tell me about colleges that didn't make your kid's list

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pitt: the fairly urban concrete high-rises without air conditioning for Freshmen combined with the church-like buildings they highlighted on the tour did not appeal to my senior at all.

+1

+2. Plus DD was really turned off by the tour “pit stop” at an off-campus pop-up Pitt clothing stand, where the proprietor talked about the bargains he offered. Yes, that was a sanctioned part of the tour. Very weird.

awwww.you mean Chas? That guy has been around even when I went to Pitt (class of '97). Good to see he is still selling his t-shirts. Or was it someone different? If someone different, then yeah...very weird they didn't take you to see Chas.

https://thepittsburghstop.com/

[Anonymous]

William and Mary- why does everyone look miserable
University of Mary Washington- too small, nothing the students rally around

Interesting that UMW is seen as a safety for those that don’t get into W&M

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:high point was unsettling

+100

In what way

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:😆Yes, that dorm room does it for many students & parents!

Now I am worried because we didn't get to tour a dorm room this summer.

New poster. Is your DC still in HS and applying this fall? Check to see if colleges where you toured have an online virtual tour of typical dorm rooms. When we toured the college DC now attends, one dorm room was on the tour, but we were able to see others, in other dorms, thanks to virtual 360-degree videos the college put online. It helped because we knew what to expect when DC was assigned to one of the dorms we hadn't seen. There was a virtual room tour for every dorm on campus, which I thought was great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Texas Christian University is off the list for very predictable reasons

Such as?

[Anonymous]

Two schools as different from each other as you can possibly get:

UVA --OK, UVA boosters here, I'm not dissing UVA at all. Had a great tour there where it was just our family and the guide! That was for touring just one department (you have to hunt on the web site but such tours existed two years ago!). But UVA overall was too huge and the idea of vast freshman classes in huge auditoriums didn't appeal to DC at all. DC said it would obviously be better once you declared your major and were in smaller classes in later years but the idea of the first two years in huge classes just turned DC off. (Yes, DC is at a SLAC now!)

Sarah Lawrence College -- Yeah, the other end of the universe from UVA, right? Hit all the right notes on paper, plus the visit was on a special "prospective students day" with all the stops pulled out for special tours, events, panel discussions, meal, etc. They did an excellent job and were really welcoming. But the campus vibe was like a prep high school and not a college at all, and it felt insular. No diss on SLC either, as DC has a friend there who loves it. DC had expected to love it too. We were so glad we visited in person before DC made an effort to apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Texas Christian University is off the list for very predictable reasons

Such as?

DP. Are you asking for real or baiting the PP above you?

It's Texas, which has just recently swung so far right that women are racing to neighboring states for abortions and voting rights are under serious attack. Not to mentiom the hysteria in school boards over so-called "critical race theory."

I get it -- none of that is IN colleges there. But it's become a toxic environment overall in that state. I wouldn't let my kid go there unless it was sole home to the one magical college that was the only one on the planet teaching the only subject on the planet in which DC was interested. Maybe not even then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:😆Yes, that dorm room does it for many students & parents!

Now I am worried because we didn't get to tour a dorm room this summer.

New poster. Is your DC still in HS and applying this fall? Check to see if colleges where you toured have an online virtual tour of typical dorm rooms. When we toured the college DC now attends, one dorm room was on the tour, but we were able to see others, in other dorms, thanks to virtual 360-degree videos the college put online. It helped because we knew what to expect when DC was assigned to one of the dorms we hadn't seen. There was a virtual room tour for every dorm on campus, which I thought was great.

except that nothing can replicate the smell of a musty old dorm room on video...

[Anonymous]

re Vanderbilt. My kid went there last year sight/site unseen (due to COVID) and it was great for him. I actually pushed Vandy on him as his last application--he pushed back, I pushed on. It SEEMS to be a great school (and campus) I was only there to drop him off (august 2020). But I hope to get back to spend a weekend before he graduates!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Two schools as different from each other as you can possibly get:

UVA --OK, UVA boosters here, I'm not dissing UVA at all. Had a great tour there where it was just our family and the guide! That was for touring just one department (you have to hunt on the web site but such tours existed two years ago!). But UVA overall was too huge and the idea of vast freshman classes in huge auditoriums didn't appeal to DC at all. DC said it would obviously be better once you declared your major and were in smaller classes in later years but the idea of the first two years in huge classes just turned DC off. (Yes, DC is at a SLAC now!)

Sarah Lawrence College -- Yeah, the other end of the universe from UVA, right? Hit all the right notes on paper, plus the visit was on a special "prospective students day" with all the stops pulled out for special tours, events, panel discussions, meal, etc. They did an excellent job and were really welcoming. But the campus vibe was like a prep high school and not a college at all, and it felt insular. No diss on SLC either, as DC has a friend there who loves it. DC had expected to love it too. We were so glad we visited in person before DC made an effort to apply.

Agree re: Sarah Lawrence. My kid applied anyway as a safety and they gave her money, but I was happy she did not choose it as I thought it was underwhelming. She does have 2 friends there, though, and they seem happy so it can’t be all bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Two schools as different from each other as you can possibly get:

UVA --OK, UVA boosters here, I'm not dissing UVA at all. Had a great tour there where it was just our family and the guide! That was for touring just one department (you have to hunt on the web site but such tours existed two years ago!). But UVA overall was too huge and the idea of vast freshman classes in huge auditoriums didn't appeal to DC at all. DC said it would obviously be better once you declared your major and were in smaller classes in later years but the idea of the first two years in huge classes just turned DC off. (Yes, DC is at a SLAC now!)

Sarah Lawrence College -- Yeah, the other end of the universe from UVA, right? Hit all the right notes on paper, plus the visit was on a special "prospective students day" with all the stops pulled out for special tours, events, panel discussions, meal, etc. They did an excellent job and were really welcoming. But the campus vibe was like a prep high school and not a college at all, and it felt insular. No diss on SLC either, as DC has a friend there who loves it. DC had expected to love it too. We were so glad we visited in person before DC made an effort to apply.

Your kid sounds like mine. Where did he or she end up applying to that they liked? Where did they enroll?

[Anonymous]

I found it interesting how visits really impacted DD's opinions on the midwestern SLACs.

Going in, her preferences were:

Carleton, reach; Oberlin & Macalester, targets, Wooster, likely/safety

After visits:

Carleton, reach; Kenyon & Macalester, targets; Kalamazoo & St. Olaf, likelies/safeties

We had talked with her extensively about needing to find a likely that she loves that would also be a financial safety (we need aid to afford the SLACs she wants). On paper, Wooster sounded 100%--she loved the focus on student research, they offer great merit aid, she had talked with a student on the phone ahead of time and was really enthused. I liked it , but she found the campus a bit too remote and it just didn't connect with her anymore. She said she just felt "blah" about it. (I think she may have built it up too much in her mind).
Meanwhile, Kenyon, which is even more remote, surprisingly rose to the top based on her tour of the campus, discussions with students, she just really loved it. So I don't really see how the remoteness of Wooster was the real issue.

Conversely, Oberlin. She originally had it as a top target, on paper she's a great fit (loves music, STEM major) but decided it would be a fantastic school for several of her friends, but not for her. Not sure why.

Kalamazoo, however, we just visited because it was mid-point on a 5 hour drive between Detroit and Chicago. But she loved it-- the study abroad options, internships, the people and the campus and town and now it's her top "likely" (and one which they gave her an estimate of merit aid based on her scores and it would be very affordable).

Similarly, St. Olaf--visited because we were in the area. She said that she had never felt so peaceful in a school before, it fit with her music interests and that everyone was nice without being boring (and again likely great merit aid).

So, Wooster and Oberlin fell off the list and Kenyon, Kalamazoo, and St. Olaf came on the list--for hard to pinpoint reasons, but more "feelings." Just glad she's figuring things out. Also very glad we opted to go to colleges we happened to be nearby on trips!

[Anonymous]

PP my brothers both went to St. Olaf - loved it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have to say Georgetown was on the list and we love the area but almost stepping on a dead rat on the sidewalk led to some more google research and finding out about the widespread rat and cockroach problem. That was enough for my DS to take it off his list haha

Exact same response for us. Such a shame. When will Georgetown get its act together?
They are starting to build a bad reputation that could take a while to undo.

A reputation for dinginess is not the same as a reputation for everything else that is actually quite excellent. Yes, I'm a parent of junior there and they could not be happier. Believe it or not, smart kids don't care about a little dinginess. Honestly, it just emphasizes that Jesuit vibe. I guess you have to get it, to get it.

Jesuit educated here from high school through grad school. I was born at Georgetown Hospital when my parents were in professional school there. I certainly “get it”. We are talking about a lot more than a reputation just dinginess. Of course we all know that it is excellent in many ways. To quote your annoying post above, a lot of smart kids do care about unpleasant and unsanitary conditions. It made me sad that my well qualified kids all chose not to apply.

Excellent school that needs to get its act together. No shame in acknowledging this.

DP here. Any school in any city has mice and/or rats. It is just a simple fact. Why apply or consider a city school if you are so easily deterred? That is the strange part!

Apply to suburb or rural school, instead of being in the city, your choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP my brothers both went to St. Olaf - loved it!

Is that where Betty White's character from the Golden Girls attended? I just keep hearing her say "when I was at St. Olaf's..."