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

[Anonymous]

Our experience with two different kids
Loved Vanderbilt, Purdue and LSU
Did not like UVA, our tour guide was a snob. This was three years ago and I've heard tours at UVA are much better now.
NYU was not good, agree with others in that it did not give a good sense of community.

[Anonymous]

I was pleasantly surprised by Indiana! Beautiful campus (I was surprised), cute adjacent college town, strong programs in business, music and foreign languages- I think it's called the Lugar center? Good hourly shuttle service to Indianapolis airport. Kids were friendly.

[Anonymous]

Tours can be a double-edged sword. In some ways the Covid kids had it best - no pressure to tour, no getting swayed by silly things like weather or a bad guide. OTOH I know of several kids that year that wound up at really bad fits.

Surprised on the upside:
BU - good energy, great for a kid who wanted urban (but we are in NYC and I want them to leave for college so NYU was not on the list)
Wesleyan - thought it might be too woke, but there seemed to be a nice mix of kids. Small but not painfully so.
Williams - I thought the campus was beautiful (it was too small for DC)
Georgetown- so much great energy, you really felt that you were in the political center of the universe. Did not see issues with "garbage" that other posters have mentioned.
Pitt - the NICEST people and great energy.
Binghamton - everything about it felt really solid, and the in-state bargain is hard to pass up.

Surprised on the downside:
Penn - smug tour guide, overly competitive vibe, campus an odd jumble of construction.
Tufts - so painfully dreary and nerdy. I wanted this to be DC's ED choice and he wouldn't even apply afterwards.
Haverford - woke hell.

I did not go to the Chicago/Northwestern tour but DC loved both and is at one of those now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Thanks! That’s our “plan”. DC2 really wants the Big SEC experience (can’t you tell from the list 😜 ) but these two in-state options probably appeal the most.

[Anonymous]

My kid did not enjoy JMU. Too remote for her. She also participated in a sports clinic there with JMU athletes and she did not feel very welcomed, which tainted her view.
Went on an Ohio State tour a month later and she absolutely loved it. Enclosed campus in a mid-sized city with tons of stuff to do walking distance from the campus. Glad we went to both schools so she could get the feel of what she prefers which is clearly big, high-spirited campus within a city.

[Anonymous]

Ohio state is located is a mid sized city?

Columbus (/kəˈlʌmbəs/, kə-LUM-bəs) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a population of 905,748 at the 2020 census,[5] it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., second-most populous city in the Midwest (after Chicago), and third-most populous U.S. state capital (after Phoenix, Arizona, and Austin, Texas). The Columbus metropolitan area, with an estimated 2.23 million residents, is the largest metropolitan area entirely in Ohio[a] and 32nd-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County; it also extends into Delaware and Fairfield counties.[11]

[Anonymous]

Vanderbilt moved up on DC's list after the visit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:USC. Felt too slick.

Same. DD thought it felt very "Disneyland."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Had no expectations for UCLA and the tour guide was phenomenal, as were the other students we met - smart, funny, personable kids. That and the quintessential campus vibe put it at the top of DD's list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tours can be a double-edged sword. In some ways the Covid kids had it best - no pressure to tour, no getting swayed by silly things like weather or a bad guide. OTOH I know of several kids that year that wound up at really bad fits.

Surprised on the upside:
BU - good energy, great for a kid who wanted urban (but we are in NYC and I want them to leave for college so NYU was not on the list)
Wesleyan - thought it might be too woke, but there seemed to be a nice mix of kids. Small but not painfully so.
Williams - I thought the campus was beautiful (it was too small for DC)
Georgetown- so much great energy, you really felt that you were in the political center of the universe. Did not see issues with "garbage" that other posters have mentioned.
Pitt - the NICEST people and great energy.
Binghamton - everything about it felt really solid, and the in-state bargain is hard to pass up.

Surprised on the downside:
Penn - smug tour guide, overly competitive vibe, campus an odd jumble of construction.
Tufts - so painfully dreary and nerdy. I wanted this to be DC's ED choice and he wouldn't even apply afterwards.
Haverford - woke hell.

I did not go to the Chicago/Northwestern tour but DC loved both and is at one of those now.

I am curious how you can tell from a visit/tour that a school is "woke hell." I feel like they all acknowledge native lands, etc...what was it about the tour that made you feel this way? (it's on our list but haven't toured yet so this is a legitimate question and not trying to start a debate).

[Anonymous]

Visits to UCSD and UCSB were so disappointing because of the unimpressive student tour guides. Both are extremely well-rated schools, so I'm guessing it was an aberration?

[Anonymous]

i took my daughter and niece touring together in CT. They both loved Wesleyan and thought Yale was dreary.

[Anonymous]

LOVED Duke, UVA, and Pomona after visits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tours can be a double-edged sword. In some ways the Covid kids had it best - no pressure to tour, no getting swayed by silly things like weather or a bad guide. OTOH I know of several kids that year that wound up at really bad fits.

Surprised on the upside:
BU - good energy, great for a kid who wanted urban (but we are in NYC and I want them to leave for college so NYU was not on the list)
Wesleyan - thought it might be too woke, but there seemed to be a nice mix of kids. Small but not painfully so.
Williams - I thought the campus was beautiful (it was too small for DC)
Georgetown- so much great energy, you really felt that you were in the political center of the universe. Did not see issues with "garbage" that other posters have mentioned.
Pitt - the NICEST people and great energy.
Binghamton - everything about it felt really solid, and the in-state bargain is hard to pass up.

Surprised on the downside:
Penn - smug tour guide, overly competitive vibe, campus an odd jumble of construction.
Tufts - so painfully dreary and nerdy. I wanted this to be DC's ED choice and he wouldn't even apply afterwards.
Haverford - woke hell.

I did not go to the Chicago/Northwestern tour but DC loved both and is at one of those now.

I am curious how you can tell from a visit/tour that a school is "woke hell." I feel like they all acknowledge native lands, etc...what was it about the tour that made you feel this way? (it's on our list but haven't toured yet so this is a legitimate question and not trying to start a debate).

I always attribute that kind of "observation" to the shortcomings of the opinionator and not the institution.

[Anonymous]

If a school is relatively close, you might want to visit a second time. We did this with DD, and it really helped to separate the personality of the tour guide, bad weather or similar factor that can have an outsized influence.