Schools you toured that you were surprised you liked or didn’t like?

[Anonymous]

Top 50 colleges in US News all have a very large Asian component (greater than 20%, often 30%), except Notre Dame and BC. If you add international students (largely from China and India), the percentages go up to 35%-45% at all the Top 50 colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of you whose kids love Rice, are they Asian? I am not trying to be inflammatory by talking about race but I know 2 kids who were accepted to Rice last year who went for the revisit and came back and said "it feels overwhelmingly Asian both in numbers and culture" and they both chose (and now attend) lower ranked schools that are more diverse.

Where did they choose to go?

Probably Tulane or Villanova

[Anonymous]

Didn’t like as much as we thought we would: Penn. Compared to other tours/admissions presentations we attended, the vibe was not at all welcoming or personal. Instead of telling you about the school, and letting you ask questions, they seemed to assume that you are dying to go there and the admissions talk was mostly about what you should do to position yourself to get in. Total turn off

Unexpectedly loved: Mount Holyoke, and Smith, both of which we thought would feel too small

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Super impressed with Pitt, more so than we anticipated. Great school with smart and social kids. I love the integration of the campus and the city where it still feels very much like a college town. And then there's the beautiful gothic Cathedral, the hilly landscapes, the 3 rivers, and you add to that all the stuff you can do (concerts, games, hiking, kayaking, etc.); it's really hard not to like it.

We toured it a couple of weeks ago and felt the same way. DS and I both loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t like as much as we thought we would: Penn. Compared to other tours/admissions presentations we attended, the vibe was not at all welcoming or personal. Instead of telling you about the school, and letting you ask questions, they seemed to assume that you are dying to go there and the admissions talk was mostly about what you should do to position yourself to get in. Total turn off

Unexpectedly loved: Mount Holyoke, and Smith, both of which we thought would feel too small

I’m in higher education & have visited well over 100 campuses. Penn is one of my least favorite. The architecture, the layout, the neighborhood, the city…none of it seemed appealing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Alabama. Amazing and completely unexpected. Our school search ended there.

Because who wouldn't be thoroughly impressed by a school with an 80% acceptance rate?

It is thoroughly impressive. OP asked for surprises from visits. This one is a complete surprise. Went there instead of a number of much higher ranked schools (very high stats). It’s has exceeded our expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Super impressed with Pitt, more so than we anticipated. Great school with smart and social kids. I love the integration of the campus and the city where it still feels very much like a college town. And then there's the beautiful gothic Cathedral, the hilly landscapes, the 3 rivers, and you add to that all the stuff you can do (concerts, games, hiking, kayaking, etc.); it's really hard not to like it.

We toured it a couple of weeks ago and felt the same way. DS and I both loved it.

I just don't get how people love the Pitt campus. Nor does my wife. I have been on the tour twice. My son is a freshman at Pitt and he loves it. He isn't alone. Everyone that we know that goes there or has gone there loves it. We are huge Pitt fans now because of the experience that our son is having.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t like as much as we thought we would: Penn. Compared to other tours/admissions presentations we attended, the vibe was not at all welcoming or personal. Instead of telling you about the school, and letting you ask questions, they seemed to assume that you are dying to go there and the admissions talk was mostly about what you should do to position yourself to get in. Total turn off

Unexpectedly loved: Mount Holyoke, and Smith, both of which we thought would feel too small

I’m in higher education & have visited well over 100 campuses. Penn is one of my least favorite. The architecture, the layout, the neighborhood, the city…none of it seemed appealing.

I went to grad school at Penn. While West Philly is better than it used to be, it's still the pits. I do like Center City, though . . . great restaurants and museums, and it is steeped in history.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Super impressed with Pitt, more so than we anticipated. Great school with smart and social kids. I love the integration of the campus and the city where it still feels very much like a college town. And then there's the beautiful gothic Cathedral, the hilly landscapes, the 3 rivers, and you add to that all the stuff you can do (concerts, games, hiking, kayaking, etc.); it's really hard not to like it.

We toured it a couple of weeks ago and felt the same way. DS and I both loved it.

I just don't get how people love the Pitt campus. Nor does my wife. I have been on the tour twice. My son is a freshman at Pitt and he loves it. He isn't alone. Everyone that we know that goes there or has gone there loves it. We are huge Pitt fans now because of the experience that our son is having.

My kid went to Pitt; I don't think the main campus is "amazing". I've certainly seen more impressive self-contained campuses. What makes Pitt interesting (IMO) is that it's a defined campus in the middle with the cathedral that transitions into the city. You get the feel of a central college campus but the city, busses, museums etc are right there. If a kid likes living in a city it's a great choice. My kid loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of you whose kids love Rice, are they Asian? I am not trying to be inflammatory by talking about race but I know 2 kids who were accepted to Rice last year who went for the revisit and came back and said "it feels overwhelmingly Asian both in numbers and culture" and they both chose (and now attend) lower ranked schools that are more diverse.

Is this meant to be a joke?? Not funny!

No, not a joke and not meant as a play on words. Apologies for how ridiculous I know it sounds.
Genuinely curious about Rice University.

Rice is about a 1/3 Asian.

Harvard is even more Asian (Class of 2029 is 41% Asian)

Jeez. The culture must be so boring now. No wonder people hate it at Harvard.

That's what meritocracy looks like. Not a problem if you're not bigoted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Super impressed with Pitt, more so than we anticipated. Great school with smart and social kids. I love the integration of the campus and the city where it still feels very much like a college town. And then there's the beautiful gothic Cathedral, the hilly landscapes, the 3 rivers, and you add to that all the stuff you can do (concerts, games, hiking, kayaking, etc.); it's really hard not to like it.

We toured it a couple of weeks ago and felt the same way. DS and I both loved it.

I just don't get how people love the Pitt campus. Nor does my wife. I have been on the tour twice. My son is a freshman at Pitt and he loves it. He isn't alone. Everyone that we know that goes there or has gone there loves it. We are huge Pitt fans now because of the experience that our son is having.

My kid went to Pitt; I don't think the main campus is "amazing". I've certainly seen more impressive self-contained campuses. What makes Pitt interesting (IMO) is that it's a defined campus in the middle with the cathedral that transitions into the city. You get the feel of a central college campus but the city, busses, museums etc are right there. If a kid likes living in a city it's a great choice. My kid loved it.

Yes, it's the fact that you get the community, spirited, social campus with the beautiful cathedral integrated in a charming city that provides tons of options to do other than what you get in a typical college town. That's the best way to describe it. We visited Penn State the weekend before and State College is truly a great college town but it's quite remote outside of it with none of the city amenities that you would get at Pitt. Two great schools though; my kid would love to get an acceptance at PSU as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those of you whose kids love Rice, are they Asian? I am not trying to be inflammatory by talking about race but I know 2 kids who were accepted to Rice last year who went for the revisit and came back and said "it feels overwhelmingly Asian both in numbers and culture" and they both chose (and now attend) lower ranked schools that are more diverse.

How is 1/3 Asian “overwhelmingly” Asian? If a school was 1/3 white would people categorize that as “overwhelmingly” white? No, people would say its diverse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of you whose kids love Rice, are they Asian? I am not trying to be inflammatory by talking about race but I know 2 kids who were accepted to Rice last year who went for the revisit and came back and said "it feels overwhelmingly Asian both in numbers and culture" and they both chose (and now attend) lower ranked schools that are more diverse.

How is 1/3 Asian “overwhelmingly” Asian? If a school was 1/3 white would people categorize that as “overwhelmingly” white? No, people would say its diverse.

agreed! there is so much ignorance and thinly veiled racism in these comments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Super impressed with Pitt, more so than we anticipated. Great school with smart and social kids. I love the integration of the campus and the city where it still feels very much like a college town. And then there's the beautiful gothic Cathedral, the hilly landscapes, the 3 rivers, and you add to that all the stuff you can do (concerts, games, hiking, kayaking, etc.); it's really hard not to like it.

We toured it a couple of weeks ago and felt the same way. DS and I both loved it.

I just don't get how people love the Pitt campus. Nor does my wife. I have been on the tour twice. My son is a freshman at Pitt and he loves it. He isn't alone. Everyone that we know that goes there or has gone there loves it. We are huge Pitt fans now because of the experience that our son is having.

My kid went to Pitt; I don't think the main campus is "amazing". I've certainly seen more impressive self-contained campuses. What makes Pitt interesting (IMO) is that it's a defined campus in the middle with the cathedral that transitions into the city. You get the feel of a central college campus but the city, busses, museums etc are right there. If a kid likes living in a city it's a great choice. My kid loved it.

I'm the PP who visited a couple of weeks ago and this is exactly it. It's urban, but not like GW, where campus buildings blend in with office buildings, or like urban campuses that are gated. It's a true college campus with green space, etc. but seamlessly integrated into its urban surroundings. At least as far as I could tell from the 24 hours I spent there!

[Anonymous]

Toured Calpoly in San Luis Obispo while on vacation in Santa Barbara and it was gorgeous.