In Search of the Perfect College

There are tens of thousands of high school seniors, many who have absolutely no idea what the world is like outside of home, applying to colleges this fall. This huddled mass of teenaged terror quakes at the thought of having to gather information, visit a campus, submit the required academic scores (which all seem horribly inadequate) and, finally, wait for either an acceptance or a rejection letter. Though it may be a distant memory to many, this nerve-wracking process is a painful reality to me.

Instead of spending my second-to-last week of summer stressing about not writing essay after essay for my senior year classes, I decided to pack my bags and head on a five-day road trip to Southern California. But instead of “hitting” the expected beaches, my friend, his mom and I checked out California’s most appealing colleges.

I kept an exclusive day-by-day journal of the experience just for AsianWeek readers, with all the gory details.

Sunday, Day 1: Road Trippin’

My friend Mike, his mom and I set off for Los Angeles. Turn on the Johnny Cash CDs, we’re going to Hollywood!

Monday, Day 2: I Meet Newton the Dog

Most of today was spent gawking at expensive liberal arts colleges. Our first destination was the Claremont Colleges, located just north of Los Angeles. Mike, who wants to study engineering, quickly visited Harvey Mudd, one of the nation’s most prestigious engineering schools. I, however, am completely oblivious of my future career plans. That’s why I visited Pomona, a school with a “comprehensive curriculum in liberal arts and sciences that prepares its graduates to lead lives of creative leadership and exemplary service.” To me, that translated into “a college that allows its students to choose their own fields at a leisurely pace.” While this may be true, the fact that Pomona is one of the best undergraduate schools in the nation didn’t escape me. Nor did it to the tour guide, who hammered it in every chance he could.

My first impression of Pomona College was that is definitely had a laid-back, idyllic feeling. Though located not too far from smoggy L.A., the atmosphere felt surprisingly unpolluted. Another major advantage of the college was its association with the four other Claremont Colleges: Harvey Mudd, Scripps, Claremont McKenna and Pitzer. Since the schools are less than a city block away from each other, students from one college can take classes at any of the other colleges and since each college has a particular academic focus, students can take a greater variety of classes than most other small schools. The small class size in Pomona (an average of 14 students) was another positive quality. But most of that was glossed over by the tour guide, who proclaimed triumphantly the one aspect of Pomona that he thought would most impress prospective students: inner tube water polo! Oh, how well he knows me …

After seeing Claremont McKenna, a college with an emphasis on international relations (and an inner tube water polo team), we visited University of Redlands. Located on the outskirts of L.A., Redlands offers strong programs in creative writing, music, debate, business and international relations. Its Johnston Studies for Integrative Studies offers an “alternate” method for studying in college. If accepted into the program, students can create their own syllabus and make up a major.

As appealing as that may sound, one thing beat it all: its mascot, Newton the dog. Newton, informed an admissions counselor, is an integral part of the school. After animal rights activists protested his living on campus, Newton now resides in the house of a rich alum. “He lives better off than any of us,” laughed the counselor. You can even receive internship and community service hours for walking the dog!

We visited University of California, Los Angeles today. There isn’t much that everybody doesn’t already know about this place, so I’ll be brief. I found the school to be large, dirty and ugly. The walls were peeling, the lockers in the engineering department were worse off than my public high school, and the smog in the sky was stifling.

Wednesday, Day 4: If Harry Potter Could Surf

We drove down to San Diego in the morning and visited University of California, San Diego. My impression of the college was markedly different than of UCLA. The campus, situated amidst lush greenery, is only a couple of miles away from the beach. The buildings all seemed brand new, a significant change from the ornate architecture I had seen in other schools. Academically, a tour guide raved that it was ranked seventh among public institutions. While UCSD is a long way away from UC Berkeley or UCLA by way of reputation, I was impressed.

Like any noteworthy institution, UCSD can be likened to Harry Potter’s school, Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, informed a particularly excitable tour guide. Its six-college system offers a more varied approach to education. As the Hogwart’s school has the houses of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin, UCSD has Eleanor Roosevelt, Earl Warren, Thurgood Marshall, John Muir, Revelle and Sixth. Each school has a specific focus: Revelle offers a more structured curriculum (you have to be proficient in another language to graduate), John Muir College stresses self-sufficiency and individual choice and so on. And unlike other UC schools, prospective UCSD students must apply directly to the specific college, not the university. Most fascinating of all, UCSD too has an inner tube water polo team!

Thursday, Day 5: Weird Al was Here

Today we visited Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, the last college on our itinerary. Located near a beautiful town and by an even more beautiful beach, the college reminded me of UCSD. It’s emphasis on architecture (“architorture,” as it’s known in the school) and engineering (it is ranked one of the top five undergraduate engineering schools in the nation) didn’t impress me too much, as I’m leaning more towards the liberal arts than anything else. Though inner tube water polo wasn’t mentioned, the fact that Weird Al Yankovich recorded his first demo here more than made up for it!

Back Home and Confused

As our journey ended, I took time to muse over the colleges I visited. I particularly liked Pomona College, as its small class size and vast course selection catered to my needs. UCSD didn’t seem too bad either. But I found that nothing could beat Newton the dog!

Seriously though, I wanted to return from my trip with a general “flavor” of what colleges are like. Instead, I came back with my palate burning with a mix of different tastes and impressions, more confused than ever. Hopefully, I will figure it all out in the next few months. Wish me luck.