Anonymous
Post 07/15/2024 09:48     Subject: Re:Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?
Anonymous wrote:T25 schools don’t need to have nice buildings to fill seats.


Congrats on missing the point that they charge huge tuition and have huge endowments but won't spend any of it on places where kids live, sleep, eat, and learn.
Anonymous
Post 07/15/2024 09:43     Subject: Re:Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?
Louisiana State has a lazy river and other great amenities, why don’t you go there OP?
Anonymous
Post 07/15/2024 09:28     Subject: Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?
Yes, those dumpy dorm rooms will look TERRIBLE on your DC's resume. Avoid.
Anonymous
Post 07/15/2024 08:57     Subject: Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?
I found Georgetown and Harvard dumpy.

Wesleyan was dumpy-ish, but they have a big new building and some projects that seem transformative.

Swat was under construction.

Brown has dumpy dorms.

Not at all dumpy: ND, Yale, Bowdoin, Chicago, Hopkins, Northwestern, Michigan, Rice, Columbia
Anonymous
Post 07/15/2024 08:48     Subject: Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'd absolutely leave Sidwelll (or any private HS) if they doubled or tripled the size.

I pay primarily for the small class size. Size matters. Research is pretty clear that the ideal learning environment is less than 16 students per class.


Ok small sizes in high school is understandable, but super small class sizes in COLLEGE? That is unappealing to many. Part of the college experience is being in a larger environment.


From family members who attended these universities:

Lots of small classes at Northwestern, Columbia, and U Chicago.

Anonymous
Post 07/15/2024 08:46     Subject: Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'd absolutely leave Sidwelll (or any private HS) if they doubled or tripled the size.

I pay primarily for the small class size. Size matters. Research is pretty clear that the ideal learning environment is less than 16 students per class.


Ok small sizes in high school is understandable, but super small class sizes in COLLEGE? That is unappealing to many. Part of the college experience is being in a larger environment.


It's not unappealing to everyone. I chose a SLAC, in part, for that reason. My best classes were seminars with just a handful of students.


I cannot understand how some people can't see any value of small classes. It is not about handholding, as one PP claimed. It is about the ability to have meaningful discussions in class. It is also nice to get detailed feedback on your work directly from an experienced professor rather than an inexperienced grad TA. I took a small writing course from a famous author my freshman year and her feedback was on my work was tremendously valuable to me. Some of my favorite classes were the small seminar style philosophy courses where we would debate ideas in case. My major was in the sciences, so usually large classes, and while some of those lectures were great, in the present day with YouTube and opencourseware, your kid could just watch some great lectures online for fee.
Anonymous
Post 07/15/2024 08:07     Subject: Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'd absolutely leave Sidwelll (or any private HS) if they doubled or tripled the size.

I pay primarily for the small class size. Size matters. Research is pretty clear that the ideal learning environment is less than 16 students per class.


Ok small sizes in high school is understandable, but super small class sizes in COLLEGE? That is unappealing to many. Part of the college experience is being in a larger environment.


It's not unappealing to everyone. I chose a SLAC, in part, for that reason. My best classes were seminars with just a handful of students.
Anonymous
Post 07/15/2024 08:04     Subject: Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?
Anonymous wrote:I have a rising senior and have been doing the rounds of many top 25 schools (universities and colleges). We started with safety schools last year and then junior year grades came back so this summer we've been touring some top schools. My kid is trying to figure out an ED.
We have a rising junior as well so we have a couple of kids with us.

The more of these schools we tour, the less impressed I am. They're sort of all a bit falling apart, poorly maintained, with pretty odd students (tour guides, summer students and especially touring students alike--don't jump all over for for saying this--being brutally honest), little sense of community, same-old, same-old stuff about study-abroad, etc. Many have very large class sizes, etc.

I feel like we're (kid and parent alike) are supposed to love these schools and want to pay $90K for them and my kids can't find one they really like. I very, very, very much feel like we're being sold a product that we're supposed to want to buy because of prestige and name but when we see the product up close it doesn't look great and I feel like a sheep lining up to say "yes sir. let me put my kid through mental/emotional twister for a 5% chance of being admitted to your school and then I will gladly pay you $90K for the honor. Yes sir." It just feels... gross. Maybe not gross but yucky. My kids are like, "well I didn't really like this or that here but I could probably make it work." They too feel the pressure to LIKE these places. The Almighty XYZ or ABC school! It's supposed to be their dream!

Please don't jump on me. I know it's summer and we're not seeing the universities at their best but ugh. They're all kind of disappointing. I can't be the only one who feels this way? (I'm not going to name university/college names because then this post will turn into a giant thread about whatever school(s) I name.


Dumpy? Unimpressive, meaning structurally, academically, what? As you looking at colleges or real estate to purchase?
Anonymous
Post 07/15/2024 08:01     Subject: Re:Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?
T25 schools don’t need to have nice buildings to fill seats.
Anonymous
Post 07/15/2024 07:55     Subject: Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'd absolutely leave Sidwelll (or any private HS) if they doubled or tripled the size.

I pay primarily for the small class size. Size matters. Research is pretty clear that the ideal learning environment is less than 16 students per class.


Fine…skip all nationally ranked colleges and just pick a SLAC. Have fun because I guess your kid needs the same handholding as 13 year old.


Handholding is expecting billion dollar institutions to have support resources? Also many ivies you can go four years without a class about 20 students, but you just won't be a STEM student.


Don't understand the issue. Went to a T20 school. Great classes freshman/sophomore year with classes with roughly 150 students. By senior year, it was seminars with 15 or so. But what I remember as my favorite were the big ones.

I have no problem with class sizes, but I think it is a bit ridiculous when people get on these threads and act like class sizes don't matter when most colleges are in an arms race to have lowest class size and many of the top colleges have the largest size similar to what you said of 150. Heck, my Probability course at a liberal arts college had 95 students. It's always a conversation about handholding and spoonfeeding, when I do think that the most rigorous environments are small ones where you, the individual, are challenged.


Except they aren’t in arms race for smallest class size…where did that come from…it is never talked about as an issue at my kid’s top 10 (nor is anyone complaining about class size).
Anonymous
Post 07/15/2024 03:40     Subject: Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'd absolutely leave Sidwelll (or any private HS) if they doubled or tripled the size.

I pay primarily for the small class size. Size matters. Research is pretty clear that the ideal learning environment is less than 16 students per class.


Fine…skip all nationally ranked colleges and just pick a SLAC. Have fun because I guess your kid needs the same handholding as 13 year old.


Handholding is expecting billion dollar institutions to have support resources? Also many ivies you can go four years without a class about 20 students, but you just won't be a STEM student.


Don't understand the issue. Went to a T20 school. Great classes freshman/sophomore year with classes with roughly 150 students. By senior year, it was seminars with 15 or so. But what I remember as my favorite were the big ones.

I have no problem with class sizes, but I think it is a bit ridiculous when people get on these threads and act like class sizes don't matter when most colleges are in an arms race to have lowest class size and many of the top colleges have the largest size similar to what you said of 150. Heck, my Probability course at a liberal arts college had 95 students. It's always a conversation about handholding and spoonfeeding, when I do think that the most rigorous environments are small ones where you, the individual, are challenged.

Shh, people from massive state schools get defensive and love pushing that everyone who doesn't want overflowing classrooms with overworked TAs and uninterested professors is an idiot who won't make it in the real world



OK. But the question is from someone who thinks the top 20 universities are beneath their child.

How can we help them?

I guess criticism for lackluster campuses is now calling a college "beneath" you.
A lot of people don't find the new england dilapidated buildings vibe aesthetic or gorgeous. I can understand why OP has that assessment. It's not like T20s have to try very hard to appeal to many people.
Anonymous
Post 07/15/2024 02:52     Subject: Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?
Yeah Brown's dorms looked awful and depressing.

My public flagship has very depressing classrooms. Not modern at all. Looked very institutional.

You think for that much $$ it would be nicer.

Anonymous
Post 07/15/2024 02:32     Subject: Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?
Anonymous wrote:You get you aren’t sending your kid to a resort, right? Is she first generation.


No, she's an _athlete_ who can "easily get in" to all the top 20 schools and top SLACS, per OP's other threat on Dumpy Amherst.

OP, just go with Stanford since your daughter can go anywhere she chooses and managed to "get her grades back up"
Anonymous
Post 07/15/2024 02:15     Subject: Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?
You get you aren’t sending your kid to a resort, right? Is she first generation.
Anonymous
Post 07/15/2024 02:15     Subject: Anyone touring top schools and finding then all to be dumpy and unimpressive?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'd absolutely leave Sidwelll (or any private HS) if they doubled or tripled the size.

I pay primarily for the small class size. Size matters. Research is pretty clear that the ideal learning environment is less than 16 students per class.


Fine…skip all nationally ranked colleges and just pick a SLAC. Have fun because I guess your kid needs the same handholding as 13 year old.


Handholding is expecting billion dollar institutions to have support resources? Also many ivies you can go four years without a class about 20 students, but you just won't be a STEM student.


Don't understand the issue. Went to a T20 school. Great classes freshman/sophomore year with classes with roughly 150 students. By senior year, it was seminars with 15 or so. But what I remember as my favorite were the big ones.

I have no problem with class sizes, but I think it is a bit ridiculous when people get on these threads and act like class sizes don't matter when most colleges are in an arms race to have lowest class size and many of the top colleges have the largest size similar to what you said of 150. Heck, my Probability course at a liberal arts college had 95 students. It's always a conversation about handholding and spoonfeeding, when I do think that the most rigorous environments are small ones where you, the individual, are challenged.

Shh, people from massive state schools get defensive and love pushing that everyone who doesn't want overflowing classrooms with overworked TAs and uninterested professors is an idiot who won't make it in the real world



OK. But the question is from someone who thinks the top 20 universities are beneath their child.

How can we help them?