What school dropped off the list because of your visit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tulane - it was a dump

really?!?! it looks so nice on the website and virtual tours. tell me more.

I agree - they are doing lots of construction, have new dorms and commons/cafeteria and are constructing a new engineering building in the middle of the campus. I think the PP’s comment is either outdated or perhaps a distaste for construction, but the construction in my view is a positive (particularly the investment in engineering).

We visited in 2018, so maybe it has changed. The dorms were extremely small and very old. Just felt the campus in general was old and needed updated. Also, the city of New Orleans is probably the dirtiest city that I have ever visited..

+1
I have never, ever seen the appeal of New Orleans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went to grad school at Vanderbilt sight unseen because it was the top in my field and it was a huge mistake. The women there dress up just to go to regular classes. Was so strange to see coming from a northern undergrad. For a school with such bright students it had an old fashioned, off-putting “my main goal is to meet my husband” vibe.

it's your internalized misogyny for me

I attended Vandy in the late 80’s and there was some dressing up (like for football games), but the poster has overplayed it. Vandy is very similar to UVA in its attire. There’s nothing wrong with showering before class, combing/brushing your hair, and wearing some clean clothes other than a worn T-shirt and gym shorts.

Exactly. It’s very much like UVA and if you like that, it’s your preference. It is very different from most non-southern schools. The first line about Vandy in the Fiske guide is about its “old south gentility.”

Do they add a wink after the "old south gentility" part?

If you are from the North, DO NOT consider schools from the South. They are all racist and full of fratty/ sorority morons that have no intellectual capacity to compete or live in the real world. I beg you, stick to your wonderfully open minded Northern schools that are the beacon of hope for all of humanity, it is the only way to save this world!

I do hope this was sarcasm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tulane - it was a dump

really?!?! it looks so nice on the website and virtual tours. tell me more.

I agree - they are doing lots of construction, have new dorms and commons/cafeteria and are constructing a new engineering building in the middle of the campus. I think the PP’s comment is either outdated or perhaps a distaste for construction, but the construction in my view is a positive (particularly the investment in engineering).

We visited in 2018, so maybe it has changed. The dorms were extremely small and very old. Just felt the campus in general was old and needed updated. Also, the city of New Orleans is probably the dirtiest city that I have ever visited..

And quite dangerous

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The overwhelming majority of posts on this thread is ridiculous. The reasons given by parents and students alike for writing off schools are silly.

Look at what the OP asked. Most people are being responsive to her question, YOU are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The overwhelming majority of posts on this thread is ridiculous. The reasons given by parents and students alike for writing off schools are silly.

Look at what the OP asked. Most people are being responsive to her question, YOU are not.

DP. I think most people actually say they “wrote off” this or that college because they harbor some kind of resentment. Either their kid didn’t get in or a rival kid did, etc., or they just want to put down certain schools for their own bizarre reasons. So transparent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dartmouth
UPenn

Would love to take UMD-CP off, but probably will be stuck attending there anyway. Good rankings, great price in-state, decent location, ugly campus.

Agree on UMD- CP. it has got to be one of the ugliest most depressing campuses of any school. Just dismal, drab and nothing inviting about it. My kid desperately wants to knock it off his list as well, but like you we are keeping it on bc of the ranking, price etc, but there is nothing redeeming about that campus

The campus looks like any regular state university campus, so struggling to see what the issue is.

But it's the state flagship, so people expect more. When you compare it to flagships like Michigan, UVA, UCLA/Cal, UGA, UT-Austin, it just doesn't hold a candle in terms of campus.

[Anonymous]

UMCP's environment is comparable to those of UMBC and Towson. That's not acceptable for a flagship university. These all feel like commuter schools.

UVA, VT and W&M are a step above JMU, GMU and VCU in terms of grounds (although not by much in some cases). That's how it should be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went to grad school at Vanderbilt sight unseen because it was the top in my field and it was a huge mistake. The women there dress up just to go to regular classes. Was so strange to see coming from a northern undergrad. For a school with such bright students it had an old fashioned, off-putting “my main goal is to meet my husband” vibe.

it's your internalized misogyny for me

I attended Vandy in the late 80’s and there was some dressing up (like for football games), but the poster has overplayed it. Vandy is very similar to UVA in its attire. There’s nothing wrong with showering before class, combing/brushing your hair, and wearing some clean clothes other than a worn T-shirt and gym shorts.

Exactly. It’s very much like UVA and if you like that, it’s your preference. It is very different from most non-southern schools. The first line about Vandy in the Fiske guide is about its “old south gentility.”

Do they add a wink after the "old south gentility" part?

If you are from the North, DO NOT consider schools from the South. They are all racist and full of fratty/ sorority morons that have no intellectual capacity to compete or live in the real world. I beg you, stick to your wonderfully open minded Northern schools that are the beacon of hope for all of humanity, it is the only way to save this world!

I do hope this was sarcasm.

Of course it was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tulane - it was a dump

really?!?! it looks so nice on the website and virtual tours. tell me more.

I agree - they are doing lots of construction, have new dorms and commons/cafeteria and are constructing a new engineering building in the middle of the campus. I think the PP’s comment is either outdated or perhaps a distaste for construction, but the construction in my view is a positive (particularly the investment in engineering).

We visited in 2018, so maybe it has changed. The dorms were extremely small and very old. Just felt the campus in general was old and needed updated. Also, the city of New Orleans is probably the dirtiest city that I have ever visited..

+1
I have never, ever seen the appeal of New Orleans.

Sorry, do not agree!
You should go take the tour of the University! Tulane is in the Garden District not in the actual city that most think Nola is re: Bourbon Street. It is a great school in a beautiful part of Nola1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tulane - it was a dump

really?!?! it looks so nice on the website and virtual tours. tell me more.

I agree - they are doing lots of construction, have new dorms and commons/cafeteria and are constructing a new engineering building in the middle of the campus. I think the PP’s comment is either outdated or perhaps a distaste for construction, but the construction in my view is a positive (particularly the investment in engineering).

We visited in 2018, so maybe it has changed. The dorms were extremely small and very old. Just felt the campus in general was old and needed updated. Also, the city of New Orleans is probably the dirtiest city that I have ever visited..

And quite dangerous

That’s why we wrote off Chicago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UMCP's environment is comparable to those of UMBC and Towson. That's not acceptable for a flagship university. These all feel like commuter schools.

UVA, VT and W&M are a step above JMU, GMU and VCU in terms of grounds (although not by much in some cases). That's how it should be.

This is such a strange comment and not at all true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wake Forest
St Joe's (Philly)

Took two of my kids and they both HATED these schools and wanted to leave before the tour was complete!

What did you not like about St. Joe's? We are planning to visit in April.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elon felt like a community college

??? How so??

This isn’t surprising. 25 years ago it was a regional commuter school. It’s really taken off.

Take your kid to Montgomery College and then get back to me about Elon.

Actually that was the comment that my kid said, it felt like Montgomery College with dorms.

This can't be further from the truth. Your kid has issues if you think this is accurate.

[Anonymous]

I love how this, and the other similar thread, has devolved into arguing about what your impressions were. People can like what they like and not like what you like, and guess what? IT'S FINE! No one is insulting you because you like a campus that someone else didn't. Lord people chill out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went to grad school at Vanderbilt sight unseen because it was the top in my field and it was a huge mistake. The women there dress up just to go to regular classes. Was so strange to see coming from a northern undergrad. For a school with such bright students it had an old fashioned, off-putting “my main goal is to meet my husband” vibe.

it's your internalized misogyny for me

I attended Vandy in the late 80’s and there was some dressing up (like for football games), but the poster has overplayed it. Vandy is very similar to UVA in its attire. There’s nothing wrong with showering before class, combing/brushing your hair, and wearing some clean clothes other than a worn T-shirt and gym shorts.

Exactly. It’s very much like UVA and if you like that, it’s your preference. It is very different from most non-southern schools. The first line about Vandy in the Fiske guide is about its “old south gentility.”

Do they add a wink after the "old south gentility" part?

If you are from the North, DO NOT consider schools from the South. They are all racist and full of fratty/ sorority morons that have no intellectual capacity to compete or live in the real world. I beg you, stick to your wonderfully open minded Northern schools that are the beacon of hope for all of humanity, it is the only way to save this world!

haha.
Honestly, though, my parents felt that way when I was applying to college a million years ago. But then again, my dad was actually accosted and beaten by two guys in Atlanta for being Jewish (this was the 70s). They forbade me to even consider anywhere in the South.

We told our kids they could apply anywhere they wanted, but don't be fooled by what life is like in Washington, DC. It's a bubble in so many ways (good and bad). And they need to be open to new experiences BUT also to be ready for challenges, no matter where they go. And that certain places might be more challenging than others.

They say really naive things ("no one will know I am half Jewish or half Latino from looking at me"). My DS is headed to college in the fall, assuming civid-allowing. He is actually headed to CMU and loved it after the tour. He thought he would love U Michigan but it dropped off the list after he realized how big it was. Same for Penn State. Aside from CMU, he loved Northwestern after the tour as well as Wash U.