Alice Wilder
Opinion Editor
A few days ago, I returned home from my grand tour. After getting home, I know what college I want to attend and I think I’m more than ready for those four years.
JUST KIDDING
Here is a description of my college tour experience, it’s part descent into insanity and part screenplay with a tiny tiny bit of advice.
Stage one: This is so exciting! I’m going to the big city, I’m gonna make it in Hollywood ect! I’m going to attend one of these schools, maybe! I’m going on a tour of my FUTURE! WOAH!
Stage two, after looking at schedule: I’m getting home at noon on Sunday and have to go to school the next day. I have no spring break, oh my god, what have I gotten myself into.
Colleges one and two, Hampshire and Emerson: I get to spend the night with two good friends and see what it’s really like to be in college! Plus both of these school are unique and promising! JUST LIKE ME.
Colleges three and four: Tufts. A bunch of kids try and impress the admissions officer during the info session by talking about their research projects on the effects of globalization on African tribes. Oh my god. You’re fifteen. Stop. Then, Boston University. By this time, I’m absolutely dead, already, with three schools to go. But SUPRISE! My lovely friend Morgan and her mother and sister were in my info session/tour for BU. WHAT?! That gave the day a nice jolt of energy. BU is lovely, I really like that school, things are looking up, but I still want sleep and an internet connection more than anything.
Cut to: plane ride to Chicago. We ride the L and while walking into the elevator, find it covered in pee. WELCOME TO CHICAGO!
Colleges five and six: University of Chicago was huge and gorgeous. I mean out of this world insanely gorgeous. It is definitely the most college-y of all the colleges that I visited. We had a great tour guide and I got a good energy from the campus. Sorry, it’s much easier to write about terrible college visit experiences but it was lovely. Then, DePaul. DePaul is in a really beautiful part of Chicago, so I had high hopes, but it ended up being pretty lame on all accounts. Our tour guide was super awkward and effusive to the point where I went home and outlined a sketch based on her. Everything was “SO DELISH and THE BEST COFFEE/PIZZA/MUFFINS” but there was very little energy on campus. It seemed like most of the students just went home on the weekends, which isn’t an environment I’m interested in. ADVICE ALERT: If you know early on that you’re not interested in a school just leave the tour. Seriously. They’re usually an hour or longer, and it’s not worth walking for that long if you know you’re never going to go back. It might be a little rude, but just excuse yourself and leave, I wish I had.
Cut to: Second City. I already wrote a long post on another blog about this experience but woah. If you ever visit Chicago you need to go to the Second City. But only if you want to see the future of comedy, so it’s up to you.
College number seven: Northwestern. The campus was beautiful, I’ve heard good things about the school, Seth Meyers went here, there were people dancing to Backstreet Boys in the quad...I was immediately sold. It didn’t hurt that I was completely done with visiting schools and pretty much walked on campus and thought “okay, I’ll apply” and then walked to the dining hall to eat lunch.
So that’s it ya’ll, my college tour experience. Here is what I learned above all: college touring has done wonders for my academic focus so far. I came back from break thoroughly terrified and intimidated by the standards of the colleges that I visited. Basically, I came home wanting to get my shit together and get in to one of these schools. Also, wear comfortable shoes.
