Death by College Tour - Notes and Observations

Over the 4-day weekend I traveled to New England with my dad to look at colleges. Here are some things I learned on my first college trip. 

Tufts

Don’t be “that guy”

Don’t be the annoying know-it-all kid who is way too excited and way too try-hard. 

Don’t sit in the front row of the info session unless there are no extra seats. 

Don’t wear a really nice leather jacket that pisses me off. 

Don’t have a Mom who makes it a point to let everyone in the room know that she is an alum of the school. 

Don’t answer questions about the school that the tour guide doesn’t even know the answer to. 

Don’t inquire about a random club to show off that you have legit extracurriculars. 

And lastly, don’t be really funny-looking and have eyes that are spread so far apart that you look like a fish. 

Checkin' out a BC football practice.

Info Session and College Tour Clichés

When talking about financial aid, “We are completely need blind.” 

We are a “diverse” community. 

“We want to see you do well in the most challenging courses at your school.” 

“We send about 50% of our students abroad during their junior year.” 

“Our library has over a million volumes, if that means anything to you.”

If the college is out in the middle of nowhere, (Amherst, Williams, Middlebury) “There’s actually a lot to do in the town, I’ve never been bored here.”

Brown

Lack of Dimes at Ivy/NESCAC Schools

I’m not implying anything here but it’s just an observation I made. The small, schools I visited just did not have the abundance of attractive girls that bigger schools have. Even David Lee confirmed this about Williams, saying that there is just a smaller concentration of dimes at his school. On that topic, the girls at Boston College were off the charts. I’m sure Tim Hoag is having fun there. 

Amherst

Is Any Tour Guide Just a Regular Guy?

Hi, my name is William and I’m a psychology and economics double major, I’m part of the academic initiative here, sing in an a cappella group and write for the school newspaper

Hi, my name is Susie and I am a senior here. I’m on the varsity lacrosse team, work on organizing the trips that freshman go on in the fall and spring and am a Resident Advisor in my dorm. 

Hi, my name is John and I am a senior here. I  am currently writing my thesis on agricultural patterns in the Amazon using satellite data and have a minor in geography. I started a community service program, play club rugby and am also a DJ here on campus. 

I know that schools want to give off the best possible image by having its top students give tours, but it can be intimidating. I’m sure the parents love it, but most students are not these tour guides. I would rather just get a tour with an average student who isn’t involved in five different things on campus. 

Dartmouth

Info Sessions Suck

Every school has it set up the same way. You go to an hour long information session where an admissions officer talks up the school and then you go on a tour around campus. Each info sesh says the same thing: quality of its academics, accessibility of the professors, the opportunities to travel abroad, the “feel” of the school, financial aid program, alumni network, career center, how you can either submit the SAT w/ two SAT 2s or the ACT with writing and on and on. Not to mention the room is really warm and the seat is cozy and you’re sitting in the back so no one would see you fall asleep...

Dunkin’ Donuts Galore!

If you visit schools on the east coast, you will pass by scores of Dunkin’ Donuts. For some reason they’re way bigger on the east coast than on the west coast. Even if you normally scorn fast food places, you have make a stop for Dunkin’ Ds. Apparently it has the best coffee. Besides, where else would you find a teenage girl with a huge stain on her shirt working the counter, a guy behind you singing along to the old song on the radio, a bunch of fat people, more pick-up trucks than sedans outside and a portable french fry car next door?