Random Thinking

Tuesday was the day for more college touring, this time closer to home. The targets were Rider University just outside of Trenton and Gwynned-Mercy College outside of Philadelphia. Rider has been sending mail to Beth for about a year plus it is only 20 minutes from Beth’s aunt so we thought it was worth looking into. It is a very nice school but big with about 4,500 undergraduates. We had the usual introduction and then tour around the campus. Since it is a large school it has some great facilities (it is a Division I NCAA school). Most of the students are from the surrounding area but they do have a large number of students that are from the surrounding states including New York. The campus has lots of activities (including something every weekend) and more than 100 clubs. Although the campus is fairly large, most of the main buildings are located in a circle so it isn’t too long a walk from building to building. We weren’t able to meet with anyone from the English department or from admissions but I’m sure if Beth is interested in the school that could be arranged.

Gwynned-Mercy College (GMC) was our next stop. It is in the suburbs of Philadelphia, about 20 miles from the city center. It is much smaller (the smallest school we have seen so far) with less than 2,000 undergraduates of which about 2/3 are commuters. We had stopped for lunch at a nearby restaurant and our waitress happened to attend school at GMC. She told us that she loved the school but the campus was fairly empty on the weekends. We had a nice tour with the person who it turned out would be Beth’s adviser. Since we brought Nana with us, I doubt that Ryan will forget us! The campus is spread out but nice. There are many fewer clubs (less than 30) and no sororities or fraternities. Since the school concentrates on nursing and education the female-to-male ratio is 65-35. (Rider was about 55-45.) GMC is definitely a good school to attend if you are a guy! In fact, there was only one other family on the tour with us and it was a young man interested in the nursing school. After the tour we met someone from admissions and she was able to explain the admissions process and go over the classes Beth would take. She also explained the scholarships available and they are very good including a 100% scholarship!

Afterward Beth wouldn’t talk about either school and chased me away when I tried to get more than, “they were nice,” out of her. I think she is overwhelmed and perhaps a bit nervous about going into her senior year. College will bring a big change in her life and picking a college is an important decision. More colleges next week.