California College Tour

Students will spend the week touring colleges and universities in California. Visiting two colleges per day, they will participate in guided tours and admissions presentations provided by college personnel. While not finalized, the tour will likely include colleges from the following list: Stanford, Santa Clara, Occidental, Claremont Colleges, U. Southern California, U. San Diego, UCLA, and Loyola Marymount.

Students are required to complete a journal identifying five to ten characteristics that they will observe at each campus. They will notate their impressions of each college, specify their likes and dislikes, rank their preferred colleges, and assess themselves in terms of admission crieria. Each student is also expected to summarize the value of this project, and what they learned about their interests and the types of colleges that make a good fit for themselves.

Educational Objectives:

• to explore a wide variety of colleges
• to identify types of colleges of greatest interest
• to learn about various aspects of campus life, from academics to dorm living
• to compare and contrast colleges in terms of public vs. private schools, large vs. small size, urban vs. rural settings, technical vs. liberal arts programs
• to share their impressions and evaluations with others, reflecting on their observations during group processing sessions
• to think critically about college search criteria, and be able to articulate their preferences