Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you talking about Yale’s Freshman Outdoor Orientation Trips? Caveat they may have a different name now. It was an amazing way to start college. But it doesn’t mean the entire experience is like summer camp. It’s college, not camp.

I think OP is pretty interested in the trips.

I remember some MBA schools pushing trips before the programs began.

I do think there are schools that have stronger orientations & trip-based bonding exercises (not always at the beginning of freshman year).

Because quad-based campuses and well-laid-out "collegetowns" are pretty common, maybe it's more useful to focus on recommending schools that have strong orientation programs.

Yes! We loved the idea of kids bonding over things other than alcohol.

Anonymous wrote:For more of a target school, try Franklin and Marshall. They also have the house system

Anonymous wrote:Literally so many campuses like Yale. Not clear what you are looking for.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you talking about Yale’s Freshman Outdoor Orientation Trips? Caveat they may have a different name now. It was an amazing way to start college. But it doesn’t mean the entire experience is like summer camp. It’s college, not camp.

I think OP is pretty interested in the trips.

I remember some MBA schools pushing trips before the programs began.

I do think there are schools that have stronger orientations & trip-based bonding exercises (not always at the beginning of freshman year).

Because quad-based campuses and well-laid-out "collegetowns" are pretty common, maybe it's more useful to focus on recommending schools that have strong orientation programs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We really liked the layout in proximity to the surrounding area. It felt like a true college campus in an urban setting. We liked the security, how relatively safe it felt.

We did like the residential colleges and students being grouped by their housing. We liked the freshman team building. We visited the day a camping trip was heading out.

Seemed really close knit but just big enough.

I went on a campus tour of Yale as a high schooler. I was only passing through as a tourist and did not intend to apply. I went to Pitt and U of M. Neither have residential colleges but each have some features that remind me a bit of Yale's layout. Pitt has the Cathedral of Learning and other fancy buildings. Michigan has a bunch of quadrangles vs. one central quad. Both have a lot of emphasis on liberal arts and humanities degrees.

Michigan and Pitt do have some affiliated places to stay out West for summer classes but I don't know of freshman trips. Honestly school trips are another costly add-on so not sure that would be a decision maker for me. Pitt was always very big on promoting meaningful degree-related study abroad...so that is an aspect that is worthy of considering.

Ways of making Michigan small include the Honors Program and Residential College. Pitt has an Honors College dorm.

It would help if you gave an idea of what majors your kid is interested in. And how open you are to partially-matching suggestions. People on this board get pretty fierce about Ivy-related issues.

We're focusing on an enhanced freshman experience and campus feel. We too did a tour as a tourist just passing through, but both kids loved the feel of that campus so much. We've gone on other tours since, but I can tell they're secretly comparing it to Yales campus.

I should clarify, we're not necessarily looking for an urban setting, but the surrounding area felt like a college town. There were decent food options, shopping and everything was centralized.

How do you define an enhanced freshman experience?

Brown is probably the closest in terms of campus feel to Yale…same size city, defined campus, lots of shops/restaurants right off campus…bit less connected to downtown Providence vs Yale.

No idea how to compare the freshman experience.

We're looking for a freshman experience that is kind of like summer camp? Hard to describe. It felt more hands on the freshman year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vanderbilt

+1

Self contained campus on the edge of a city. Immediately surrounded by west end and Hillsboro village, which are safe and have shopping and restaurants. The pancake pantry is a staple. Freshman live on the Peabody quad. Residential college system too. Pretty consistent architecture, and it’s an arboretum.

Anonymous wrote:Are you talking about Yale’s Freshman Outdoor Orientation Trips? Caveat they may have a different name now. It was an amazing way to start college. But it doesn’t mean the entire experience is like summer camp. It’s college, not camp.

Anonymous wrote:We really liked the layout in proximity to the surrounding area. It felt like a true college campus in an urban setting. We liked the security, how relatively safe it felt.

We did like the residential colleges and students being grouped by their housing. We liked the freshman team building. We visited the day a camping trip was heading out.

Seemed really close knit but just big enough.

Anonymous wrote:Vanderbilt