Anonymous
Post 01/21/2025 12:02     Subject: Re:Underwhelming campus experience
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Georgetown. Trash everywhere. Graffiti. Lots of vagrants, homeless and random tourists roaming around a "campus" . This "campus" is actually just a corner of a city block, with great free parking if you want to roam M street.


We were opposite. We'd never been there, it was cold, sunny day and we all thought Georgetown was pure magic.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2025 11:46     Subject: Underwhelming campus experience
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Different strokes, I guess. I loved several of the schools (UVA, Amherst, and more) that others have been underwhelmed by.

Re: dorm tour... I have visited around 30 schools in the last few years and less than half offered dorm tours.

Better than our luck. we saw 2 dorms out of 24 schools. Kid hated Williams and Dartmouth, liked Cornell, loved Penn, Chicago, Harvard, liked William and Mary, hated BOWDOIN. who knows how one decides.


Sure sounds like your kid had a clear preference for urban schools.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2025 11:44     Subject: Underwhelming campus experience
Grinnell. Where is the college ?
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2025 10:42     Subject: Underwhelming campus experience
Anonymous wrote:I guess we’re super easy to please, probably been on 20+ tours and found things we liked at all. Mine had a harder time ruling out schools. I really enjoyed all the different tours, such an exciting stage of life.


Same here. Ruling out was the hard part.
Anonymous
Post 01/21/2025 10:10     Subject: Underwhelming campus experience
Anonymous wrote:Tell me more about Duke.
And Vanderbilt. And Northwestern.


More positives than negatives with respect to all three campuses.

I really liked Northwestern's setting on the shore of Lake Michigan and adjacent to the upscale/nice business area of Evanston.

Duke is fine, but Durham is not.

Vanderbilt is beautiful in spots, but feels like a medical center around the hospital which detracts from the overall college campus vibe sought by many. Nashville is great.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2025 16:25     Subject: Re:Underwhelming campus experience
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Haverford. Practically every student we talked to said “it’s alright. Not amazing, not bad at all.” Like they were content students, but it felt so strange having no glowing or hate reviews, just meh.


😊 This could describe an in-law I have who went to Haverford. I sort of interpret that as a positive, though: good school, fine location, smart kids, maybe just not full of Kool-Aid drinkers. The person in question also went to an exceptionally strong high school and a T14 law school. I think he quietly has high expectations, and Haverford more or less met them. Personally, I put more stock in a Haverford person's "not bad at all" take than I do in the insecure bombast I hear from students and alumni of certain schools. (I have two US News T25s in particular in mind, but I don't want to get into a pissing contest and won't name them.)


It could be that humble Quaker influence, or it could just be that the school isn't especially well maintained.

https://haverfordclerk.com/first-year-students-express-displeasure-at-living-conditions/
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2025 16:18     Subject: Underwhelming campus experience
Tell me about Wake and Davidson.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2025 16:16     Subject: Underwhelming campus experience
Tell me more about Duke.
And Vanderbilt. And Northwestern.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2025 16:05     Subject: Underwhelming campus experience
I was underwhelmed by Bryn Mawr. The tour guide couldn't stop talking about her personal activism, how Bryn Mawr wasn't inclusive enough to women of color, etc. etc.

Anonymous
Post 01/13/2025 16:04     Subject: Re:Underwhelming campus experience
Anonymous wrote:Georgetown. Trash everywhere. Graffiti. Lots of vagrants, homeless and random tourists roaming around a "campus" . This "campus" is actually just a corner of a city block, with great free parking if you want to roam M street.


But did you see any rats? You didn't get the full experience if you didn't.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2025 16:03     Subject: Re:Underwhelming campus experience
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Georgetown. Trash everywhere. Graffiti. Lots of vagrants, homeless and random tourists roaming around a "campus" . This "campus" is actually just a corner of a city block, with great free parking if you want to roam M street.

Where is the free parking at Georgetown?


From VA, turn left into the school, there is a underground parking garage. Just park there.


I don't think you can get in there if you don't have a permit
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2025 15:42     Subject: Underwhelming campus experience
Anonymous wrote:Different strokes, I guess. I loved several of the schools (UVA, Amherst, and more) that others have been underwhelmed by.

Re: dorm tour... I have visited around 30 schools in the last few years and less than half offered dorm tours.

Better than our luck. we saw 2 dorms out of 24 schools. Kid hated Williams and Dartmouth, liked Cornell, loved Penn, Chicago, Harvard, liked William and Mary, hated BOWDOIN. who knows how one decides.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2025 15:37     Subject: Re:Underwhelming campus experience
Anonymous wrote:Haverford. Practically every student we talked to said “it’s alright. Not amazing, not bad at all.” Like they were content students, but it felt so strange having no glowing or hate reviews, just meh.


😊 This could describe an in-law I have who went to Haverford. I sort of interpret that as a positive, though: good school, fine location, smart kids, maybe just not full of Kool-Aid drinkers. The person in question also went to an exceptionally strong high school and a T14 law school. I think he quietly has high expectations, and Haverford more or less met them. Personally, I put more stock in a Haverford person's "not bad at all" take than I do in the insecure bombast I hear from students and alumni of certain schools. (I have two US News T25s in particular in mind, but I don't want to get into a pissing contest and won't name them.)
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2025 12:25     Subject: Underwhelming campus experience
Different strokes, I guess. I loved several of the schools (UVA, Amherst, and more) that others have been underwhelmed by.

Re: dorm tour... I have visited around 30 schools in the last few years and less than half offered dorm tours.
Anonymous
Post 01/13/2025 12:24     Subject: Re:Underwhelming campus experience
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:"Ghetto" is very offensive and not PC.


Thanks, language police.

Duke still makes the underwhelming list for many of us.

Duke campus is nice. Surrounding area isn’t. Not a lot to do off campus. Many of the activities listed in the website that drew my kid in were defunct. Very hard to meet people as there is a huge class divide. A little better sophomore year but it was a waste of $$$. Also, how is ghetto offensive? It’s anthem used to describe a shitty neighborhood. They exist and trying to come up with a nicer way to describe it takes away from what it really is.

Can you name the defunct activities? Class barriers exist everywhere.


DP. Can you give it a rest? Are people not allowed to be underwhelmed by Duke? You don’t have to agree with them but they are allowed to have an opinion!