Let’s lighten the mood - funny stories?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We stayed at Ann Arbor's "The Graduate" last March - awful! We still joke about how bad it was!!

Good to know. Was it quirky? The Providence one was very wacky (sort of RISD themed). But underneath were the bones of a gracious old city hotel.

By quirky I mean the chandelier was a plastic giant clamshell, the walls had pictures of famous locals, there were unusual and loud patterns for the upholstery and textiles, etc. I would go back to that one. But my kid decided to go to Michigan and not apply to Brown.

Previous posters gave me flashbacks...I also did MBA job interviews in hotel rooms. Wasn't freaked out about it then but yeah that seems "very sketch" by today's standards.

That's their schtick. The one near U MN has a little red corvette lamp in each room and a big caricature of Loni Anderson on the wall. The bathrooms have weird fish wallpaper.

[Anonymous]

Friend's daughter picked Brown over MIT because the boys are better looking. The dad didn't find that funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is scared to death of alligators/crocodiles. She's the kid who didn't go on the elementary school tour because they were going to an alligator reserve. We go to visit UF, and I am not joking, there were gators EVERYWHERE. Not just cute little statues or pictures on t-shirts. There's a literal lake/stream with gators swimming in them right on campus.

Your daughter is the finest product of millions of years of human evolution. She deserves a campus free of apex predator reptiles!

lol -She got in but went somewhere else sans apex predators!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We stayed at Ann Arbor's "The Graduate" last March - awful! We still joke about how bad it was!!

Good to know. Was it quirky? The Providence one was very wacky (sort of RISD themed). But underneath were the bones of a gracious old city hotel.

By quirky I mean the chandelier was a plastic giant clamshell, the walls had pictures of famous locals, there were unusual and loud patterns for the upholstery and textiles, etc. I would go back to that one. But my kid decided to go to Michigan and not apply to Brown.

Previous posters gave me flashbacks...I also did MBA job interviews in hotel rooms. Wasn't freaked out about it then but yeah that seems "very sketch" by today's standards.

We stayed at the Providence location too. I loved it! It’s the only Graduate we’ve tried.

On topic - my kid was kinda disappointed in every tour (inflated expectations) and ended up choosing a school we never officially toured! lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom took me to see Yale when I was in high school. I wasn't very impressed by the tour and disliked the surrounding town (peak crack era).

Background: I am interested in architecture. And I had already visited Pitt where I eventually graduated.

Pitt's Cathedral of Learning was more impressive than Yale's similarly styled building (Sterling library). My reaction was: is this the best you have got? It's rather short! (I did really like the Beinecke Library which was indeed a jewelbox.)

Also we were shown the Saarinen residential college where the rooms don't have right angles and so the furniture doesn't fit right. The tour guide explained this was done to promote creativity. Ugh.

Prior to this, I had thought that Pitt's pie-shaped Litchfield Tower dorm rooms were the stupidest dorm rooms and it was probably because Pitt couldn't afford a better architect.

So, not sure if it's funny haha, but I learned from a campus tour that prestige and expense does not insulate students from whimsy, impracticality, etc.

I quite probably could have gotten into Yale (female NMF) but I did not bother because I wasn't impressed on the tour.

I'm still irrationally fond of the Cathedral of Learning. There's an artwork about it called 365 Days of the Cathedral of Learning...it brings a tear to my eye. As does walking through the ground floor and seeing the ironwork gates in the elevator lobby. They have a gilded quote welded on them for students: "For you the very stars of heaven are new".

So I find it kind of hilarious as a grownup that I wouldn't give Yale a chance mainly because I didn't like the architecture.

I was NOT particularly interested in architecture but apparently found the AU campus so varied in style and offensive I got out of the car and within 20 seconds announced I would never attend. It's a joke to this day. My parents were pleading with me to reconsider since it was the "likely full ride" option and it was the one place I dug in my heels as someone without a "dream school" who was generally flexible if they were strong enough in my intended major as a flat out, "no way. No how. They'd have to pay me." In my many years in DC I've obviously been back and it's...fine? Nice? But my 16 year old self was like, "this is trash and I refuse."

[Anonymous]

Northwestern Tourguide talked incessantly about the ski club and how great they were. Every question was answered with, I don't know, I've heard good things about that, but there's an amazing ski club. None of the parents and none of the kids on the tour gave a sh:t about the ski club. Became a family joke for us, whenever you don't know the answer, say, "I don't know, but there's this amazing ski club." Still cracks us up

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Also we were shown the Saarinen residential college where the rooms don't have right angles and so the furniture doesn't fit right. The tour guide explained this was done to promote creativity. Ugh.

Prior to this, I had thought that Pitt's pie-shaped Litchfield Tower dorm rooms were the stupidest dorm rooms and it was probably because Pitt couldn't afford a better architect.

So, not sure if it's funny haha, but I learned from a campus tour that prestige and expense does not insulate students from whimsy, impracticality, etc.

The Munger Graduate Residence hall at Umich has the hallways, kitchens, and lounges facing the windows, and the rooms (singles) are clustered in the interior and have no windows (and reportedly the ventilation is poor). Apparently the intent is to have students spend more time in common areas and connect and collaborate.

UC Santa Barbara had the sense to decline the offer from Munger to build a similar, and much larger, dorm there.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/11/22/nightmare-of-the-windowless-dorm-room

[Anonymous]

With the caveat that I have no idea how accurate her impression was:

My DD was turned off by the Bard tour guides constantly talking about all the initiatives on campus to encourage students to read. “It’s like first grade all over again!”

They also talked at length about all the pre-freshman seminars, and she’d already read every book they mentioned, some in her classes and some for fun. She thought it sounded like bunch of remedial courses—more so than the freshman seminars at other schools.

But I think it was the dismissive wave with which the guide noted that “and the academic buildings are over there” that sealed her impression of Bard as an unserious place. That was the only tour she ever bailed on.

I thought the campus was gorgeous, and wanted to visit the symphony hall and see more of the arts facilities, but it was pretty clear she’d made up her mind. At those prices, I didn’t try too hard to convince her!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Northwestern Tourguide talked incessantly about the ski club and how great they were. Every question was answered with, I don't know, I've heard good things about that, but there's an amazing ski club. None of the parents and none of the kids on the tour gave a sh:t about the ski club. Became a family joke for us, whenever you don't know the answer, say, "I don't know, but there's this amazing ski club." Still cracks us up

That’s weird — is there skiing near northwestern? My kid is there and I’ve never heard anything about this.

[Anonymous]

We went to university of Arizona and there are a million cute little automated robots delivering fast food orders to students in class or dorms or just sitting outside. They wait to cross the road. Like they are checking to see if the coast is clear. We were wondering how many of them get hit by cars and bikes. They made me think of if BB8 worked in the fast food industry.

[Anonymous]

We were all set to stop by Univ of Richmond on the way back to NOVA from North Carolina this summmer, but as soon as we drove onto campus, DD saw the spider banners and flipped out. “Nope nope and nope! Absolutely not!”
Huge fear of spiders.
It’s such a beautiful campus and I’m sure students who go there love it, but we didn’t even park the car! 🚗

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine only wanted schools with a walkable Chick fil a

Avoid the more woke campuses, I guess...

You realize many woke campuses have Chik fil a ON campus?

[Anonymous]

UVA tour last year was so bizarre. The tour guide had never lived on campus and had never eaten on campus (transfer student). And she said the weirdest things. A dad on the tour kept shaking his head in disbelief (he was a grad and so embarrassed).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Northwestern Tourguide talked incessantly about the ski club and how great they were. Every question was answered with, I don't know, I've heard good things about that, but there's an amazing ski club. None of the parents and none of the kids on the tour gave a sh:t about the ski club. Became a family joke for us, whenever you don't know the answer, say, "I don't know, but there's this amazing ski club." Still cracks us up

I love this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northwestern Tourguide talked incessantly about the ski club and how great they were. Every question was answered with, I don't know, I've heard good things about that, but there's an amazing ski club. None of the parents and none of the kids on the tour gave a sh:t about the ski club. Became a family joke for us, whenever you don't know the answer, say, "I don't know, but there's this amazing ski club." Still cracks us up

I love this.

Same, the phrase living on is our type of family humor.