tell me about colleges that didn't make your kid's list
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Oh yes, he liked it too. We went three times. Once for accepted engineer day. I thought the food was great. I liked the enthusiasm of the students we met. DS was very intent on applying EA (no ED then). Enjoyed our day there. |
Anonymous
|
Lawrence because it was too remote and Clark because it was too “gritty.”
For second kid, Chicago and Northwestern because it was FREEZING the day we toured, Hopkins because it was too STEM/pre-med focused, Dartmouth and Amherst because, well, he didn’t really articulate. Then COVID shut all the touring down and he had to fly blind. Maybe a good thing given how easily turned off he was being. |
Anonymous
You were wise, though, to tour Chicago and NU in the winter. If possible (pandemic aside) students should visit schools not just when it's pretty outside! That was my mom's thinking. We are from the south and when I wanted to apply to NU she said we would visit it in winter because I should see how the university handled snow etc. When we visited there was black snow everywhere from being plowed and compacted, and it was cold. I loved the school and went there, but was so grateful we visited at the worst point of the year, in weather terms. I knew what I was getting into. If your son was truly revulsed by the cold, he would not be happy at Chicago or NU, believe me, so that was a gut reaction on his part that was worth listening to! |
Anonymous
Parent of a student at what was a Seven Sisters college (no longer). All those colleges actively court international students and don't care about whether those students have money. And all the students my DC has encountered, even American kids from privileged backgrounds, know how to do laundry for themselves. Times have changed. The super privileged students, wherever they're from, would be embarrassed now to be ignorant about laundry--even if they usually didn't do it at home! |
Anonymous
|
My DD said she didn't like the way MIT played up the "quirkiness" of the students on the virtual tour.
Meanwhile when I was watching it encouraged me she'd have some fun for a change! Lol. |
Anonymous
Very very true. A good tour can deal the deal and an off tour or some difficulty with the tour or the weather, etc. can sour a student on a school. |
Anonymous
+1 My DD had a bad tour early in the summer (learned my lesson, no summer tours!) and now I'm doing damage control, encouraging her to take another look. It does have a good program for her interest (although the tour guide knew nothing about that major) and is the natural choice to have on her list as both an admissions and financial safety. I learned after that to, whenever possible, plan for open houses rather than general tours since she'll have more opportunity to talk with people in her specific interest area. |
Anonymous
| Why no summer tours? Because campuses are empty? |
Anonymous
| My kid dropped consideration of MIT before the info session even began. And dropped southern schools with a big greek scene, even if very good schools. |
Anonymous
Wow-- my dd is a freshman at Brown complaining about lack of social scene! |
Anonymous
If our world ever returns to normal, I also recommend overnight visits. They are less scripted than Admissions tours. My daughter really found them to be informative. |
Anonymous
Empty, sleepy, hot, low energy level. Made that mistake with Princeton. Amazing school but don't visit in the summer. Visit when in session on a weekday if possible if it is a serious contender. |
Anonymous
| +1 |
Anonymous
What didn’t she like about Santa Clara? What do students do there on weekends? There didn’t seem be a lot right there or around campus. |
Anonymous
I'd stay away from anything within a day's drive of Seattle. THe liberals there are batsh!t crazy!!! |