This February break I went college
touring with my mom! We flew to Montreal, wandered the city Sunday,
saw McGill University Monday, flew to Detroit, rented a car, drove to
Ann Arbor, spent the night, toured U-Michigan the next day, drove to
Madison, Wisconsin, stayed two nights with a campus tour in between,
visited lots of relatives on the long drive from Madison to
Minnesota, stayed with cousins and aunt and uncle, toured U of M,
chilled with a camp friend, and flew home. Whew. (That was
intentionally a run-on sentence to convey the amount of relaxation
found in this vacation.)
McGill/Montreal:
(View from our hotel window)
Montreal is gorgeous. I want to live
there so badly. The St. Laurence was frozen over and you could go
ice skating on it, or watch the big boats and dream of romantic
adventure on the high seas. The buildings are a mixture of very old:
gorgeous churches of tall stone, statues, cobblestones, and very new:
beautiful modern architecture like the building of colored blocks
like I used to play with when I was younger, glass and tall and stuck
together.
Unfortunately my impression of the local food was not
entirely favorable, but it's likely that I just didn't know where to
look. My mother and I got the impression that a large part of native
cuisine has to do with barbequed meat of some sort, and, while we
aren't vegetarian by any means, we are more fond of fruits, veggies,
and grains than red meat and potatoes. Everyone is bilingual, which
is incredibly charming – at restaurants, they will greet you with a
cheerful “Bonjour Hello! Je peux vous asseyez May I find you a
table?” and continue with whichever language you answer in.
Disappointingly, I only had one real conversation in French, with our
“I speak small English” cab driver on the way into the city. He
was very complementary about my grammatically interesting French and
I was entirely pleased to discover that the things I learn at camp
and in the classroom are in fact applicable to the real world. Weird!
Sometimes I wonder if the words they teach us are just made up, and
real French is completely different. How would I know? Well,
reassuringly, I wasn't completely wrong. Everywhere else it was
easier just to speak English, so I only got to practice eavesdropping
in French and not speaking it.
McGill was also wonderful. The campus
was quiet – I hadn't known they were on a mid-semester break. The
tours had all been booked months in advance because it was
President's Day, and everyone drove up for the day from New York and
Boston. But I tagged along on a tour and pretended I'd been signed up
all along. McGill is a great school. The few disadvantages to it in
my mind (I plan to major in Undecided) are that its colleges are more
separate (there is no one giant liberal arts and sciences college
like at Madison, but rather separate colleges for science, art,
music, medicine, etc.) and that most people seem to go in knowing
what they want to do. Quebecois students come in as sophomores,
having already chosen their major and done an intermediate program.
You don't have to declare a major when you apply, but you have to
know what college you want, and it seems to be less easy to be
indecisive than in US schools.
What else struck me about McGill... it
seems very independent, almost as if Canadians actually trust their
kids to grow up after high school, and college for us Americans are
more like in-between houses for those almost responsible enough to
live on their own. There's less housing on campus, though many
freshmen do live on campus, fewer people in your face telling you to
go join this club and that club – there are still clubs to join,
but you might have to go search them out. That could be both good and
bad. I can unfortunately picture myself, hermit that I am, living in
my single dorm room (very few doubles!) and not being brave enough to
venture out and make friends. My mom remarked that if McGill seemed
like the ideal academic environment, but less friendly than I might
want in a college, perhaps I should go there for grad school.
But anyway, enough about the downsides
of McGill! I really, really loved it. The people were nice, the
buildings pretty, the library more impressive than any of the other
three universities' libraries, the academics seemed intense but fun,
and I heard from our tour guide about a lot of activities that I got
really excited to go join. Apparently someone decided to take
advantage of willing but broke college students, so there are lots of
programs at McGill where you can go volunteer in another country
(Peru is apparently popular) and they will pay your way! And there's
clubs and sports and everything else you'd expect in a big university
– it just seems a little bit harder to find.
I also was fortunate enough to talk
with a linguistics professor. My cousin Laura went to McGill and
hooked me up with her undergrad adviser. I think most of my questions
were too vague for her, asking about university policy in general
rather than the linguistics department (and she may have been
disappointed that while I'm interested in linguistics, I don't have
my heart set on majoring in it). I did, however, ask one question she
really liked, and promised me she would go ask her friend the dean
about it and get back to me. It was about the possibility of studying
abroad in countries McGill doesn't usually send people too, such as
Cameroon. My camp counselors have virtually all studied abroad in
Cameroon with our camp director's program that partners with
universities to do so, leaving me with a hankering to go see Africa.
So the question was half about flexibility of McGill in general and
half about that specific situation. The answer was the same in all
four schools: we don't really know, but you could try, I guess! Hah.
We shall see then.
So in conclusion, I loved McGill and
Montreal, would be super excited to go there, and is currently #2 on
my list (a very close and tentative runner-up especially because it
is so very different from choice #1!)
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor:
Ann Arbor has been described as the
perfect college town. I was not especially taken with it, maybe
partly as a result of staying in a cheap motel and having the closest
restaurant to us be Big Boy's. But what little town there was (and
really, Ann Arbor is so dominated by U-Mich that there's hardly
anything to it) had more of a trashy middle-of-the-country feel to it
than I had hoped. Ah well. I'd also like to live in a town that has a
little more than just a university, a motel, a gas station, and a few
eateries.
That morning established a pattern for
the next several days: a presentation in the morning by an admissions
officer about the school, your study options, and the admission
process, followed by a walking tour given by a current student. The
presenter was excellent: funny, informative, proud of U-Mich but not
too in-your-face about it. My favorite part might have been when she
asked for a show of hands for the Michiganites, then asked where they
all lived: they each pointed to a spot on their hand. Mind blown!
Makes me want to go live in Michigan, so I can use my hand as a map.
Our tour guide, unfortunately, was not
so charming. Pleasant enough, but a sorority girl with annoying
speech habits: like, awesome, definitely, actually, and totally
became words I never wanted to hear or speak again. My mom and I also
exchanged appalled glances when she mentioned how nice it was that
the library was mostly duplicated online, since going into actual
libraries with their “scary stacks” is a traumatizing experience.
What did you go to college for, girl? But she showed us some lovely
places on campus. The law quad in particular looked very
Hogwarts-esque with its impressive stone buildings under a blanket of
white. That day was the one day during our trip when it snowed, fat,
heavy flakes that covered everything in a surprisingly short time and
then melted all away in the afternoon. (HEY LOOK SNOW! Also this is the last time I remembered to get out my camera... I apologize if you wanted pictures of Madison or Minneapolis.)
After our tour I met with a friend, a
Homestead band alumna who's a freshman at U-Mich. She likes college
well enough, in her quiet “well, now I'm here” sort of way. She
didn't have too much trouble finding friends even though it's a big
school, though by no means likes everyone in her dorms (she did
mention a certain level of annoyance at the preponderance of sorority
girls, from which I sadly conclude that our tour guide was not a
one-off). She likes her classes, though says she underestimated their
difficulty. In short, I'm running out of things to say, because there
wasn't a whole lot that was remarkable about U-Mich. It's just a big
state school that happens to have really good scores. I think I would
be happy anywhere I went – I've spent a lot of energy the past few
years trying to figure out how to be happy – and would find good
friends and good classes and altogether have a successful experience.
But U-Mich, while a good school, didn't make me fall in love with it
the way the other three schools did. In conclusion: Michigan is a
beautiful state, but I didn't like Ann Arbor that much, and Michigan
is a good school but #4 on my list (out of the ones I visited).
University of Wisconsin-Madison:
My aunt and uncle, three cousins, my
grandma and her three siblings, and my grandpa's brother all went to
Madison – basically everyone on my mom's side of the family except
my mom, who did the black sheep of the family thing and went to
Minnesota, and her father, who didn't get a degree. So I have a lot
of family history there, and I've grown up hearing my big cousins'
stories about crazy Madisonian college life. I still have a cousin, a
first cousin once removed (is that right? My mom's cousin?), a
great-aunt, and some second cousins who live in Madison, so we
crashed on several different couches to try to see them all.
Madison, let me tell you, was
exceedingly convincing from the start. We stayed with my cousin
Jocelyn, in her neat little studio apartment with her adorable kitty.
Jocelyn is a lot of things I want to be: independent, adventurous
(she's currently in France and/or Morocco, because as she put it, “I
could afford a bigger place, but hey, travel!”), hard-working (as a
nurse, which seems like a great job), smart funny beautiful etc. So
of course when she tells me how glad she is that she went to Madison,
and her pride in her school is really obvious and genuine, I assume
it must be a pretty kick-ass place to warrant such praise from a girl
with high-standards. In the morning I wandered around til I found the
student union, sat through a reasonably entertaining presentation,
and then went on my tour with a senior double-majoring in journalism
and political science. She was everything a tour guide should be as
well – intelligent, friendly, proud of her school, fun-loving,
knowledgeable, and in general made a great impression. We walked
around campus, which is gorgeous, even in the middle of a strangely
snow-less winter where there are neither beautiful white drifts nor
green grass and flowerbeds. The lake was frozen over and looked very
tempting. I learned about Hoofers, the wilderness club, and the crazy
things they do (WANT.). The Lakeshore dorms (where everyone in my
family has stayed, as opposed to the more urban, party-centric
Southeast dorms, which I thought were some of the only ugly buildings
on campus) were lovely – a nice walk from everything, right by the
lake, quieter... We walked through classrooms, talked about academics
(which sound remarkably flexible for a big university), and were
shown some nice museums, shops, etc. Some numbers that I like very
much: 50% study abroad before they graduate – wow that's high. 60%
come in undecided – Yay, it's easy to be undecided here! And the
giant liberal arts and sciences college that I mentioned earlier –
I wouldn't have to try transferring schools. What else. Madison
itself is a beautiful little town, dominated by the university and
the capitol buildings, but with more to it than Ann Arbor. The
eating, shopping, and living options all looked much more favorable.
A small town, a beautiful town, a friendly town, but a big enough
town to not just be a school in the middle of nowhere. Far from it!
Aaahh everyone's just so friendly and fun.
I could picture myself at Madison more
easily than anywhere else. I know I'd live in the Lakeshore dorms,
and join Hoofers, and jump in the lake in the middle of summer and
maybe in the middle of winter for the Polar Plunge. I'd study abroad,
that's for sure, and major in maybe three different things all at
once in the nice convenient college that contains nearly all my
interests. I'd go tray-sledding in winter all the time. I'd join a
wind ensemble – not world-renowned, but good, and I've heard the
conductors are great. I'd take serious classes and fun classes, learn
about medieval weaponry, all that craziness. I'm close enough to my
aunt and uncle in Minneapolis, and my great-aunt and -uncle in
Viroqua, that I could have closer places to go for holidays than all
the way back home. It's close(ish) to camp. It's just so easy and so
pleasant to picture myself there. As I went to sleep that evening, I
had a mental battle: I didn't want to pick favorite schools, I just
wanted to get a flavor for all of them! So that I could apply, find
out where I'm accepted, and THEN pick favorites. But I guess it
didn't work that way. Cause now I really want to go to Madison.
Choice #1.
University of Minnesota, Twin-Cities:
My mother's alma mater. In Minneapolis,
which is another big old beautiful city, crackling with culture and
things to do. But... really big. The city itself feels less friendly
because it's not at all dominated by the university. On the other
hand, the U, as they call it, was extremely friendly despite its
vastness. As soon as I walked in the door of the welcome center I was
accosted by a really cute student with a bright smile who helped me
check in, gave me a folder of information, and pointed me to the
information session room. The music playing in the room until the
session started consisted entirely of things on my MP3 player:
Vitamin String Quartet's cover of My Chemical Romance and the Pirates
of the Caribbean theme song. Good first impression: check. The
speaker was also entertaining and informative: they have lots of
great programs though unfortunately different colleges for sciences
and liberal arts. But you can make your own major! And they have lots
of great clubs you can join, such as the Guys Named Mike (which might
even beat U-Mich's squirrel feeding club – and holy mackerel, they
have fat squirrels in Ann Arbor now). Then our tour was also nice, a
very eager-to-please young man who burbled a constant stream of
information about all the opportunities and activities you can join.
We walked through academic buildings, dorms, sports areas, student
areas/libraries, etc., all beautiful. It's a very nice campus. Just a
little more urban than Madison, and though cities are nice, I think I
really value greenery. After the tour we went back to the welcome
center to ask yet another supremely helpful, smiling, cute young man
which library we should go visit (we had made a point of visiting at
least one library at every university, as a litmus test for overall
academic quality). We proceeded to get happily lost in an academic
library, a map library, and then a music library, before our
grumbling stomachs urged us over to Annie's Parlour, which my mom has
called the best place to get mushroom burgers and ice cream sundaes
ever, a fact with which I now concur.
I loved the U of M, and would be
extremely happy there. But it was hard to even fully appreciate the
place when I'd already fallen in love with (an) other school(s). Like
McGill, it seems slightly more impersonal and less warm than Madison,
but slightly less impressive academically. (McGill's library could
make up for a lot of faults, and I could probably ignore the whole
having friends bit just by living in the stacks.) In conclusion, it
was great, and choice #3 out of 4 doesn't really seem to give it the
credit it deserves, but, fact is, everywhere I visited was great.
FINALLY, if you have gotten to this
point, here are the big results from my trip: 1) I want to go to
college! Yay, college! 2) I want to go to Madison! And McGill! And U
of M! Oh god choices. 3) Wow the Midwest is full of really nice
people. 4) I can't wait for this semester to be over so I can start
my life. Camp, France, college... I'm so excited.
