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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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!

We loved St. Olaf too! Wasn't even on the radar screen for dd, but we were in Northfield to tour Carleton and thought we might as well look while we were there. It is on her list now!

[Anonymous]

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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.

The problems there go WAY beyond dinginesd

Er, is Georgetown even a "good" school? What is excellent about the school except its SFS (and even that is severely overrated)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Harvard: not impressed.

The one school where you can count on that feeling being mutual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my daughter didn't like the housing situation at Rutgers

What's wrong with the dorm situation at Rutgers?

[Anonymous]

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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.

DP. Jeez - you don't sound overly dramatic at all. I was also wondering what the cryptic "predictable reasons" poster was getting at. Not all of us have clutch our pearls at the idea of Texas.

right back at ya. You knew what that PP meant as soon as you saw "predictable." You knew it was about the entire climate there.

Wow, the chip on your shoulder must be enormous. I had no clue what that PP was talking about and in fact, assumed it was something about rich kids, or the Greek system at TCU, both of which have been mentioned here before. I'd actually love to know what the PP meant, and not what YOUR hyper-partisan interpretation is. Maybe next time, let people speak for themselves?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UC Santa Barbara. When we drove in my DD was like "Oh this is home", who could not love that view?? But as we walked around, YUCK, ugly campus, not homey. We drove out and she said, nope. Also did not like UC San Diego, kind of the same reason. She fully expected to love both.

NP. We had the same reaction. Blown away while entering the gates and seeing the cliffs. It was all downhill after that, capped by a self tour through the overflowing homeless parks right in the middle of the only walkable commerce and apartments.

That, and the fact that Santa Barbara is nowhere near the campus

[Anonymous]

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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.

DP. Jeez - you don't sound overly dramatic at all. I was also wondering what the cryptic "predictable reasons" poster was getting at. Not all of us have clutch our pearls at the idea of Texas.

right back at ya. You knew what that PP meant as soon as you saw "predictable." You knew it was about the entire climate there.

Wow, the chip on your shoulder must be enormous. I had no clue what that PP was talking about and in fact, assumed it was something about rich kids, or the Greek system at TCU, both of which have been mentioned here before. I'd actually love to know what the PP meant, and not what YOUR hyper-partisan interpretation is. Maybe next time, let people speak for themselves?

+1. Texas is great. TCU is great. Houston is great. PP doesn’t know what she’s talking about. And the abortion comment is just flat out wrong. Bigoted thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oregon — Eugene sucked

UDenver and Colorado — not near water???

DU and CU aren’t near water, they’re near the mountains. That’s the point.

[Anonymous]

The helicopter parents at William and Mary were a trip. We were at a an info session in a large auditorium with a dean and this girl must have told her mom to "be quiet and stop embarrassing me". She got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the presentation and her mom stood up and enrolled a long list of questions and started asking them, then abruptly stopped and sat down when the girl came back in the room. And the admissions dean used that language about " one fun major for you like literature, and a second more practical major for your parents."

[Anonymous]

My DS graduated from W&M and I don’t remember the dorms being that bad. To each his own.

[Anonymous]

Happy for all of you who got to tour schools this year— my kid is happy where they are but the first time any of us saw the campus in person was drop off day. Funny to wonder if things would have been different with a bunch of tours.

[Anonymous]

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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?

Applied to Oberlin, Bard, W&M, Vassar, Kenyon -- did ED 2 at Vassar, got in, withdrew the other applications so no idea if she would have gotten into those other colleges. Says he has zero regrets about not knowing that--she's where she belongs!

Congrats! Can you share stats (even if not exact)?

She's a (college) junior and I'm having a hard time remembering. I think ACT was 33 and don't remember GPA specifically. I think over 4 but dont' recall if it was weighted, probably was. (DCUM, where every parent seems to have tattoos of their kids' stats, won't believe me, but it was several years ago now and I kind of ejected specifics the second she got accepted to college.) Took very rigorous HS classes so there's that. I would also advise, if your kid has one college of special interest, see if the college's application allows for extra submissions like extra writing samples, videos, additional recommendations. Some do want those, some don't. DD did all of those (video of a performing art) and basically threw everything she had at her first choice, which I think helped show them she wanted to be part of that community.

[Anonymous]

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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.

I’ve been to Washington University and to three different Northwestern campuses, including two in big cities. I never saw a crawling bug or rodent at any of them, other than pet rats and lab animals.

So, if anywhere here hates bugs and rodents, a little gloss might be good.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:WashU and Vanderbilt were both way below expectations.

Like how?

The campuses felt like overly manicured imitations of the kind of schools that they're trying to emulate, without much substance. I'm sure the kids who go there are bright, but there was just something off about both schools.

I get what you’re saying

Great! Could you translate for the rest of us? I went there and don’t understand PP’s comments.

Yeah what does this mean? What kinds of schools are they trying to emulate? The kids at Vanderbilt and Wash U are very bright. The Vandy Class of 2025 acceptance rate is below 7 percent. Def understand if the vibe wasn’t right for your DC, of course.

[Anonymous]

Syracuse (with merit aid) was way too expensive