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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]They’re both good schools. [b]OP’s kid should visit both campuses, determine which one is a better fit, and go for it[/b].[/quote]

This.  Assume costs are similar or don't matter, your child will get a feeling of which one is right after visiting both[/quote]

I question the wisdom of this. I feel like impressions formed on a campus visit can be misleading, often just based on the tour guide. Perhaps objective criteria should be more heavily relied upon versus emotional reactions?

[/quote]

Kudos to you for having a kid who was able to do that. DC1 fairly able to do so, but still swayed by impressions from visit. DC2 wholly unable to do that and some application decisions were influenced solely on tour impressions. [/quote]

Actually I didn’t. ED1 application decision was in retrospect based on positive interaction with coach and not much else. Eventually rejected but in retrospect that seems like a good thing. Just having been on a bunch of these tours, the personality of the random freshman volunteer on the tour can really influence your impression. You are potentially introducing a lot of cognitive errors/biases into the decision process. Like maybe you were interested in the school because it is strong in the area you intend to study but during the tour you saw a kid with an annoying haircut so you decided it wasn’t a good “fit.”[/quote]

Right. But how many 17 year olds can tease through all of that, set aside those emotions, and remove the cognitive errors/biases? My guess is the number doesn't cross 50%, maybe even 25%.

Often their strongest points of reference at that age are their peers, so that's what they are working with when making decisions, especially about where they will live for four or more years. Did Colby seem more multifaceted to me than to my quiet DS who didn't like the vibes of the tour guide lax player? Yes, but I'm not the one going to school with cliquey sports guys, so I get his evaluation filter. [/quote]

Ironically, our guide at Colby was really interested in showing us the LGBT center and all that, leaving the opposite impression that the school was super woke.  Plus every kid declared "their" pronouns.  So the point is, these tours are really colored by the random kid giving the tour, or maybe the other kids who happen to be on the tour, and are not very reliable as a basis for decision making.  But it's hard to avoid-- you can't not see the school. I think a better way to gauge the culture of the school is to get to know a lot of real students there and spend time there.[/quote]

That's my point. This could have been the next tour over, but if the kid is on "this" tour, not "that" tour then it is what it is.

Agree on spending time there, but that was pretty hard when our DCs were touring during COVID - lucky even to get on campus; forget about spending the night.[/quote]

Yes, I think we are in agreement. Maybe it is almost better just to visit the campus when school is on break? Just to see it physically. Or at least try to maintain an objective attitude while on the tour. It’s a tough one. [/quote]

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