Harvard, Brown and Penn -- Favorites on East Coast Trip!

After a successful West Coast Campus Crawl in the Spring, A Bridge for Kids volunteers met 7 high achieving, very excited teenagers at the San Diego airport the afternoon of July 28th for a trip to visit east coast schools.  These students, chosen from over 50 applicants, were selected based on their desire to attend a university in the Northeast along with their GPA.  Two of the students were ranked #1 in their class at their respective high schools, and the group as a whole had a collective GPA well over 4.00.After landing around 9 P.M. in Washington, DC, it was time for a late dinner (one of many during the week), room assignments and a few hours of sleep.   Everyone was excited about touring many of their dream schools that, thus far, they had only read about.“I’ve always felt like the east coast would be a fantastic place to go to college; but the closer I got to applying to schools, the more apprehensive I felt about going so far away.  However, as soon as we landed in Washington, DC, I knew that I belonged there.  I absolutely loved the urban campuses of both American and George Washington University!” - Hunter, Class of 2015The next morning, after breakfast at the hotel, the group left for the city at 8:00 am, to visit American University and then on to George Washington in the afternoon. After a long day of information sessions and campus tours, the team took a quick walk to see the White House and Washington Monument. Once they finished touring the city and substantial buildings, the day came to a close with a pizza party, where the teens continued exchanging opinions and comparisons of the universities.The following morning saw an even earlier start with a quick trip north to visit the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia.  The vote was unanimous to skip a trip to the Liberty Bell (we googled it instead) and head directly to South Philadelphia and the home of the famous Philly Cheesesteak!   Once divided into pairs, each teen shared one Pat’s steak and one from Gino’s.  While most voted Pat’s a clear winner in this 70 year old rivalry, everyone agreed that no trip to Philly is complete without (at least) one cheesesteak.  After lunch they visited the campuses of University of Pennsylvania and Drexel, and then had a long car ride to Connecticut.“I had such an amazing time on our trip to the east coast. Not only did we visit colleges, we also visited major sites like the White House. I'm really grateful to A Bridge For Kids, not only because they made possible what would have been impossible, to actually visit the colleges I was looking at, but because they also made it an unforgettable experience where I met great new people who were in a similar situation to me. Yet again, ABFK has made my life a bit easier and more enriched, and for that, I am extremely grateful!”- Ashley, Class of 2015Our fourth day consisted of an information session and campus tour of both Yale and Brown University.  Surprising to some, Brown ended up as the favorite school on the trip with 6 of the 7 students expressing their interest in applying there this winter.   Everyone loved the city of Providence and Brown’s quaint New England campus.  However, what really stood out as a big positive to many was the school’s open curriculum that allows for a broader set of course requirements giving students the freedom to choose for themselves what they wish to study."Before I would only hear about schools such as Harvard, Yale, Brown and be completely amazed at the prospect of simply being in such prestigious schools. But I never considered them as legitimate options for me to enter into.  I was particularly moved by Brown and Harvard, and my thought shifted away from simply being there for the sake of saying I went there to seriously considering every factor that comes with applying to such Colleges. Thanks to A Bridge for Kids I was given that opportunity that which is not available to many kids in my area.” - Francis, Class of 2015On the last day of our campus crawl, the teens visited their last Ivy League college, Harvard, and then headed to MIT, the final school on the itinerary.  At the airport, an exhausted group of kids still found time to share stories, emails and phone numbers with their new friends and potential future college classmates."It's been my long time dream to go to college in the east coast, especially the Ivies. I thought I knew everything about the admissions process, yet I had never visited a campus. By visiting 6 in one week, I was able to get a feel for where I wanted to be and how to get there. As a result, my college prospects have changed dramatically and I feel even more ready for the application season. As for the trip itself, it was no leisurely walk in the park, although there were a great many beautiful parks. It was a full schedule with no room for lagging, which allowed us to focus entirely on the campus tours and info sessions. This part I especially appreciated because I don't like wasting time during an opportunity like this one." - Miranda, Class of 2015