2 College Visits in 2 Weekends!
Evan and I have visited 2 colleges these past 2 Fridays in a row. With Ian being so resistant to going to any college and Alec ONLY wanting to look at culinary colleges (the whole 2 we found) this is the first time we've really had to put a lot of effort into finding just the right fit for a college for one of our boys.
Since Evan hopes to study psychology his field of study does not narrow down our choices much. I did limit him to staying within New England/New York (basically within a day's drive) to make it a bit easier on all of us and since in his words he's "only ever had a classroom of 1-3 students, a small school would be best." I am LOVING all the tours so much. Each school is brimming with their own possibilities.
Friday August we checked out Bryant University and were surprised by how much we both liked it. It's nice and small and all the staff we met were so nice! They had tons of construction going on and seem to constantly update everything-- even the freshman dorms were just redone in the past year or two with new bathrooms and central air added. So many colleges in New England do not have air conditioning in their dorms. It never really was an issue when I was in college as our falls and springs were much cooler then (or maybe we were just more used to being hot as hardly anyone had air conditioning?).
The photos loaded in reverse but whatever. They had this huge tent set up for our lunches since their cafeteria is undergoing a HUGE renovation this summer (the photos of what it should look like upon completion are amazing). We enjoyed some New England frozen lemonade-- it's a real Rhode Island "thing" that we don't have in Connecticut.
This giant new building was just donated to the school and all the new classrooms and learning spaces are state of the art.
Another one of their classroom buildings has this neat domed meeting space in the center since all classes have a 20 minute break in between.
Bryant was originally in Providence and when they moved they brought this famous/original gate with them to their new campus.
They have this beautiful fountain right in the center of their campus.
I don't remember what this building was... but we really liked the campus a lot.
This past Friday we headed out to Dean College. Sadly, I don't think Dean is going to make the cut. It wasn't a true open house so there were only about a dozen of us (parents and students included) and there wasn't any opportunity to talk with any professors or get a feel for what the psychology program was like.
I'm realizing that, so far, all of Evan's favorites are open houses where he really connected with the professors from "his" department. Their passion sparking his even more so I think that was hard for him that we mostly just sat and listened and then took a quick walking tour of the campus.
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| the dorm we got to see |
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| their quad was beautiful! |
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| this tiny room holds all their trophies now but was the original dining hall back when they first opened. It used to have a divider in the middle with girls on one side and guys on the other; they were allowed to meet and mingle in the middle for only 30 minutes after dining. |
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| one of their main classroom buildings |
We've talked about possibly touring one more college in September (another small/local one) but we'll see. Right now he has 2 he really likes a lot and a third he likes enough to apply to as well but I do enjoy these college tours. I wish more colleges offered shadow days; Alec did that at JWU and it really helped him get a better feel for the program and helped him really see himself on campus.
Linking up with:
I'm glad you are loving this experience! My kids got to sit in on classes and they loved that. I would say when you get it narrowed down to go back on a normal day when kids are bustling about campus. I'm assuming since it's New England that they haven't started classes yet. Also, we found that the small liberal arts colleges were way more generous with scholarships because of their alumni endowments. Mine went to private college for less than state school.
ReplyDeleteWe've been to all the colleges when they are open and have kids bustling around campus; granted these two didn't have the FULL roster of kids but at least 1/2 of the sports teams were already on campus and in fact several students were moving in on the day we were at Dean. None of my kids even looked at state schools- because I found the same thing when I went to college. Sure private school cost more but they typically give more too.
DeleteThose campuses are pretty! When we did college tours, it was during the school year and students led the tours after hearing staff give general information. It was nice to have students doing the tours since they are in the "thick" of college and can answer student specific questions and not just hear how great the school is from a paid administrator (though I'm sure the student tour guides are "encouraged" to be very positive about what they say about the school).
ReplyDeleteAll of the tours have been led by students at all the colleges we've been to too; it's nice to hear their perspective. Most of the colleges have had a student panel too where we can sit and ask questions.
DeleteSo exciting! Hope you enjoyed. Bryant looks beautiful! I have heard such great things about that school too- can't wait to see what he decides
ReplyDeleteAs of right now Bryant and Clark are pretty much tied and he's said he'll most likely go to whichever gives him the better financial aid packet but I want to take him to Nichol's college too. They have an open house in October so we'll see if they make the cut.
DeleteGood luck to Evan. It sounds like such a big decision choosing a college as they all look amazing to me! What an exciting time.
ReplyDeleteThank you! It is an exciting time. While it definitely is a big decision I do keep reminding him that no decision is final and he can absolutely change his mind-- he just has to give it a full semester once we pay.
DeleteI enjoyed the college tours back when we were on the hunt. Good luck making a decision. It's good to take one off the list if you know it's not for you. Sounds like he has some choices that will be a good fit.
ReplyDeleteThank you! He's been very picky which I actually like and why I keep telling my husband it's so important to visit in person.
DeleteBryant is beautiful and it is all a wonderful experiences which the kids will cherish forever. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteBeautiful photos of the campus and interesting info too. It reminds me of my college tours a 100 years ago! #MMBC
ReplyDeleteRight?! Funny enough he's toured a few of the same colleges I did (I even stayed overnight at Bryant) and yet I hardly recognize them at all. They've changed so much.
DeleteWe've done a few college tours and I found a lot of the schools offer similar things. But we didn't look at any very small schools, so things are probably different at those!
ReplyDeleteThey definitely do all seem to have many similar programs and clubs and organizations... but we haven't visited any large schools! Even both of the schools Alec looked at only had about 3,000-4,00 students. The schools Evan's looking at typically have under 2,000.
DeleteThank you for sharing your experience! It's so interesting to hear about your process of visiting colleges with Evan. It really highlights how different each tour can be and how important it is to find the right fit, especially when a student wants to connect with the faculty. I hope the next visit is a positive one!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteHow exciting! The first campus looks especially nice. My son didn't take me with when he made his choice, but he seems happy where he is anyway! I could do with some frozen lemonade today :)
ReplyDeleteIt's more like I've taken HIM on tours; I'm not sure what he would have done about college if I hadn't pushed him to go with me on all these tours. But here in the US most high schools have guidance counselors that work with students to find colleges they might be interested in and so I'm basically acting as guidance counselor as well.
DeleteWow, where does the time go? These next few years are really going to be busy!
ReplyDeleteI'd like Ella to go to a smaller college too, for a variety of reasons. It sounds like you have some great ones out there to choose from. We'll be doing college visits soon—she’ll start at a local community college for her first year before going away.
ReplyDeleteI love a college visit and that first one was so pretty! I like the idea of a day's drive. My youngest is 9 hours away, but I can still get there in a days drive. This is exciting!
ReplyDeleteI loved our college visits period. We toured Post University in Waterbury, Connecticut and it was a really nice campus and a great horse program which was one of Sophia's priorities. I'm way behind on my reading, why is Ian resistant on going to college? Is it that he doesn't want to tour, or he just doesn't want to go to college? Is he looking for more of a vocational school?
ReplyDeleteI admit it sounds like fun - the tours and all the excitement - but, at the same time, rather stressful. Such a major decision. Here's to finding just the right fit!!
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