Hippie Colleges of Ohio Tour 2016 (Day 2). I awoke this morning at the Hampton Superfund Inn with no visible signs of fluorescence. But I haven’t been near a blacklight all day, so who knows? We drove through snow dusted western Pennsylvania and into Ohio, land of $1.89 gasoline, suicidal birds, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And hippie colleges. Boo and I spent the afternoon at the R&R HOF which is completely awesome. Borderline close to worth a special trip to Cleveland. Except that you have to go to Cleveland. Boo and I spent some time figuring out some of the artists who we were shocked to discover have been snubbed by the HOF. No Moody Blues, B-52’s, Bon Jovi, Billy Preston, Journey, Cars, Lionel Richie/Commodores, Whitney Houston, Neil Diamond (oh wait, Neil Diamond IS in the HOF. So is KISS. Explain that to Jon Bon Jovi). Ridiculously, it took Linda Ronstadt 19 years to be inducted while Van Halen made it in 3. (SMH!). We have now settled in for the evening at the Hampton Inn in Elyria, Ohio, home of a mall, lots of chain restaurants, and many “Notable People” of whom I have never heard. (Arthur Lovett Garford, anyone? He invented the padded bicycle seat!) Tomorrow, we hit Oberlin and the real purpose of this trip begins. I’m figuring out ways to check my privilege as we speak.
Another option to consider might be Eckerd College in St Petersburg, FL. They are a very comfortable school for the vegan, social justice, PETA, tie-dye and bare feet crowd. In fact, bare feet are permitted everywhere but in the dining hall. Also, you can have pets on campus, and your pet can walk with you at graduation. Not sure if they get tiny little diplomas though.
@hyppymom in all fairness the grad school comment came from a few folks that are “local” to Hampshire so have their own bias. Looking forward to Oberlin, it was on the list for a bit until S decided against Ohio as a state. He shares Boo’s feelings about California. Apparently I raised a tree hugging socialist vampire who wants to play jazz on the side. It’s been an interesting search.
@pittsburghscribe – Thanks for the offer. Much to my relief, Boo has decided not to go the conservatory/BFA route. She has many interests outside of the performing arts, so she doesn’t want to follow the restricted route required by most BFA programs. But she would like to go to a LAC that has strong performing arts programs.
Instead, she has informed me that she might want to pursue an MFA after she gets her BA. YAY?$$$$$$$$
Reed is the perfect school for the right kid. It was not the perfect school for mine, hence my own “strong feelings.” But I love when I see a kid for whom it makes sense make that connection. @LKnomad is yours a first year or a veteran? Love at first sight?
Not giving anything away but after reading the blog, love the Oregon synopsis, WA as well though you didn’t make it much into the state! We know kids at all the schools you visited so it was a very fun read and fairly spot on. There are 2 that would be on our list (if they were affordable) though it does amuse me to no end that my S’s chances are arguably better at Reed than those two according to our Naviance. Which isn’t affordable either and is off the list for other reasons.
Early on we had thought perhaps that Hampshire would fill some of what my S loves about Reed but on the east coast (his dream school for a very long time) but as we dug into it, not so much.
The challenge Boo may find, and I’d encourage deep digging if you aren’t already, is finding schools that are strong enough in the music area your child wants, if they are a non major and yet can actually get a performing spot. Oberlin is off our list for that very reason, it is unlikely my S would get to play. We are looking for strong but not “too” strong!.
Re: Reed – @porcupine98 is absolutely right. My impression is that Reed is a love it or hate it place with not much gray area in between. I can see how some people would love it, but it’s not for everyone, and the admissions office makes that very clear.
@eandesmom – I hear you about performance opportunities. Thanks.
@“Erin’s Dad” – this guide is a compilation of visits we took over nearly a year. The first Northeast trip was summer of 2015. Ohio was early April 2016. Pacific Northwest was early June 2016 and Northeast (Part 2) was late June 2016.
For whatever it’s worth, you’re brief ( ?is it over) Pokemon addiction may have been well-served on your hippie college tours. Our son informs us that his most impressive Pokeman Go “catch” to date (LAPRAS) was at Brown earlier this summer…could this be a sign he wonders out loud???
@EastGrad – Touché. Pembroke was not a seven sister, but point taken. And hah!
@vandyeyes – Pokemon Go made its debut after our last Hippie College tour, so I couldn’t search along the way. Sounds like I really missed out! I wouldn’t quite call it an addiction, but I have been known to play while walking the dog. No Lapras yet but I did hatch my first Snorlax from an egg a few days ago, so that was pretty exciting. And yes, I can’t believe that I am a fifty something year old woman who has learned the language of Pokemon in the last two months. How ridiculous am I?
@porcupine98 I loved Reed before my son, and I knew he belonged there. We had an agreement that I can put any college on his list and he would seriously apply, but in the end (finances permitting) he could choose. Reed was somewhere in the middle of the list. We did a quick tour. It was OK.
Then he did an interview and it shot up the list. It was the talk from someone there that impressed him. But his top two were SLACs near us. He wanted try be close to home. We are in SoCal.
Those did not work out. So he decided to look seriously at everything else. This time he sat in on classes, really spoke to students, spent the day, and met with a professor. He had good options, UCLA, Berkeley, etc. But after visiting, of all places, Whitman, the UCs fell of the list. The last stop was Reed. By the end of our visit he was smiling ear to ear. It was obvious to him, this was the place. This was home, even more then the local SLACs. I know my kid.
Can’t post the link here, but oh please, oh please, oh please run a search for the Chinese tents of love! I’ve told Boo that I’ll be camping outside her dorm next year! She’s thrilled!
I’ll link it. It’s kind of cute and scary at the same time. I can’t imagine roughing it like that personally, in such close proximity to so many other parents.
NB – if you read the article, it’s much more understandable why the Chinese parents do this, but trying it on American college campuses would probably cause student riots.
