OT: Looking for insight on our B1G college tour

[John Otterstedt]

I have two sons who will be looking at colleges over the next year....as well as another who is a few years off. Obviously, I'd love for them to go to Rutgers but feel that I at least have to show them what is out there. I figure we can make this exploration into our next vacation. I'm the type to plan months, even a full year, in advance. With that said, I'd love to get your insight into where you'd go if you had 14 days, a car, camping gear, and a desire to explore B1G country as much as possible in that time.

We plan on doing official tours of some schools, while passing through and exploring others on our own. Our goal is to end up in Wisconsin, as we have friends up there. We will camp when possible, but will otherwise seek out decent hotels.

I don't expect to see every school.... just enough to give my kids a sense of what different campuses look like. We will sprinkle in some small schools (mainly local) over the next year so they can see that, too.

If you are familiar with B1G country and have some suggestions for obscure stops, fun destinations, festivals and things that we can visit in between college stops, I'd love to hear it. The kids will be 12, 16, and 17, so I'd like to schedule some stops that would appeal to those age groups. Thank you!

 

[oldman87]

Be careful, I hear Rutgers might pull their acceptances if they take other visits.

 

[ScarletDave]

The coolest college towns to explore for dinner/around night time are State Street in Ann Arbor and State Street in East Lansing. If I didn't grow up partial to RU and could pick and B1G school, I might have picked Wisconsin. The food, the town, everything about it is great and the campus is cool, half in the city/town and also some "campus"-y areas, right on the water and great in all sports. OSU has impressive sports but other than the "oval" (their main quad) which has so many trees you can't see the pretty buildings anyway, there's not much to the campus in terms of campus quad feel. See Chicago (eat at Giordano's Pizza in downtown - look it up) but don't feel the need to visit Northwestern - it's very gothic, gets dark at night with lots of trees and they have so many cicadas the noise .... Purdue you can't beat if they want to do engineering/math/science. West Lafayette is a quaint town and the campus is pretty. If they had better football I might have ended up there. Those are all I can speak to. Maryland is probably another trip, it's also a nice campus but it's all in it's own area, aka not spread within a town. Oh and skip Penn State obviously because it's actually a cool town and pretty campus so they might start getting ideas that you just don't need... :)

 

[RUhoopster]

I was watching a 1985 episode of 'Family Ties' on one of those classic TV channels late last night, and the daughter Mallory was starting to receive college catalogs in the mail to start applying to college. And the 2 she received this particular day were from Ohio State and Rutgers. Found that mildly amusing that these 2 schools would be referenced together way back then, knowing where we are now..

 

[Abro1975]

Indiana U in Bloomington is a gorgeous campus and the Little 500 the 3rd weekend in April could be a fun thing to catch while looking at the College. The Little 500 is an epic bike race depicted in the terrific movie 'Breaking Away'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_500

'Billed as "The World's Greatest College Weekend," the race has expanded into a whole week of activities since its original founding; the Women's Little 500 (100 laps, or 25 miles) was first held in 1988 and continues to be run each year, and other events such as the Little Fifty Running Relay Race and Alumni Races add to the festivities. Infamous cyclist Lance Armstrong said that the race was "the coolest event I ever attended."[2] During his run for presidency the then senator Barack Obama made an unannounced visit to the Little 500 woman's race in 2008.[3] The race has raised more than $1 million in scholarship money over the years'

 

[ClassOf02]

There's a really strange town in the middle of PA that I'd advise you just detour around on your way to Ohio.

 

[jonS]

I'd start with Penn state--state college is a very nice college town but situated in the middle of no where. Michigan and Michigan state have very nice campuses and should be seen. I'm not very big on Columbus but Ohio has a number of very fine small and medium sized colleges and universities that should be seen, like Kenyon and Miami of Ohio in Oxford ( very pretty college town). My sister went to Wisconsin--Madison and loved it. Madison is a great town....

 

[Scarlet83]

I would never go to State Penn. Way too many other schools that are better and generally honorable.

MSU, Michigan, OSU and the two Indiana schools are a must. Nebraska, Iowa and Wisky would be my other choices.

 

[Scarlet83]

I would never go to State Penn. Way too many other schools that are better, generally honorable and worthy of your kids.

MSU, Michigan, OSU and the two Indiana schools are a must. Iowa and Wisky would be my other choices.

 

[Panthergrowl13]

John

My advice is you and your sons (while still in HS) put as much effort in trying to decide what career path they want to take in addition to what school they want to attend.

If they think they know what they want to do or want to pursue a particular major they can get experience/insight into the profession through shadowing or volunteer work.

Example. Say they are interested in the Health Care Professions (PT,OT,Pharmacy,Medicine etc),
they can do volunteer work in that field at a hospital where they can get real world experience and talk to actual practitioners. For highly talented students many schools have conditional admittance into highly competitive programs such medicine, dentistry, pharmacy etc. where you are assured admittance provided you meet the conditional criteria. However, you must list the major as a freshman applying to the school to receive consideration for the conditional admittance.

Knowing your major will also allow you to research the schools departmental ranking of that particular major.

As you are aware,changing majors is really expensive in this day and age.

I have known parents who have taken their children to 10 schools but when I asked them what their children wanted to do they said they have no clue.

I have also have known parents who only visited 2 schools because the child knew what he wanted to do and the schools were renowned in that particular field.

Good luck in your search and if on your trip to the midwest you may want to make a stopover in Pittsburgh. We are not a B1G school but if your son is interested in the Health Care Professions Pitt is ranked in the Top 20 (US News Best Graduate Schools) in every Program and we do have conditional admits.:)

Rutgers is a good school coupled with reduced in state tuition so you may want to explore if Rutgers has conditional admit programs (graduate level).

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

 

[Panthergrowl13]

John

My advice is you and your sons (while still in HS) put as much effort in trying to decide what career path they want to take in addition to what school they want to attend.

If they think they know what they want to do or want to pursue a particular major they can get experience/insight into the profession through shadowing or volunteer work.

Example. Say they are interested in the Health Care Professions (PT,OT,Pharmacy,Medicine etc),
they can do volunteer work in that field at a hospital where they real world experience and talk to actual practitioners. For highly talented students many schools have conditional admittance into highly competitive programs such medicine, dentistry, pharmacy etc. where you are assured admittance provided you meet the conditional criteria. However, you must list the major as a freshman applying to the school to receive consideration for the conditional admittance.

Knowing your major will also allow you to research the schools departmental ranking of that particular major.

As you are aware,changing majors is really expensive in this day and age.

I have known parents who have taken their children to 10 schools but when I asked them what their children wanted to do they said they have no clue.

I have also have known parents who only visited 2 schools because the child knew what he wanted to do and the schools were renowned in that particular field.

Good luck in your search and if on your trip to the midwest you may want to make a stopover in Pittsburgh. We are not a B1G school but if your son is interested in the Health Care Professions Pitt is ranked in the Top 20 (US News Best Graduate Schools) in every Program and we do have conditional admits.:)

Rutgers is a good school coupled with reduced in state tuition and you may want to explore if Rutgers has conditional admit programs (graduate level).

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

Repeat (hit reply instead of edit)

 

[250andCounting]

Did some of these trips with my older kids and found it much more interesting and informative to visit when colleges are in session. Otherwise you don't get the vibe of the campus or get to interact with students. The best time is during high school spring break as generally high school spring breaks, at least in NJ, are not at the same time as the colleges.

While in Ann Arbor, Zingerman's is a must stop for lunch.

 

[Abro1975]

At Purdue (more Astronauts are Purdue alums than any other college)

"The Purdue Grand Prix is an exciting go-kart race at Purdue University. Any student can participate in the race, and every five years an alumni race is held so former students can relive their glory. There is also a Classic race, where only go-karts built before 1986 can enter. There is a whole week of celebrations leading up to this event."

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-...4-7#purdue-grand-prix-at-purdue-university-19

 

[John Otterstedt]

Thank you for all of the suggestions! I have to take my middle guy by Cook, as he has it in his mind that Rutgers is a "city" school. Someone put that in his ear, and I'm not sure why he thinks that considering he has been to about 30 Rutgers football games and has mainly been on the Busch campus. From my perspective, the only deterrent is having to take a bus to some classes.

 

[Ready to Rumble]

I did a similar tour of Big Ten schools when my daughter was looking at colleges. We flew into Indianapolis and rented a car from there to help cut down on the driving from NJ. We first drove about an hour to Indiana which had a beautiful campus. In speaking with the student tour guides there was not much student interest in football. There was a large number of fraternity/sororities and they all seemed to be partying on the weekend we visited. From there we drove to Iowa City which is a great college town. Everything pretty much evolves around the school. We then headed to Minnesota which is located in a big city though The Dinkeytown neighborhood adjacent to campus was where a lot of student oriented restaurants, bars and shops were located. The campus was nice and some of the buildings are connected by tunnels to limit the need to go outside during the winter. From there we went to Wisconsin. I had heard that Madison was a great college town. It felt more urban than I was expecting. The Campus is spread out over a large area of Madison and I wasn't always sure if I was still on campus. Our journey then took us to Illinois. I didn't come away with a strong opinion about most of what I saw. The campus was nice , more of an urban style in a small town but it didn't blow me away. Our last stop was at Purdue. A high percentage of kids are engineering majors. I liked the vibe in West Lafayette but the campus was a little underwhelming. I was turned off when I asked about the number of freshman that graduate in 4 years. The admissions person replied that they liked students to get "the full Purdue experience". That wasn't very reassuring to a dad looking to keep the tuition payments to a 4 year plan. From there we ended up back in Indianapolis to fly back home.
Essentially we drove a big loop through the Midwest with no drive being longer than about 4 hours from school to school. We would spend most of the day touring the campus and town before getting a head start on the next school. I found it interesting and helpful. My daughter was very proactive in researching schools and our trip confirmed that Iowa was the right choice for her and gave us a comfort level with the school and town. She did change majors after her freshman year and going to a large school provided a large choice of majors without needing to transfer elsewhere.

 

[RURM85]

I did a similar tour of Big Ten schools when my daughter was looking at colleges. We flew into Indianapolis and rented a car from there to help cut down on the driving from NJ. We first drove about an hour to Indiana which had a beautiful campus. In speaking with the student tour guides there was not much student interest in football. There was a large number of fraternity/sororities and they all seemed to be partying on the weekend we visited. From there we drove to Iowa City which is a great college town. Everything pretty much evolves around the school. We then headed to Minnesota which is located in a big city though The Dinkeytown neighborhood adjacent to campus was where a lot of student oriented restaurants, bars and shops were located. The campus was nice and some of the buildings are connected by tunnels to limit the need to go outside during the winter. From there we went to Wisconsin. I had heard that Madison was a great college town. It felt more urban than I was expecting. The Campus is spread out over a large area of Madison and I wasn't always sure if I was still on campus. Our journey then took us to Illinois. I didn't come away with a strong opinion about most of what I saw. The campus was nice , more of an urban style in a small town but it didn't blow me away. Our last stop was at Purdue. A high percentage of kids are engineering majors. I liked the vibe in West Lafayette but the campus was a little underwhelming. I was turned off when I asked about the number of freshman that graduate in 4 years. The admissions person replied that they liked students to get "the full Purdue experience". That wasn't very reassuring to a dad looking to keep the tuition payments to a 4 year plan. From there we ended up back in Indianapolis to fly back home.
Essentially we drove a big loop through the Midwest with no drive being longer than about 4 hours from school to school. We would spend most of the day touring the campus and town before getting a head start on the next school. I found it interesting and helpful. My daughter was very proactive in researching schools and our trip confirmed that Iowa was the right choice for her and gave us a comfort level with the school and town. She did change majors after her freshman year and going to a large school provided a large choice of majors without needing to transfer elsewhere.

Did a similar tour although not Illinois and Iowa, and we did visit Michigan State. My daughter chose Indiana University and is currently a rising Junior. Absolutely loves the school and Bloomington. She belongs to a Sorority. The interest during football season is tailgating. They wake up early and hit the fields and fraternity houses for great tailgating. However, the student interest in basketball is huge. She attended multiple IU games at Assembly Hall last season, including her fave which was the Purdue game. They pack em in at Assembly Hall and the students have a blast.

 

[RU23]

Thank you for all of the suggestions! I have to take my middle guy by Cook, as he has it in his mind that Rutgers is a "city" school. Someone put that in his ear, and I'm not sure why he thinks that considering he has been to about 30 Rutgers football games and has mainly been on the Busch campus. From my perspective, the only deterrent is having to take a bus to some classes.

Don't have much experience at other B1G schools but I'll give you some tips for Rutgers.

I wouldn't worry too much about the buses. First of all, I'm pretty sure most if not all B1G schools use a bus system. Once you get used to them it's a piece of cake, and it also prepares you for real life unlike small colleges - most people don't walk three minutes to work every day like kids at small colleges often do. I'd ride them around and get a feel for them, though.

If any of them are interested in business make sure you take them to Livingston, that's where they will spend most of their time. The campus is unbelievable compared to what it used to be - the business school is beautiful as is the dining hall, student center, and apartments. It's also got a movie theater and other nice food spots. I'd consider paying and eating at the dining hall (though it is expensive to do so) as the variety will amaze you. If it's not crowded I'd recommend the mongolian grill, though there's also a great burger area, cook to order pasta, and plenty more.

Busch, Cook, and College Ave all have new projects that are in various stages, some already completed (Food Science Building on Cook is amazing). Definitely try to get an idea of what they'd like to do and do a thorough tour of that specific campus, it'll be less overwhelming. The bus tours are pretty good too.

 

[chrisru99]

John
If the kid's are really good students Id look at TCNJ my kid just graduated in May and in 4 years. She loved her experience at TCNJ and I was very happy sending her to that school.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Kids will talk about the food at each school when they get back.

 

[Mike from MD]

One of the key points to consider is the degree and career paths where you sons show interest. My son is starting his senior year at Wisconsin and was always interested in Chemical Engineering. That took us to Purdue, Michigan, Illinois, Rutgers, and Georgia Tech - all schools where he was accepted.

• Georgia Tech and Purdue have the largest network of engineering alumni which is important for developing a professional career.
• Purdue has the brand new Neil Armstrong engineering building and all the latest technologies available to the studies. Purdue fosters collaborative learning by establishing working groups of engineers in their freshman year. Lots of opportunities for internships through their large professional network of graduates.
• Michigan was nice, but the engineering campus is isolated from the rest of the campus. Michigan is extremely expensive for out of state students and not worth the cost.
• Illinois has a great reputation for Electrical Engineering and some neat research going on in material science and bioengineering. The large new Beckman research center focuses on radiology technology at the graduate level. Nice campus,but 3.5 hours outside of Chicago.
• Rutgers was too familiar and his sister recently graduated from the School of Engineering. He wanted something different.
• He decided on Wisconsin. We were living in Lake County, IL at the time at Madison was the closest campus (other than Northwestern in Evanston). He's done well in the ChemE program and has been enjoying all that Madison has to offer. While we were living in the area I was catching a Rutgers or Wisconsin football game live almost every weekend.

Bottom line, if your children can qualify for any of these schools that says something. After that is is a matter of weighing all the options: career path; quality of educators, facilities and resources; cost and financial aid; and quality of life style.

Ultimately, it's your child's choice and you do your best to put them in a place to succeed. Best of luck and enjoy the tours!

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

G-Tech easily over Purdue IMO

 

[HailHailToMichigan]

If you want to visit as much schools as possible Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Indiana and Illinois is probably the best route to get to Wisconsin.

Not to mention the multiple MAC schools they could be interested in along the way (Miami, Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan and NIU).

If your family is located in northern Wisconsin you might consider going through Michigan (you can not beat camping in northern Michigan, especially in the UP. Just Google some images of northern Michigan. Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes, Torch Lake, Traverse City and Mackinac Island are just a couple of popular spots up north.) This would also add Central Michigan as a potential stop. Great campus and an 18 and up casino resort nearby if you're into that then you could loop back through Illinois and Indiana after Wisconsin on your way back.

 

[shields]

My daughter is almost 14. Anywhere but Penn State.

 

[Badgerc]

My son was accepted into the Honors College at Rutgers, but his first choice was Cornell. Wound up being wait-listed at Cornell, so he chose Rutgers. He's been going to RU football games since he's been five, but never experienced the whole school. He just has his two day freshman orientation this week and he loved it. When we picked him up he said he was glad he didn't get accepted into Cornell because he never would've picked Rutgers. Go figure. We're from Pennsylvania and can't stand the Nitwit Lions and their fans.

 

[RUJohnny99]

If your kid goes to Penn State, I'm out of here.

 

[valkabit]

If your kid goes to Penn State, I'm out of here.

John, if he likes PSU, you'd have to pull a Mr Melton on him & lay down the law..

 

[Scarlet4ever]

Another idea would be to do Iowa>Nebraska>Mt Rushmore/Black Hills>Minnesota>Wisconsin.

 

[PatrickRU92]

There's a really strange town in the middle of PA that I'd advise you just detour around on your way to Ohio.

 

[RC1978]

John, I know you probably have been to RU millions of times. But I have given over 30 tours of RU for friends and friends of friends please feel free to reach out to me if you would like a tour. Having two kids that have gone through RU, one SOE and one SAS Labor Relations and one just got his masters there.
I do not recommend the RU bus tour but the welcome center has a nice program.

BTW about the busses. First year and a half you will probably jump around campus's. But once the have picked their major they basically have most of their classes on one campus. Also Barchi has pushed to reduce the time on busses by looking into schedules etc.

THe number one thing I tell the kids when giving tours is do not think of RU as one really large school. Think of it as four small colleges. If you live on Livi freshman year you have your own dining hall, gym , student center etc. But so do the other campus's. That seems to make sense to them.

 

[SteveVA2]

Buses are necessary to navigate UW-Madison although in the fall and spring bicycles will work. If any of your kids wind up there under no circumstances buy them a moped no matter how much they beg. They are a blight and extremely dangerous on a campus of young people who feel invulnerable and ride them that way.

An absolute must is taking time to buy lunch and sit out on the Terrace at the Union overlooking Lake Mendota.https://union.wisc.edu/visit/terrace-at-the-memorial-union/

 

[ScarletDave]

The buses are an over-rated "problem". Being at RU now, I could give you a list of reasons to explore options, but to be fair the 'big deal' about the buses is irrelevant and should not factor into a decision at all, 0%. Explore the dining halls and see what kind of food they serve. 110% more important

 

[AshSaturday]

Dave, actually working on the money for the date for the serious ladyfriend, yada so this isn't my gig. However you did mention events,

In August in PA (cough, cough) you have the Little League World Series.
I have a whole slew of distant family in Wsconsin (also Nebraska) that I never met. Actually the son of my dstant cousn (who attended and loved Wisconsin-got engaged on Buclky the Badger Statue) is going to play tennis for Michigan Statec starting this fall.

I have to make the Wiscomsin trip. Wisconsin has 2 of the biggest county music Festivals in the Midwest:

1) Country Fest (Cadott, WI)-June
2)Country Jam USA-Eau Claire July 21-23


BTW, years ago I got banned for tactfully suggesting RU start one QB over another. Guess it to be a loyalty violation? Here we have a moderator whose kids are possibly headed to rivals (and not the website). Hmm still might find use for keepchoppng.com, StevePikiell.com or Gregschiano.com.
Ive already experienced the former President of the Court Club at a game rooting against the Lady Knights-and an execttve committee member of the copurt club wearing a Dook jacket during an Executtive Committee meeting. Put the foot down and say "If It Aiint RU-it's tuition you!

 

[John Otterstedt]

RC1978..... I like the idea of posing them as separate schools. I think that makes more sense to a kid who is concerned about the size of Rutgers.

AshSaturday..... I've been running this site since I graduated from Rutgers, and no one has ever been banned from "tactfully" saying anything. As for taking my kids on visits to other schools, I'm assuming you are kidding. I've taken them to Rutgers many, many times, but I owe it to them to let them make their own decisions. They might end up going to community college and living at home for all I know, but it is my goal for them to see what's out there. Plus, I admit that, if my wife wants us to see colleges, my preference would be to get to know the B1G. I think the experience would make it more interesting when watching games in the fall.

I'm actually looking forward to catching a meal at a Rutgers dining hall. I recall all my friends complaining about cafeteria food as students, but I thought it was awesome. Food wasn't necessarily gourmet in my house growing up, lol. I used to love classes on Cook/Douglass so that I could hit the dining hall over there.

 

[AshSaturday]

John, maybe it wasn't you or someone got caught up in the heat of the moment. Did get banned for picking one over another (no insult directed at the other) BTW in R extended family (that includes the #3 and her best-now RUnning a unit) a few of us (not necessarily myself) consider being banned a badge of honor (one brags hes been banned more than anyone else). On the other hand pre seeing this thread was gonna post asking whether my "points" gets me dinner at the moderator's house?

 

[AshSaturday]

John, given your comments maybe not (dinner). Geez I ('86) used to stay on Cook/Douglass (avoided sans 1 class my 4th? year and 1-2 my 5th year (several specifc electives just to get into the library as soon as possible after my clases. Nothing nice to say there as I had to make a big comeback after weeding out in almost all of my Cook pre whatever classes.

I guess it was a lack of friendships with the roomates but I didn't have the dining plan as early as sophomore year. I oft ate at the Douglass Center, that, before its renovaton, was just sandwiches and hot dogs sitting in hot water for hours.

Maybe I was better off anyway. I remember reading the :Livington Medium (remember???) a year or two later and reading a graphic article by one of a par of guys I used to eat with. Shocked as many were) to read him describing graphic nasty sex witth guys (and going on and on with the childish graphic stuff)

As it was the start of the AIDS crisis hope they survived. I know when I joined Alpha Zeta at Cook in 1985-6 (a few years later already) had to defend a topic as part of initiation. I choose allowing HIV children/students into regulaer schools (I think). An arrogant, cocky Med school bound student not only believed he was right,, he tried to block my entrance into AZ. Thnk the prof moderator had to calm him down...

Carolina for the 1st masters was a county club compared to Rutgers. A lot less J*erks also..

 

[jreinsdorf]

NFL HOF in Canton is a must John. Especially when traveling with a few sons

 

[Scarlet83]

I have two sons who will be looking at colleges over the next year....as well as another who is a few years off. Obviously, I'd love for them to go to Rutgers but feel that I at least have to show them what is out there. I figure we can make this exploration into our next vacation. I'm the type to plan months, even a full year, in advance. With that said, I'd love to get your insight into where you'd go if you had 14 days, a car, camping gear, and a desire to explore B1G country as much as possible in that time.

We plan on doing official tours of some schools, while passing through and exploring others on our own. Our goal is to end up in Wisconsin, as we have friends up there. We will camp when possible, but will otherwise seek out decent hotels.

I don't expect to see every school.... just enough to give my kids a sense of what different campuses look like. We will sprinkle in some small schools (mainly local) over the next year so they can see that, too.

If you are familiar with B1G country and have some suggestions for obscure stops, fun destinations, festivals and things that we can visit in between college stops, I'd love to hear it. The kids will be 12, 16, and 17, so I'd like to schedule some stops that would appeal to those age groups. Thank you!

People often decide with emotion and justify with facts (sometimes very inaccurate facts just to justify the decision they WANT to make). It is emotional when people say about Rutgers "I don't want to be on buses all day." Or, "it's an urban campus." The fact is, as someone said, Rutgers is four or five smaller self contained campuses with each campus having everything a student needs, library, student center, dining etc. And I have given a few tours and have pleasantly surprised the guests with how quaint, and beautiful the campus is at Rutgers.

 

[rutgersdave]

With three kids going to college, the cost is going to huge to go to out of state colleges. You might have to wait to see if Hillary is going to be the next president and get a free ride at your in state public colleges. I don't understand why spouses wouldn't take a sabbatical from work for 4 years to get under the $125,000 income limit.

 

[Akron Buck]

Visit OSU and tour campus, see the shoe, and stroll through the buckeye grove. Go just off campus to the German village and eat at Thurmans or Schmidts.

This was my burger form Thurmans this past Saturday

If you want to camp 45 minutes away is Hocking Hills state park where you can camp and it has beautiful scenery with plenty of trails, and several caves and waterfalls.

http://parks.ohiodnr.gov/hockinghills

While in Ohio also stop by Ohio University in Athens, much smaller MAC school but a very nice campus in a quanit little small town.

 

[Akron Buck]

NFL HOF in Canton is a must John. Especially when traveling with a few sons

If you go during induction week you can hit the ribs burn off, see the parade, and the induction ceremony.