My son and I have one more stop this week on his last college tour of schools before he starts applying to his favorites. We arrived in chilly Appleton, WI, tonight and we’re looking forward to touring Lawrence University tomorrow.
Ben is one of three million high school seniors who are contemplating their college choices during this admission season. Coincidentally, I ran across an interesting newspaper article on college tours today when we were at Lake Forest College. (It’s hard to imagine a more beautiful community than Lake Forest, IL, and as I drove through the town I wondered what do the owners of these pristine estates do for a living!)
Anyway, Leo Higdon, the president of Connecticut College and a former dean at the University of Virginia, wrote the article that I read that is relevant to anyone who is taking a college tour this year. Before you tour a college, I’d urge you to read it.
As for my experience visiting liberal arts colleges, I’ve felt pretty inadequate as my son has chatted with physics professors (the major he is most interested in). I haven’t understood what they were talking about, but I did nod my head a lot. It’s reminded me of why I fulfilled my science requirements at the University of Missouri (biology I and biology II) and then hastily retreated to the kind of courses (journalism, history and English) that I had a fighting chance of getting decent grades.
Is it just me or do any other parents which they could go back to college?
Lynn O’Shaughnessy is the author of The College Solution and the college blogger for CBSMoneyWatch.com.