Wednesday, July 18, 2012

College Road Trips

This past Monday, my daughter and I took a road trip to see a college she's interested in.  She's been there before and liked it.  This time we signed up for an information session and a tour. 

It's not really that far away, but I have back and foot problems, so we drove up the night before and got a hotel room.  My boys and husband were going to go with us, but instead it ended up being a girls only trip.  It's exactly what we needed. 

We gabbed the whole way, watched funny movies until late in the night, and walked all over that campus, taking breaks for my foot every now and then.  One of the other moms on the tour asked the tour guide to walk slow because she had an issue too.  How lucky is that?

My daughter is generally kind of shy, but she asked all of her questions during the tour. We had one question no one could answer.  So we walked right into the admissions office, and they gave us the answer we were hoping to hear.  And they were really nice - quite unlike the employees of the college I graduated from.  Honestly, everyone we met there seemed to be genuinely happy to be working there.  The place was perfect for her. 

I think it really helped to be able to walk into the dorms, the classrooms, and the dining halls. 

The coolest thing is this: their scholarships are based entirely on test scores and are determined on admission.  They recommend you take the SAT multiple times.  They take the highest verbal score and combine it with the highest math score to determine your scholarship.  Sweet.  My daughter is actually excited about taking the SAT now (and kind of dreaded taking it before we left) and plans on studying and re-taking it until she gets a scholarship she's happy with.

My plan was to work while we were there and much of this week, but I decided I'd rather hang out with my kids and husband.  I'll work this weekend. 

24 comments:

  1. The best question to ask on a campus tour is if they have live bulldog mascots you can pet. http://www.flickr.com/photos/butlerblue2/7598811826/

    The college I went to was like 15 miles away so I didn't need much of a road trip to get there.

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    1. We will definitely make that a priority. :)

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  2. Hope her enthusiasm continues once she begins to study!

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  3. Sounds like a lovely road trip:) My daughter and I did the same thing (she graduated in 2007). A word of advice - have her take the orientation and pay special attention to safety tips...

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  4. Choosing a college can be such a stressful thing, I'm glad you both had fun! And there's an EXCELLENT SAT study guide that helped me with the math a ton, it's called Hacking the SATs. Really, I think that book boosted my score at least a hundred points. And it's fun, and useful. :)

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    1. Thanks. 100 points = thousands of dollars on their scholarship grid.

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  5. It's great that you two had so much fun on your trip!

    My daughter is going to be a sophomore in the fall. I suppose our college road trips will be starting soon enough ...

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    1. We are going to see a local college on Friday - I suspect it won't be as much fun and will be 100x more stressful. We're supposed to be there at 8:30 in the morning - and they didn't provide parking. Awesome. I can't wait to parallel park my oversized minivan on the street.

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  6. That's a great system the college has! I wish I'd discovered that college as a teen.

    Your trip sounds wonderful! I'm glad you got that bonding time. I hope she's happy there (if it is her final decision).

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  7. Girls gotta have their getaways too! Glad she's psyched to take the SAT's. I was just talking to my son about taking them multiple times too. Haven't looked at colleges yet, but it isn't too far off.

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  8. That sounds like a great time. I'm glad you got to spend this quality time with her and that she's excited. That's how it's supposed to be.

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  9. That's really good that they take the highest individual scores and not the overall. A LOT of schools don't do it that way! I hope it works out for her! :)

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    1. I think it's a good sign they give you the benefit of the doubt.

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  10. Sounds like it was a good thing that your hubby and sons didn't go. Those mother-daughter times are precious.

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  11. Glad you had a good trip-- all the best to yur daughter for her SAT and college admissions.

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  12. Sounds like a wonderful trip, Tonja. Glad she found a college that suits her.

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  13. Work schmoork. Have fun with the fam! I love road trips. And glad to hear the college thing worked out.

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  14. The road trip sounds like it was successful one. And yes, there is no substitute for hanging out with the family :)

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  15. Wow, things sure have changed since I went to college. Ha,ha,ha - that would have been in the dark ages. Glad you both had such a good experience. This can be a really stressful time.

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  16. I had such wonderful fun with my daughter last summer when we went on multiple college visits. Enjoy it.

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