What school dropped off the list because of your visit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dartmouth
UPenn

Would love to take UMD-CP off, but probably will be stuck attending there anyway. Good rankings, great price in-state, decent location, ugly campus.

The campus was beautiful when I attended in the 80s. Drove thru last year and couldn't believe how terrible it looked with all the new construction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Duke

+1 Said campus was gorgeous, but nowhere to go.

There is so much to do in the Triangle!

But not everywhere is for everyone, I get that!

[Anonymous]

Sewanee

[Anonymous]

Penn State. Didn’t like that it was in the middle of nowhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dartmouth
UPenn

Would love to take UMD-CP off, but probably will be stuck attending there anyway. Good rankings, great price in-state, decent location, ugly campus.

Agree on UMD- CP. it has got to be one of the ugliest most depressing campuses of any school. Just dismal, drab and nothing inviting about it. My kid desperately wants to knock it off his list as well, but like you we are keeping it on bc of the ranking, price etc, but there is nothing redeeming about that campus

[Anonymous]

Columbia. This was a few years ago but she said everyone looked sad and stressed and it felt depressing even though the semester just started.

[Anonymous]

Bucknell and UMD-CP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Harvard. One of the most unimpressive, inarticulate tour guides we had anywhere. The overall event felt like they were phoning it in and didn't care what people thought.

Interesting- I expected to hate this tour/info session and to my surprise was really impressed by ours. It’s not like Harvard needs to put a big effort in to these tours, but I thought they did a great job. Only thing I didn’t like is the crowd size, probably at least 800 people so it really did feel like the tourist activity that it is. My dd didn’t end up applying there in the end but we both came away with a more favorable view of Harvard than we expected to.

[Anonymous]

Wisconsin. Actually DC liked the school, good guide, campus was fine...but we went on an early April day when it was 29 degrees and there was still snow on the ground. No thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Went to grad school at Vanderbilt sight unseen because it was the top in my field and it was a huge mistake. The women there dress up just to go to regular classes. Was so strange to see coming from a northern undergrad. For a school with such bright students it had an old fashioned, off-putting “my main goal is to meet my husband” vibe.

it's your internalized misogyny for me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vanderbilt, William and Mary,

Princeton, university of Chicago,

People keep saying William & Mary — I’d love to know why. We were going to do a walk-ourselves-around tour over spring break but maybe my daughter won’t have an opportunity to get a good enough sense of the place without a tour guide.

My kid went into the W&M tour thinking she preferred UVA and came out of it loving it. We also toured on a summer day when it was about 100 degrees and as humid as it can be without raining, and they gave us all cold water bottles (probably don't do that anymore because of sustainability). It had an atmosphere of "what can we offer you" instead of "what do you offer us."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:William and Mary for my daughter, that sample dorm room they show you on the tour.... ugh not homey at all. Was a shame because if they hadn't shown the dorm room it would have climbed to do the top of the list. Loved the campus and the vibe though my daughter noticed not alot of cute boys lol.

Also Georgetown, not that we were going to get in, but we went a few times just to explore and the last time we were there almost stepped on a dead rat in the middle of the walkway. That was enough to scare my son away once he read that rats and roaches are a big problem there. I'm sure that happens everywhere but it was a turnoff lol

So both you and your son applied? If you both got in, was the plan to be roommates?

Do you think that is clever?

Not particularly, but that poster takes the plural to the extreme. I mean, c'mon. It's one thing to say "we were looking at XYZ school," but ti say "we were going to get in?" Seriously? It's over the top hyperinvestment.

haha since I don't actually spend all day sitting at my computer finally getting back on to see all this hullabaloo about my choice of the word "We". You are just so witty it's overwhelming. In fact, the reason I said "we" is that I actually have twins so when WE went college touring, it was out whole family and I tend to think in the collective when responding since I'm speaking for two. I suppose in order not to offend you all I could have said "my twins" but why spend 7 letters when 2 will do the same?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went to grad school at Vanderbilt sight unseen because it was the top in my field and it was a huge mistake. The women there dress up just to go to regular classes. Was so strange to see coming from a northern undergrad. For a school with such bright students it had an old fashioned, off-putting “my main goal is to meet my husband” vibe.

it's your internalized misogyny for me

I attended Vandy in the late 80’s and there was some dressing up (like for football games), but the poster has overplayed it. Vandy is very similar to UVA in its attire. There’s nothing wrong with showering before class, combing/brushing your hair, and wearing some clean clothes other than a worn T-shirt and gym shorts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vanderbilt, William and Mary,

Princeton, university of Chicago,

People keep saying William & Mary — I’d love to know why. We were going to do a walk-ourselves-around tour over spring break but maybe my daughter won’t have an opportunity to get a good enough sense of the place without a tour guide.

I can speak for my twins (I won't say WE LOL) as I just asked THEM again about the W&M tour. My son loved it, he felt he could live with the dorm room situation and W&M ultimately was his second choice. My daughter came away loving the campus itself, the library, the cafeteria and we had a great tour guide. In fact before we got to the dorm, she actually leaned over to me as said "I'm actually starting to love it here" and she was a confirmed UVA fan. That said, when we got to see inside a dorm, the room they show you is in a dark corner, with awful light, windows that weren't open and no A/C. It was very small and stuffy. That was the turn off for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went to grad school at Vanderbilt sight unseen because it was the top in my field and it was a huge mistake. The women there dress up just to go to regular classes. Was so strange to see coming from a northern undergrad. For a school with such bright students it had an old fashioned, off-putting “my main goal is to meet my husband” vibe.

it's your internalized misogyny for me

I attended Vandy in the late 80’s and there was some dressing up (like for football games), but the poster has overplayed it. Vandy is very similar to UVA in its attire. There’s nothing wrong with showering before class, combing/brushing your hair, and wearing some clean clothes other than a worn T-shirt and gym shorts.

Exactly. It’s very much like UVA and if you like that, it’s your preference. It is very different from most non-southern schools. The first line about Vandy in the Fiske guide is about its “old south gentility.”