What school dropped off the list because of your visit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:American. And DD could give me absolutely no reason for why she disliked it other than that she got "bad vibes" lol but she hated it.

I mean, do you live in this area? Becuase I can't imagine paying that much to go to school in the same town as your parents. I needed to GET OUT of here for school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:American. And DD could give me absolutely no reason for why she disliked it other than that she got "bad vibes" lol but she hated it.

I mean, do you live in this area? Becuase I can't imagine paying that much to go to school in the same town as your parents. I needed to GET OUT of here for school.

No, Westchester

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:American. And DD could give me absolutely no reason for why she disliked it other than that she got "bad vibes" lol but she hated it.

I forgot to list this one, my kids hated it too. Lots of construction all over it did not help, but despite it's awesome location and strength in a program my kid was interested in, the school itself just didn't appeal and the kids didn't look happy.

[Anonymous]

W&M-dd hated it

[Anonymous]

Thought we were going to like W & M but one panel turned us off (which may not be fair). Compared to the many other LAC's we had visited, which boast close relationships with faculty...the Pre-med advisor on the panel at W & M boasted about recognizing (or remembering the name of?) one of her advisees a year after she first met her. I was appalled.

Perhaps she is not representative of others on the faculty, but that little anecdote made a negative impression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I am sorry you are not enjoying this thread - I sure am. I love the multiple takes on different campuses, some of which I have never been to, and am laughing at the funny things kids see or don't see in a visit. Good perspective, all with a grain of salt.

Agree! Pp who’s FIL loved the Princeton eating clubs here. I told DH about the eating club hate on this thread and he lol because his dad talks incessantly about how great they were.

I still do NOT understand what is meant by an “eating club.” Could someone please explain?
DP

I think they are social clubs.

How Princeton's are described:
The eating clubs at Princeton University are private institutions resembling both dining halls and social houses, where the majority of Princeton upperclassmen eat their meals. Princeton's eating clubs are the primary setting in F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1920 debut novel, This Side of Paradise, and the clubs appeared prominently in the 2004 novel The Rule of Four. Princeton undergraduates have their choice of eleven eating clubs. Seven clubs—Cannon Club, Cap and Gown Club, Princeton Tower Club, The Ivy Club, Charter Club, Tiger Inn and University Cottage Club—choose their members through a selective process called "bicker", involving an interview process, though the actual deliberations are secret. Four clubs— Cloister Inn, Colonial Club, Quadrangle Club, and Terrace Club—are non-selective "sign-in" clubs, with members chosen through a lottery process. While many upperclassmen (third- and fourth-year students) at Princeton take their meals at the eating clubs, the clubs are private institutions and are not officially affiliated with Princeton University.

Davidson has something similar, but they seem less exclusive:
Eating Houses are a unique Davidson tradition centered around social gatherings and shared meals. Eating houses undergo a self-selection process, where students rank houses in order of preference and an algorithm assigns them an eating house affiliation—removing the pressures of rush from the process.

These are the same kids that grew up going to country clubs that were exclusive most still do not have more than a handful of Jewish or black members. These parents and families pass these desires to belong to such clubs down to their kids and so on and so forth. Not a very desirable aspect for kids applying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Villanova - admittedly it was a cold and grey day when we went, but the campus felt really uninviting.

Harvard - we didn't do a tour, and DD wasn't really interested in applying, but we popped over to Cambridge when visiting Boston. It felt like a tourist trap!

Duke - the main, historic part of the campus was beautiful, but it felt a bit too manicured - like a Disney world type place. And the rest of the campus was mediocre.

Surprised by all the William & Mary comments - we had the opposite experience! DD loved W&M even more after the tour.

Definitely appeals to different types of kids... my son hated it but my daughter loved it!

Agree - I had one hate it and one love it. I felt like the Colonial Williamsburg aspect can be a real turn off for some kids, even though my DS who attends there considers that a non-issue. I had a friend who's DD saw a Thomas Jefferson walking around the town and said "forget it." My nephew from NC got on the cypher postcards indicating likely admission and I am figuring out with my sister the best time to visit to make him love it!

I spent 4 years at William & Mary and Colonial Williamsburg never really factored. I would go for runs (and some walks) through the colonial part of town, which was nice because cars are restricted, but other than that, it didn't really have much impact on me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:American. And DD could give me absolutely no reason for why she disliked it other than that she got "bad vibes" lol but she hated it.

I mean, do you live in this area? Becuase I can't imagine paying that much to go to school in the same town as your parents. I needed to GET OUT of here for school.

And you think every other person is like you. Got it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I am sorry you are not enjoying this thread - I sure am. I love the multiple takes on different campuses, some of which I have never been to, and am laughing at the funny things kids see or don't see in a visit. Good perspective, all with a grain of salt.

Agree! Pp who’s FIL loved the Princeton eating clubs here. I told DH about the eating club hate on this thread and he lol because his dad talks incessantly about how great they were.

I still do NOT understand what is meant by an “eating club.” Could someone please explain?
DP

I think they are social clubs.

How Princeton's are described:
The eating clubs at Princeton University are private institutions resembling both dining halls and social houses, where the majority of Princeton upperclassmen eat their meals. Princeton's eating clubs are the primary setting in F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1920 debut novel, This Side of Paradise, and the clubs appeared prominently in the 2004 novel The Rule of Four. Princeton undergraduates have their choice of eleven eating clubs. Seven clubs—Cannon Club, Cap and Gown Club, Princeton Tower Club, The Ivy Club, Charter Club, Tiger Inn and University Cottage Club—choose their members through a selective process called "bicker", involving an interview process, though the actual deliberations are secret. Four clubs— Cloister Inn, Colonial Club, Quadrangle Club, and Terrace Club—are non-selective "sign-in" clubs, with members chosen through a lottery process. While many upperclassmen (third- and fourth-year students) at Princeton take their meals at the eating clubs, the clubs are private institutions and are not officially affiliated with Princeton University.

Davidson has something similar, but they seem less exclusive:
Eating Houses are a unique Davidson tradition centered around social gatherings and shared meals. Eating houses undergo a self-selection process, where students rank houses in order of preference and an algorithm assigns them an eating house affiliation—removing the pressures of rush from the process.

These are the same kids that grew up going to country clubs that were exclusive most still do not have more than a handful of Jewish or black members. These parents and families pass these desires to belong to such clubs down to their kids and so on and so forth. Not a very desirable aspect for kids applying.

Wait, does this mean that if my ethnic minority DD gets accepted to Princeton but not to one of their eating clubs she doesn’t get to eat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I am sorry you are not enjoying this thread - I sure am. I love the multiple takes on different campuses, some of which I have never been to, and am laughing at the funny things kids see or don't see in a visit. Good perspective, all with a grain of salt.

Agree! Pp who’s FIL loved the Princeton eating clubs here. I told DH about the eating club hate on this thread and he lol because his dad talks incessantly about how great they were.

I still do NOT understand what is meant by an “eating club.” Could someone please explain?
DP

I think they are social clubs.

How Princeton's are described:
The eating clubs at Princeton University are private institutions resembling both dining halls and social houses, where the majority of Princeton upperclassmen eat their meals. Princeton's eating clubs are the primary setting in F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1920 debut novel, This Side of Paradise, and the clubs appeared prominently in the 2004 novel The Rule of Four. Princeton undergraduates have their choice of eleven eating clubs. Seven clubs—Cannon Club, Cap and Gown Club, Princeton Tower Club, The Ivy Club, Charter Club, Tiger Inn and University Cottage Club—choose their members through a selective process called "bicker", involving an interview process, though the actual deliberations are secret. Four clubs— Cloister Inn, Colonial Club, Quadrangle Club, and Terrace Club—are non-selective "sign-in" clubs, with members chosen through a lottery process. While many upperclassmen (third- and fourth-year students) at Princeton take their meals at the eating clubs, the clubs are private institutions and are not officially affiliated with Princeton University.

Davidson has something similar, but they seem less exclusive:
Eating Houses are a unique Davidson tradition centered around social gatherings and shared meals. Eating houses undergo a self-selection process, where students rank houses in order of preference and an algorithm assigns them an eating house affiliation—removing the pressures of rush from the process.

These are the same kids that grew up going to country clubs that were exclusive most still do not have more than a handful of Jewish or black members. These parents and families pass these desires to belong to such clubs down to their kids and so on and so forth. Not a very desirable aspect for kids applying.

I don’t sense you know too much about the profiles of kids currently getting into Princeton.

[Anonymous]

Princeton sounds gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Wait, does this mean that if my ethnic minority DD gets accepted to Princeton but not to one of their eating clubs she doesn’t get to eat?

Everyone gets in somewhere; not all the eating clubs are exclusive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thought we were going to like W & M but one panel turned us off (which may not be fair). Compared to the many other LAC's we had visited, which boast close relationships with faculty...the Pre-med advisor on the panel at W & M boasted about recognizing (or remembering the name of?) one of her advisees a year after she first met her. I was appalled.

Perhaps she is not representative of others on the faculty, but that little anecdote made a negative impression.

Niche has survey results on faculty and you can see that relationship is one of W&M's strong points. Ratings are very similar to top privates than to most state schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know this is different now with virtual visits but what school did your kid think they would love but then the visit turned them off?

Williams College, because of the road noise in the library, around 1982.

RPI, on that same tour, because Troy looked as if it was something rotting in a bad homemaker’s vegetable drawer.

[Anonymous]

Dartmouth, that crazy racist SOB Theodore Seuss Geisel went there. Crazy old white man impersonated a Doctor and was in a "frat" which probably contributed to his racist books. Dartmouth is a low class Ivy and complete trash, totally turned me off.