Venn diagram of selective colleges and pleasant campuses/dorms/food

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boston College

No! They have mice in the dorms on Newton campus.

I had mice in my house last year. We took care of it easily. Presumably a college could figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Decidedly not Vandy. For some reason it always makes the lists of good food. It’s actually awful-to-dangerous (frequent raw chicken hidden in fajitas, etc).

There’s also massive disparity in dorms. A few new buildings look like the “after” HGTV product with 14 ft ceilings. You’re far more likely to land in a 8x9 foot box with mold and flooding (!) issues, no trash room in the building (so, walk outside in the rain at night or live with your stinky leftovers next to your bed overnight).

And a 4-year requirement for campus living.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:High Point's dorms and amenities are incredible.

Selective colleges was the ask.

Not an open door like High Point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you actually choose your college based upon this? Not fit or quality of education?

Are you superficial and status seeking in other aspects of your life?

OP here. Yes, Yes, and No I don't think comfort is superficial or status-seeking, and if you took two seconds to think about it, I don't think you believe that either. I am specifically looking for VERY SELECTIVE institutions (as I said in my post) which are ALSO comfortable. What's the problem with that?

I'm a foreigner who did not experience an American campus experience. I had a 30 minute metro commute from my very comfortable home to classes at my universities - in my capital city, that's normal. Undergrads live at home if they can. There are no dorms, except a few for international students. When I inquired about campuses in the States, I was pretty shocked to learn that students were supposed to share tiny rooms, often with no A/C in places where climate change now makes early fall and late spring uncomfortably warm. I've heard that sometimes the food is not great either. This sometimes occurs even on beautiful campuses with superb athletic facilities and state-of-the-art science labs, libraries, etc.

I am not one of those who thinks that sacrificing a decent quality of life is a "rite of passage" for a college student, having never lived through that myself.

This is why I ask about the overlap between very selective colleges/universities and those that are comfortable. I'd rather my kids not be miserable for 4-5 years!

Chill out rich international lady.
You can always send your kid to Columbia and buy them a fancy $10 million condo overlooking Central Park to live in so they bypass the dorms. They can commute via subway. Many rich internationals do just that. Most college dorms and cafeterias are just fine. Kids are not miserable for 4-5 years like you seem to think. This is not military boot camp

Don't be dismissive and flippant. Surely we can talk about colleges with updated dorms, A/C, more single rooms than before (that's what the kids are asking for these days), and better, healthier food options without immediately going into xenophobic rants against rich foreigners?

Xenophobic really? The poster you are referring to is me and I came to the US for college as a middle class international student on almost full financial aid. The US dorms and food are pretty amazing compared to what I have seen in most 3rd world countries. Just admit that you are spoiled and rich and coddle your kids excessively.

[Anonymous]

Hamilton was our favorite campus, dorms looked pretty good, food decent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went on tours for a number of selective SLACs, and I think there would be a high quality of life at any of them. I don't think selective small colleges (many with healthy endowments) are choosing to forgo renovations or pick inferior dining services just because students will go there any way.

Maybe we're not talking about the same ones, but when we toured northeast (S)LACs, we saw that Vassar had some terribly run-down buildings, Bard was ramshackle (OK, maybe not that selective), even Dartmouth and Williams weren't that great. Middlebury had the best facilities of all of them. None of them allowed dorm visits except Skidmore (OK, maybe not that selective), which had decent dorms and cafeteria.

Then more locally, William & Mary and St John's College (Annapolis) had awful food (I hear W&M is doing something about it), UMD showed us the nice Honors dorms and decent dining halls, Georgetown only showed us the hard-to-get rooms with stunning views of the Potomac, and George Washington had better dorms and food than Skidmore and UMD.

Ivies probably have a non-existent need to attract students with luxury carpeting and hotel-like single rooms with private bathroom I was told certain Ivies are really not comfortable when you live there, but I haven't visited any, so can't speak from personal experience.

I graduated from Vassar 20 years ago and I agree that some of the buildings are pretty run down. It didn't seem that way to me when I was a student but it has when I have visited as an alum.

I don't know if it is the same now, but when I was a student practically everyone got a single dorm room after freshman year. That was huge for quality of life, much moreso than nice new buildings would be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely Rice.

Rice-Really Lovely Cohesive Private yet Urban campus
Dorms-a Lot of variation. Some are like 5 star hotels and a few are dumps
Food-Bumpy. Not pathetic but uneven in quality. Best thing is Dining halls either attached or close to the colleges

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UCLA

dorms are horrible. My good friend's kid is there (from CA). They posted pix of the dorm, and oh boy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you actually choose your college based upon this? Not fit or quality of education?

Are you superficial and status seeking in other aspects of your life?

OP here. Yes, Yes, and No I don't think comfort is superficial or status-seeking, and if you took two seconds to think about it, I don't think you believe that either. I am specifically looking for VERY SELECTIVE institutions (as I said in my post) which are ALSO comfortable. What's the problem with that?

I'm a foreigner who did not experience an American campus experience. I had a 30 minute metro commute from my very comfortable home to classes at my universities - in my capital city, that's normal. Undergrads live at home if they can. There are no dorms, except a few for international students. When I inquired about campuses in the States, I was pretty shocked to learn that students were supposed to share tiny rooms, often with no A/C in places where climate change now makes early fall and late spring uncomfortably warm. I've heard that sometimes the food is not great either. This sometimes occurs even on beautiful campuses with superb athletic facilities and state-of-the-art science labs, libraries, etc.

I am not one of those who thinks that sacrificing a decent quality of life is a "rite of passage" for a college student, having never lived through that myself.

This is why I ask about the overlap between very selective colleges/universities and those that are comfortable. I'd rather my kids not be miserable for 4-5 years!

Chill out rich international lady.
You can always send your kid to Columbia and buy them a fancy $10 million condo overlooking Central Park to live in so they bypass the dorms. They can commute via subway. Many rich internationals do just that. Most college dorms and cafeterias are just fine. Kids are not miserable for 4-5 years like you seem to think. This is not military boot camp

Surely we can talk about colleges with updated dorms, A/C, more single rooms than before (that's what the kids are asking for these days), and better, healthier food options without immediately going into xenophobic rants against rich foreigners?

Apparently we can’t. And don’t call me Shirley.

? Missed the reference there.

dp.. Airplane (movie) with Leslie Nielsen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:High Point's dorms and amenities are incredible.

High Point is not selective. It’s barely accredited.

[Anonymous]

It is not barely accredited. The kids there have great academics and mentors and are employed after.There is something t about the southern schools and happiness that I cannot ignore. I can’t believe I have cha fed my mi d on college but I have. Southern schools and not just Duke are a better environment.

[Anonymous]

USC ticks most the boxes, the campus is gorgeous and the facilities are excellent. But you’re in DTLA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boston College

Sure, 2150 is decent. But Upper, Newton, and even Walsh (aka "the new dorm" back in the day) all need to be replaced, an impossible task.

[Anonymous]

TCU has several nice dorms, though the school is a bit overenrolled, with triples and such.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TCU has several nice dorms, though the school is a bit overenrolled, with triples and such.

Is TCU selective?