Day Ten – University of Notre Dame & Homecoming

The Last Day Begins!

The morning began at 7:15 with Mr. Baur, Amelia, and Christina heading down to the Notre Dame campus for a morning run. Once again, I was forced to stay behind and only dream about the joys of running.

One Last Prank

We had a 10:00 appointment at Notre Dame, so the students were allowed to sleep in for the first time of the trip. Apparently, they did not make good use of their time. Instead, the girls stayed up late last night constructing their final prank of the trip. You will remember (from a previous entry) that the students were concerned about the possibility that strangers in Massachusetts (where same-sex marriage is legal) might confuse Mr. Baur and me for their adoptive dads.

For days, the students secretly collected aluminum soda cans. This morning, the kids decided to wake up early, venture down to the parking lot, and decorate the backside of our van. They taped a string of cans to the back bumper and even attached a decorative “Just Married” sign to the back window. This definitely earned them an A+ for pranks. And considering that Mr. Baur was reluctant even to accept a pink raft at the Dorney Waterpark, he really got a kick out of their creativity.



Off to Notre Dame

After trashing the cans and sign, we hopped into the van and headed down to the Notre Dame campus. Notre Dame was, hands down, the most beautiful campus that I have ever seen, and the students unanimously agreed that it was the most beautiful of the trip. As we walked toward the admissions office, we were all impressed by the gardens, the expansive deep green manicured lawn, the gothic-styled cathedral, and the row of trees that perfectly framed the golden dome, where we met for our admissions information session. The campus is home to 138 buildings on 1,250 acres of land.

Notre Dame was founded by Edward F. Sorin, a Catholic priest, in 1842. To this day, the university’s aim has been to train up students with a focus on academics, spirituality, and community. Though eighty percent of all incoming students are Catholic, this is not a requirement imposed upon students. In fact, our tour guide told us that Notre Dame not only admits Protestants, but also Muslims, and Buddhists, and even atheists.

Campus Life
You will not find Greek life on campus; there are no fraternities or sororities. Much like Harvard & Yale, Notre Dame assigns students to a particular residence hall, which then functions like a fraternity or sorority in terms of fellowship and building community. The college’s students absolutely love this system. In fact, most ND students choose to spend all four years in the residence hall (i.e. dorm). The various halls compete against each other. They each have their own colors, their own chants, and even their own mascots. They compete in virtually all different sports. Mr. Baur and I both really appreciated this style of campus life.

Notre Dame Enrollment

The school’s enrollment is just north of 8,400 students. Notre Dame typically admits around 2,000 freshmen each year. As a medium-sized school, ninety percent of classes are taught by professors, while ten percent of classes are taught by teachers’ assistants. The student to teacher ratio is 12:1.

Among the freshmen admitted in 2007, seventy-one percent of students were in the top five percent of their class. Seventy-five percent of these students scored above a 1350 on the SAT or a 31 on the ACT. Like the other schools, ND requires a good GPA, high test scores, letters of recommendation, essays, and a challenging high school schedule.

Notre Dame boasts one of the highest graduation rates in the country with 95 percent of students graduating on time. During their time at Notre Dame, fifty-eight percent of students will study abroad in one of the school’s forty international programs. Thirty percent of undergraduate students will participate in some form of on-hands research.

Costs & Financial Aid

The costs of tuition, room, and board reach slightly more than $50,000 each year. However, more than three-fourths of all students received financial aid in 2007 — costing the university more than $14 million.

Accolades

The Wall Street Journal has declared that Notre Dame is emerging as one of the “new Ivies” in America. Business Week magazine ranks Notre Dame’s business school as #3 in the nation. U.S. News & World Report ranks Notre Dame Law School 22nd in the nation. The school is among the top 20 in endowment size — with more than $5 billion.

The Final Miles

We left Notre Dame and began the 4:00 hour trip back to Canton (our original launch pad). From start to finish, we managed to put 2,627 miles on the van. Just to put this into context, this is just four miles short of the distance separating Florida and California. Translation: GET ME OUT OF THIS VAN!!!!

In all seriousness, God has really blessed each of us on this trip. The students really seem to appreciate what they have learned, and they had an absolute blast! We experienced no major problems. None of our plans was cancelled or rained out. The students were well-behaved. Everyone got along with each other. The college tours were excellent. And we were blessed by one another.

Mr. Baur and I also had a great time, and we are confident that the trip will really serve these students well. After ten days on the road, we are both very much looking forward to seeing our wives and our baby boys! The students are also ready to be home, even though they are already talking about a “family reunion!”

Trip Summary

When all was said and done, we asked the students to list their top five favorite schools. Among those listed in the students’ top five favorites, the highest rated results are as follows: (1) Yale, (2) NYU, (3) Wheaton, (4) Grove City, (5) Notre Dame, (6) Penn State, (t-7) Harvard, (t-7) Michigan, and (9) Boston College.

We then asked the students to rate the college trip for both the value of its information and fun. On a scale of 1-10 (1 = terrible, 10 = great), the average rating for informational value reached an 8.57. The students’ rating for the level of fun was a 9.93.

We also asked the students to reach a consensus on a number of other questions.

Prettiest Campus: Notre Dame
Best Tour Guide: Yale
Best Surrounding Area: NYU
Friendliest Campus: Grove City
Best Spiritual Environment: Wheaton College
Favorite Restaurant: Gino’s East Pizzeria
Favorite Tourist Attraction: Cedar Point

Day Nine - Wheaton College & Chicago

ADDENDUM to Day Eight: I forgot to credit the students for an act of kindness on Monday night. After leaving Gino’s Pizzeria, the students were approached by an elderly homeless man. The man asked for some food, and Alex kindly opened the pizza box and offered the man a slice of pizza, essentially inviting the man to reach his hands into the pizza box. At this point, Mr. Baur urged Alex to give the man the entire pizza, and the students gladly obliged.

The Visit to Wheaton College

Because we gained an hour upon entering the Central Time Zone, the students were allowed an extra hour of sleep before our 10:00 a.m. appointment at Wheaton College. Unfortunately, we will lose this hour once we travel back to Indiana for our final visit at Notre Dame tomorrow.

The Wheaton campus is nestled in the quaint town, which goes by the same name. Though we were still in the suburbs of Chicago, the area felt very safe and rural. The campus of Wheaton was really nice, and it was smaller than most of us had expected.


Wheaton certainly carries an impressive “brand name,” but the school’s total enrollment reaches only 2,400 students. With 194 full-time professors, this allows the school to keep a low student-to-teacher ratio (12:1). Ninety-three percent of the Wheaton faculty have the highest possible degree in their particular field. Unlike most major universities, no student will ever be taught by a teacher's assistant.

Wheaton is one of the few Christian colleges that manages to excel in the academic realm, while maintaining its spiritual emphasis. Wheaton holds chapel services on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with all students expected to attend. As the admissions representative told us, the two components (spirituality and academics) are not considered separate at Wheaton; they are one.



Wheaton's graduates include legendary evangelists and missionaries like Billy Graham, Jim Elliot, and Nate Saint (depicted in End of the Spear). Wheaton requires its faculty and staff to sign a statement of Evangelical orthodoxy each year in order to prevent the school from drifting into liberalism.

Meanwhile, Wheaton is extremely well-respected in the academic community. In fact, it has been nicknamed the Harvard of the Evangelical church. Kiplinger’s magazine ranked Wheaton College as #15 in the 100 best values for liberal arts universities — even when competing against all of the Ivy League schools. The average Wheaton student boasted an unweighted high school GPA of 3.7 or higher. Seventy-five percent of students scored above a 1240 on the SAT or a 27 on the ACT. My wife, who is an alumnus of Wheaton, describes the college as a great place filled with very driven students, who are serious about impacting this world for Christ. In fact, this driven nature leads seventy-nine percent of students to graduate in only four years.

This year, Wheaton is expecting to admit just 586 new freshmen, and eighty percent of the incoming freshmen will be from outside of Illinois — meaning that campus life does not die on the weekends and holidays. Ninety percent of all students live on campus, and this fosters a strong sense of fellowship among the students. Wheaton's food services program is ranked #1 in the nation. The Wheaton campus lies 30 miles west of Chicago, and it is just one block away from the Metra, which takes passengers to downtown Chicago. In other words, Wheaton offers the comforts and safety of a small town with easy access to America's third largest metropolis!


The total cost for one year at Wheaton includes $26,520 for tuition and $7,770 for room and board. However, because Wheaton still maintains an endowment approaching $300 million, the school is able to award $14 million annually to aid students. Fifty-three percent of incoming freshmen receive financial assistance averaging $17,080 per student.

The students really enjoyed Wheaton. After the visit, we polled the students and three of them had moved Wheaton to the top ranking of their favorite college of this tour. Mr. Baur was also very impressed. In fact, it is his favorite school visited since the inception of WA's college tours. Many WA graduates have attended Wheaton, and we both feel that Westminster Academy graduates would be well-served by keeping Wheaton on their short list of colleges.

One of my personal joys was the opportunity to visit the places where my wife frequented long before I knew her. My favorite point of the Wheaton trip was standing in the exact spot where my wife would go to pray when she was a student. It was right in front of a massive Cross in the Billy Graham Center. It was a real blessing to be able to stand before the Cross and thank our sovereign God for crossing our paths!


Heading Back to Chicago

After visiting Wheaton and experiencing the very moving Billy Graham Museum presentations, we decided to head back into Chicago. We had already experienced Chicago-style pizza; now we were off to experience Chicago-style hotdogs at the famous Wiener Circle (as recommended by Mr. Jominy). Chicago hotdogs are unique in that they include ketchup, mustard, tomatoes, onions, relish, hot peppers, and a pickle spear on a poppy-seed bun. It was pretty delicious!


Once we finished our dogs, we headed north to Wrigley Field. As we exited the van (swat-team style), we learned that Wrigley was hosting a Billy Joel and Elton John concert. We could even hear these legends rehearsing as we got our picture taken.

There was a real buzz in the air. Apparently, this concert drew the musical talents of Chicago. Though we have warned the students not to trust anyone on the streets of Chicago, one "budding young musician" on his bike was desperate to sell his new CD. Alex agreed to buy a CD for $5. Once we returned to the van, he eagerly loaded the CD into a laptop, which recognized his new purchase as a blank CD... ready to be burned! Alex had been swindled into buying a blank CD from a Chicago con-man.


We chalked this one up as a Presbyterian lesson in the reality of total depravity.

After we left Wrigley Field, we ventured down to Navy Pier. Mr. Baur and I attempted to talk the students into taking a riverboat tour of Chicago. However, the students had gotten really excited about experiencing the highly advertised "Funland Maze." Ten minutes after entering the maze, they came out with thumbs down complaining that the maze was little more than a tunnel with mirrors and pillows. The students then went on the world famous ferris wheel, rode the swings, toured the stained glass museum, and bought some amazingly delicious popcorn at the world famous Garrett's Popcorn (also a recommendation of Mr. Jominy).

When we left the pier, we also decided to go and take a picture at the beautiful Buckingham Fountain.

At roughly 6:30 p.m., we entered the van and traveled 1:30 hours toward South Bend, Indiana. Once we arrived at the hotel, we discovered that the hotel chain had once again booked smoking rooms. Mr. Baur exhibited the patience of Job in handling this frustrating situation. In fact, we managed to have the students' rooms upgraded to suites. Unfortunately, due to a shortage of rooms, Mr. Baur and I will be forced to endure a smoking room.

Tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., after Mr. Baur and I have purchased our nicotine patches, we are scheduled to visit Notre Dame. God willing, we will be home tomorrow night!

Day Eight - University of Michigan & Chicago

We all woke up around 7:15 this morning. After eating breakfast at the hotel, we climbed into the van and drove fifteen miles into the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The University of Michigan was quite impressive. Darth Vader led our students on a tour of campus life. Not really.... As we arrived at the informational session, they showed a video narrated by James Earl Jones (a UM alumnus and voice of Darth Vader). After the video, the admissions director spoke for 45 minutes about the distinctives of UM and the school’s admissions process.


University of Michigan Accolades

Newsweek magazine ranked the University of Michigan as the 11th best college in the nation. Kiplingers ranked it as one of the most affordable public universities, but tuition reaches upwards of $31,000 for non-resident students. The University of Michigan offers 226 undergraduate degree programs. Many of these programs, including business, are among the top-ranked programs in the nation.

The school has a first-rate athletics program, and it is home to more than one-thousand student clubs, though some of these clubs sound ridiculous (e.g. the squirrel-watching club). Like Penn State, the network of University of Michigan alumni reaches all over the world with more than 400,000 living graduates.


Admissions Requirements

In 2008, the university admitted 5,710 new freshmen. Seventy-five percent of them had maintained above a 3.7 unweighted GPA with ACT scores north of 28. The University of Michigan considers six different factors during its highly competitive admissions process (i.e. GPA, test scores, extracurriculars, essays, difficulty of schedule, and letters of recommendation). It was more than apparent that UM wants well-rounded students!


After the tour concluded, we hopped into the van (our home away from home), and we began the 4:30 hour trek to Chicago. According to Mr. Baur, the drive to Chicago brought our total mileage for the trip to 2,130 miles.

Welcome to the Windy City!

Our hotel in Bloomingdale (a suburb of Chicago) is absolutely fantastic! Everybody (both students and chaperones) agrees that this is the best hotel of the trip.

After checking in to the hotel, we decided to take the "Metra" train into downtown Chicago for the night. When we arrived at the local train station, we could not figure out how to purchase a train ticket. At that time, the train arrived, and the ticket taker looked at us and said, "Just get on!" He later came and collected the fare. On the train, we met some really nice Chicagoans on the way into Chicago. They offered us some advice for our short evening in the Windy City.

After 45 minutes, we arrived at Union Station in the heart of Chicago. From there, we decided to walk the long hike into the Magnificent Mile district. I can guarantee you that no one mistook us for native Chicago residents. We walked through the city streets with our necks bent backwards and our faces to the skies. We were surrounded by enormous skyscrapers. In fact, Chicago's tallest skyscraper (Sears Tower) is taller than New York's tallest skyscraper (the Empire State Building).

Mr. Baur wanted to show the students (and me) the American Girl doll store, and all of the insanity associated with having daughters! This doll store defies belief! This place featured a clothing store, a film studio, a cafe, a salon, and a clinic FOR THE DOLLS! Many of the girls urged Mr. Baur and me to purchase such things if we should ever have daughters. Let's just say that the males were united in our response!

We also visited the Chicago Water Tower, which was the only building to survive the Chicago fire of 1871. The Great Chicago Fire was one of the worst disasters in American history. It killed hundreds of people and completely destroyed four square miles of Chicago.

After briefly walking through downtown Chicago, we decided to eat dinner at the world famous Gino's Pizzeria. It would be wrong to visit Chicago without exposing the students to Chicago-style pizza, and there is no better restaurant for Chicago pizza than Gino's.

In addition, this allowed the students to leave their mark on Chicago... literally. Gino's restaurant allows its patrons to write on everything, including the walls, the tables, the booths, the posts, and even the doors. The students left several slogans on the restaurant walls, such as "Cooley for President," "Tom for King," and even our new 33-letter mock last name!

After dinner, we took a taxi cab back to Union Station only to discover that the train attendant from our previous ride had given us some bad information. The next train back to the hotel was not leaving until 12:40 am, which would have required a VERY long wait. As we pondered our course of action, the students developed a rap song based on the malfunctioning speaker at the station gates, which incessantly repeated, "Track 11, Tr... Tr... Trr.... Track Eleven, Track, Track, Eleven. Trrr.. Trrr. Trrr. Track Eleven." Lauren was beatboxing, while the other joined in singing along with the malfunction.

The thought of waiting that long for bed, the fear of Chicago train stations in early morning hours, and the prospect of listening to the students rapping for hours led us to the conclusion that we would find a taxi van. We arrived back at the hotel a little before midnight, but the students had a lot of fun. In fact, when I asked them to vote for either Chicago or New York, the final vote was 5-3 in favor of Chicago.

Tomorrow we are off to visit Wheaton, which is my wife's alma mater.

PS ... I wanted to let all parents know that each of the students has been well-behaved and respectful. Each has been very obedient. Despite a very demanding schedule and long roadtrips, they have not complained. With the trip 80% complete, I must tell you that they have been a joy for both Mr. Baur and myself. You have reason to be proud of your sons and daughters. And they really seem to be forging or strengthening these friendships.

Day Seven - Cedar Point Park

Unexpected Wake-Up Call

Everyone was really looking forward to a good night’s sleep before spending an entire day at Cedar Point amusement park. Unfortunately, the students were jolted from their beds when the Hilton’s fire alarm system malfunctioned in the middle of the night — causing an unbearably loud siren to blare in each of the rooms.

According to Alex, Tom immediately grabbed the room’s alarm clock — searching for the snooze button. The rising seniors were unable to go back to sleep. As for me, I am getting so tired that I even tried to sleep through the fire alarm once I heard that it was a malfunction.

Our Sunday Morning Devotion

At 8:30 am, we met in our hotel room for a 20-minute devotional. We talked to the kids about Christ’s allegiance to us and our allegiance to Him. We spoke about the attributes of God and the fact that He is infinite in power, size, goodness, and wisdom. Incredibly, it is this God who loves us. Therefore, we should be comforted by this God's promise to be with us.

Scripture tells us that God set His affections on us before the foundations of the world. Since creation, mankind has been faced with two options — worship or rebellion. The unrepentant sinner -- rather than enjoying the blessings of citizenship as a beloved son in the Kingdom of God -- spurns God’s love and counsel. He attempts to establish his own kingdom in the world. He seeks to do whatever is right in his own eyes. Each of his sins is like an individual declaration of rebellion leveled against the throne of God.

Sin is rooted in rebellion, and obedience is rooted in worship. The Proverbs tell us that “an evil man is bent only on rebellion” (Proverbs 17:11). Think about the greatest evils of Scripture… Satan sought the throne of God. Adam and Eve wanted to “be like God.” The Tower of Babel was man’s attempt “to make a name for themselves” and to reach heaven by their own works.

However, we know that submission, surrender, and faith in Christ are the means of our victory. Though God will not share His glory, He is relentless in the pursuit of His people, and He wages war against the idols of our world that distract us from Him — whether they are false gods, golden statues, or material possessions. The Lord always wins!

As for us, we are only called to pledge our allegiance to God, trusting that He will be our impenetrable fortress; He is mighty to save; and He promises us that we have no reason to fear our future if we are walking with Him.

Off to Cedar Point

We arrived at Cedar Point amusement park around 11 am.

Our first picture at Cedar Point

The students really enjoyed themselves. In fact, by the end of the day, the kids unanimously agreed that Cedar Point was their favorite roller coaster theme park.

1st row: Abby, Andrea, Jen, Lauren
2nd row: Amelia, Alex, Mr. Baur, Christina
3rd row: Tom

The kids rode nearly a dozen rides, spontaneously jumped into a choreographed dance routine of “YMCA,” and they each braved the world’s second fastest roller coaster.

Students Jump into an Impromptu "YMCA" Dance

Each of the students also rode on one of the world's most intense thrill rides. The "Top Thrill Dragster" launches forward reaching 120 mph in less than four seconds. At the end of its initial runway, the roller coaster veers straight up, and launches its riders over 400 feet in the air before falling back to the earth. It was pretty amazing!

Students finish park's fastest roller coaster.

Even Jen, who entered the park with great fear and trepidation, earned top bragging rights by strapping herself into this rollercoaster of rollercoasters. If you question its intensity, check out this link, which shows a trial run after its construction.

Students Having Fun at Cedar Point

As Mr. Baur and the kids rode the various roller coasters, I took it upon myself to courageously ensure that the ground stayed put while they were gone.

Students pose in front of older roller coaster

Day Six - Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom

The Second Half Begins!

Today officially marked the beginning of the second half of our college tour! In the first five days of our trip, we visited nine different colleges in six different states — including Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. We have already put more than 1,600 miles on the van. Just to put this into perspective, this would be like driving from Fort Lauderdale to Maine.

Both Mr. Baur and myself are proud papas of 14-month-old boys (Brady and Caleb). On Friday night, our wives had dinner together, and they sent us a picture of our boys at play on the duck. We both wanted to send a great thanks to our families for allowing us to be gone for ten days.

Brady & Caleb

Today we asked the students to rank the nine colleges that we have visited thus far. We averaged the rankings and thought that you might be interested in the results:

1st – Yale University
2nd – NYU
3rd – Grove City (tied)
3rd – Penn State (tied)
5th – Boston College
6th – Harvard
7th – Princeton
8th – Malone
9th – Columbia

Westward Bound to the Waterpark!

Today and tomorrow will be devoted to backtracking, visiting theme parks, and then proceeding toward the Midwestern states, where we will visit Notre Dame, Wheaton, the and University of Michigan. We arrived at Dorney Park and Wild Water Kingdom around 10:30 am, and the students spent more than four hours riding each of the roller coasters. Each of them had a great time!



Mr. Baur and I noticed that the waterpark had many guests from both Philadelphia and New York. It was more than apparent that these northerners had not been frequently exposed to water. The lifeguards estimated that 50% of the visitors could not swim. One woman even refused to enter 2-feet-deep pool to retrieve a tube. While standing in line at the various rides, we noticed one man wearing a turban; a number of Muslim women were wearing full-body burkas.... not exactly the best bathing suit to pack for a trip to a waterpark.

Today was the first college-free day of the trip. I think that the students really appreciated the break — even though almost seven hours of our day was spent in the van. To be honest, the time went by fast. We have a number of van-driving traditions, like attempting to hold your breath for the duration of any travels inside of a tunnel.

The students have also determined that the last name of our "family" is going to be Cheshallfulntcantmendanbaursmidty — a combination of all of our last names. They are already talking about having a family reunion when the trip is over. It is obvious that the students are having an absolute blast with each other. They have decided to name our van the “Protozoa.” We were not quite sure why they picked this name, but we were told that this was the name of a Disney rock band. Maybe you’ve heard of them. We hadn’t.

Between the constant giggling, the kooky names, and the weird games that have been invented, I am starting to suspect that some of them are a bit sleep deprived. We finished our drive at around 10:00 pm, and we ate dinner at Cracker Barrel. Now I am signing off and heading to bed before I end up in a state of delirium.

Day Five - Boston College and Harvard

Off to Boston College...

Once again, we woke up bright and early, and we loaded into the van for a short drive to Boston College (BC). Mr. Baur had previously visited BC during his junior year of high school, and he loved it at the time. In fact, he would have attended BC (instead of LSU) if money had not been an issue. After the visit, Mr. Baur noted that the campus and the school were just as impressive as he had remembered them.

All of the students really enjoyed the Boston College informational session, which was the most informative and enjoyable to date. Unlike other schools, which merely send an admissions official to lecture a group, the BC admissions official actually brought five students, who took and answered students’ questions. Each of these students came from different majors, and they each had a different perspective that helped their audience to gain a better overall picture of the college.

Last year, the school had 29,000 applications; the school admitted 7,500 of them; but only 2,280 of these students actually enrolled in the school. The school, which was founded by Jesuit priests, certainly seemed to stress the obligation of community service and studies abroad. The school is the 9th most expensive college in the nation at $52,200 for tuition and room and board. The school’s investments in its endowment fund fell $600 million from its peak of $2.1 billion. The admissions representative told us that the administration is halting capital projects in order to ensure that qualified applicants will continue to receive financial aid. He told us that Harvard’s endowment had already lost a whopping $8 billion in the downturn.


The school has 9,000 undergraduate students, and it was obvious that the students place a great emphasis on athletic programs, including football, basketball, baseball, and even hockey. BC features a subway stop that allows for an 11-minute ride into downtown Boston, and the school is included along the route of the Boston Marathon.

Lunch at Harvard Commons

After finishing the tour at BC, we traveled a very short distance to the Harvard campus in Cambridge. As we drove around Boston, the students began to talk about the Massachusetts’ court ruling that legalized same-sex marriages. The students joked about the possibility that others may confuse both Mr. Baur and me for their parents. The students thought that it would be clever to begin referring to Mr. Baur and myself as dad and father, respectively. These deliriously tired and over-excited kids even wrote the lyrics for a new song, the Baur Bunch. Ah, the van rides are quite the experience.

Once we arrived at Harvard, we decided to eat lunch amid the interesting culture of Harvard Square. It became very apparent that Harvard Square was a stomping grounds for the eccentric. The students got lunch from different shops. Some went to a burger joint, where the burgers were named for past Presidents. The girls joked about how long it would be before there is a Cooley Burger. There was a very noticeable difference between the campuses of Harvard and Yale.

The city of Cambridge was filled with eccentric people, street musicians, homeless people, panhandlers, and brilliant students. The kids felt that the campus of Harvard was very odd — to say the least. While the campus of Yale exuded a sense of elitism, the campus of Harvard exuded a sense of rebellious cynicism. It was preppy versus hippie.


Harvard University

Like Boston College, Harvard attempted to incorporate its students into the informational session, though it seemed much more canned. These students did not have notes, but it almost felt like the answers were rehearsed. During this informational session, one of the students from another high school asked about the political activism on campus. The male Harvard student sarcastically told us that the university leaned SLIGHTLY [re: heavily] to the left. He then boasted about how his friends campaigned for Obama, while jokingly assuring the audience: “There are SOME Republicans on campus.”

I was worried that I may have to restrain both Cooley and Fulton.

Harvard University, which was originally founded in 1636, is the oldest university in the United States. There are currently 6,600 students, and it's average class size is less than 20. Ninety-seven percent of students live on campus. Like Yale, Harvard assigns colleges (that are similar to fraternities). The university is home to the largest university library system in the world and the 3rd largest general library in the United States.

Seventy percent of students receive some form of financial aid, and the average financial aid package reaches roughly $40,000. In 2008, Harvard University distributed more than $100 million in financial aid, and this number is expected to grow in the coming years. The information session did point out that one of their classes ("Justice") attracts hundreds of students. In this class, the students discuss moral and ethical issues facing the modern world.

Once again, this Ivy League school seemed eager to divorce itself from its Christian roots. The tour guide repeatedly spoke about the secular and pluralistic nature of Harvard, but we informed our students that Harvard was actually founded by Congregationalist Churches in 1636. In fact, rule #2 of its original handbook read, “Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life, and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.” Rule #3 required students to read the Bible twice daily.
The Drive Back to Pennsylvania

After concluding our tour at Harvard, we piled into the Partridge family van, and we set sail for Pennsylvania. Along the way, we stopped for dinner at an Atlanta Bread Company restaurant. After leaving, we experienced heavy rain for the first time of our trip. The conditions for our drive were utterly deplorable. Coach Baur was forced to contend with rain, fog, poorly marked mountainous roads, a moonless dark night, and a van filled with kids who decided to buy energy drinks for the drive. If that were not enough, Abby managed to step in dog dung at one of our rest stops. Coach Baur did a great job, and everyone is still alive.

In addition to all of the fun and silliness, we have really had some great conversations about tons of stuff! On Sunday, we are planning a Bible study to show how God's attributes (even the less mentioned characteristics like holiness, jealousy, and wrath) reveal His intense love for us.

Please keep the prayers coming! It's been a blast.

Day Four - NYU and Yale University

Arriving Back in New York City

Though our appointment with the NYU admissions office was not scheduled until 10:00 am, we (and by "we" I mean Paul) decided to wake up early enough to tour lower Manhattan before visiting NYU. Because it would be nearly impossible to find a parking spot in lower Manhattan, we bailed from the van at a red light, and Mr. Baur volunteered to circle the city streets in a 12-passenger van while we had the opportunity to walk around lower Manhattan. Let me just say that Mr. Baur could have a future as an NYC bus driver. His driving skills in the most urban of settings was pretty impressive! While we were there, the students visited Ground Zero, saw the Statue of Liberty, and saw the hustle and bustle of Wall Street.




NYU

At 10:00 am, we reported to NYU (New York University). Having been disappointed by the in-your-face liberalism of Columbia, the students were not expecting much from NYU. Thankfully, we were all pleasantly surprised. The admissions director was pretty funny, though the students noted that he laughed twice as hard at his own jokes as his audience did. I think this made him even more endearing. He told many great anecdotal stories of admissions blunders. He told one story about a rejected student who had written his admission essay boasting about how he had "tutored inner-city children." But the student accidentally misspelled tutored as "tortured."

Midway through hour-long informational session, Mr. Baur called and informed me that he was unable to find affordable parking in the city. Once again, he selflessly agreed to stay in the van on the streets of NYC for the duration of our NYU tour. What a guy!

Unlike Columbia University, NYU is not constrained inside of a walled campus. Instead, it is spread throughout Manhattan, and it does not have walls to separate it from the city. After the informational session, we were paired up with our tour guide "Kat", who was originally from Texas (as am I). As you probably know, you just don't mess with Texas! She was really friendly and down-to-earth, and she helped the students to really enjoy the NYU tour. Due to its involvment in the performing arts, NYU has a liberal reputation. But when interrogated by Alex Fulton about her own political views, Kat told us that she was a Republican. I am pretty sure that Alex felt like he had found the conservative needle in New York's haystack.

Kat made a good case for the benefits of living in the city. For example, two-thirds of all business students benefit from an internship with a Wall Street firm. Likewise, the performing arts students often get gigs on Broadway. Kat even helped to develop a marketing strategy for a recent Jack Black film, and she got to walk down the red carpet with him at the premiere.

The many internships and cooperatives with area businesses makes NYU attractive to prospective students. Just last year, NYU boasted a 96% job placement rate for their graduates ... even at the beginning of an economic downturn. NYU receives over 40,000 applications each year, but they accept roughly ten percent of them. The average student had SAT scores of 1420. Tuition cost $37,000 annually, and dorm rooms in New York cost $14,000.

The school also has eleven satellite campuses around the world, including locations in London, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Prague, Shanghai, and Buenos Aires. In an official van-wide poll at the end of Day #4, NYU was tied with Grove City College for the favorite among the students (with three votes each).

Yale University

Yale University After the tour was completed, we rendevouzed with Mr. Baur in the streets of Manhattan, and we began our long trek to Connecticut for our tour of Yale. The traffic was absolutely terrible for the majority of our drive to Yale. After eating lunch at either Subway and Moe's (mexican), we met up with our Yale University tour guide. His name was Sam, and he was a die-hard advocate for Yale. He was exceptionally energetic, and he was -- um, how shall we say -- extremely flamboyant. In fact, his hand and arm gestures were so dramatic that I actually wondered how he kept from dislocating a wrist or elbow. Sam was a great advocate for Yale, and we really appreciated his excited presentation.


Yale has 5,300 undergraduate students with roughly 1,400 students in a typical incoming freshman class. The annual cost of a Yale education was estimated to reach $50,550 — after accounting for tuition, room & board, and books. However, Yale University has an enormous endowment, allowing them to offer massive amounts of financial aid. Families making less than $60,000 will not pay any tuition. Families making between $60,000 and $120,000 usually contribute between 1-10 percent of tuition costs.

The buildings at Yale were absolutely stunning — with architecture more beautiful than any other campus that we have seen thus far. In fact, the importance of preserving campus aesthetics led the university to build much of its massive library system underground beneath the college courtyards. Christina, who considers Yale and NYU to be her favorite universities, says, “Yale was amazing. Everything — from the enthusiasm of the students to the top-notch resources available — was just awesome.”

Our brief tour through the campus (seeing students in action) proved that Yale University has a tremendous amount of neat traditions, school spirit, and comradery among students. Yale University is the third oldest university in the United States. The university has graduated four of the last seven U.S. Presidents.

Rather than the traditional college system of fraternities and sororities, Yale places its students into various college houses, each of which is overseen by both a dean and a master. The dean takes care of the business end of living, while the master of the college house focuses on college life. The various colleges help students to build deep and lasting friendships while also stoking the intramural sense of competition.

Our tour guide took great delight in pointing out that the school had a rich secular history, but he failed to mention the fact that Yale University was founded by Congregational ministers in 1701. Their stated purpose at the time of the founding was to create a college where the youth “through the blessing of Almighty God may be fitted for Public employment in church and civil state.”

The Drive into Boston

Immediately after we finished the tour at Yale, we hopped into the van and began our drive to Boston. We checked into our hotel, a Hilton Garden Inn. The students felt that the quality of our hotels had improved with each night of the trip. After resting for a couple of minutes, we all loaded into the van and drove downtown for a night on the town. Mr. Baur took us to “The Upper Crust,” which is a famous Boston pizzeria. This narrow pizzeria had just one table that seated ten and a bunch of stools against a wall ledge, so we were up close and personal with some native Bostonians.

In an effort to be friendly to the natives, Tom decided to rip off the top of his pizza box, so that the opened box did not intrude upon the grumpy old man across the table. As I watched this unfold, I noticed that the man was looking at Tom like he was crazy. Suddenly, Tom’s hand ripped the box and knocked over a vase filled with water. It seemed like 503 gallons of water dumped right into the man’s lap. I immediately looked at Tom, and he was totally frozen — staring at the man. His face was halfway between pure terror and a nervous smile. The man, on the other hand, stared back at Tom with a look of total disbelief and aggravation.

In the ensuing seconds, as the water continued to drain off the table onto the man’s lap, Tom remained frozen. Eventually, Tom snapped out of it and profusely apologized to the man. We sopped up the table with napkins. Then at the perfect time, the man’s order was announced, and he was distracted. But the pizzeria had totally charred his pizza, and the man’s fuse reached its end. He unloaded on the pizzeria employees with some colorful Boston language.

For the remainder of our dinner, the man refused to acknowledge any of my attempts at peacemaking small talk. The man’s stoic demeanor, coupled with the recurring images of Tom’s facial expression, sent me into an awful case of giggles. Absolutely priceless!

On the way home, we decided to drive by the Old North Church which sent Paul Revere on his famous midnight ride. This famous church was used to announce the coming of the British army in 1775 at the onset of the Revolutionary War. The church parson placed two torches in the tower of his church and lit them to announce the coming of the British. You might be familiar with the famous expression: “One if by land; two if by sea.”