Three of the original Seven Sisters colleges were on our middle daughter’s list of schools in her post-secondary search; Smith, Vassar, and Wellesley.  Of the three, only two fit into our schedule.  After leaving the morning tour and information session at Wheaton College in Norton, we made the forty minute drive back up to Wellesley, Massachusetts.

Aside from routing us through Boston on Route 1 (not a good idea), the GPS is only as good as the street addresses you give it.  I didn’t dig any deeper than the street address given on the Wellesley College home page, only to find that this was not the main entrance to campus.  There was a nice wrought iron gate and a small parking lot next to the child development center, but no indication where the rest of campus was.  We finally noticed another sign for the “Motor Entrance” and parked in the garage attached to the college police department.  Little did we know that the other main entrance was much closer to the admissions building where we would eventually arrive after a good ten to fifteen minutes’ brisk walk across (through?) campus.

Looking back on it, I really didn’t do my homework (sorry, professor).  I did look quickly at Wellesley’s web site, at least to get the street address but apparently not much more.  A friend of mine from high school attended Wellesley, too, but I never talked with her much about it and never visited, so that didn’t do me much good either.

On our way across campus we walked for miles (well, it seemed that way, since we were already late for the information session) seeing not much more than signs promising we would eventually reach the admissions building and a beautiful park-like setting with many different kinds of trees, little ponds, and landscape that reminded me of, say, Frederick Law Olmsted (because I know so much about landscape architecture… not).  Still somewhat foot-weary from our weekend in Washington, I found the long walk somewhat annoying.  That it was my own fault really didn’t matter that much at the time.

We eventually reached the admissions building and found our way to the conference room where four or five other girls were there with their parents.  By the time we got there, though, I was decidedly not in the right frame of mind to hear more of the same kind of higher education propaganda information that I had become accustomed to hearing.

From the beginning it was clear that Wellesley was much more of a question mark in our middle daughter’s mind.  Coming into campus on the wrong side was our/my fault.  But the arrangement of the buildings and the apparent distance to get from one place to another didn’t help.  In the information session the admissions representative said there were concerns about allowing men to take courses at Wellesley but that her observations was that the few men who do so “sit quietly in a corner, because Wellesley women aren’t afraid to express themselves.”  I’m paraphrasing, but that was the jist of what she had to say.  Other than that, I would have to say that the academic program at Wellesley, especially with the availability of courses at MIT and other nearby schools, is easily as good as the other schools we were looking at.

On our tour I continued to remark at the park-like setting and how beautiful it was – it really was.  No doubt it would become easier to get around campus once you knew the shortcuts (if there are any), but the buildings appeared to be clustered here and there, but not in relation to each other.  The library was spectacularly set in the landscape, as are many of the buildings, both old and new.

The Tower Court, in the words of our guide, was like something straight out of Harry Potter.  The common room to the left of the main entry looked like it could have been the set for Gryffindor at Hogwarts.  Since so many of the schools we were looking at started out as female seminaries, having a building that looked like a Gothic cathedral didn’t seem really out of place but, my, what an impression it makes.

As our tour neared its end we passed through the science center and library, an interesting combination of the Neo-Gothic and modern à la the Pompidou Centre, with the entrance to the modern so much a part of the landscape that you would think it was always there.

In the end I’m not sure we really got that much out of our visit to Wellesley.  Clearly it is an outstanding institution, but I can’t help but wonder whether the all-women’s college isn’t something of an anachronism.  Middle daughter and I were talking about this on our way back across campus to the car when I noted that, “for a college campus, Wellesley makes a nice park.”  It wasn’t until we got home and I was working on the blog posts for our trip that I read the full Wikipedia article.  There that I found that, yes indeed, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., was partly responsible for the layout, and was similarly flummoxed by it – “ I must admit that the exceedingly intricate and complex topography and the peculiarly scattered arrangement of most of the buildings somewhat baffled me.“

On to Poughkeepsie, New York and Vassar College.

Oh, thank God (or the deity/non-specific/non-existent being/force/suggestion of your choice).  We get to sleep an hour longer tonight (except in Arizona, Hawaii, and some parts of Indiana) by changing from Daylight Savings to Standard Time.

Time.  What a concept.  If you want to know what time it is, or at least what time we’re supposed to think it is, look here.

Almost four weeks ago I poured a bottle of vodka (grain, not potato, alas) into a large jar with an assortment of spices and flavorings and left it in the dark, but for an occasional swirling around, in the bottom of our hutch for about three and a half weeks.  With everything going on the last few weekends I left the vodka to infuse about a week and a half longer than I have before in my attempt to create an aquavit-like drink.

After pouring the now amber liquid into a strainer lined with coffee filters and transferring it back to the original vodka bottle, I put it into the freezer to rest.  I haven’t sampled it yet, but the caraway and cumin definitely made their mark.  We’ll have the coming winter to see whether the dill, coriander, fennel, orange peel, and clove are there, too.

Oh hai! Blated 40th birfday wishiz to teh Internets.  It wuz yesturdai.

I’m sure this is exactly what Bolt, Beranek, and Newman (now BBN) had in mind when they created the network that was used for the first time forty years ago yesterday.

Last Thursday, after leaving work a little early to pack, our middle daughter and I were on the road again.  Our overnight destination was the Holiday Inn Express in North Attleboro so we wouldn’t have to deal with morning rush hour traffic in Boston.  Next time, if there is a next time to visit Wheaton College, we will not – repeat not – follow Route 1 through Boston.  I’m generally a pretty fearless driver and I’ve driven this particular stretch before, but I have to say that I didn’t care much for it this time and will avoid it in the future, no matter what the GPS says.

Getting from our hotel to the Wheaton campus in Norton was about a twenty minute drive and required a little back-tracking.  On the way I noticed that it would have been as easy – longer probably, but less nerve-wracking – to have come down I-495 and approach it from the opposite side.  A note for future reference.

Wheaton’s campus is right on the edge of downtown Norton, a town of about 18,000 roughly forty miles south of Boston and twenty miles northeast of Providence, Rhode Island.  Visitors were directed to Mary Lyon Hall to check in before the tour got underway.

As with nearly all of the student tour guides I have encountered our Wheaton guide was fairly well-versed in the academic programs, campus life, and general demographics of the college, not to mention walking backward.  The campus itself is small, with a traditionally arranged quad with the library, chapel, academic buildings, a couple of dorms, and one of three dining halls around its periphery.  Other buildings surround these in the “lower campus” and clusters of residence halls.  Most of the buildings in the upper campus were early 20th century, with the newer buildings spread out from there, not unexpected.  The student center is one of the more modern buildings, as is the athletic center and field house.  Some of the older buildings appeared more in need of repair than I would have expected.  We walked into one of the newer suite-style residence halls, which did not strike me as being particularly high quality construction – it was okay, but clearly built on a budget – unlike the older dorm we visited, which was much more solid and substantial.

Along with the ‘official’ information he provided, our guide spoke about a couple of unique aspects of Wheaton campus life, such as “Peacock Pond” and “The Dimple.”  The pond is a small man-made feature on lower campus where students gather for a candlelight ceremony as incoming freshmen and again four years later as graduating seniors.  Some might think of this as hokey but I find it quaint and charming, a good use of ceremony and symbolism.  There is a less official role for “The Pond” at Wheaton where one is expected to take a dip in it before graduating.  It wasn’t clear whether doing so unclothed conferred any additional benefit, however.  “The Dimple” is a feature of the upper campus quad, which used to be a pond.  Under certain meteorological conditions, apparently it still is, but it is also used as a gathering spot, outdoor amphiteater, and outdoor location for commencement.

Academics at Wheaton seemed comparable to anything we had been looking at in this year’s edition of the college search.  The program emphasized the close relationship between faculty and students, student participation and credit in research, interdisciplinary studies through Wheaton’s “Connections” program, social activism, and service learning.  As we have since found out through the course of our visits, these are some pretty common themes for institutions of this size.

There was one thing that really struck me during the information session:  A professor of art history was talking about two types of people, “track” people and “path” people, and how different institutions or programs suit them.  “Track” people have a clear idea of what it is they want to do and stay on that track, while “path” people have less clearly-defined notions of what they want to do, often have many different interests, and go in occasionally completely different directions, following a more meandering path in life.  The professor’s point in making this distinction was to say that if you are a “track” person looking for a small college setting, Wheaton could be a good choice for you, but that Wheaton should hold special appeal for “path” people.  This struck me because, though I hadn’t thought about it in these terms, our middle daughter is much more a “path” person than a “track” person.

Since we had to get to Wellesley for an early afternoon information session and tour we really didn’t have time to linger, but I came away from our visit to Wheaton with a generally positive impression.  The programs, campus feel, and what little sense I could get of social life seemed like just the kind of thing our daughter has been looking for, but it seemed to be working with considerably more limited resources than those I visited in 2008, or the schools we would visit during the rest of our weekend.

Golden late afternoon sun
warms my face.
Leaves clutter-clatter in the driveway
stirred by a chilly westerly breeze.
Smoke from a nearby wood stove
tickles my nose.
I gather the mail from the box
by the road
in no hurry to go inside.
Fall goes by
too fast.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks.  Two weeks ago, as I reported, our middle daughter and I visited Connecticut College in New London.  Last weekend, though technically not a college visit in her case, we flew to Washington to visit our eldest daughter at George Washington. 

This week middle daughter and I left late Thursday afternoon for Massachusetts and a visit to Wheaton College in Norton the following morning.  Our itinerary included Wellesley College Friday afternoon and Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York before returning home late yesterday.  After three days, three colleges, two hotels, and over seven hundred miles I need another weekend, but tomorrow is Monday and I might not get back to post about our trip until later in the week.  For now, let me just say that the trip was worthwhile, though I’m not sure how you would define “success.”  There was no big “ah ha!” moment, no epiphany, but it was still worthwhile.

“Tanquam lignum quod plantatum est secus decursus aquarum.”*  Columbus Day at Connecticut College in New London.

Eighteen months ago I was reintroduced to the world of higher education visiting colleges and universities in the Washington, DC and New York City areas.  Sitting through information sessions, walking around on campus tours, listening to presentations on the ins and outs of admissions and financial aid made me realize how little I really knew about all this.  Fortunately, going through seven of these in five days served as a kind of crash course in how contemporary higher education works.  Truthfully, though, I’m still not sure I know very much, at least about this.

With all the talk of SAT/ACT scores, admit rates, “demonstrated need” financial aid, and the difference between core curriculum and distribution requirements, I think I learned more about our eldest daughter than I did anything else.  I looked forward to the visit to Connecticut College with our middle daughter, and the visits we will make in a couple of weeks to Wheaton, Wellesley, and Vassar.

Last Sunday afternoon we packed what little we needed for an overnight stay in New London and headed south.  The roughly three and a half hour (almost four, if you count the slowdown near Haverhill, Lawrence, and Lowell) drive was spent talking about nothing and listening to the New England Patriots lose their composure and early lead to the Denver Broncos.  We passed the main entrance to Connecticut College in the early evening darkness, several of the buildings lit up giving us our first glimpse of where we would spend our Monday.

The next morning, after recommending Red’s Eats in Wiscasset to a couple from Georgia on their way to Maine for the first time, we found our way back to the college’s main gate and went in to register for the open house.  Based on the number of people crowded into the hall of the Palmer Auditorium I expected the place to be packed.  Kids signed in and wary parents found their way to the coffee and seats waiting for the program to begin while a jazz trio played on stage.  The welcoming session emphasized the college’s honor code and shared governance model, its mission to put liberal arts to work in the world, and study abroad opportunities.  It was also interest that the first thing the college president, Lee Higdon, was to assure us that the institution was in solid financial shape.  This struck me as a little odd, but considering the beating colleges and universities have taken on their endowments over the last two years I really shouldn’t have been surprised.

 Through the rest of the day we had the chance to wander around campus, attend sessions on study abroad opportunities, financial aid and admissions, and have lunch according to different majors and areas of interest.  On our way into lunch, daughter #2 saw that Table 29 was supposed to have faculty from American studies and history, so we made our way over there.  We were the only two who sat at that table; unfortunately, without a faculty member.  We didn’t feel too badly about it, though, because the “Urban Studies and Planning” table had no one at it and, while we were eating, talking, and reading the information about American studies and history at Connecticut College, President Higdon came over and talked with us for a bit.

The actual academic and residential part of the Connecticut College campus is not all that large, about a ten minute walk from one end to the other, though it is surrounded by several hundred acres of trees and trails.  Nearly all of the buildings were of light gray stone – granite, I would imagine – and very typical of traditional college architecture with classical style elements.  The Cummings Art Center was one exception to the overall style, being more modern with an abundance of north-facing windows but still of the same stone as the other buildings.  As a campus setting I found it pleasant and peaceful, being able to look out over the Thames River, Long Island Sound and, off in the distance, the far eastern end of Long Island from the highest point on campus.  There were signs for activities and events all over the place, from the art center, to the library, and the student center, while small, seemed to have plenty of students engaging with each other.

In the “Freshman Experience” talk, I didn’t get the sense that there was much connection between the college and the surrounding communities of New London, Groton, Waterford, etc.  Some, but not a lot.  Connecticut also didn’t seem to be what, I have come to understand, are called “suitcase schools,” where everyone packs up and goes home (or at least somewhere else) for the weekend.  In one of the opening addresses the dean of admissions spoke about the process of finding a school and how stressful it can be.  She said that one of the things Connecticut tries to be is a place where students can explore while they continue to grow and change, and not expect them to know exactly what they want the minute they walk through the door.  Nothing I saw or heard wandering around campus for the day would make me think differently.

Talking with our middle daughter on the way home, she came away with a favorable impression, but felt that it would really take a couple more visits to have a clearer idea since she has nothing to compare it to.  In a couple of weeks, maybe she’ll have a better idea.  For me, I keep finding myself wishing (in some ways) that I could be making the journey again.

*”Like a tree planted by rivers of waters” (that bringeth forth its fruit in its season.) (Psalm 1:3)

A year and a half ago our eldest daughter and I took April vacation together and visited seven colleges and universities in five days (not counting two travel days, one on each end).  (All of the “College Tour 2008″ posts can be found in the April 2008 section of the archives.)  Now it’s time to go through the search with our middle daughter.  Just as she and her sister are different, I expect our experience of the college search will be different.

To start with, our middle daughter is also a very good student.  She gets very good grades and is diligent in her work (though she has a tendency to procrastinate – I’ll tell you later where she gets that!), but definitely has a lower profile in school than her older sister.  She’s one of those that tends not to attract as much attention to herself, has her own friends and activities, likes and dislikes, and is her own person.  As much as people mistake our two oldest for twins, they almost couldn’t be more different.

I never put a whole lot of stock in the notion of birth order as a determinant of personality type and behavior.  As an only child, I never thought about it and had no personal experience with it until becoming the father of three daughters.  My wife, on the other hand, is the oldest of four and more conversant with the idea.  I have to admit our middle daughter does exhibit many of the characteristics of the “middle child” (of three):

• Has neither rights of oldest nor privileges of youngest.
• Feels life is unfair.
• Feels unloved, left out, “squeezed.”
• Feels doesn’t have place in family.
• Becomes discouraged and “problem child” or elevates self by pushing down other siblings.
• Is adaptable.
• Learns to deal with both oldest and youngest sibling.

(via the Child Development Institute)

While our oldest daughter had a fairly clear idea of what she wanted to do in life early on (probably for the last six or seven years, anyway), our middle daughter hasn’t yet arrived at that.  Because she has yet to find that elusive “passion” (though I hate using that term), she has focused her attention on places where she believes she will have the opportunity to explore areas of interest (history, education, psychology, American studies, etc.) without having to commit to something prematurely.  She also wants to find a place where she can have lasting relationships and not get lost in the crowd.  Though you might be able to do that just about anywhere if you’re the right kind of person, our middle daughter’s search has led her to look at small liberal arts institutions.

Of the twenty or so small liberal arts schools she started with, she’s down to about twelve she’s actively interested in, with four that we will visit over the next couple of weeks.  Connecticut College we visited yesterday.  In two weeks we visit Wheaton (the one in Massachusetts), Wellesley, and Vassar.  Also on the list is Smith (though a visit just isn’t in the schedule for now) and others that are too far away to visit for now – Muhlenberg, Kenyon, Macalester, Lake Forest, and some others I’m sure I’ve missed.

In the next installment I’ll actually write about our Columbus Day visit to Connecticut College for open house.