Rite of Passage: The college tour blog posts

Howdy, people!

Yes, it’s been ages since I have written a post. But this blog post will be merely a placeholder to say, come back, I promise, I will have something to say of what my life has been like over the past few weeks.

Most of what has been occupying my family’s time is the college search for our oldest child.

This spring “break,” the family took a most unusual road trip. It did not involve going back to our hometowns. It did not involve sleeping in our childhood bedrooms and seeing extended families.

It was all about visiting colleges.

In the next few blog posts, I will be sharing our experiences of our visits to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland,  and in Pittsburgh, the contrasts between Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.  And, because we live in southeast Michigan,  this series would not be complete without our visit to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

In the next few blog posts, I will be discussing my impressions of the presentations given by each schools’ admission departments, what you can learn on an official college tour, and what you can further learn from taking a real-live student to lunch.  I will also write about the “vibe” of each campus and the surrounding cultural aspects of each town.

I will also be writing about the issue of  early admission, and how the Ivies and other prestigious universities continue to become even more selective in their admission process.

At that post, I would like hear from you, dear readers on the worth of a college education received at an Ivy League or other prestigious schools. Is it worth the high cost of tuition if it will open up doors for the student at the onset of graduation?  Is it better to get an undergraduate education at a good public state college and then gain the prestige of attending an Ivy League for graduate school? These questions are in hot contention right now and I would love for you to chime off on that post.

So, stay tuned right here, and I promise I’ll be cranking these posts out in the days to come. And, if you are also in this stage of life with your children,  feel free to comment on each post on your college searches.