changing impressions

I just returned from the east coast college tour, and it really changed my initial impressions about some of the colleges we saw. I also discovered what really appeals to ME in a college, not something influenced by what I had heard was good, or what some of my friends looked for. I was very surprised to learn that my "requirements" for a college weren't what I had initially thought.
Prior to this trip, I had my stereotypes about each school, as I'm sure almost everybody has experienced... "All the Ivy's are amazing, and I should devote my high school career to build my transcript and extra-curriculars so I could go to an Ivy. Ivy, Ivy, Ivy, blah..." Sound familiar? Or how about this one: "Rural colleges suck, there's nothing to do. Urban is the way to go." I have been surrounded by these two stereotypes in particular, and after this trip, I now can say that I totally disagree with these statements. I went to 28 east coast colleges, ranging from the prestigeous Ivys to those super small, relatively unknown, liberal art colleges, and found out how opinions are really just... opinions.
Well, first, to tackle to most common misconception, I'll start off by saying that all the Ivy's are NOT amazing. Sure, it'd be absolutely fantabulous to get in an Ivy, but I wasn't exactly impressed with all of them. I found out that my favorite college was Boston College. Not an Ivy at all. Don't get my wrong, I liked a lot of them, but they weren't my favorites. Boston College had a superb campus, friendly people, excellent location, strong academics and athletics, and well, it's not in the real "reach" category that the Ivys are.
The only Ivy I was particularly fond of was UPenn, which is funny because I had initially liked it anyway, and then I was put down by my family because they were concerned about my safety, and well, Philly probably isn't the safest place at night, yes? But when I went there, I loved the campus, the curriculum, the people, the city, and obviously, the school had lots of security and saftey measures like the blue emergency light box to protect the students. And now to break the news about the Ivys I didn't exactly care for. I'll wait for the shock to subside... Harvard didn't really impress me. I couldn't see myself going there. And of course, I felt really bad for all the hobos outside on the Cambridge sidewalks. Yale, Princeton, Darthmouth? I liked them more than Harvard, but they weren't my top picks. Columbia? Twas OKAY... I wouldn't mind it I guess. Georgetown... I have a story about Georgetown, but I'll save that for my next blog. Yes, I'm sorry to say, that I am not super excited about the Ivys. I will not gush about the exquisite campuses and tell stories about how I loved them and how I really want to go to one so now I have to join x# more clubs and boost my GPA .x etc etc etc. But then again, it's just MY opinion.
So, prior to this trip, I had sort of ruled out going to rural colleges just because I thought I wanted the hustle and bustle of the exciting city life. However, I have discovered that I really don't like urban urban colleges like NYU or Boston University. NYU was okay, but because it is in New York, I saw myself getting lost in the crowds. But, I'll admit, I wouldn't ever get bored. As we were touring these campuses, I found that I was missing the whole quad thing, or "QUADRANGLE" as we found out the full name for it. BU? It was miles of sidewalk with the campus buildings on the side. Not my idea of a college, probably because I love Punahou's atmosphere. This whole swing of opinion really surprised me because I was practically sure that I wanted to be as far away from what is deemed a "rural" or "college town" campus. When we were driving to Dartmouth, all I saw were trees, snow, and quaint little houses and I thought to myself, "Oh man, where are the buildings? Malls? Movie theaters? WHAT IS THERE TO DO HERE?". But I actually liked Dartmouth a whole lot more than Harvard. Since it is smaller, the students include everybody in their parties, and there is a plethora of clubs and student groups so noone would find themselves stuck in their room on a Saturday night. It was peaceful and I felt like I'd actually have a place there; I wouldn't get lost in the masses and fast-paced city life. Don't get me wrong, Johns Hopkins was my second favorite following BC, and that's in Baltimore, but it did have a real campus, and it made me feel like I wasn't about to get run over by a stampede of people or meet hobos while walking to class.
I also learned that a "name" is nothing. Like brand name clothing, you can probably find something almost exactly the same for half the cost from an unknown brand. Many people probably never heard of Amherst College, like me, or Wesleyan (we learned that Mr. Dyke is an alumn) but I actually really enjoyed them. Tufts? Tufts had always been one of the colleges I was more interested in, but do most people know about it? Probably not. These colleges had what I was looking for, and this also led me to find that I might actually like small, liberal arts colleges better. The community is closer and you'll frequently interact with professors, which is what I wanted... but yeah, sure, it would give me personal satisfaction to attend some prestigious college that will leave people in awe when I tell them that I am indeed a student of said college. However, it's really not as cool as everyone makes it out to be.
The most important thing I've learned from this whole trip is to find out what you want in a college. Though I heard it all before in College guide, and my college conference, it didn't really hit me until now, when I actually experienced it firsthand. After all, it is your own college experience, not your friend who couldn't stop praising Yale, or your parents who tell you that Johns Hopkins is in a semi-ghetto. Cliche as it is, I found out a lot about myself. woohoo!