I was wrong in my April post. That wasn’t our last college tour. We decided to do two more this month. Last week we visited Hofstra University and SUNY Stony Brook. Both have marine ecology programs that she’s interested in, plus significant art departments. Both are bigger than the other schools we’ve looked at. She was initially very excited for Stony Brook and Hofstra was just an extra while we were there. After touring both, her opinion has swapped!

We started with a morning tour at Hofstra. They had a whole recruiting event going on, so there were lots of people (students, staff, high schoolers, and families), plus balloons everywhere, snackies, and live music. It was a really fun event! The campus is located in a pretty urban area, but the campus itself is a pretty cozy place. Hofstra is a registered Arboretum, so the plant life was diverse and really interesting. Eve loved it. Their science department had pretty awesome fish tanks, and they offer scuba diving as PE credits!

After we were done at Hofstra we decided to swing by Northport to revisit our old stomping grounds. A lot has changed, but plenty has stayed the same. We went out on the dock, ate at the Shipwreck Diner, explored all the cute stores, then went to look at the water some more. Petting dogs along the way. There were so many dogs out!! I don’t know if that’s a normal day in Northport, or if it was “bring your dog into town day,” or something. LOL.

The next day we hit up another diner for breakfast. Long Island is like diner-land. They were everywhere. I always thought it was a Grandma thing, but maybe she was just a product of her location! :)

Then we headed to SUNY Stony Brook. The campus had some nice parts, but overall it was HUGE and had large swaths of concrete and paving (roads, wide walkways, random paved areas, etc.) I might have been a little cranky because we were late and the directions didn’t work properly in the car (routing us to the wrong place on campus) and the tour guides were terrible! All of us were tired by the end. I had scheduled a follow-up tour with the art department and with the science department. We did the art department tour, but Eve wasn’t super impressed. We then had two hours to wait before the science tour, but we were too tired and cranky to wait, so we bailed on that appointment.

Eve actually applied at Stony Brook and at Plattsburg at the end of October when SUNY had a free application week. She applied to Hofstra in the car on the way home from Long Island! Now we wait for the acceptance letters to roll in so we can compare offers.

LOL. I think this will be our last tour. Unless another friend (or aunt) of hers tells her about the *perfect* college that she should check out. :)

Today we dropped my car off for service at the new Tesla dealership, and met Alan for a drive to SUNY Plattsburgh, “Set in one of the world’s most spectacular regions — the Champlain Valley.” (according to their website) It was a beautiful sunshiney day. The trip to Plattsburgh requires a 15 minute ferry ride, which is fun on a beautiful sunny day. Not sure what the experience would be in December though. 😬

We had a great tour around the Plattsburgh campus, despite the high winds! (My co-worker, who also attended SUNY Plattsburgh, said that wind is par for the course and he has “visceral memories” of the wind during his time there!) The campus is large (about 300 acres) but it is all within a narrow triangle shape and has several really nice green spaces mixed in. There was a beautiful fountain, some old buildings, some new buildings, and a great library!

Eve liked the campus and the tour, but didn’t get the same vibe she got from Farmington. She’s decided that Farmington is (currently) her number one, with Plattsburgh and New Paltz coming in a tied second. She’s going to apply to all three this fall, plus J&W, then see who takes her (everyone, I’m sure!) and what the costs are. She’s got a whole spreadsheet going and was texting with Lex on the car ride home about creating a decision matrix. LOL. Glad to see she’s taking this decision seriously!

Yesterday we hit the road before the sun even woke up, and headed into the sunrise to visit the 4th college on Eve’s list. Fourth in order of visiting, first in order of preference. It was in the top two, but after spending the day there I think it has jumped to #1 in all categories.

University of Maine at Farmington (NOT Framingham, as I keep accidentally saying) is a “premier teacher education and liberal arts college for the state of Maine.” (according to their website) It’s a very small college with a tight connection to the local town, Farmington. Eve loved everything about it.

We were there for a “Junior Visit” day with a group of maybe 2-3 dozen other kids and their parents. They had a few sessions, lunch in the dining hall, a campus tour, and a resource fair (that was too crowded and loud so we went to the bookstore instead!). All of the student ambassadors were really friendly and outgoing. Eve brought King Gerald, who happens to be a great conversation starter! I’m trying hard not to take over that King Gerald Instagram account. I would have fun with it. LOL.

I have a few reservations about the size of the college and academic rigor, only because of the amount of time she spend complaining about the people and academic rigor at her high school. I think this college is only a small step up from high school. The graphic design program there is also very new, which could be good (she could be part of the cohort building the program) or bad (if they don’t really grow the program).

In a funny little trivia session I won a prize by knowing what the name of the mascot. Can you guess what I won?

We have one more college visit scheduled for next week. Then it’s time for a vacation from college campuses for a few weeks! (Unless I’m the one picking Lex up in early May, still TBD).

Day three found us at SUNY New Paltz, “in the stunning Hudson River Valley.” (according to their website)

While Johnson & Wales* was very urban, and Purchase was very closed and artsy, New Paltz seemed a really nice in-between. The campus was large, but filled with tress, flowers, and lots of green space. The buildings were a mix of architecture and many were visually interesting. New Paltz has a fitness center and a pool, which Eve liked. We had a very nice tour guide and only one other family on the tour with us. The tour was pretty comprehensive, which was great. Eve likes the wide variety of academic options, perfect for her Liberal Arts heart. :) She thought the campus was too big, but was eager to do our own little walk after the tour for a King Gerald photoshoot. She found her way around campus with no trouble and seemed confident.

So far this is my favorite of the three we’ve seen so far. She is still very undecided, but feeling comfortable with the process so far. She’s eager to see the other two on deck. We’ll be vising University of Maine at Farmington on Wednesday and SUNY Plattsburg next week.

On our way home last night we stopped to visit Joyce at her new house. It’s a lovely little house, and will be even lovelier when the rain stops and (unrelated) when she’s fully unpacked and settled. We all went to the Olive Garden to celebrate the end of this trip. Then E and I drove home through awful rain, fog, and wind. We were both VERY ready to be out of the car by the time we got home at near midnight!

* Johnson & Wales University is abbreviated to JWU and pronounced “J-Woo.” Whenever E talked about J-Woo (and she says it smoothly, like it rolls right off her tongue), all I can think about is “woo girls” from How I Met Your Mother. Young, usually drunk, party girls who yell “woooo” about everything. Every time she said something about JWU, I had to stop myself from yelling “wooo!” 😂 I guess if she ends up going to JWU, that’s something I’ll have to work on! LOL.

Today we visited SUNY Purchase, a very artsy school in “Westchester County, one of the oldest and most well-established destinations in the scenic Hudson Valley.” (according to their website)

The area is beautiful and expensive, but the college is all Brutalist architecture and Eve didn’t love it. It is very much an art focused school and it seemed like you would need to declare a firm major (graphic design, sculpting, painting, etc) when you enroll. They say they have sciences as well, but it’s clearly an art school.

It seemed like there was a lot to do on campus, but there was nothing within walking distance off campus. The tour guides said most people live on campus for all four years. They showed us all of the art studios and spaces, and a dorm room, but not the dining hall, underground tunnels (between dorms and the dining hall), or the library. We were struck by how few people were out on campus. It wasn’t as sunny and beautiful as the day before, but it was pretty nice for a spring day and we only saw dozen or so students out and about. I asked the tour guide about it and she said that people spend a lot of time in their studio spaces, working on their projects, especially now that it’s close to the end of the school year. She said they have regular events on campus and everyone comes out for those, but otherwise what we were seeing is pretty standard.

Eve loves art, as we know, but while we were discussing the visit over lunch (at a delicious pub!) she decided she didn’t want to be at an ALL art school. She wants some sciences and some variety. She also liked the area, but not the campus itself.

Tomorrow we’re off to New Paltz!

Johnson & Whales University, Providence, RI

Big “small” school, right in the middle of the city. Cool dorms (pet friendly, AC, high ceilings), energetic tour guide, beautiful day (no thanks to JWU). We had a nice tour, but it’s definitely a city college. The green/quad is very small and surrounded by three buildings and a road. All of the other buildings are within a several block radius and many are old buildings with local “charm.” The building Eve’s classes would be in was the newest building, but it looked like a pretty small department. She liked the tour, but isn’t sold on the location. (I agree, but it’s not up to me. 😉)