Like any self-respecting parent of a junior in Montgomery County, MD, I took my daughter for her obligatory college visit down south during spring break last week.
We learned all about state-of-the art fitness centers with four story climbing walls, 24-hour Chipotle, Insomnia cookies, thousands of clubs to join, parties, celebrations, stampedes, football games, traditions. I hear they even hold classes at some of these places!
My choice was very easy. In-state, you pick. My choice was Towson or UMD. I picked Towson because I didn’t want to be like everyone else. Then, I spent many weekends driving to, you guessed it, UMD.
Now there are SOOO many choices and each one is better than the next. After visiting three campuses, it’s even more confusing. Big, small, city, rural, in-state, out-of-state, football school, expensive, more expensive. I’m exhausted already!!
If you’re planning your own trip, here are a few things I learned along the way:
- Don’t try to drive over 1200 miles in three days unless you want to have a full emotional breakdown in your final hours.
- Ask everyone around the campus what they think of the place. Your kid will LOVE that! Also, ask for directions.
- Tour guides kind of grate on my nerves.
- Two words: Car snacks.
- It’s fucking hot in the south.
- Eating fried pickles can cause some problems when driving 1200 miles.
- Kids look just like their parents. It’s like the matching game.
- Taking your kid over state lines automatically makes them fun but beware coming back to your home state. The spell is broken immediately.
- I’m really going to miss my girl when she goes.
I told my kid there’s a college for everyone. Or ten. Find one aspect that’s extremely important and use it as a final decision. Like school colors or the dance moves of the mascot.
Go WHOEVER!
1 comment… add one
Mary Goodenough May 19, 2015, 9:03 pm
thank you for sharing your college tour experience. I did the same thing with my HS Junior this past April so I can totally relate to your story.