes. Just know that over the last 10+ years, the student demographics and archetypes of T20 schools have become more similar than different.

Stop. You post the same garbage over and over again, and it’s clear you haven’t actually visited any of these schools this decade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Literally every school has its misconceptions on here. Remember, a the majority of DCUM is UMC women who went to college in the 90s. Many think nothing has changed, and they couldn’t be more wrong.

Duke and Dartmouth are not these fratty upper crust places anymore.
UChicago is hardly where fun goes to die.
Northwestern isn’t really a big work-hard play-harder place unless you’re a wealthy white person.
MIT has the most popular frat parties in Boston.
Vanderbilt isn’t brimming with MAGA.
Brown isn’t where quirky blue haired LGBTQ liberals who smoke pot 24/7 attend.

I could go on. I’m sure people with argue with what I say above using their DC’s n=1 anecdotes. Just know that over the last 10+ years, the student demographics and archetypes of T20 schools have become more similar than different.

Stop. You post the same garbage over and over again, and it’s clear you haven’t actually visited any of these schools this decade.

Reread the post, illiterate douche. PP is just pointing out the DCUM stereotypes that are incorrect. If you disagree that those stereotypes are outdated, you’re the one that needs to do a bunch of revisits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of them.

This. I’m not sure there is more misinformation about colleges anywhere else on the internet.

[Anonymous]

Emory has always been “Northern” culturally but is now even more so, with the shifting political dynamic in Georgia and especially metro Atlanta.

[Anonymous]

I was at USC the other day for a graduation. I didn't count, but it seemed easily >50% Asian. Very few stereotypical university-of-spoiled-children blonde women.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA is not this amazing place where people float on rainbows. It’s a normal place with pros and cons and nice people and mean people. It is not the key to happiness, as it sometimes sounds like to people in FCPS or on this board. I know, I went there.

Similarly, JMU, Radford, CNU, VCU are all good schools in their own right and people should be less snobby about them.

+1. Our youngest is headed in state to VCU after considering multiple offers with scholarships and merit aid. I was impressed with the campus when we visited. I've gotten a few side eyes from other parents and I let it roll off my shoulders. VCU ranks in the top 10 percent nationally among schools nationwide for kid's major. You have to look more closely at the department than the school because that is where you kid will be spending his or her time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at USC the other day for a graduation. I didn't count, but it seemed easily >50% Asian. Very few stereotypical university-of-spoiled-children blonde women.

California blondes. Everyone turns blonde if they live in California long enough. Fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was inspired by a responder on that DCUM vs reality in acceptance thread who said Dartmouth was not all frat boys in real life.

What are other colleges with strong stereotypes that are very different from you saw on tour or better yet, with an enrolled DC?

Does Duke deserve the douchey fratty reputation? Does Brown really over-index on blue-haired celebrity offsprings + LGBTQ? Does Penn have more than their fair share of sharp-elbowed future wall-street bro?

And which ones do seem to lean closer to their reputation?

Lynchburg. When DC committed there I was iffy b/c people on here make it sound like sh--hole where no one gets jobs and the kids are morons. My athlete DC had other offers at very high academic (but high $$$ schools). But liked Lynchburg for lots of intangibles that ended up being a good fit.

What I found:
-not a sh--hole. The town is big time underrated. And the school is starting to upgrade older facilities.
-It is small but my kid has lots of personal attention and is excelling bc of that. The school generally supports the kids and wants them to succeed. For anyone who is smart and motivated, you will do well there.
-Their health based professions/preprofessions are VERY good.
-The student body is no different from my D1 school experience: lots of high performing kids and lots of others, too. Certainly is not the "dumb school" portrayed here.
-They give a LOT of money. And mine will have a full 529 for grad school tuition as a result. There are a lot of lower income kids there and the school attracts them b/c of the aid. But that doesn't mean low income = stupid. Many of these kids are incredibly hard workers.
-Because it's small the kids have lots of opportunities that are harder in big schools: jobs, research, facetime with professors, mentors, etc.

I dont expect the folks on here to reconsider their views on the school. But that's ok. It's a gem and kids would be smart to consider it. It was an eye opener for me. And I'm glad I didn't quash the decision and left it to my kid.

I love this! My DC went to UMBC and loved it, but that will never change people thinking it’s full of dumb kids who all wish they were at UMD. Congrats!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at USC the other day for a graduation. I didn't count, but it seemed easily >50% Asian. Very few stereotypical university-of-spoiled-children blonde women.

USC is one of the most misrepresented schools here. It’s changed tremendously over the past theee decades. We were so impressed when we visited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was at USC the other day for a graduation. I didn't count, but it seemed easily >50% Asian. Very few stereotypical university-of-spoiled-children blonde women.

USC is one of the most misrepresented schools here. It’s changed tremendously over the past theee decades. We were so impressed when we visited.

It is awesome and very welcoming. You dont even have to be able to speak English or be competent in Algebra to be admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at USC the other day for a graduation. I didn't count, but it seemed easily >50% Asian. Very few stereotypical university-of-spoiled-children blonde women.

Next time, insist that the Asians “count off” like you did in phys ed class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Penn is nicer than people here assume. So is Chicago, which has a really outstanding campus. Vanderbilt is much more a nerd school than frat school, and also has a great campus. Notre Dame is indeed super Catholic, but they do have the nicest students. WashU is not in the ghetto of St. Louis, but is actually a lovely campus in a really nice area. Northwestern and Columbia are more - I don't know the word, maybe unpleasant - environments than you'd expect. Harvard is lame and not at all what you'd expect it to be. Like, Harvard, take care of the lawn with your billions. I super-liked McGill, but apparently it gets cold in Montreal in January.

I’ve never been able to see the beauty in Vandy’s campus. It’s got a great location for kids looking for an urban campus but so many urban ish schools have nicer campuses— I’d put the urban Ivies, Hopkins, GaTech, Chicago, UCLA and USC over Vandy. Just my personal opinion.

The Vandy campus is basically a sub-tropical garden with very well-maintained buildings from the late 19th and early 20th century era. It does not have the grandeur of a Chicago or Yale. But I like it. It's very lush. And that greenery is there all year round. The Harvard people should hire the Vanderbilt landscapers and gardeners. And their maintenance people too. So many colleges have beautiful exteriors, but the Vandy buildings are all very nice on the inside too. It's a nice campus for an urban school. Maybe not the bestest, but when you get inside the buildings you can see they are taking care of things.

Vandy’s campus is nice enough. The surrounding neighborhood & the smattering of bars are good.

Having the Nashville nightlife scene right down the street is priceless

I myself would not pick Penn over Vandy. I really really really disliked Penn’s campus & neighborhood. I have zero connection to either school.