Acceptance!

It's been awhile since I've posted on here.  Come to think of it, this is the first time I've posted on here without collaboration with my amazing mother. 

This post seems long overdue, but I got accepted to and decided to go to Colgate University! Thanks for reading.  This blog will start up again when my little brother starts the college search!

Acceptances are coming in!

Acceptances, deferrals, wait-lists and denials -- almost EVERYONE gets all of the above, so don't worry! As someone once told me, if you get all acceptances, you didn't reach high enough!

Rankings...or not...

Okay, so Austin is DONE with his ranking system. He said he can't rank anymore, but the schools he likes (in no particular order except for alphabetical) are as follows: Bucknell, Dickinson, Emory, Franklin & Marshall, Gettysburg and USC. He also likes Allegheny but they're not in that first group. He still has Wake Forest and Boston College, but readers, we don't know if we'll get there by the end of summer. Oh, and I think he may look at Colgate University in upstate New York.

Our guest blogger has taken a hiatus, so no such luck....for NOW anyway! He may be available later, so STAY TUNED.....

LUSH Emory

Not only is Austin glad to be done with the last leg of the trip, so am I! Readers, my advice to you is that 10 days is too long of a college search trip. You want to maximize the most of your time while back here, but it becomes pretty grueling, both physically and mentally. I know, I know…enough of the advice and seriousness -- you don't care about us, you want to hear about Emory!

Emory is kind of the best of both worlds for Austin. It's a small enough campus, undergraduate-wise, where you don't feel like a number, but it's a big enough campus where not everybody knows your business. The Greek system here is strong, the fraternity houses are really nice (they have that same weird brothel law here in Georgia as well when it comes to the sororities) and the fraternities have MAID SERVICE! Can you imagine a maid going into the Sigma Chi house at USC? Despite the economy, she'd probably quit her job right there on the spot! The school is building all of these really nice, brand new freshman dorms for 2010, and quite frankly, all of the dorms are pretty lush for dorms. Apparently, during the Atlanta Summer Olympics, Emory housed a lot of the athletes so their rooms had to be up-to-snuff. All rooms are air-conditioned and even the older rooms are pretty sweet.

Want to work out? The student gym is state-of-the-art…but you know what readers? Nowadays, all schools have state-of-the-art gyms. I don't think the student gym is a selling point anymore (I remember when I first saw the gym at SMU I was floored, but now I know that the reality is they all have these to-die-for gyms.) If the school you're looking at DOESN'T have a state-of-the-art-gym, there's an issue. Even UCLA has a splendid gym (heh-heh…sorry, just had to put that in there…)

They have an unofficial mascot names Dooley, who is a skeleton (okay, LOVE that!) Dooley has bodyguards and stop class during "Dooley's Week," merely by walking into a classroom and squirting a professor with a squirt gun.

Oh, academics? Oh, yes, right…Emory is pretty well respected and up there. Not an Ivy, of course, but there are kids looking at Ivies who are also looking at Emory. Funny story -- we were put in the same tour group as Nancy Greene's sister's sister-in-law and her daughter from Harvard-Westlake. We started playing the who-do-you-know game and it turns out they know and are sort of related to my (most awesome) next-door-neighbors! And she was on her way to Duke, but had looked at Dartmouth, Amherst, etc. (btw she hated Amherst). So, I only bring that up because you can see there are many types of kids looking at Emory. Will Austin apply here? Absolutely. Is it his first choice? Can't say anymore. At this point, he doesn't have a first choice, which worries him, as he doesn't have an early decision choice because he likes SO many of them! And this, "I don't know what kind of students go there" syndrome seems to be a big issue with him. So what does that mean? More road trips in the fall! Scott, get your suitcase ready because you're going on a road-trip baby!

Feelin' hot, hot HOT part 2

Sorry readers...this got posted before it was complete...that happens when the internet goes down!

Whew doggies...dang, it is HOT here in the Big Easy. Even though it's a balmy 94 degrees, the newscasters here say it feels like, "110." I feel like the Wicked Witch of the West because I am definitely melting. Tell, me why did I bother to blow dry my hair this morning--what was the point of that when it just got wet while outside? You know it's gonna be bad when the windows are sweating and your sunglasses fog up everytime you breathe out. Because, you know, I'm a VAL, I can take the heat, but Austin....whoo, talk about cranky! And our tour guide Benjamin, bless his little effeminate soul, kept stopping in the sunny, non-shady areas to talk. Who knows, maybe he was trying to get a tan while he worked (because Lord knows he could've used one!) Okay, sorry, the heat apparently has made mean-spirited as well -- sorry Benjamin!

Back to the task at hand -- Tulane. Austin felt that the school was still recovering from Katrina and still really didn't have their ducks in a row. Even though there were some very pretty buildings, they seemed somehow disconnected. There was not a "passion" feeling at the school -- maybe it was because there were no students there, or maybe it was the heat, or maybe it was the wave of crime they've been experiencing there, who knows? All I know is I liked it because I didn't feel fat there! Oh, wait, that has nothing to do with Tulane... Anyway, Austin said he didn't want to apply there. "But Austin," I remarked, "this is a safety school for you!" Come to think of it, it's really not a safety if you have no intention of ever going there, right?

Well, readers, we have a treat! My friend has taken his son a a trip through the Ivies this last week and he is going to be a guest blogger! I don't want to mention his name because I don't want to out him (no, not THAT way!) In case he doesn't get a chance to blog, I don't want to put any pressure on him (TR -- no pressure, got that?!) But that will just give us another Californian perspective on Eastern schools.

Tomorrow, Emory.....

Yay for us -- It's Biker Week in Gettysburg

Okay, before I start on Gettysburg College, let me just say that we are in possibly the noisiest city in all of America! It's Biker Week here -- Harleys abound! I called the front desk and asked them approximately how many motorcyles are in town. I was guessing 1,000 maybe even as high as 2,000 -- NOOOOO -- 15,000! Unfortunately for us, our hotel window faces the main street they drive down ~ 15,000 motorcyles driving by my window at night. Oh well, sleep is overrated anyway. We're leaving tomorrow and are bummed because we're going to miss the Tattoo Contest on Friday, not to mention the band Molly Hatchett, the Burn Out Pit contest, "Midget" wrestling (not my verbage) and the Parade of Chrome. **sigh** Timing is everything.

Gettysburg College...I am going to sound like a broken record, but it's beautiful, has fantastic first year seminars, amazing fraternity houses (better than ol' Jed Clampett's digs!), etc. Austin loves all of these schools. I think one of the determining factors for him will be the actual student body. He needs to go to schools where he's applied and has been accepted to, then visit them one last time while they're in session. He did say he loved the openness of Gettysburg. There is a lot of green grass between buildings and a lot of open space. What do you expect when you have battlefields all around you? He actually likes the history of the buildings -- he told me he is usually "campus neutral" but he was actually liking the buildings.

The town of Gettysburg is a lot bigger than you would think. There are a TON of tourists here--who knew it was such a vacation destination? (Probably everyone but me!) It looks like there are a lot of cute little shops along all of the streets...if you like pottery from around the world or civil war relics. Nonetheless, there is a nice feel to the place. And you can't beat the history, that's for sure.

Tomorrow we drive to Baltimore and catch a plane to New Orleans, where it is currently 97 degrees and probably 100% humidity. This should be interesting -- I can tolerate the heat (come on, I'm a Val! Valley Girl for those of you not familiar with the LA lingo) but I'm not so sure my little friend here can. We shall see.

No math at Dickinson

Austin liked this place. He liked the curriculum (or lack thereof -- no math classes--score!) He liked the fact they take ownership of everything -- from their study abroad programs to their sustainability, the folks at Dickinson like to take control of all they're involved in. They seem to be very "green" (SUCH a California buzz-word!) and are proud to show it (as they should be!)

Did I mention that so many of these colleges are not requiring the SAT or ACT for admission? Dang. Could've saved a lot of money and gone to Europe instead. Oh well.

The town of Carlisle, PA is not much to write home about. Restaurants? A few. Shopping? Ouch -- I think NOT. Tory Burch fans stay away (how shallow can I get? Pretty shallow, apparently!) Okay, as I'm writing this, the people around me are talking about Holocaust Museums and Course Curriculum -- and I'm talking about Tory Burch. Do they offer Shallow 101 at any of these schools?

Oh, we did have one disturbing incident here. I thought we were in the liberal North but apparently some Confederates snuck in! Austin and I were taking photos in front of some buildings at Dickinson, and an SUV with 2 boys drove by and yelled, "Better put that in the photo album with his baby pictures." What nice boys! Austin yells back, "Yeah!" and then they reply back, "Queer!" What?!?!? QUEER? Are you SERIOUS?!??! Who says that? Could you even IMAGINE that happening in where we live? (Well, maybe in the 909!) If that's the local flavor here, I don't want any part of it. But I guess turquoise Volcom shorts and v-neck t-shirt style hasn't reached this part of the keystone state. Too bad for them.

F & M

Guess what that stands for? Hint: it's not a bank and it's not a department store. Stands for fun and magnificent! No really, it stands for Franklin and Marshall (College). It's a quaint and beautiful liberal arts college in the heart of Lancaster, PA (pronounced LAINKester -- don't say Lancaster which we did all day!) There was not one thing about this school that Austin did not like -- from the AMAZING Olympic-sized brand new swimming pool (and you all know how much we like swimming pools!) to the nice-sized all-air-conditioned dorm rooms, to the interesting course work and finally to the warm, festive and funny students and employees. The buildings are so old and historic, but when you walk inside, you're transferred to the new and modern insides! One very cool fun fact about F & M is that they have a whole fleet of bikes that you can check out for free, and ride anywhere you want. The bikes are blue and white and say, "Franklin and Marshall" on them -- so fun! The whole entire campus is wi-fi with outlets underneath the trees!

And contrary to popular belief, Lancaster is not in the heart of Amish Country -- Amish Country is still a good 20 minutes away (and I know most of you don't have ANY belief about Lancaster because you have no idea WHERE Lancaster even is -- except for Haley's mom, Kim [see Bucknell photo below]). Anyway, much to Austin's and my surprise, Lancaster is a surprisingly hip, artsy mini-city, with lots of fun boutiques, art galleries and even some head shops (oh….are they still called that? In Amsterdam they're called Smart Shops….makes you wonder…..) The mini-city is quite diverse, and I only wish we had had more time to explore it.

Well, if Austin gets accepted to Franklin and Marshall, we will be back for a longer period of time to explore. Did I mention he's definitely going to apply there? And a couple of you have asked that Austin continue his ratings, however we are going to have to wait for the end of the trip before we complete our ratings. In fact, he's going to be adjusting ALL of his ratings, starting at Allegheny below (for those of you who are new to the blog, make sure you scroll down to the bottom of the page and start at the beginning!)

Amish sightings! Everywhere! Babs at Franklin and Marshall directed us to the heart of Amish country, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint! On more than one occasion, we got stuck on the road behind a horse and buggy with a cute Amish family inside. We stopped roadside at an Amish house for homemade root beer and homemade potato chips (I know, good-bye diet, hello poundage!) Babs also talked us into trying these things called Whoopie Pies -- like an ice cream sandwich, but the middle isn't ice cream and it isn't cold (not like an ice-cream sandwich at all, I guess!) Anyway, it comes in all sorts of flavors and the Amish women make them -- they're very yummy and rich, and I got to get acquainted with my old friend poundage again!

Okay, tomorrow we are off to Dickinson College. We don't know what to expect anymore -- we read the Fiske and Princeton Review books on colleges, and sometimes they seem to be correct, and other times they seem to be completely out-of-sync. My advice (yeah, in my INFINITE wisdom) is to take them with a grain-of-salt. Nothing beats the on-campus experience.

Lafayette -- Not feelin' the love

McFly...Helllooo, McFly! Is that where we first got that "Helllllooooo..." saying? Before we get to the actual college, let me just say that the town of Easton, PA looks just like where Marty grew up in Back to the Future...with the clock tower and all! Town square, ice cream parlor, hot dog stand...I only wish I had spent 4th of July here!

That aside, Lafayette College is "pretty" and "compact" with a lot of engineering students (why in the heck do we always get the college tour with the engineering students?) It's in the Patriot League with Bucknell, Colgate, Lehigh (their arch-rival enemy and Austin's least favorite school he has seen), Holy Cross to name a few (who can remember all of these small liberal-arts colleges? It's not like it's the PAC-10! )

Remember during sorority rush, a girl would come through who was nice, but....? We called those girls NGBs -- nice girl but... Lafayette is, so far, the NGB of our college search. Yeah, it's pretty (what isn't around here?), but so was the NGB. Yeah, it's friendly, but the NGB was friendly, too. Something is just missing -- personality maybe?

Oh, one memorable moment...we drive into Easton last night, get out of the car, and Austin yells, "Mom, there's all of these bugs and they're FLASHING!" Poor lad, he had never seen a fire fly before. Well, truth be told, neither had I and we thought they were quite enchanting...like sparkling Christmas lights but in gut-wrenching heat....

Let me tell you, Pennsylvania looks A LOT different in the summer than in the early spring! Heat and humidity are a given, but that doesn't take away from the beauty of this keystone state. I've always wondered why it's called the keystone state. In the vote for independence, nine delegates to the Continental Congress were from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It's said that the Pennsylvania delegation was split; four for independence and four against. The deciding vote fell to John Morton.... who voted for independence. Pennsylvania's vote for independence was noted as the keystone vote; the supporting vote for a new government. And that's the only history lesson you're going to get on this blog!

Okay, let's get down to the nitty-gritty: Amish sightings. We saw two Amish women yesterday and can't wait to go to Amish country tomorrow to take secret photos of the Amish people (they don't like you to take photos of them, so Austin and I have set up a secret way to do so.)

Wait, isn't this a college-tour blog, not a travel blog? Sorry, the two go hand-in-hand, and when there's not a lot to talk about concerning the college, I tend to go off on tangents....Tomorrow we go to Franklin and Marshall College...talk then....

On the road again....

...Goin places that I've never been, seein' things that I may never see again, and I can't wait to get on the road again..

Who would have thought I would EVER be quoting Willie Nelson? Well loyal readers (all three of you!), truth is stranger than fiction, as you will see when we get back on the road July 5th. Stay tuned....

The End of the Journey...For Now!

Sooo, after driving over 800 miles across the great state of Pennsylvania from the north west border of the state (almost in Ohio) ending up in the south east part of the state, visiting 8 universities, and experiencing all sorts of climate from severe snow showers to actual hot weather, I have to say I am amazed we made every destination on time and almost without a hitch (we won't talk about how I thought our 11:40 flight this morning was at 1:40 and when I realized it at 10:00 AM we were still in our pajamas eating breakfast in our room -- AND made the flight, plus turning in the rental car!)  I'm sorry to say that this leg of the blog is over.  The next time we visit a new college, I will definitely give you all a ring, um er post….whatever. Until then, happy searching everyone!

 

 

Temple who?

Okay, we were supposed to go to Temple in North Philly, but after hearing that you only go to that area, "if you're in a gang or want to buy drugs," and "it looks like a war zone in Iraq," to "no one lives there -- it's a commuter school," we opted out of looking at that one all together.  So no info (or too much info!) on Temple for you all.

The Working Man's School -- Drexel

Some people are of the school of thought you go to college to get a job, and yes I agree with that.  But that's not the ONLY reason you go to college -- you go to grow, meet people different than yourself, have amazing experiences that you might not have the opportunity again to have in your lifetime.  That being said, here's our take on Drexel...  School, school, school, work, work, work -- no, no, no.  That's what you do when you go to Drexel.  Who wants to go to college to work 6 months out of the year and go to school every summer?  Apparently 10,318 kids, that's who.  Our tour guide spent six months building a bridge (and my friend T.R. said, "but that's awesome -- he's building a F*%$&ing bridge!) -- and living by himself in NYC working 9-5 for his 6 month co-op -- maybe that's awesome for some, but not for all.  That tour was PACKED (the fact that it was Good Friday might've had something to do with that as well), and, by Austin's observations, with no cute girls.  After sitting in on the hour information session (which was really interesting), we opted NOT to go on the tour.  That was the first time we did that in all of the schools we saw.  If you are going to college solely for the purpose of getting a job, then this is the place for you.  And I think this is a fabulous opportunity for graduate school, but if you want that tight-knit campus feel with lots of spirit and fun, stay far away from Drexel!  I read in some of the college tour guides that the Drexel kids and the PENN kids are like one big happy family, co-existing next to each other in harmony.  WRONG!   There is ONE good thing about Drexel -- it's in Philly (my second new most favorite city)!!

Final Four Baby -- Villanova!

Unfortunately for us, Villanova, being a Catholic school, was closed three days this week and Monday of next week due to Easter.  I had a self-guided tour that I performed quite well, which is hard when you have an audience of zero plus that audience of zero with a cell phone.  Nonetheless, I learned more about Villanova than I had known before.  The school looks fun, but I think we may need to talk to Cara Chatham (CdM Alum plays volleyball at Villanova) before we make judgement.  Boring blog entry number one (or number nine, depending on your intellect.)

Lehigh=God's Country (but not in Austin's eyes)

Lehigh is every college students' ideal of an idyllic college -- old time history, rituals, buildings and traditions -- everything that "college life" is supposed to be.  I was ready to sign up when they said, "Welcome to Lehigh."  Unfortunately, I was a little high on the age stratosphere, I think, for their liking.  Nevertheless, when someone says to me, "Eighteen fraternities..."  I am sold!!!!   Not for me, you pervs!  For Austin!  Well, I am really just about to go into a tailspin over all Lehigh has to offer (not to mention TOP NOTCH academics!), when Austin turns and says to me, "I really don't want to go to this school."  What?!?!?!  How could you NOT?!?!?!  Wait...the buildings are GORGEOUS, Bethlehem reminds me of San Francisco, the school is built onto the side of a hill where the views at the top are breathtaking, the academics are over-the-top, just short of Ivy, WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?!?!  "Well," he says, "it reminds me of Industrial Revolution meets Harry Potter meets some buildings in the 70s.  I feel like I'm at Hogwarts."  Yeah -- that's the good stuff--that's what it's supposed to feel like!  I guess it all comes down to...you like black, I like white, that's what makes the world go round...or one person's trash is another person's treasure....there's got to be analogy somewhere in there.  Soooo, bottom line, Austin will not be applying to Lehigh :(  New REVISED college ratings (on a scale of 1-5, 5 being best):  Pitt=1.0, Lehigh=2.0, Carnegie Mellon=2.3, Allegheny=4.0, Penn State=4.3, Bucknell=4.5

Picture Perfect Bucknell

Don't let the large cemetery with bulging headstones detour you as you drive onto the campus of Bucknell University, located in small (uh hm, piquito!) Lewisburg, PA.  Only a mere 2 1/2 hours from Penn State, which was only a mere 3 hours from Pittsburgh (no, you can get there in three hours from Philadelphia -- really!), it is every college creator's dream, if there was such a thing as a college creator.  I think the Guidebooks call it "picturesque" which it certainly is.  Had it been sunny and maybe even ABOVE 32 degrees, it would've been every high school junior's dream school.  But we all know this weather is not for everyone, but that doesn't seem to detour those students already there.  And that doesn't detour Austin either, because he absolutely loved Bucknell.  Here are Austin's REVISED scores for schools on a scale from 1-5, one being worst and 5 being best: Allegheny - 4.0, PITT - 2.0, Carnegie Mellon - 2.3, Penn State - 4.3, Bucknell - 4.5.  So far, Bucknell is ahead in the race for Austin's fave raves in Pennsylvania!  He liked the size, the fact they don't let you decide your major until 2nd semester sophomore year, and that it's 40% greek.  He liked that, despite the weather, Haley Prickett and Beau Caillouette (Newport kids) still want to stay there and are loving it.  We had lunch with Haley and Beau and Haley also went on, and contributed to, our tour (see photo below.)  Her mom claims her clothes matched when she was a kid, but Austin and I both think she looks AWESOME and wouldn't change a thing!  Austin will need to pray a lot to get into Bucknell....

You're in Joe Paterno's House Now

Now here is a real man's (and woman's) college.  They have got it all (except for apparently, sunshine -- check out my photos below!): big-time sports; friendly people; a REAL college town; big Greek system; perfect transit system; huge, beautiful campus; the biggest football stadium in the country and best of all, The Creamery, the on-campus ice cream parlor.  Penn State has a Food Science major, and they developed this ice cream that Ben & Jerry tried to emulate (they took the class here) -- well, The Creamery is better!  Everything in The Creamery (cream cheese, mustard, ice cream, milk, cheese -- any diary product) goes from cow (out back) to store and off shelf in four days max  -- now that's fresh!  Anyway, we had THE funniest tour guides you have ever seen!  If you get a chance, come to Penn State for the tour alone -- it's worth the price of admission (free! Plus they give you complimentary lunch in the cafeteria!)  The fraternity houses are really nice -- way nicer than a lot of sorority houses!  Oh, and I forgot to mention that there are no sorority houses in Pennsylvania (at least so far of what I have seen.)  Apparently, according to an old law on the books, a house with more than seven women living in it is considered a BROTHEL (!) so all sororities are housed in dorms with each floor designated for that sorority.  Everyone we talked to who goes here LOVES it -- and we talked to some who have graduated and THEY loved it.  We met some DARLING girls who work at The Nittany Lion Inn the night before we were to go on our tour and they gave us a lot of scoop.  They're both seniors and they are SO SAD to be leaving Penn State (AKA Happy Valley.)  What does that tell you?  We've invited them to stay with us in Newport and I think they're gonna take us up on it!  Always makin' friends….  When we were on the tour they waved at Austin and came up and talked to him, so he felt pretty cool! According to the school, Penn State has the largest alumni group in the country, so that's gotta count for something.  Soooo, Austin's take on the school?  Definitely wants to apply there, thought it was one of the greatest schools he's seen, and he actually likes the crazy weather!  And he would love to go there -- someone yelled, "We are!"  as the tour was going by, and Austin yelled, "Penn State!"  He's already got the bug!  Out of a 5.0, Austin rated this a 4.6.

Tomorrow we will be at Bucknell...hopefully I'll have internet to share it with you!

 

Andy Warhol's Alma Mater

Did you all know Andy Warhol is from Pittsburgh?  And he went to Carnegie Mellon.  Most people think Carnegie Mellon is a bunch of engineering and computer geeks -- well, you're right.  But they also have an amazing theater arts department and art department.  Austin's comments…"Pitt had no good-looking girls, but I didn't even SEE any girls at Carnegie Mellon!"  Odds are not in the male's favor there.  We had some pretty funny, kinda geeky tour guides, but they definitely had a superiority complex.  Whereas the guide at PITT seemed like he just didn't want to be there, these guys definitely wanted to be there, but their attitude was pretty much, "we go here and you don't. Ha-ha."  Fine.  We're not jealous of your school colors (tartan) and your mascot  (the vicious Scottie dog.)  We don't even care that one of your majors is Bag-Pipes.  Really funny side note -- Austin saw Geoffrey Burns (all of you from HDS) looking at Carnegie Mellon.  But Geoffrey was done and off to look at MIT and Harvard.  Bottom line -- not for Austin, but good to see.

There's A Reason it's Called PITT

'Nuff said.  Ewww.  Yucky.  Dirty.  A bunch of buildings in the middle of Pittsburgh.  No good-looking people.  Boring tour guides -- they didn't even attempt to sell the school.  Dorm rooms depressing.  But on the bright side, it IS in Pittsburgh, my new favorite city!  Go Penguins!  And God, I wish there was  Primanti Brothers sandwich shop in California (see John Madden).  And we did get free PITT t-shirts for coming the furthest.

Allegheny College in MEEEEEDville

First of all, DON'T say MEDVILLE because Pennsylvanians look at you as if you're an alien.  We had a jolly-good time getting out of the Pittsburgh Airport (we ended up in short-term parking) and taking the wrong toll road in the opposite direction.  After almost two hours of driving on ice -- yes, that's ICE (you know, that stuff in your freezer that melts the minute you go outside at home) covered bridges, we actually arrived at Allegheny College only two minutes after our assigned time.  Well, no worries there as the admissions staff could not have been NICER -- there were even cookies and coffee waiting for us!  And trust me, after driving like a maniac for almost two hours (oh, did I mention the expressway we were supposed to take was closed due to construction?!?!), I could use a hot beverage in the 34-degree with wind weather.  

Sooo, Austin had a personal interview which he LOVED, then we went on a personal tour with a student.  The College is truly beautiful -- photos posted at the very bottom -- I saw a letter to the Trustees from Thomas Jefferson congratulating Allegheny for their fine library (they had some major contributions in the day) -- it was finer than Harvard's Library and only second to the Library of Congress (who knew?)  Our guide, albeit quite nice and informative, was not in the Greek system, so we had to find that info on our own.  Lucky for us, the Greeks were putting on a Carnival with dunk tanks, sumo suits, the works.  Of course we found the cute girl to chat with  (a KKG) who filled us in on Greek life at Allegheny.  And then she took us over to the one girl she knew from California and that girl was from Irvine and had gone to Tarbut -- okay, how weird is that?!?!?  Next thing we know, there are like six CUTE girls all surrounding Austin and all chattering away about Allegheny.  Bottom line?  They all love it.  Even the CA girl who has now been there five years, says she misses the sun, but wouldn't trade it for anything.

Biggest surprise of all -- Austin loved it.  He said he's definitely applying there -- the Pennsylvania weather suits him.  He really liked everyone he met, and they obviously liked him.  I could go on about the academic accolades, but who wants to read about that on a blog?  Call me if you really want to know.  Austin rated this school a 4.5 on a scale of 5.0. 

 We are now in Pittsburgh and LUCKY US!  There is a street party one block away being put on by PITT -- can't get any better than that!

If you have joined the blog, I think you can be an author as well. I'm stll learning, but check it out and let me know!

Go Panthers,

Janis