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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just wanted to comment that with all these colleges’ marketing budgets, it is baffling that so many can’t get the tour and info session consistently right. Should be such an easy thing to fix.

I have been on several tours where you could not hear the tour guide some or part of the time. Unacceptable.

I have been on tours where the group never enters a university building (this is post-Covid) except the admissions office. Unacceptable.

And on and on…

Same goes for admitted student days. Both parents can’t come because you are all booked up (top SLAC) so the donut-hole family can’t decide together on a 90k investment? Unacceptable.

Stuffing parents into a crowded room where they can barely move and can’t find where the coffee is because they can’t see it (top 20 National university)? Unacceptable.

This little things matter…

All true but remember the privates can throw endless money at admissions and marketing (hence the person above thinking USC was too “Disneyland”) compared to publics like UVA with budgets

Barnard had an incredibly dumpy admissions waiting area with broken air conditioning (and big noisy fans set up), not enough seats, no coffee or water. By far the worst out of any school we visited, public or private.

Hunter was like this, but the tour itself was a good one, with students who really identify with the school and took us around and explained the school and its resources well.

The materials were charmingly minimalist, a 2-pager bereft of glossy marketing photos but with a lot of useful information and QR codes to access more. Strikingly effective compared to polished adverts used by other schools.

Given that Hunter is really for NYC public school kids, this no nonsense approach made sense.

[Anonymous]

DS went into the UMD tour assuming that it would be his top choice. Ended up hating it and not even applying. He thought it was too big and spread out, and even though we were there on a lovely spring day when school was in session, the vibe was absolutely dead.

Went to Towson the next day and absolutely loved it - the campus size felt more manageable, there was more energy, and we actually went into a lot of buildings (at UMD, we would maybe walk through a corner and then exit out the other side - never even saw a classroom).

Pitt was also a win - we all liked it way better than expected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Still looking to visit ODU and UVA this week. Due to affordability, we are only looking in-state and I would welcome any other tips and suggestions.

There are states that offer OOS tuition, room & board that is equal to, if not less than, in-state VA prices. These schools are more along the lines”prestige” lines of ODU, UMW, CNU, etc not UVA, VT, etc however. And obviously there’s additional travel expenses.

But UNC-Pembroke & I think Western Carolina as well as the non-UGA/GT GA schools are $30k or less. Then the non-flagship Midwest state schools (one or 2 in MI, many in WI, I think I saw some in MO, etc) often are as well but that’s definitely a plane ride

[Anonymous]

A lot of schools talk about honor codes, but we were blown away by St. Olaf, and how outside the dining hall (inside the building, but outside the cafeteria) were just piles and piles and piles of backpacks that students had left so they could go in and eat together. There was a collective agreement that their time there would be screen-free, and would be focused on connecting with other humans. And it was really cool to see that they felt comfortable just leaving their bags / coats / computers / etc. out in the lobby. It showed "we trust each other" in a way that carried far more weight than would be conveyed by a tour guide talking about the honor council or an honor code or something like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:+1 on Indiana. Too bad its board is lurching to the far right. It is otherwise a great campus. Absolutely beautiful, accessible and charming.

Same with UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of schools talk about honor codes, but we were blown away by St. Olaf, and how outside the dining hall (inside the building, but outside the cafeteria) were just piles and piles and piles of backpacks that students had left so they could go in and eat together. There was a collective agreement that their time there would be screen-free, and would be focused on connecting with other humans. And it was really cool to see that they felt comfortable just leaving their bags / coats / computers / etc. out in the lobby. It showed "we trust each other" in a way that carried far more weight than would be conveyed by a tour guide talking about the honor council or an honor code or something like that.

I get that this wasn't the point, but my takeaway is that their dining hall is too small to fit kids and their backpacks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS went into the UMD tour assuming that it would be his top choice. Ended up hating it and not even applying. He thought it was too big and spread out, and even though we were there on a lovely spring day when school was in session, the vibe was absolutely dead.

Went to Towson the next day and absolutely loved it - the campus size felt more manageable, there was more energy, and we actually went into a lot of buildings (at UMD, we would maybe walk through a corner and then exit out the other side - never even saw a classroom).

Pitt was also a win - we all liked it way better than expected.

I call BS. You just made this up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS went into the UMD tour assuming that it would be his top choice. Ended up hating it and not even applying. He thought it was too big and spread out, and even though we were there on a lovely spring day when school was in session, the vibe was absolutely dead.

Went to Towson the next day and absolutely loved it - the campus size felt more manageable, there was more energy, and we actually went into a lot of buildings (at UMD, we would maybe walk through a corner and then exit out the other side - never even saw a classroom).

Pitt was also a win - we all liked it way better than expected.

I call BS. You just made this up.

Not the same poster but I was there on Friday (nice day) and walked around and hardly saw anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of schools talk about honor codes, but we were blown away by St. Olaf, and how outside the dining hall (inside the building, but outside the cafeteria) were just piles and piles and piles of backpacks that students had left so they could go in and eat together. There was a collective agreement that their time there would be screen-free, and would be focused on connecting with other humans. And it was really cool to see that they felt comfortable just leaving their bags / coats / computers / etc. out in the lobby. It showed "we trust each other" in a way that carried far more weight than would be conveyed by a tour guide talking about the honor council or an honor code or something like that.

That sounds amazing. I posted previously that Carleton is high on our list and we will make sure to visit St. Olaf when we're there. Thanks for sharing.

[Anonymous]

Surprised how much we liked Davidson. We were in Charlotte for a wedding and took an extra day to tour the campus.

The tour guides were wonderful - we had two. Down to earth, knowledgeable, and really personal and open with details about their experiences there.

DS isn’t overly focused on SLACs - he just wants solid academics with strong school spirit and lots of other sporty kids who are interested in club and intramural sports.

Davidson seemed to fit that perfectly. Not nearly as “quirky” as we expected (sorry for the SLAC stereotype) and the whole vibe felt more down to earth than the other private schools we’ve toured (no excessively renovated buildings or silly extras that make us feel like they’re wasting money on superficial things.)

People seemed happy and we noticed that the groups of kids hanging out at the student center and in the library weren’t all homogenous. Kids had so many different looks/styles, which felt different than Wake Forest, for example, and weren’t segregated by type.

Curious what others experienced when visiting Davidson, or even better, what your kids are experiencing if they’re current students there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS went into the UMD tour assuming that it would be his top choice. Ended up hating it and not even applying. He thought it was too big and spread out, and even though we were there on a lovely spring day when school was in session, the vibe was absolutely dead.

Went to Towson the next day and absolutely loved it - the campus size felt more manageable, there was more energy, and we actually went into a lot of buildings (at UMD, we would maybe walk through a corner and then exit out the other side - never even saw a classroom).

Pitt was also a win - we all liked it way better than expected.

I call BS. You just made this up.

You can call BS if you want but it's true. I'm sure it's more vibrant during a football game, but for a regular school day, it was very, very empty.

[Anonymous]

I went there a couple Fridays ago and it was booming. Improve performing on the library steps, kids tossing a football. Big groups outside hanging out. It was very crowded and busy.

I’m not saying it isn’t possible it was quiet when you visited but it isn’t like that all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lower ranked school that doesn’t get a lot of love on here, but my entire family loved Rhodes. I was surprised myself.

Stunning campus, small classes and engaged teachers and students, great pre med to med school track, a service/volunteer requirement to graduate, friendly kids who are neither too conservative or too ‘woke’ seeming, and in an interesting vibrant city, Memphis. (And yes, we know there’s crime in larger Memphis, the admission tour addressed it and advises students on what areas to avoid). Dc thought she wanted a SLAC, but so many of them are in small, boring towns. This school really hit the mark in so many ways.

Had a friend whose dd attended and hated it. Lots of issues with cafeteria and just generally left her miserable. Kid graduated early.

Was she a little off? I could see how an anti social kid might not fit in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Surprised how much we liked Davidson. We were in Charlotte for a wedding and took an extra day to tour the campus.

The tour guides were wonderful - we had two. Down to earth, knowledgeable, and really personal and open with details about their experiences there.

DS isn’t overly focused on SLACs - he just wants solid academics with strong school spirit and lots of other sporty kids who are interested in club and intramural sports.

Davidson seemed to fit that perfectly. Not nearly as “quirky” as we expected (sorry for the SLAC stereotype) and the whole vibe felt more down to earth than the other private schools we’ve toured (no excessively renovated buildings or silly extras that make us feel like they’re wasting money on superficial things.)

People seemed happy and we noticed that the groups of kids hanging out at the student center and in the library weren’t all homogenous. Kids had so many different looks/styles, which felt different than Wake Forest, for example, and weren’t segregated by type.

Curious what others experienced when visiting Davidson, or even better, what your kids are experiencing if they’re current students there.

Nice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“ VT has a hulking fortresssy military vibe.”

Yes! We felt that way about it too. We were shocked because we went in expecting to love it and because DD wants a STEM major. Nope. I felt like we were crossing Tiananmen Square when we had to cross that big military quad.

I didn't really like that either. Also the bus station was a turnoff. Who wants to spend your college experience commuting on a bus?