Anonymous
Post 09/02/2025 21:04     Subject: Re:Visiting colleges as a day trip
Anonymous wrote:I think your original list is pretty good.

Another couple of pairings that you could do on a long weekend this fall:

Ithaca and Cornell

SUNY New Paltz and Marist

UConn and Fairfield

The reason people asked about stats is that it kind of does matter. A classic pairing is Lehigh and Lafayette. But with acceptance rates of about 30%, it would be silly to do this trip unless your kid was likely to get in. Ithaca is not selective; Cornell is highly selective.


On your drive up to Ithaca check out along the way (I-83, US-15) in Pennsylvania: York College, Susquehana, Bucknell U. and Mansfield U. Near Ithaca check out also: Elmira Coll., Keuka Coll, Hobart & William Smith, Alfred Univ. Oh but first - filter down the list to relevant degree programs and other "fit" requirements. Make sure they are financially viable the next 4-6 years. Enjoy the Fall foliage and Finger Lakes wineries around Keuka Lake.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2025 15:29     Subject: Visiting colleges as a day trip
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Ah yes, the college visit — America’s favorite ritual of spending three days and several thousand dollars to walk around a campus you could have seen on Google Maps.

All to find out that Colleges All Have Grass, Libraries, And Students.

Of course, the “vibe” is what really matters. Never mind faculty, financial aid, or whether the school even offers your major. The vibe! Which is of course scientifically measured by the weather that particular day, the personality of the one tour guide, and whether you had a good night’s sleep. If it’s sunny, the school feels like a paradise of opportunity. If it’s raining, clearly the students are depressed, the administration is corrupt, and the entire school spirit is in decline.


Wow! I hope your day gets better.


I was laughing at this because it's basically true. I mean, I'll still do the college visits because....I don't really know. But this poster is basically right. I remember when I did my college visits -- I didn't do them until after admitted and then did a crazy trip where I went up and down the East Coast in a few days visiting 4 colleges I was considering. It was POURING rain and Georgetown and everyone was in a pissy mood, so that one went way down my list! (Also, I was weirded out by how everything at Georgetown was locked, which felt very fortressy to me .... one oculdn't just wander into the library without a student ID.) And the students I stayed with at Hopkins were sort of miserable -- was that representative of Hopkins generally? Maybe, or maybe they just shouldn't have volunteered to host admitted students. Luckily, the school I liked the best at the visit was also the one that gave me the best FA package.

I have heard so many kids say they didn't like a school becuase the tour guide was kind of awful. My own kid knocked out Columbia because the tour guide seemed really snobby. There probably were good reasons to knock out Columbia, but a sample of one kid out of how ever many thousands was probably not the best reason. Things like the weather make a huge difference -- if you go on one sunny day and all the kids are out on the quad playing frisbee and reading a book under a tree, it just seems like a great place to go.


Glad you enjoyed this!

We did college tours because it felt like it is parental neglect not to take the kid. Did not find them helpful, but if the kid ends up not getting admitted to schools, I wanted to avoid "you should have done college visits".

Ended up getting admitted to reach schools that we did not bother to visit. Do we really need to check out H Y P S M to see if they "vibe" with my kid? It turns out a kid can really really like a college sight unseen.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2025 12:37     Subject: Visiting colleges as a day trip
Your mom likes day trips.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2025 12:17     Subject: Re:Visiting colleges as a day trip
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I think your original list is pretty good.

Another couple of pairings that you could do on a long weekend this fall:

Ithaca and Cornell

SUNY New Paltz and Marist

UConn and Fairfield

The reason people asked about stats is that it kind of does matter. A classic pairing is Lehigh and Lafayette. But with acceptance rates of about 30%, it would be silly to do this trip unless your kid was likely to get in. Ithaca is not selective; Cornell is highly selective.


If going to Ithaca, maybe consider SUNY Binghamton. It is not far away. Binghamton is in a river valley. There are some opportunities for recreation there. Though it's not as scenic as Ithaca. It would be on par with WVU academically at a minimum.


SUNY Bing is academically outstanding!
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2025 11:53     Subject: Visiting colleges as a day trip
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Ah yes, the college visit — America’s favorite ritual of spending three days and several thousand dollars to walk around a campus you could have seen on Google Maps.

All to find out that Colleges All Have Grass, Libraries, And Students.

Of course, the “vibe” is what really matters. Never mind faculty, financial aid, or whether the school even offers your major. The vibe! Which is of course scientifically measured by the weather that particular day, the personality of the one tour guide, and whether you had a good night’s sleep. If it’s sunny, the school feels like a paradise of opportunity. If it’s raining, clearly the students are depressed, the administration is corrupt, and the entire school spirit is in decline.


Wow! I hope your day gets better.


I was laughing at this because it's basically true. I mean, I'll still do the college visits because....I don't really know. But this poster is basically right. I remember when I did my college visits -- I didn't do them until after admitted and then did a crazy trip where I went up and down the East Coast in a few days visiting 4 colleges I was considering. It was POURING rain and Georgetown and everyone was in a pissy mood, so that one went way down my list! (Also, I was weirded out by how everything at Georgetown was locked, which felt very fortressy to me .... one oculdn't just wander into the library without a student ID.) And the students I stayed with at Hopkins were sort of miserable -- was that representative of Hopkins generally? Maybe, or maybe they just shouldn't have volunteered to host admitted students. Luckily, the school I liked the best at the visit was also the one that gave me the best FA package.

I have heard so many kids say they didn't like a school becuase the tour guide was kind of awful. My own kid knocked out Columbia because the tour guide seemed really snobby. There probably were good reasons to knock out Columbia, but a sample of one kid out of how ever many thousands was probably not the best reason. Things like the weather make a huge difference -- if you go on one sunny day and all the kids are out on the quad playing frisbee and reading a book under a tree, it just seems like a great place to go.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2025 11:44     Subject: Re:Visiting colleges as a day trip
Anonymous wrote:I think your original list is pretty good.

Another couple of pairings that you could do on a long weekend this fall:

Ithaca and Cornell

SUNY New Paltz and Marist

UConn and Fairfield

The reason people asked about stats is that it kind of does matter. A classic pairing is Lehigh and Lafayette. But with acceptance rates of about 30%, it would be silly to do this trip unless your kid was likely to get in. Ithaca is not selective; Cornell is highly selective.


If going to Ithaca, maybe consider SUNY Binghamton. It is not far away. Binghamton is in a river valley. There are some opportunities for recreation there. Though it's not as scenic as Ithaca. It would be on par with WVU academically at a minimum.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2025 11:38     Subject: Visiting colleges as a day trip
Anonymous wrote:Ah yes, the college visit — America’s favorite ritual of spending three days and several thousand dollars to walk around a campus you could have seen on Google Maps.

All to find out that Colleges All Have Grass, Libraries, And Students.

Of course, the “vibe” is what really matters. Never mind faculty, financial aid, or whether the school even offers your major. The vibe! Which is of course scientifically measured by the weather that particular day, the personality of the one tour guide, and whether you had a good night’s sleep. If it’s sunny, the school feels like a paradise of opportunity. If it’s raining, clearly the students are depressed, the administration is corrupt, and the entire school spirit is in decline.


Wow! I hope your day gets better.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2025 11:23     Subject: Visiting colleges as a day trip
Not a day trip but consider Colorado State. It is beautiful.

For day trips- we visited schools are kids were not interested but to get a feel for what they liked- VCU, Richmond, Frostburg, Salisbury, Delaware, Widener, Villanova- were easy places to visit as part of other trips.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2025 11:01     Subject: Re:Visiting colleges as a day trip
I think your original list is pretty good.

Another couple of pairings that you could do on a long weekend this fall:

Ithaca and Cornell

SUNY New Paltz and Marist

UConn and Fairfield

The reason people asked about stats is that it kind of does matter. A classic pairing is Lehigh and Lafayette. But with acceptance rates of about 30%, it would be silly to do this trip unless your kid was likely to get in. Ithaca is not selective; Cornell is highly selective.
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2025 10:57     Subject: Visiting colleges as a day trip
I agree visiting a range of schools is helpful.

One thing we found useful early on was going to a college's "open house" instead of just a tour. DD had some specific interests in ECs and major that wouldn't necessarily be covered by a tour and the tours all start to sound the same. But, at an open house she could tour the facilities for the major she wanted, talk with the band director, get a sense of the range of clubs.

They are also usually on weekends so easy to fit into the schedule.

For example, here's WVU's https://www.wvu.edu/events/discover
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2025 10:46     Subject: Visiting colleges as a day trip
Back in the day, I only looked at small colleges. I liked some but not others.

I had ruled out large state schools after a summer camp at Penn State.

My DS is open minded about small colleges or large state schools. He though prefers a small college that is bigger. And by this he means more buildings. No idea how he picks one state school over another? Maybe location and distance from home?
Anonymous
Post 09/02/2025 10:39     Subject: Visiting colleges as a day trip
Ah yes, the college visit — America’s favorite ritual of spending three days and several thousand dollars to walk around a campus you could have seen on Google Maps.

All to find out that Colleges All Have Grass, Libraries, And Students.

Of course, the “vibe” is what really matters. Never mind faculty, financial aid, or whether the school even offers your major. The vibe! Which is of course scientifically measured by the weather that particular day, the personality of the one tour guide, and whether you had a good night’s sleep. If it’s sunny, the school feels like a paradise of opportunity. If it’s raining, clearly the students are depressed, the administration is corrupt, and the entire school spirit is in decline.
Anonymous
Post 09/01/2025 22:33     Subject: Re:Visiting colleges as a day trip
Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks. My sense, based on location only, is that WVU is the only school on that list that he’s likely seriously consider. I’m thinking that he’s thinking more about Vermont, upstate NY, Maine, NH and schools in WA or Oregon but we can’t do those in a day or two.


So take him to WVU only. Wtf would you waste time going to school neither of you would seriously consider? Dont waste your time.
Anonymous
Post 09/01/2025 22:32     Subject: Visiting colleges as a day trip
I have never understood the idea of taking a kid to a college you don't want him to go to. Go to the schools you think he wants to apply to.
Anonymous
Post 09/01/2025 22:25     Subject: Visiting colleges as a day trip
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would do WVU and then a small liberal arts college. That way you can rule out a big school or a small school.


I know people saY this but I truly don’t get it. I remember visiting colleges and I’d hate one small school and love another, or same with big schools. Like just because you don’t like st Mary’s you’re going to write off all small schools?

Obviously the same approach won’t work for everyone, and some truly don’t have a preference on size so they have to go school by school. But many students can determine if they prefer large schools or small schools by visiting just one or two representative schools. If someone doesn’t like WVU because it seems too football crazy or they don’t like the vibe, maybe they shouldn’t necessarily rule out other big schools. But if they don’t like it because it feels overwhelming and they hate how far they have to walk, they may realize they don’t like big schools in general.