We asked our interns about their experiences visiting colleges, and their first impressions when they visited. Here is what Emma from Cornell had to say!
Wellesley was a beautiful campus in a great town. While the dorms were very old, the student union was by far the best I had seen. The admissions office did a fantastic program for high school juniors in which they had a whole day of mock classes with real professors and several panels about student life. Regardless, I knew from former students that the girls rarely spent time on campus and made their social lives dependent on going into Boston.
Tufts also had a pretty campus. I went during the summer, so it was a little dead. It’s located in a bit of a bad suburb of Boston, but has a nice row of streets surrounding the school with nice restaurants. The dorms looked dorm-like—cinderblock walls and not too impressive. However, I really liked the feel of the campus overall.
I toured Cornell during the summer and it was deserted. However, when I returned for Cornell Days in the spring for accepted students, it completely changed my opinion. The campus is huge and has beautiful buildings. I didn’t like that no one seemed to hang out in the student union or that there was no centralized area to hang out, but overall I really loved it.
University of Virginia, however, took the prize for most beautiful campus. Each building is made of the same brick with white columns. I was very impressed with Charlottesville, but I hesitated being one of the few out-of-state northerners in a sea of Virginians.
Georgetown is very pretty when you look at it from the front gate, but once you walk past Healy Hall (front building), it is cramped and kind of dingy. My brother went there so I knew that there was a reason that the library was not on the tour, as it is very outdated. However, the campus location is ideal, albeit expensive, and the perks being able to find a DC internship far outweighs the campus aesthetics.
Vassar College and Bowdoin were turning points for me, as I realized I wanted a larger university. I felt very claustrophobic at both schools due to their small size and location in small towns. I especially did not like Vassar, as there was no emphasis on the sciences and it seemed to still have heavy influences from its all female days (the student population is still overwhelmingly female). Bowdoin was simply too outdoors-y for me.
Lastly, Middlebury was a close second on the “pretty scale”. The buildings are renovated beautifully and the vistas were gorgeous. But, it was located somewhat in the middle of nowhere and I wouldn’t have access to a car. I felt like I would be stuck in the mountains.
To read more about Emma, visit her Admit Profile!
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