@donnaleighg 1st place 2005 - Stephanie Magliore and Thomas Costello. 2nd place - Funky Butter. 3rd place - Stefani Germanotta (Lady Gaga). No idea what they are doing now.
I actually really liked our Wesleyan guideâs answer to the âwhy are you hereâ question. He said he always thought heâd go to Yale (grew up in New Haven). Didnât get into Yale. Thought heâd go to the best place that took him for freshman year and then transfer. After the first week or two he realized he loved it at Wes and wasnât going to bother submitting any transfer applications.
Back to a RPI funny and we werenât even at RPI. On an accepted student tour at GT and a student walks by and wishes a welcome to the future Yellow Jackets. On of the fathers on the tour say âwhen I was at school at RPI we would yell send us your daughtersâ and proceeded to tell us about the 9 to 1 ratio when he was there. Pretty sure he got a few looks.
We were touring a LLC on admitted student day. The tour guide showed the kitchen and said how theyâd started giving basic cooking lessons once they realized some students didnât even know how to cook an egg. A mother starts laughing and makes comment to daughter about sheâs not the only one. Sister (or possibly friend) continues smirking at the embarrassed clueless cook while mother is oblivious to the death stares her daughter is giving her for the rest of the tour.
On a recent tour, the group stopped in a noisy area as the guide stopped to talk about something. The guide said something like âplease step in closer so you can hear me, I promise I donât bite.â
My wife, perhaps a little too loudly, said âBut I doâ and the tour group became remarkably smaller by the next tour stop.
Heard a few today on a tour. From our tour guide (who already had asked our small group what majors they were interested in):
âIf you have any friends interested in nursing, let them know to apply. The school appreciates the application fees.â
same guide, re a museum near campus:
âI use that to take dates to - I get brownie points.â
Same guide re weather:
âItâs really nice today. This isnât typical.â
and re the food:
âIâm not gonna lie, itâs not that great. But itâs better than some other collegesâ food.â
My daughter actually appreciated his honesty and thought he was funny.
Unfortunately, a student walking by a little ways away with his friend commented sort of softly but I could still hear it:
âThis school sucks - donât come here.â
and finally, another guide who was going into the sample dorm room weâd just left:
âIt comes with the closets and everything.â Good to know we donât have to bring our own closet!
In defense of that guide, some schools use armoires instead of closets. Closets tend to have more room.
Oh, yes, the laundry. At one Ohio LAC, the guide proudly announced that laundry was FREE! I said Iâm pretty sure youâre paying for it somewhere. His reply, oh, no, lookâno token or coin slots, totally free. I remarked that while he didnât pay in the laundry room, I was sure it was built into the tuition costs. He was stunned, had obviously thought it was a perk at his school. D1 was trying very hard not to laughâŠsorry, I couldnât help myself.
Please share what you overhear on summer tours. Letâs keep this light as we enter the application season for our 2020 grads!
International visitor having never seen a squirrel in person asked tour guide at a NE school how the numerous squirrels on campus survived the bitterly cold winters.
Tour guide dead pan response was âthey fly southâ.
International visitor said âI had heard of flying squirrels but excited to see one in personâ.
Awkward silence as no one wanted to ruin the visitors moment.
Not funny, but definitely cringeworthy:
Our tour guide at a college about an hour west of Boston was heavyset. As we went into the dining hall, she said enthusiastically âThis is the best part of campus, because who doesnât love food!â So awkward.
I was told this third-hand and canât vouch for its truth, but this allegedly occurred at a well-known Midwest LAC. The tour group was touring and a girl on campus pulled up her T-shirt to expose her pierced, um, lady lumps. This is not the LAC that begins with O.
We visited Penn State on an unseasonably warm February day. Everyone was out in shorts and T-shirts. I believe this is common, but shortly after the tour commenced, a student on campus walked by our guide and shouted âWe are!â Without missing a beat, the guide shouted âPenn State!â It happened again, but this time everyone is the group shouted back âPenn State!â Then it happened a third time. It was fun and definitely impressed my kid.
Many years ago we were on a college tour at one of those tippy top US News ranked schools. At the beginning of the tour, the guide mentioned this school had been their early admission/decision choice. At the end of the tour, when the guide asked for questions, the group was silent. Trying to help out, I asked, âsince it was your first choice, obviously you knew a lot about this school, but were there any surprises?â Without even a pause, the guide responded, âwhen I got here I was surprised a lot of students here had been rejected by (insert name of peer tippy top) and think maybe I should have applied there insteadâ Total silence. Then a voice from the back⊠âwhat did he say?â
We went to visit Georgetown and our tour guide at the end of the tour told everyone âDonât worry, even though itâs a Catholic school, it isnât very Catholic. Even the priests arenât very Catholic, so you can do what you want no worriesâŠâ
We were cracking upâŠ
Student with a 30 ACT visiting a severe undermatch state school - the Admissions councilor said âWhy are you HERE?â
Wouldnât the answer be âto check how much I like this college as a likely/safety college, and show interest if necessaryâ?
This one isnât really that funny but I was on 2 more tours today and more student guides talked about their study-abroad programs and seemed really impressed that your tuition covers the study-abroad costs aside from your flight. They say this like they are the only school that does it this way. Maybe if you are on your first tour ever and youâve never ever considered leaving the US for a semester abroad because of costs itâs nice to hear that that shouldnât be a consideration.
@washugrad What I find funny about students stating your tuition covers study-abroad costs is that study abroad can be cheaper than staying at your home university for a lot of private and OOS public students. What a deal!
D is at a public OOS that participates in the GE3 program (global engineering exchange). Participating in one of these exchange programs would run us ~$25K for a semester since the schools policy is that OOS students still have to pay the OOS tuition rate when they go abroad. Other ârecognizedâ abroad programs that require a bit more work to get courses approved come in at ~$16K/semester.
Most study abroad programs are WAY cheaper than US college tuition. Colleges love study abroad because its a big money maker. Itâs actually the colleges that donât charge you their tuition and only charge the actual cost of study abroad that are worthy of bragging rights and praise.
Iâm sorry to be a wet blanket. my family has normal range BMI indexes, I compete in Ironman triathlons. Fitness is important to me. But it stood out to me that no one said a word regarding a post that saddened me a bit.
In many ways, society is looking to remove the stigma of being oneself in so many ways in 2019.
Accepting alternative gender narratives, non binary students and adults, lbgtq acceptance, plus size models, womenâs personal self expression and concerns with depression, recognizing difference, understanding that not all of these are choice and perhaps a medical issue exists, bullying and humiliation as concerns. Mean girls and guys are not an attractive quality for students these days.
It sad that it was funny in some way that a tour went silent and âawkwardâ, when a cheerful and happy student volunteer who does not conform to our body size expectations mentions the dining hall is great and a favorite place on campus. Because everyone likes food.
Yeah well, sheâs right and dining options and quality always comes up.
And we donât know her story. She could be lovely. She could be a real comeback story. She could be medically challenged. She could just have an issue. She could be lonely and teased.
Did you see the preface:
âNot funny, but definitely cringeworthy:â
And ending
⊠awkward
Yea, I think you are being a wet blanket and over sensitive.