Mom's First Official College Tour

Those of us who experienced ABBA the first time around recall our own search for the college of our choice. We pretty much picked a finely honed geographic location (East Coast! Midwest!) and then wrote away for some brochures, using a quaint technology known as the U.S. Postal Service, which I'm sure you have read about on Wikipedia.

We scrutinized an out-of-date copy of The Underground Guide to the College of Your Choice to separate the reefer schools from the egghead schools. We piled the brochures we eventually received into stacks that our mothers threw away. And most importantly, we asked our friends where they were going to apply to.

As for college tours, well, never heard of 'em. Maybe we looked closely at that brochure's pictures, where campuses apparently enjoyed only springtime. Maybe we looked at a map. (Did you know Chicago is on a lake?). Mostly, information was based on word of mouth, along with stereotypes that I am still sure are true. Sorry—I won't list my college stereotypes here. But you know what they are.

So this past spring break, on a trip to visit my sister who recently moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, we found time to go on the official University of Michigan tour with our mortified 8th-grade daughter. Having left the Midwest behind 20-something years ago, I'm not particularly interested in her liking this school. But friends with older kids advise going on tours when convenient, because the more data points the student has, the better.

We waited in a well-appointed auditorium, while a slide show of fun facts ran in a loop. Did you know that Darren Criss, who plays Blaine on Glee, went to U of M? Yes, he did, by gosh. Did you know the U of M Solar Car Team has won six victories at the American Solar Challenge? Yes, indeed, it did. Did you know that I have forgotten all the many other fun facts?

But no matter. The slide show was merely to make us feel happy we were at U of M until a perky, articulate, friendly recent grad greeted us. After a gung ho, yet sincere, introduction and welcome, she played us a video narrated by James Earl Jones, who (did you know?) went to U of M. The video featured a diverse array of students and activities, such as the marching band, campus in springtime, and the marching band.

After the video, Ms. Young Communications Major went into high gear. She was so upbeat that I think she must have been the marching band's drum major. She was so upbeat that when she told everyone the school's average SAT scores (really high), everyone felt those scores were achievable. She even got the whole crowd, some 200 people, to repeat in unison next year's early action deadline:  "November 1! November 1! November 1!"

She continued with all the necessary information about the different colleges at the university, their high school course requirements, the average GPA of accepted students, and what to write in your essay. But discussing these, especially the essay, is fodder for at least 100 more blog entries.  In the meantime, let's just say the essay is "your chance to show the admissions committee who you really are".

Then our bubbly hostess took a few questions, mostly about super scoring SAT scores. Sorry — I was so bemused by the term "super scoring," which means mixing and matching scores from separate test sittings, that I don't remember the answer.

Finally, it was time to break into small groups for the actual walking tour, led by an undergrad. As someone who moved to California to get away from Midwest winters, I could have skipped this part. In late April, it was a blustery, overcast winter's day with a temperature of 38 degrees.

The tour guide pointed out a large set of buildings that allow you to go from class to class in multiple departments without going outside. I told my 8th-grader to take note; when a campus tour brags about the ability to stay indoors, that's a warning flag.

Although this was my first official campus tour, I have been to many large Midwestern campuses over the years and have had plenty of time to develop plenty of cynicism.  Although I had never been to University of Michigan before, its look and feel held no surprises for me.

Of course, the tours are for the kids, so perhaps I'll feel differently when the mortified 8t- grader is a curious 11th-grader. Perhaps, I'll also feel differently when we tour California schools that I have never seen the likes of. Or perhaps, I'll feel that it is the student who makes her college days fruitful, and the college campus itself is of no consequence. Touring your own interests might be time better spent. On the other hand, a nice climate and palm trees don't sound bad, either.