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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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. [/quote]

Any more details on the Syracuse and Ithaca campuses and impressions from tours?[/quote]

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! [/quote]

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.[/quote]

This is PP who had asked for more details on Syracuse and Ithaca College. Thanks to those who added in! DC wants a medium-sized school with some civilization around. [/quote]

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