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March 21, 2008
Beer Bike and Beyond
This is not the business plan for a new retail chain; it is the story of my college tour with my 17 year old daughter who is now a junior in high school. We visited Rice University in Houston, Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont over the past five days. Here is what I can report:
1. Most Fun Event—The Beer Bike Day at Rice—We showed up on perhaps the most fun day of the year. Students in each of the nine Rice colleges wear their dorm colors, dab war paint on all extremities, load up trucks full of water balloons and proceed to have a free for all on a mile and a half route around campus. This is followed by a bike race around the velodrome. The sheer inanity of the watery warfare was a perfect start to our visit.
2. Most Touching Scene—4,000 small American flags in snow at Middlebury—To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the US presence in Iraq, students placed small flags in honor of the dead soldiers around the central green on campus, then read out the names of each of the deceased from the steps of the college chapel.
3. Most Nostalgic Moment—My wife, Middlebury class of ’76, realizing as we ate lunch at the Grill, that she had practiced for countless hours on the school diving team in that very facility because it had been the pool before a major renovation a decade ago.
4. Most Interesting College President story—As we toured the Carleton campus, our guide told us that the President teaches a very popular fly-fishing course in the spring. This is the stuff of urban (or in this case rural) legend. A close second was the photo of David Leebron, Rice University president, from his Harvard 76 yearbook in the Rice student newspaper, with a cut line referring to his sex appeal.
5. Moment I Would Rather Not Have Had—At one school, we visited my daughter’s friend, who then introduced us to a roommate who is in bed with her boyfriend. Talk about seeing the future before it happens!
6. Most Consistent Theme—Every school wants to have a global connection. Middlebury takes in 10% of its class from outside of the US; it also maintains 18 campuses abroad, encouraging students to take a junior year off campus. Other institutions have established links with the most prestigious universities in China, Spain etc. on the basis that students are better served by being integrated with nationals than studying only with peers from their own school.
7. A Building Boom—Every school we visited has significant construction underway. At Rice, there are two new undergraduate colleges and a recreation center, at Middlebury a new center for visual studies and arts, at Northwestern a gigantic science facility, all part of the heightened competition for the best students.
8. Different Philosophies on Greek System—Only at Northwestern did we find an important fraternity and sorority scene, with 40% of undergraduates participating in this social outlet. In fact the other schools actively discourage this.
9. Go to School, Find Your Mate—I used to joke with my wife about the high rate of Middlebury College student intermarriage. Little did I know that my comments were accurate; nearly 20% of Middlebury graduates marry each other; the same is true at Rice.
10. High Teacher to Student Ratio—When you wonder why college tuitions are so high, consider that the teacher to student ratio at each of these schools is 6:1. Professors actually teach, they don’t just lecture.
It was an impressive and informative five days. Of course, it is bittersweet for a parent, recognizing that the tour is the beginning for your child but the end of her childhood. I would appreciate your comments as always.
Posted by Edelman at March 21, 2008 10:17 AM
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Comments
I'm a graduate of Notre Dame and a strong believer in a Greek-free social system. Notre Dame doesn't even have a Greek system - instead relationships are built around dorms (which serve as quasi-houses), areas of study and clubs. I always appreciated that ND wasn't Greek, and my opinion was reaffirmed after several friends from High School joined sororities only to later regret their decision. I wish your daughter luck during this exciting time!
Posted by: Katie Wood at March 21, 2008 1:25 PM
Richard,
Your post reminded me of my tour last year with my daughter through Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, NY and half of New England (she applied to a lot of schools). Besides partially reliving my college days, it was simply great spending such quality time with her. It's a great experience. Sounds like your daughter has some great schools to choose from. Good luck.
Posted by: Mike Spataro at March 22, 2008 8:28 PM
Richard,
As they (sort of) say on talk radio, I'm a long-time reader, first-time commenter. Your blog is fabulous and I have learned a lot as a professional communications person and as a human being. I've been blogging for a while now, and recently wrote about my first "Daddy-Daughter Dance" -- another bittersweet moment. You can find that post here:
http://39andrising.wordpress.com/2008/03/01/first-daddy-daughter-dance/.
Keep up the great writing!
Posted by: Sanfot at March 26, 2008 2:43 PM
What a wonderful experience. I remember doing the same thing with my father 15 years ago.
I went to Lehigh University and it had a huge Greek system/presence. It had more to do with living with your friends than much else. I value the friendships I made and count many of my classmates as my closest friends. But I digress...once you've narrowed the field, I would advise your daughter to take a solo trip (with her parents blessing, of course.) It also may be interesting to look at alumni giving for all of her top schools...pretty telling of the experience graduates have and their fondness for the institution. Anyway, good luck!
Posted by: Mary B at March 26, 2008 4:06 PM
I've spent the last two years on college tours. My daughter Kristin now attends Florida State and my daughter Taylor has been accepted to GW and BU, among others. There's nothing more important than the college visits. No statistics or online experiences can compete with what most professors will tell any parent about picking a college. At the end of the day, the student should select the school with which they are personally most comfortable. You have to go there, and as you can attest, it's as fun for the parent as it is the student.
Posted by: Leo Bottary at March 30, 2008 9:06 AM
I am a proud UF alumna and reading this post reminds me of my excitement of the many college tours my parents took me on while I was in high school. Kudos to you for taking the time to help your daughter make an educated college decision. It was surprising to me to see so many of my peers make decisions solely based on location or prestige without ever having visited the campus, only later to completely regret their choice.
Regarding the Greek system, as a former chapter president, I'm an advocate for it but only if a person joins for the right reasons. Obviously social situations will play a part, but it also can be a great community to foster lessons in leadership, philanthropy, networking and personal growth in a safe environment (despite how the media will negate this). It's a personal choice, but one that I've never regretted.
Good luck to you and your daughter - it's such an exciting time!
Posted by: Ginny Tillman at March 31, 2008 5:35 PM
Richard this is the first time I have read your blog. What fun and how this makes you sooooo human. By the way many of my family went to Carleton and loved it.
Posted by: betsy at April 3, 2008 10:10 AM
I am currently a senior at Western Kentucky University studying Public Relations and I think it is great that you got to experience those things at those universities. I am almost jealous to know that there are colleges and universities that have a system that encourages students not to join sororities and fraternities on campus, because I feel like it is completely the opposite at my school and most other universities. We have a strong Greek family here at Western that I never became a part of, but sometimes regret, because I feel like I may have missed out on a great opportunity, but I didn't feel it was reasonable for me to spend the money on this organization. I think this is a great concept to have a dorm community that is your own organization to belong to especially for those that want to be apart of something, but don't necessarily want to join the Greek organizations. Here at WKU we are required to live in the dorms our first two years, so that would be perfect for starting your college career knowing you are already apart of a group. I wish all the luck for your daughter's school decision!
Posted by: Brooke at May 7, 2008 4:48 PM