College Visits Pt. 2

     My last post was more cold, hard facts. Part two of the subject at hand is more of my personal experience and advice.  I've had many different experiences with each college visit, some of which I hope you will never have to endure.  Which is why I am writing on this today.
     "Rule number one: is that you gotta have fun"(to quote Marina and the Diamonds). If you're overly stressed out, all you'll remember a week later is how aggravated the college made you feel, when in fact, you were just tense from too much stress. This is why I mentioned in my last post the importance of visiting a college more than once. You need to make sure that your feelings toward the campus are accurate.  "Keep calm and carry on" as my British brothers would say.
     In some cases, like mine, you may have the opposite results. For example: I went to SDSU the first time and loved it! I was determined that SDSU was the school for me...and then I visited other colleges and became undecided. But that's beside the point. I went back to SDSU for a second visit, and felt quite differently. My mother and I had decided that instead of spending the night in Brookings, South Dakota, we would go to my grandma's place. Don't get me wrong, my grandma is the best grandma a girl could ask for, it just became a very long day to get up early, drive to the college, and move directly into the tour/visit. This was a three to four hour event that was loaded with information! Another reason why I recommend two visits - you'll never retain all of that information in one day. Never. Unless you're some kid-genius with an idyllic memory (which I am not), visit twice.
      Rule number two: Go on the tour with the parent that you get along with the most. I went with my mother, and she's great, but she can sometimes drive me nuts! She writes down everything and she actually embarrassed me several times (which is hard to do to me).  When our tour guide would open a door to see inside a standard classroom, I would peek in and catch a good glimpse. Apparently, this wasn't good enough for my mother. She gave me that strict eye and tight-lip look and whispered aggressively, "Get over here and look in the room!" I'll defend her and say she was just trying to make sure that I knew what I was getting into, but she just didn't understand that from the distance and angle that I was, I could see the room perfectly. Yeah, it's big. I understood that. I could fit my entire high school student body in there 20 times.
     Towards the end of the visit, my mom strayed to the gift shop - this is bad. I'm already exhausted, strung out, stressed out, burned out, tuckered out..well you get the idea. I'm done with smiling and listening to people, and talking to people. I'm just done. I'm ready to leave and she goes in the gift shop...why?  It's not for souvenirs, but for textbooks. She's not buying them. No, that would be too purposeful. She just wants me to look at them to get me familiar with a college-style textbook.  She pointed out where the table of contents was. It's at the beginning! *Gasp* And there's a glossary with quick definitions and such in the back of the book! For a while I was humoring her, and pretending I wasn't already aware of this "mind-blowing discovery".  But then I snapped, she finally got the picture, and 15 minutes later, we left the store. It was a horrible day- informative, but horrible.
     I've learned to not base my decision on my experiences with the visits, because they may not always go so well. Many things should contribute to your final choice including: majors offered, atmosphere of the town, professor/staff availability, scholarship opportunities, I mean the list goes on and on. Choose what you find to be most crucial in finding a college and go with that. I can't help you, your guidance counselor can't help you, and not even your parents can help you. This is all your decision, so make it count!

College Visits Pt. 1

     Hey there! Whoa! It's been awhile.  Life's been crazy - that happens when you're a soon-to-be-graduating senior. *giant smile* Actually, yesterday I was home, then in North Dakota, and then home again, all in one day.  It's exhausting, but it's kind of fun. Why was I in ND? I was visiting NDSU for the second time.
    For those of you that don't know, I've been visiting colleges since last summer trying to figure out which one I want to attend, not the easiest feat in the world.  The colleges I have seen and toured were University of Minnesota, Duluth; South Dakota State University; and of course, North Dakota State University.  Last summer, I saw them all within a month of each other. First SDSU: loved it! Perfect small town, nice people, and SDSU makes it's own ice cream! Bonus! Only downer is they have one coffee shop outside of the campus, and it makes me cry because it's not coffee - it's a fake, and it's icky. I suppose I can't blame them. They're in a strip mall and they're neighbors with GameStop. Gamers wouldn't know good coffee unless it came in their care package along with a total resupply, an AC-130, a Sentry Gun, and an EMP.  Even then, chances are slim. Anyway! Past the coffee drama, I love the town, as I mentioned before, it's so country. I always say, "It's like my town, only nicer, cleaner and better."

     I like SDSU right now, mainly because of my recent discovery that they are one of the few colleges that offer cadaver labs in undergrad! I was very excited to hear that. And the biology major chic giving us the tour, was excited to tell me. If you don't really understand why this is a big deal, that's okay. I'll just say that having cadaver labs in undergrad is a major benefit for people who are interested in anything that has to do with biology. It's a major advantage for them as they prepare for graduate school. Excited yet?! I am! :) Go Jacks!
    Now, NDSU, I just got back from visiting for the second time. I think it's a really good idea to visit a second time. This way, you're already familiar with the basics of the school and can focus more on the specifics of it, which is important as you come closer to your final decision making. NDSU does not offer cadaver labs at all. :( But I do still like the town a lot, and I met with a lot of interesting people. They actually have good coffee in the area. Go Dunn Brothers!!  And their dorms are significantly better and much more spacious than SDSU's.  I can actually walk around in those instead of go in and back out. haha  And one last thing that's not as important: The NDSU Bison are a little more fierce than the SDSU Jackrabbits. :)
    Oh! I forgot to mention UMD...unless you like crappy, confusing roads all at an 80% incline, I advise you don't go. Don't get me wrong, the tourist part of Duluth is beautiful, campus not so much. The campus gives the appearance that it is the next big thing in summer camps. But they do have a lot of underground tunnels for the frigid winters. Win!
     College visitations definitely have their place in finding the right college. I have no idea how I'm going to chose between NDSU and SDSU. I've been told to go to the place in which you feel the most comfortable. If that's the case, it's a dead tie. There's different things I prefer from both colleges. E.g. I prefer the interstate to NDSU over the hilly, winding and potentially dangerous roads to SDSU.
    Wish me luck. I've got a couple more weeks to make my decision.