By: Chaske Hunter
On March 1st, Lawrence University in Appleton Wisconsin held the first day of their annual Lawrence University Experience, where all admitted students would be invited onto their campus for a Saturday of presentations, panels, and a tour lead by current students. One highlight of this was that it offered free transportation to any students from Chicago, Milwaukee, and a couple of towns in Wisconsin as long as they registered for it the month before.
With this opportunity many seniors were able to hop on the bus and have a one day road trip to a college they were potentially interested in going to. “I always had it on my list but never got the chance to visit,” one student from Milwaukee said.
I myself was able to visit and found that my experience was very informative. Among the day’s activities included a student panel where they answered both anonymous and real time questions while all parents were off in another room. Three of the students came from another country, which gave another perspective to the brutal midwest winter I was used to already.
Then there was the tour where two students took us around outside and walked around the buildings, into the musical conservatory building as well as a few dorms; a senior dorm hall and a freshman one. The senior one had a lounge on the first floor that had large windows to the river, and they shared that everyone was able to go into each other’s dorm halls to study or hangout.
They finished our day off with two presentations; one on financial aid and the other on freshman orientation week. That second half would be by the students who each shared why they chose to come there, and the experience they had just in that orientation.
According to Meredith College, visiting schools is important because “It is the best way to assess the college’s ‘fit.’” I found that this statement was true because prior to my visit, I had the view of the college as really quiet in a small college town. And while it didn’t have a whole city, it was right by a river and most if not all the buildings were newly built or renovated.
