Travel With Teens and Tweens

Hobart and William Smith Colleges rolled out the welcome mat during our early November visit.  Lake Seneca sparkled in the background during the admissions information session, the 195-acre campus sported green grass and lovely foliage, and our student tour guides went out of their way to answer our myriad of questions.  It was one of the most energetic and useful tours we have taken.

Hobart William Smith campus

After visiting  a dozen colleges that each promise to deliver a life changing educational experience it is easy to get a little jaded.  Hobart’s student tour guides quickly overcame our doubts by exhibiting genuine enthusiasm for their studies, professors and the college community.  Where some tour guides seem to walk through the script, our two guides were clearly engaged.

Hobart William Smith Freshman dorm complex

The coordinate colleges share the theme of Community, Confidence, Clarity.   Community refers to a strong culture of civic engagement and collboration led by President Mark D. Gearan, former Director of the Peace Corps.  The Colleges encourages their 2000+ students to participate in service learning both locally and abroad.

Simultaneously, the colleges are successful in launching students into careers and graduate school.  We were impressed to hear about the Career Center as being just as focused on jobs as on internships and appreciated the Career Pathways programs that begins working with students as early as Freshman year.  About 60% of the student body goes abroad at some point.

Main Hobart William Smith dining hall

Confidence and Clarity refer to the education and character gained from a highly interdisciplinary curriculum taught by an engaged faculty that is active on campus and make student mentoring a  priority.  HWS is located in the small town of Geneva, NY and many of the faculty live locally – adding to the strong sense of community.

Housing and dining services got solid reviews.  The dorm rooms were decent size.  We found all the buildings and grounds were well maintained.

Sports at Hobart William Smith

The school has an active varsity and intramural sports program and greek life is well represented.   Overall, HWS felt like it is hitting the mark when it comes to the mix of academics, community and service that #1 Son is looking for.  It is definitely on his application list.

Wheaton College in Norton, MA is a four-year liberal arts college serving 1600 students on a 400 acre campus in the suburbs of Boston, MA and Providence, RI.   Once an all girls school,  Wheaton went co-ed in 1988.  The school offers small classes and 150 dedicated faculty members who go out of their way to get to know the students.   On campus housing is available for all 4 years.  Many students study abroad at some point in their Wheaton career.

Wheaton College, MA is located on 400 acres in the suburbs of Boston and Providence

In recent years, Wheaton has made it a priority to encourage students to compete  for prestigious academic awards like the Rhodes, Fulbright and Truman scholarships.  The effort is paying off with over 130 awards in the last 10 years.  We were very impressed with the energy and resources devoted towards helping students prepare to compete for these prizes.

The administration building at Wheaton College, MA

We attended a fall open house that included several opportunities to sit in on lectures given by some of the school’s most popular professors.  #1 Son, a budding political science major, was particularly impressed with an insightful analysis of presidential survey poll data.  We also enjoyed a campus tour, includinga visit to the newly opened, state-of-the- art Mars Science Center.

The newly opend Mars Science Center at Wheaton College, MA

We had an opportunity to have lunch in the dining hall, which seemed to offer decent but fairly standard fare.   The students appreciate the fact that, unlike most other schools which issue meal tickets for a specific number of meals in a week, Wheaton’s two cafeterias have an open door all-you-can-eat policy.  If you don’t like the food at the first stop you can check out the other place, or go back for an extra snack during serving hours.

Wheaton offers a number of Division 3 sports including a highly ranked synchronized swimming team.  A fitness center and a number of club sports are also available including ice hockey and ultimate frisbee.

Wheaton College, MA offers a wide range of Division 3 Varsity and club sports

The dorms were not open the day we visited so we can’t comment on them.  Overall, #1 Son left with a very positive impression and is looking forward to learning more about Wheaton traditions such as the Head of the Peacock Regatta on the rather small pond in the center of campus.