The College Trip is Over...

I’m sure you all missed me sooo much (definitely just kidding). But I’m back and I actually had a really good time. We traveled to three different states and saw five colleges. From a first hand experience, here’s what I have to say (in case you care)

Washington College This was the first stop on my “whirl wind” tour and I have to say, I was not very impressed. Maybe because it was my first college visit ever but I was a little nervous when I got there. I was expecting to go on the tour first but I was quickly shuffled into an office for a private interview! I had no idea what I was suppose to be asking so I guess I didn’t ask enough because after a while of talking to the admissions adviser I ran out of things to say. He then made me feel horrible by basically teasing me that I didn’t have very many things to ask so I whipped out some question about the food program at the school and he thought I was entranced by food! I felt like saying “listen buddy this is the first time I’ve done this so just give me a little bit of slack.” but I sucked it up and it was soon over. Then we went on the tour of the campus. The campus is quite pretty, with lots of historical buildings and green fields and trees. The only real argument I have with the place is the town is so tiny there’s absolutely nothing to do outside of campus. The dorms were interesting with housing more like apartments then real dorming. All the rooms had AC so that’d be a nice thing. There was basically no Greek life on the place with only 20% of the student body involved in any form of Greek. I’m not sure if I want to be in a sorority or not. The theatre was great and they have over 15 shows a year so I’d always be able to get involved! But all-in-all I don’t think Washington is right for me.

Albright Next we moved onto Albright in Reading, PA. Supposedly the town is really bad news with a nasty crime rate. But the campus is in one of the suburbs and it’s very nice there. I generally liked Albright, it reminded me a lot of the College in my hometown, one that I’ve stayed in many times and would be use to. The tour guide there wasn’t as good and he didn’t seem to know much other then the stuff he was suppose to be showing us. When he asked me what I wanted to major in (I responded with Anthropology) he replied with “I always forget those, which one is that? Plants or animals?” But the college was nice and it definitely is my safety school (I could get into Albright without even trying). I think the interview was what made me decide I liked Albright. The lady was so nice and she represented the faculty to me and that made me excited to attend classes there.

Gettysburg I LOVED GETTYSBURG!!! To avoid all the gushing I could do about how beautiful the campus is, how great the people are, how amazing the theatre was, how yummy the food was, and how cute the interviewer was I’ll just leave it at that… They claim Greek life is a huge thing at Gettysburg but only 40% of the students are involved and the tour guy wasn’t even in a fraternity. I’m definitely going back to Gettysburg.

Ithaca I can’t make my mind up about this place. I liked everything about the campus, location, classes, the fact that there’s no Greek life, the downtown environment, food, dorms, even the fact that Cornell is right across the hill and my boyfriend might be going there (best arrangement if you ask me, it’s not long distance but it’s still a different school). It’s just the people there seem super stuck-up. I’ve just been disenchanted by the social life. I know I’ve only seen a handful of students there so I think I’ll have to go back to see what it’s like when all the kids are there.

The University at Buffalo I know what you’re thinking. She’s looking at teeny-tiny schools then all of a sudden she jumps to UB!?! ok, so maybe that’s not what you’re thinking but hear me out… Washington has 1,200 kids; Albright 1,600; Gettysburg has 2,500; and Ithaca had 6,500. Notice the pattern? This is my smorgas board of schools. I have no idea what I’m looking for right now (other then it’s out of state) so I’m “tasting” a little bit of everything. UB was wonderful. The campus was clean, attractive, and easy to comprehend. I didn’t really feel like I was in a huge campus. The only thing I didn’t really like was the dorms. There were complex procedures of checking in, unlocking doors, talking to guys in intercoms and other things that would make me feel like I was still at home needing to check in with Mommy. That’s not what I really want from my college experience. The rooms themselves were nice though, they were carpeted and that kinda weirded me out (what exactly happened on those carpets before? Ewww,) but other then that I was pleasantly surprised.

But here’s my rating:
1. Gettysburg
2. Albright
3. Ithaca
4. UB
5. Washington

Well I’m sure I’ve bored you all. Wow, have I written a lot. I’m glad to be back home.