Boston University

My son's first choice on this trip was Boston University, located smack in the middle of downtown Boston.  Literally, like NYU, the campus buildings line the city streets.  I had to agree that the energy was amazing, the streets bustling with friendly students, all happy to share their appreciation of BU.  BU has everything:  the university buildings are beautiful; the campus is huge; there are over 250 different programs of study, with about 18,500 undergraduate, and 13,200 graduate, students.  Yet the average class size is only 27.

- Contributed by the Jordan family.  Thank you!

University of Oregon

During spring break, we toured schools in Oregon, one of which was the University of Oregon.  The campus is very large and lush, and students were everywhere.  Although there are about 22,000 students enrolled, there are a number of thins they’ve done to make it easier for students to settle in and get connected.  For example, first year students can enroll in one of 60 different “FIG” (Freshmen Interest Group) programs, which matches groups of students around a central theme of interest to them; the group of about 25 takes a number of classes together which allows them to get to know each other, as well as completing their core course work.   Also, in classes with over 100 students (some of the first year core classes), automatically include smaller study sections of no more than 25 students.   The University is research-based, and has tremendous funding.

-Contributed by the Jordan family.  Thanks!

University of Portland

My son and I were both pleasantly surprised and really impressed by The University of Portland, located in the northern part of the city of Portland.  The campus was exceptional, with lush green lawns, tons of trees, and magnificent old, brick buildings.  The staff was very friendly, and the whole campus had a very warm feel to it.  Although the U of P is a Catholic institution, only about 50% of its students are Catholic; and the emphasis appears to be more on students’ developing ethics and spirituality, rather than on any particular religious dogma.  There are about 3,700 students in attendance, which seems to me to be the perfect size – not so small that it feels like high school, but not too large to get completely lost in the shuffle.  There is a real focus on the college “community;” to encourage that, freshmen are not allowed to have cars on campus.  There are, however, numerous planned excursions to downtown Portland venues for concerts and other entertainment, and regular (free) transportation is provided to downtown.  The U of P considers itself a “teaching” institution, as opposed to a “research” institution, like the U of O.  We also learned that US News and World Reports identifies the U of P as one of the ten best colleges of the West.  The academic programs and study abroad programs seem really strong.  One thing that really distinguishes U of P is their rolling admissions policy; whenever you apply for admission, you’ll hear whether you’ve been accepted in about two weeks.

-Contributed by the Jordan family. Thank you!

Clark University

Clark University is in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles due east of Boston.  This is one of the “Colleges that Change Lives.”  I loved Clark; I had the same feel for it that I had when I visited The Marin School: warm, nurturing, different, exciting, “thinking outside the box”, with emphasis on close student/professor interactions.  Unfortunately, my son thought it was definitely too small – about 2100 undergraduate students.  He also didn’t like Worcester at all and felt like it was in the middle of nowhere.  He did agree that the campus itself was neat, with lots of energy. 

In addition to all of the great programs Clark offers, they’ve introduced a new one: students can now stay for a fifth year at Clark and earn a Master’s Degree for free.  They also have a writing center, where students can bring any paper they’ve written, and a member of the writing center will go through the entire paper and edit it. Lots of student support.

- Contributed by the Jordan family.

Wagner College and Fordham University

During ski week in February, we did a college tour in New York and Boston.

We first visited Wagner College, which is a small, private college in New York.  The school has a beautiful campus, and probably the best thing about it is its location:  Wagner is just a (free) ferry ride away from Manhattan.  Wagner also offers a free shuttle between campus and the ferry, so getting to and from downtown New York is really easy.  Wagner is small – 1900 undergrads and several hundred graduate students, and that small school feel is evident throughout.  Typical class size is 19 students; most first-year classes have about 25 students.  Wagner takes advantage of its proximity to New York City by fostering and encouraging various internships and programs that include the New York theater and art scenes.

We also visited Fordham University at Lincoln Center in New York City.  This is one of Fordham’s two campuses – the other, much larger and more traditional college campus, is located in the Bronx.  Again, the best thing about Fordham is its location in Manhattan; they tout the City as their campus.  But it was a major disappointment to find that the entire campus, including the dorms and cafeteria, is limited to a single building.  You could literally spend days without ever leaving the building.  To us, this really took away from the “college feel” and left us a bit claustrophobic.

Contributed by the Jordan family. Thank you!

California Institute of Technology

Cal Tech is fantastically hard to get into and only for the serious math and science braniacs among us.  The campus is one of the most beautiful I have seen and the dorm we saw one of the most unappealing.  Highlights and trivia include….

•    Cal Tech’s mascot is the beaver – nature’s engineer, of course.
•    The most popular course is “Cooking Basics”, heavy on chemistry and physics I presume.
•    There are 75 research centers on campus.  Virtually all students do research at one time or another.  About a third of the student body does funded research each summer.
•    There are no teaching assistants.  Students are taught directly by those Nobel Prize winners.
•    NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is owned and staffed by Cal Tech.
•    Students are required to take 3 semesters of PE.  Offerings include ping-pong, DDR and bowling.
•    Do nerds party?  Yes they do and they take it very seriously.  They trap on tool belts and build elaborate venues for themed parties.
•    My favorite T-shirt - “MIT – because not everyone can go to Cal Tech”
•    Students live in one of eight Harry Potter like “houses” for their four years – very few live off campus.

Susan

CSU Fullerton

Three former students of mine are happily attending Fullerton and I was anxious to check out the campus.  Unfortunately it was spring break so the campus was quiet.  Fullerton is located in Orange County and the campus is quite large, as you would expect to accommodate the 36,000 students.  Fullerton is a suburban community of LA.  Most students live off campus as on campus housing is very, very limited but my former students, all from Marin, didn’t have any trouble finding housing nearby. When I walked onto campus, I though I was at an upscale resort when I saw the student recreation center.  Complete with an indoor track, rock climbing wall and outdoor pool, it is located in the center of campus and reportedly is well used. Musical theatre and dance is quite strong here as are many of the business (new building) and engineering majors.  Our tour guide reported that her largest class was 250 and smallest was 25.  The university does a good job of providing ways for students to connect socially on campus through clubs, sports, outings and multiple places to congregate.  Fullerton would be a good place for an independent, assertive student who can successfully navigate through the red tape of a larger university.

Susan

Whittier College

I’ve wanted to get to Whitter for some time now and am glad I did.  Located in the LA suburb of Whittier (a lovely upscale community), the college was originally founded by Quakers in 1807.  The campus has a Spanish feel with stucco and red tile roof buildings with lots of bougainvillea in bloom.  With 1400 undergraduate students and 700 in the law school, Whittier is small enough to be a friendly place and big enough to offer some interesting programs.  Our tour guide, who was a senior, seemed to know everyone on campus, including the first year students. There is a 5 year engineering program with USC, a semester internship at the United Nations and the Whittier Scholars program for students who want to create their own major to mention a few of the unique programs.   85% of those who apply to medical school are accepted.  When I visited the library on a Thursday morning, it was full of students studying individually and in groups.  The Academic Success Center is located in the library building and is open to all; in fact our tour guide commented that everyone used it at least once. 

Susan