Promote Pitt: No secret; DCUM seems to love it. Great vibe, nice kids, lots to do.

Demote Drexel: Good if you're an engineering major. Bleak otherwise.

Anonymous wrote:Promote: Stony Brook - nice, research oriented university
Promote: CWRU
Promote: W&M
Promote: UCSD

Demote: VT
Demote: CMU - everyone looked miserable
Demote: UIUC
Demote: UC Berkeley
Demote: UW Madison

Just for perspective, mine applied to W&M, Grinnell, Stony Brook, CWRU, WUSTL, Rice, and RPI

Their attending CWRU

How shallow. You're basing this on first impressions, not firsthand experience. Didn't realize that's what the OP was asking. So we're supposed to respond with impressions based on tours or walking around a campus?

Anonymous wrote:Promote: Stony Brook - nice, research oriented university
Promote: CWRU
Promote: W&M
Promote: UCSD

Demote: VT
Demote: CMU - everyone looked miserable
Demote: UIUC
Demote: UC Berkeley
Demote: UW Madison

Just for perspective, mine applied to W&M, Grinnell, Stony Brook, CWRU, WUSTL, Rice, and RPI

Their attending CWRU

I often hear this! Thanks for your first hand impressions, PP.

Anonymous wrote:Promote: Stony Brook - nice, research oriented university
Promote: CWRU
Promote: W&M
Promote: UCSD

Demote: VT
Demote: CMU - everyone looked miserable
Demote: UIUC
Demote: UC Berkeley
Demote: UW Madison

Just for perspective, mine applied to W&M, Grinnell, Stony Brook, CWRU, WUSTL, Rice, and RPI

Their attending CWRU

PP, can you tell me more about Stony Brook? We live in NY and I'm trying to get enthused about it. It would be a safety for my DD. Thanks!

Promote: Stony Brook - nice, research oriented university
Promote: CWRU
Promote: W&M
Promote: UCSD

Demote: VT
Demote: CMU - everyone looked miserable
Demote: UIUC
Demote: UC Berkeley
Demote: UW Madison

Just for perspective, mine applied to W&M, Grinnell, Stony Brook, CWRU, WUSTL, Rice, and RPI

Their attending CWRU

Copying the above PP's style/approach - DC (2017 grad) applied to and was admitted to almost all of the schools that I review here, and was awarded enough merit aid ($25K/year+) at each that he had his choice of schools. We did visit all of them.

Promote Juniata. It was definitely his likely/ safety and we visited because it could be done in a single day. A close friend was there and loved it. I had no expectations of any kind and was very impressed. The science programs are very strong, the students very down to earth and friendly, the campus pretty. Interesting little art museum. It has no Greek life (a plus) and has a peaceful feeling (Peace Studies is a major and the school has a Peace Garden - its origins lie with The Church of the Brethren, which is pacifist). DC got huge merit aid there, and then more after attending an admitted students event. It would have cost very little to send him there. It wasn't the right fit, though.

Promote Wooster (another safety, very impressed, loved the traditions and senior thesis requirement; it was admittedly a step down from his other options, academically)

Promote Denison (where he ended up)

Promote Pitt (great location and one of the best large school options IMO)

Promote Allegheny (but the location and town are just terrible and he could not get past that)

Promote UMD-CP (great in pretty much every way except the location; also, DC wanted a smaller school)

——

Hold on CWRU and Kenyon (like PP, DH and I really like these schools. DC, like PP's DC, thought Kenyon was way too remote, and he just didn’t like the feel of CWRU. He got $$$ from CWRU and did two more visits but just couldn't like it).

——

Demote Ursinus. It has no personality IMO and was too safety-ish for DC in any case.

Demote Muhlenberg. It felt like it's all about the arts students and DC had a hard time envisioning doing anything else there. Also, the course catalog seemed skimpy.

Demote Lafayette. (He hated it and didn't apply.) Heavy emphasis on frats and you could practically smell the bro-culture.

Promote: Johns Hopkins! It isn't cutthroat, just some very driven students. Baltimore has steadily improved in the past few years and is a really exciting place to be for young people
It's not only a STEM school, the humanities programs are great too
-Parent of JHU undergrad.
Honorable Mention: George Mason, very underrated in STEM.

*follow

Anonymous wrote:I'm going to demote this thread.

Promoting a college you love because of firsthand experience is a great idea.
Unfortunately my college experience is more than twenty years ago.
But I will fallow because I a Parent of a high school student.

Promote St. Olaf.

2020:grad l It started as a likely/ safety that we only visited because we were at Macalester anyway, his counselor recommended it, and recent grads from his school have gone and just love it.

My kid had 8 acceptances, 1 Denial, 1 WL. It ended up being his second choice for science (PhD track) and it was important he could keep playing his instrument as a strong EC. He might have ended up there if he had been able to revisit over spring break, like we had planned.

St. Olaf is a very special place, in a way that’s hard to describe. Really walks the walk on creating community. It has a very different atmosphere from other colleges we had visited. Purposeful yet peaceful, if that makes sense. We walk on campus and I could feel my BP drop

Based on our perceptions going in vs where we ended up, I would:

Promote St. Olaf

Promote Wooster (another safety that we only visited because we were in Ohio to see other colleges. It was also more impressive than I would have thought, but the academics were a step down from his other applications)

Promote Oberlin (where he ended up)

Promote Macalester (third choice)

Promote Pitt (great location and not what we expected from a large school)

——

Hold on WM (DH and I we’re impressed. My kid spent the night with a friend and was turned off).

Hold on CWRU and Kenyon (again, DH and I really like these schools. DC thought Kenyon was way too remote. And just didn’t like the feel of CWRU. CERU was his outright denial).

Hold on Grinnell (we were going to visit after acceptances came out, but COVID. DC didn’t want to go to Iowa sight unseen).

Demote Davidson. DC was WL. But demoting isn’t sour grapes. My kid was never enthused. The Southern / D1 sports atmosphere was not a good fit for him. I assume Davidson thought so as well.

DD a is a 2022 and has started the college search virtually for SLAC, international relations and linguistics. St. Olaf is also topping her list based on talking to her brother, a virtual admissions session, a virtual tour and talking to a current student.

As we thumbs up, thumbs down colleges based on mostly virtual tours and admission sessions here’s where she is so far. Hopefully, we can visit top contenders.

She has liked/kept: St. Olaf, Oberlin, Occidental, Middlebury and Carleton

Is neutral on: WM and Bates (Bates presentation was very generic. It was hard to get a read).

Does not want to apply to: Davidson and Colby

Next up: Tufts, Macalester, Vasser and American.

I'm going to demote this thread.

Another dumb thread... Zzzzz

Explain to whom we are promoting or demoting. Our own children? Friends? Random people on the internet?

Explain why you are promoting or demoting.