My kid didn't like Williams bec/ it was raining when we were there.

Anonymous wrote:My older kid dismissed most schools for random reasons.

A few I remember:
Providence College: I can't be a Friar for life
Boston College: The T is too slow out here.
Haverford: the grass is too tall
Anything in the DC area: too close to home (like we want to visit them!!!!!!)
"Not enough trees": this was a bunch of schools, apparently my kid had a "tree quota".

This cracks me up because my kid's impression of Haverford was that all they talked about were the trees. In the car as we were leaving he asked me "Do we think that's like a THING here, that it's like a point of pride for everyone who goes here that there are all these old trees? Because I don't see myself caring about trees that much."

Other highlights include:

Johns Hopkins: If they are that obsessed with how much financial aid they give out, maybe they should see that as a sign that they charge too much
JMU: Wait, the highway runs right through the campus?
Mary Washington: So. Much. Brick. But the beverage selection in the dining hall weirdly impressed him.

These are all very funny. It makes me feel a bit better, because we were recently in Pittsburgh and my 16 yo DS declared it “too flat” for him to consider for college.

These impressions come from my two DCs and myself over many years (OP asked for fun takes):

UVA - very pretty and charming, but AO's presentation was offputting and student guide kept talking about how he had really wanted to go to an Ivy

VTech - Gothic prison run by turkeys

W&M - retirement home run by colonial-era cosplayers

Villanova - very small (I know it's not), very Catholic, very safe

Georgetown - compressed feel; younger child said it looked like a larger version of Gonzaga College High School

UNC - more accessible version of UVA (town and university better integrated)

Duke - very high-end shopping mall

Stanford - even higher-end shopping mall

Berkeley - students and homeless reeking of pot

Pitt - area near Tower of Learning is very nice, surprisingly international; area near hospital looked more run down

Michigan - 1950s era architecture surrounding faux-Ivy (law school) and ultra-modern (business school)

Harvard - confused about who is from the university and who is a tourist

Amherst - mini-Harvard, but with a beautiful hill/cliff overlooking the athletic fields

Dartmouth - upscaled prep school in the middle of nowhere

Williams - mini-Dartmouth

Yale - beautiful campus surrounded by meh

Wesleyan - mini-Yale

Cornell - peaks and valleys everywhere

Brown - should have been named Beige

Penn - criticisms of location and environment overblown, actually pretty nice

Columbia - Ghostbusters!

NYU - who actually attends classes here?

Johns Hopkins (medical school) - felt like the Matt Damon movie Elysium brought to life

BU - Fenway Park

Brown -- love the adirondack chairs

My kid went to Brown and I have no idea what this is about.

Anonymous wrote:Brandeis -- loved the tour guide. Not a pretty campus. Some buildings seem to be falling apart.

BC -- these kids (on tour) are just biding time until they can get to Lululemon for some serious shopping. Panel was the WORST (student rep talked about cutting class and failing b/c it was too early). But the Wizard of Oz hall is way cool

Harvard -- loved it

Yale -- a bit austere, like the idea of colleges

Brown -- love the adirondack chairs

Middlebury -- beautiful but far out. Is there no ice cream shop in town? (it was summer)

Dartmouth -- loved it. Guy in the booth was so friendly.

Williams -- serene. Great thai food!

Vassar -- loved it. So beautiful (ignored the grotty town)

Muehlenberg - so welcoming! Friendly and knowledgeable tour guide. Great student reps.

Agree re Dartmouth booth guy. Was he the retired Sidwell grad from DC?

Anonymous wrote:Brandeis -- loved the tour guide. Not a pretty campus. Some buildings seem to be falling apart.

BC -- these kids (on tour) are just biding time until they can get to Lululemon for some serious shopping. Panel was the WORST (student rep talked about cutting class and failing b/c it was too early). But the Wizard of Oz hall is way cool

Harvard -- loved it

Yale -- a bit austere, like the idea of colleges

Brown -- love the adirondack chairs

Middlebury -- beautiful but far out. Is there no ice cream shop in town? (it was summer)

Dartmouth -- loved it. Guy in the booth was so friendly.

Williams -- serene. Great thai food!

Vassar -- loved it. So beautiful (ignored the grotty town)

Muehlenberg - so welcoming! Friendly and knowledgeable tour guide. Great student reps.

My kid dismissed Middlebury as "too Christmas-y" thought it looked like the set of a Christmas movie. It was likely beyond our budget so I didn't push but inside I was screaming 'this is my all-time vision of the most idyllic college and I've raised my kid to have no taste.'
We both liked the co-operative farm though so I guess DC isn't entirely without taste.

These are funny.

My favorite from DS:

CNU: "Has a Woodbury vibe" - Walking Dead obscure reference that made me laugh because I thought it looked like a Marriott Convention Center.

I had a friend who's DS spotted someone in a tri-cornered hat at W&M and would not even get out of the car for a tour.

Brandeis -- loved the tour guide. Not a pretty campus. Some buildings seem to be falling apart.

BC -- these kids (on tour) are just biding time until they can get to Lululemon for some serious shopping. Panel was the WORST (student rep talked about cutting class and failing b/c it was too early). But the Wizard of Oz hall is way cool

Harvard -- loved it

Yale -- a bit austere, like the idea of colleges

Brown -- love the adirondack chairs

Middlebury -- beautiful but far out. Is there no ice cream shop in town? (it was summer)

Dartmouth -- loved it. Guy in the booth was so friendly.

Williams -- serene. Great thai food!

Vassar -- loved it. So beautiful (ignored the grotty town)

Muehlenberg - so welcoming! Friendly and knowledgeable tour guide. Great student reps.

Anonymous wrote:My older kid dismissed most schools for random reasons.

A few I remember:
Providence College: I can't be a Friar for life
Boston College: The T is too slow out here.
Haverford: the grass is too tall
Anything in the DC area: too close to home (like we want to visit them!!!!!!)
"Not enough trees": this was a bunch of schools, apparently my kid had a "tree quota".

Tree quota 😂😂😂

My thoughts when visiting with DS --

Chicago: beautiful campus with amazing and varied architecture; tour guide was funny and charming . . . and very adept at moving us to the sunny side of the street so we could get out of the freezing cold (note that we were visiting during spring break)

Dartmouth: squirrel drinking out of a beer can . . . seriously .... that's pretty much all I remember

Michigan: tremendous energy and diversity . . . how come I never visited this place when I was applying to school?

Lehigh: tour guide was smart, unassuming and genuinely excited about his classes; this could be a great school, but the trustees need to find a way to abandon this hell-hole location and move the whole place somewhere -- almost anywhere -- else

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC quotes on visit a week ago:

Rutgers - “New Jersey is weird” (Yup but you don’t have to pump your own gas!)

Temple - “Edgy and kinda cool. Not sure if I want my next four years confined to five city blocks…” (Actually was way more impressive than expected.)

UMBC - “Where is everyone? School is in-person, right? Is this one big circle all there is? Where is there a coffee shop I can walk to?” (Answer to that last Q is none.)

UMD - “College Park isn’t that great. But it doesn’t matter I probs won’t get in anyway.” (Truth)

Yikes. Please tell me your DC is looking at schools besides these!

Yeeeesh! Just when I thought I found a fun thread where no one was gonna be mean...

I know, right? DCUM-ers gotta DCUM

My older kid dismissed most schools for random reasons.

A few I remember:
Providence College: I can't be a Friar for life
Boston College: The T is too slow out here.
Haverford: the grass is too tall
Anything in the DC area: too close to home (like we want to visit them!!!!!!)
"Not enough trees": this was a bunch of schools, apparently my kid had a "tree quota".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC quotes on visit a week ago:

Rutgers - “New Jersey is weird” (Yup but you don’t have to pump your own gas!)

Temple - “Edgy and kinda cool. Not sure if I want my next four years confined to five city blocks…” (Actually was way more impressive than expected.)

UMBC - “Where is everyone? School is in-person, right? Is this one big circle all there is? Where is there a coffee shop I can walk to?” (Answer to that last Q is none.)

UMD - “College Park isn’t that great. But it doesn’t matter I probs won’t get in anyway.” (Truth)

Yikes. Please tell me your DC is looking at schools besides these!

Yeeeesh! Just when I thought I found a fun thread where no one was gonna be mean...

NP I read that as hoping the kid finds a school he likes then.

OK I feel a little better. Guess I am too sensitive.
The "too many beanies" at UVM was great. And that is our next stop.

Every college we toured: "We have over 200 clubs! There's a club for everyone! We even have a CHEESE CLUB!"