Review your spring break college visits / tours

[Anonymous]

I might think colleges would tout their free laundry (machines) vs copies. All kids will use the formers and almost none will use the latter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC and I went out West to visit schools over spring break. DC wants small, suburban, and warm. Loved the 5Cs, especially Claremont KcKenna College. We were both incredibly impressed by the resources for students and, honestly, the huge emphasis on viewpoint diversity and freedom of speech. DC is pretty liberal, but is quite disenchanted with the group-think at current school; DC wants to debate and discuss issues and be challenged. CMC invites a wide range of speakers from different fields and across the ideological spectrum for formal dinners four nights/week, and the students are exposed to some of the brightest minds in the world. Being a part of the Claremont Consortium is a big plus too. I attended HYPSM for undergraduate and graduate school and have no regrets. But the 5Cs are really special if your child is interested in small liberal arts colleges.

As an alum of one of the colleges, I wholeheartedly agree. They're amazing.

[Anonymous]

Boston University has an indoor lazy river!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boston University has an indoor lazy river!

That's cool (and I don't say it sarcastically) - but for $95k, you would expect certain amenities like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Swat made a BIG deal about how the copies were FREE* there! Mentioned many many times!

*once you pay them 85k

I went on tours with a family member whose parent couldn't, a long time ago, and this came up on every tour. It's like if really fancy expensive restaurants advertised that the napkins were free. Or if the Four Seasons came out with an advertising campaign that the toilet paper was included!

We joked that there were three things that were said on every tour.

The free paper.

This campus is so safe! It's very safe. Here's a blue light so you can call security. But you won't need security! It's very safe. But if you use the blue light security comes very quickly! Here's a story about a freshman from a big city who saw a deer and called security and they came very quickly! Ha Ha! Oh, don't worry no one laughed at the freshman. Security drove him home! They're so nice. They're like our best friends!

If you (touch, cross, sit on, etc . . . ) this (arch, seal, rock etc . . . you won't graduate, so let's all carefully walk around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We hit upstate NY and visited Ithaca, Cornell and Syracuse. My DC won't get into Cornell, but wanted to see it, and did really love it. Also really liked Syracuse, and will consider Ithaca as a safety. Considering some sort of media-related major.

Any more details on the Syracuse and Ithaca campuses and impressions from tours?

Syracuse is beautiful -- kind of a quintessential college with beautiful buildings. We focused on the Newhouse school, which is top-notch, but the university as a whole seemed great. Lots of friendly kids. Pretty diverse student body. Dorms are scattered around the outer edge of campus. They were a little dated, but not terrible. Greek houses were beautiful, though I'm not sure my DC will go that route. We had delicious pizza off campus after the tour.

Ithaca isn't as pretty architecturally, but you have gorgeous views of one of the Finger Lakes. Their communications school is tiny by comparison, but seemed to have good internship possibilities and opportunities for connection. It has more of an artsy vibe than Syracuse. Was trying to get a sense of whether non-music majors can participate in performance groups, and I'm not sure -- there are so many kids who are highly focused on that. But we liked it!

We did Syracuse over Spring Break. We are FCPS and there was a Loudoun family and two from MCPS in our tour group for the general admin session! We were there on Tuesday of Spring Break and it had snowed 6in the previous Saturday so snow piled up still. By the end of touring Tuesday though it was almost all gone and our coats were off. Students seem to appreciate the good weather days even more.

We really loved the school -- it seems like a place that if you know exactely what you want to study and it's not necessarily a cut and dry major, they will help you create a plan of study. OR if you don't know exactly what you want to do, they will help you creat a plan of study! It seemed that everyone was a double major (two majors from the same school at Cuse) OR a Dual Major (two majors from different schools within the University).

We did the general info session and tour of the campus, then a session with just the Business School (Whitman) and after lunch we went back for a info session with Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. High touch from admins and faculty and met great students. Really enjoyed the experience -- I guess when you are paying $85k or whatever, at least you do seem to get what you pay for??

We couldn't schedule a tour but since we were all the way up there, we drove to Cornell on our way home. We ended up spending WAY more time there than I thought. Wednesdays they don't schedule tours so teh admissions office wasn't even open. The QR Code at their door said to go to the Welcome Center. We met a couple of students working the desk and one of them (in his first year still) was SO enthusiastic about telling us about Cornell and excited to hear our kid my be interested in the Public Policy program he was in, he drew us a walking map, told us what buildings to go in and that we should stop in and see Miss Becca at the Public Policy building bc she is just the best!

That all being said - we also ran into a senior pre-med (who stopped and offered to take a family photo of us as we were trying to pose for pictures) and told us - yeah, if she knew then what she knows now, she wouldn't have gone here.... although her younger sister followed in her footsteps and is a sophmore there now. She just felt it was way too remote, and b/c the medical school was in NYC, not a lot of opportunities to work/learn from a medical program as an undergrad. THe on campus housing was pretty bleak, she thought, and you are required to live in it for 2 years. But the off-campus was not great quality and expensive too. Maybe she was having an off day - good though to have lots of opinions.

We didn't tour Ithaca college - but did eat in the cute downtown area. I will say though -- it was mid day on a Wednesday and it seemed dead, deserted. Like it had fallen from former glory. It was a little sad and depressing. BUT, again, maybe we caught it at an off time.

Overall, our kid could totally see himself at Syracuse and will apply -- Cornell he wants to research a bit more and see if it's really a fit vs if it's just the name/Ivy status that's of interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious about Dartmouth - we didn’t make it that far

DP. We went last year on an overcast and slightly rainy chilly spring day. It was a bit of a turn-off for DD, but an accurate depiction of Spring there. Good to see that, since she was considering ED. A little put off by core requirements. And, (this is more me) the traffic around the main quad kind of wrecks the charm. It's very loud and exhaust-y with all the buses. Then, there's 2 blocks of expensive stores and 1 cool used record shop.

Also, I'm not sure she's as gung ho outdoorsy as most and definitely not a drinker, though will probably drink some in college. So, it just wasn't a slam dunk for her.

It was our last stop on a loop of Brown, WPI, Olin, Tufts, Smith, Dartmouth. Regret going to WPI right after Brown. Hard for it to stand out, also Worcester just feels so ex-urban compared to Providence. Still, a lovely campus with engaging students and a passion for learning. Good spaces for classes and maker areas. A lot to love at WPI.

Next, Olin. Very impressed with the support and investment in students. They will fund passion projects, buy any books students request for library, and community seems great -- sewing machines in library, musical instrument library, classrooms that look like lounges, and students leave laptops lying out, a lot of trust. Very small though. Babson right next door and Wellesley 10min drive, but wish it were reversed.

Tufts - could not get a tour, so did self tour. Pretty campus. Don't understand why people don't like this campus. Lots of students hanging out on lawn, beautiful buildings. Didn't learn alot on self tour. Went mostly just to see it and log in interest. Knew DD would not apply ED because NPC did not look great, but thought it would be worth RD consideration.

Smith -another gorgeous campus. Love the house system. Really nice tour guide -- bright, engaged. Felt very personalized. Got a sense of a lot of student and institution support. Also, strong alum network.

Started the loop with Brown. Tours were ok. They don't show a lot. Did an engineering tour which went inside and had more to it. Met a current student and had a great in-depth chat about the program. Also, Ruth J Simmons seems so badass. Glad there is a quad named for her.

Our impression of Tufts was similar. Will apply RD for similar reasons.

+1 Same. I wish there were more first hand "reviews" of campus such as this, than generic statements from parents who have clearly never been to the campus. In fact, I wish that were a DCUM rule of some sort. The ignorant and clearly rejected and/or not first hand hater posts get old, and are not helpful. Those should be deleted immediately to the maintain integrity of the board.

[Anonymous]

Did a swing of SE…highlight was College of Charleston. Tour was excellent - premed student very impressive. Campus is gorgeous. Got weepy as he described matriculation/graduation ceremonies. Spoke with several co-eds- all were super nice and straight out of Abercrombie catalogue. All in all an excellent deal for South Carolina residents - not sure price is worth it if OOS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did a swing of SE…highlight was College of Charleston. Tour was excellent - premed student very impressive. Campus is gorgeous. Got weepy as he described matriculation/graduation ceremonies. Spoke with several co-eds- all were super nice and straight out of Abercrombie catalogue. All in all an excellent deal for South Carolina residents - not sure price is worth it if OOS.

Let’s not call female students co-ed’s, mmkay? It’s not the 1950s.

[Anonymous]

Boston College. Liked the campus feel and random students went out of their way to be friendly. The student panel felt genuine. The tour guide (a transfer from SMU) was excellent. The admissions person was very clear that you should not apply ED if you can't stomach the Net Price Calculator price tag and that although they are TO, test scores are helpful even if you might consider them below the average BC test scores- pointing out that those scores are self-selected because of the TO and not necessarily a true indication of what BC would like to see. There were LOTS of prospective students. I wish we could have toured a dorm room, and the bifurcated nature of on-campus housing for freshmen was something that we had not known about or considered. The food in one of the cafes was decent, and students appeared to congregate and be social at the various food gathering spots. Even though the student panel was diverse, the student population we saw that day seemed overwhelmingly white and UMC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We hit upstate NY and visited Ithaca, Cornell and Syracuse. My DC won't get into Cornell, but wanted to see it, and did really love it. Also really liked Syracuse, and will consider Ithaca as a safety. Considering some sort of media-related major.

Any more details on the Syracuse and Ithaca campuses and impressions from tours?

Syracuse is beautiful -- kind of a quintessential college with beautiful buildings. We focused on the Newhouse school, which is top-notch, but the university as a whole seemed great. Lots of friendly kids. Pretty diverse student body. Dorms are scattered around the outer edge of campus. They were a little dated, but not terrible. Greek houses were beautiful, though I'm not sure my DC will go that route. We had delicious pizza off campus after the tour.

Ithaca isn't as pretty architecturally, but you have gorgeous views of one of the Finger Lakes. Their communications school is tiny by comparison, but seemed to have good internship possibilities and opportunities for connection. It has more of an artsy vibe than Syracuse. Was trying to get a sense of whether non-music majors can participate in performance groups, and I'm not sure -- there are so many kids who are highly focused on that. But we liked it!

We did Syracuse over Spring Break. We are FCPS and there was a Loudoun family and two from MCPS in our tour group for the general admin session! We were there on Tuesday of Spring Break and it had snowed 6in the previous Saturday so snow piled up still. By the end of touring Tuesday though it was almost all gone and our coats were off. Students seem to appreciate the good weather days even more.

We really loved the school -- it seems like a place that if you know exactely what you want to study and it's not necessarily a cut and dry major, they will help you create a plan of study. OR if you don't know exactly what you want to do, they will help you creat a plan of study! It seemed that everyone was a double major (two majors from the same school at Cuse) OR a Dual Major (two majors from different schools within the University).

We did the general info session and tour of the campus, then a session with just the Business School (Whitman) and after lunch we went back for a info session with Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. High touch from admins and faculty and met great students. Really enjoyed the experience -- I guess when you are paying $85k or whatever, at least you do seem to get what you pay for??

We couldn't schedule a tour but since we were all the way up there, we drove to Cornell on our way home. We ended up spending WAY more time there than I thought. Wednesdays they don't schedule tours so teh admissions office wasn't even open. The QR Code at their door said to go to the Welcome Center. We met a couple of students working the desk and one of them (in his first year still) was SO enthusiastic about telling us about Cornell and excited to hear our kid my be interested in the Public Policy program he was in, he drew us a walking map, told us what buildings to go in and that we should stop in and see Miss Becca at the Public Policy building bc she is just the best!

That all being said - we also ran into a senior pre-med (who stopped and offered to take a family photo of us as we were trying to pose for pictures) and told us - yeah, if she knew then what she knows now, she wouldn't have gone here.... although her younger sister followed in her footsteps and is a sophmore there now. She just felt it was way too remote, and b/c the medical school was in NYC, not a lot of opportunities to work/learn from a medical program as an undergrad. THe on campus housing was pretty bleak, she thought, and you are required to live in it for 2 years. But the off-campus was not great quality and expensive too. Maybe she was having an off day - good though to have lots of opinions.

We didn't tour Ithaca college - but did eat in the cute downtown area. I will say though -- it was mid day on a Wednesday and it seemed dead, deserted. Like it had fallen from former glory. It was a little sad and depressing. BUT, again, maybe we caught it at an off time.

Overall, our kid could totally see himself at Syracuse and will apply -- Cornell he wants to research a bit more and see if it's really a fit vs if it's just the name/Ivy status that's of interest.

Syracuse/Ithaca/Cornell PP here. I agree with what you said about the double majors. Every Newhouse kid we encountered had another major. I'm sure they're banking on being more than impoverished journalists.

[Anonymous]

We toured Penn, Haverford, Leigh, Bucknell and Lafayette. In order of preference based on the tours:

1. Haverford. Loved the vibe, the sense of community, beautiful campus, study abroad opportunities and the ability to take classes at Bryn Mawr, Stratmore and Penn. Our son is interested in graduate school and they have a great track record in admissions to top programs.

2. Penn. Sibling just graduated two years ago and is already acquainted with the school.

3. Bucknell. He was more impressed than he thought he would be. Great tour guide and just a beautiful campus. He would likely receive a good amount of merit aid and could save some of the money in his 529 to use towards graduate school.

4. Leigh. Enjoyed the tour and the overall vibe of the campus but was more impressed with the first 3.

5. Lafayette. It was clear from almost when the tour started he did not like the campus. For whatever reason, it just rubbed him the wrong way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boston College. Liked the campus feel and random students went out of their way to be friendly. The student panel felt genuine. The tour guide (a transfer from SMU) was excellent. The admissions person was very clear that you should not apply ED if you can't stomach the Net Price Calculator price tag and that although they are TO, test scores are helpful even if you might consider them below the average BC test scores- pointing out that those scores are self-selected because of the TO and not necessarily a true indication of what BC would like to see. There were LOTS of prospective students. I wish we could have toured a dorm room, and the bifurcated nature of on-campus housing for freshmen was something that we had not known about or considered. The food in one of the cafes was decent, and students appeared to congregate and be social at the various food gathering spots. Even though the student panel was diverse, the student population we saw that day seemed overwhelmingly white and UMC.

Glad you got a good panel. When we went, one kid went on about failing a course because he never went to it and then changing majors! And, I think the Admissions dean (or sr officer) was not a good speaker. But, campus was beautiful and moved the Wizard of Oz hall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We hit upstate NY and visited Ithaca, Cornell and Syracuse. My DC won't get into Cornell, but wanted to see it, and did really love it. Also really liked Syracuse, and will consider Ithaca as a safety. Considering some sort of media-related major.

Any more details on the Syracuse and Ithaca campuses and impressions from tours?

Syracuse is beautiful -- kind of a quintessential college with beautiful buildings. We focused on the Newhouse school, which is top-notch, but the university as a whole seemed great. Lots of friendly kids. Pretty diverse student body. Dorms are scattered around the outer edge of campus. They were a little dated, but not terrible. Greek houses were beautiful, though I'm not sure my DC will go that route. We had delicious pizza off campus after the tour.

Ithaca isn't as pretty architecturally, but you have gorgeous views of one of the Finger Lakes. Their communications school is tiny by comparison, but seemed to have good internship possibilities and opportunities for connection. It has more of an artsy vibe than Syracuse. Was trying to get a sense of whether non-music majors can participate in performance groups, and I'm not sure -- there are so many kids who are highly focused on that. But we liked it!

We did Syracuse over Spring Break. We are FCPS and there was a Loudoun family and two from MCPS in our tour group for the general admin session! We were there on Tuesday of Spring Break and it had snowed 6in the previous Saturday so snow piled up still. By the end of touring Tuesday though it was almost all gone and our coats were off. Students seem to appreciate the good weather days even more.

We really loved the school -- it seems like a place that if you know exactely what you want to study and it's not necessarily a cut and dry major, they will help you create a plan of study. OR if you don't know exactly what you want to do, they will help you creat a plan of study! It seemed that everyone was a double major (two majors from the same school at Cuse) OR a Dual Major (two majors from different schools within the University).

We did the general info session and tour of the campus, then a session with just the Business School (Whitman) and after lunch we went back for a info session with Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. High touch from admins and faculty and met great students. Really enjoyed the experience -- I guess when you are paying $85k or whatever, at least you do seem to get what you pay for??

We couldn't schedule a tour but since we were all the way up there, we drove to Cornell on our way home. We ended up spending WAY more time there than I thought. Wednesdays they don't schedule tours so teh admissions office wasn't even open. The QR Code at their door said to go to the Welcome Center. We met a couple of students working the desk and one of them (in his first year still) was SO enthusiastic about telling us about Cornell and excited to hear our kid my be interested in the Public Policy program he was in, he drew us a walking map, told us what buildings to go in and that we should stop in and see Miss Becca at the Public Policy building bc she is just the best!

That all being said - we also ran into a senior pre-med (who stopped and offered to take a family photo of us as we were trying to pose for pictures) and told us - yeah, if she knew then what she knows now, she wouldn't have gone here.... although her younger sister followed in her footsteps and is a sophmore there now. She just felt it was way too remote, and b/c the medical school was in NYC, not a lot of opportunities to work/learn from a medical program as an undergrad. THe on campus housing was pretty bleak, she thought, and you are required to live in it for 2 years. But the off-campus was not great quality and expensive too. Maybe she was having an off day - good though to have lots of opinions.

We didn't tour Ithaca college - but did eat in the cute downtown area. I will say though -- it was mid day on a Wednesday and it seemed dead, deserted. Like it had fallen from former glory. It was a little sad and depressing. BUT, again, maybe we caught it at an off time.

Overall, our kid could totally see himself at Syracuse and will apply -- Cornell he wants to research a bit more and see if it's really a fit vs if it's just the name/Ivy status that's of interest.

What did y’all think of the Cornell campus? And did the premed student find Cornell very stressful?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did a swing of SE…highlight was College of Charleston. Tour was excellent - premed student very impressive. Campus is gorgeous. Got weepy as he described matriculation/graduation ceremonies. Spoke with several co-eds- all were super nice and straight out of Abercrombie catalogue. All in all an excellent deal for South Carolina residents - not sure price is worth it if OOS.

Let’s not call female students co-ed’s, mmkay? It’s not the 1950s.

You might be the one behind the times Good Ma’am

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coed#:~:text=%3A%20open%20to%20or%20used%20by,a%20coed%20softball%20team