Jennifer Angelo is a high school senior and a contributor to The Princeton Review’s IN blog.
As a senior in high school, I have a lot of friends who are already in college. Hearing them talk about their current lives—and the freedoms they enjoy—always excites me for the coming years.
I was thrilled when some friends at Penn State recently invited me to visit them for a weekend. Even though my perception of Penn State wasn’t great—I thought of it as an overcrowded “party school”—I really wanted to experience college life first-hand.
It's funny how much one’s opinion can change in just a few hours. As soon as I arrived on campus, I immediately felt the warmth of the Penn State community. Everyone seemed so happy, whether they were hanging out in their dorm rooms (with doors open to visitors), playing racquetball in the gym, or handing out fliers for club events. The night I stayed over, my friends provided a long list of things we could do: go to a sailing club party, paint serving trays in the university center, visit the Joe Paterno statue at the stadium, go to a frat event—and that was just the tip of the iceberg.
There were dozens of opportunities that night, so I can only imagine the opportunities available to Penn State students over the course of a semester. While I didn't apply there, it was great to sample the ingredients of college life. I am hopeful that the schools to which I applied will have similar options for me.
One last thing struck me during my visit. Specifically, many of the things we hear about schools are just stereotypes. Yes, there are a lot of kids at Penn State—and there are parties—but it is also much more than that. From this experience, I decided that before I choose which college to attend next year, I should visit each of my choices for a night. You can only learn what it will be like if you live it first.
