I would not really consider going out to college visits a vacation, but I will make an exemption here. It is that time in every high school senior’s life when they must go out and decide, among all other decisions that need to be made, what school to attend during their college years. In the case of my girls, one would also need to decide what school to transfer to.
I’ve always known the my youngest had a passion for the performing arts. The past three years these has clearly crystalized for her so that she is almost 100 percent sure of pursuing a career in music and theater. My eldest, the one who once upon a time considered a career in nursing is looking into graphics design and animation. So we figured, why not take a look at PACE University, and NYU. In addition, Nov 9 is my wife’s birthday and she has always wanted to watch the broadway musical, The Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. So, we decided to jam all of these activities i not one day, Nov 8, 2013.
Yes, I do realize that the date above mentions Nov 7, but every trip has a starting date. in this case, we decided to spend the night over at my brothers house in New Jersey. We left late afternoon of Nov 7, later than I had planned. But plans do change and we have allowances for that. Our first appointment the next day would be at PACE university, at 11:00 am.
We estimated a 1 hour trip to NY, add 30 mins to account for traffic and we figured everything would be fine. We had our GPS and had the map to a relatively near and reasonable parking space. In the Dc area, that 30 min allowance would have been fine. But, this was New York. So, we encountered a large number of road constructions that made the confusing network of roads even harder to navigate. throw into the mix the tendency of a GPS not to function properly when surrounded by plenty of buildings and we found ourselves going around and around. I was quite surprised to discover that the turn-by-turn instruction provided on the apple iPhone5 worked better than the dedicated GPS we had. I was almost convinced to coos an iPhone over the Android-powered phone. To make the story short, we barely made it. We had to make the sacrifice of taking the closest parking garage which would cost $40.00, but, after having gotten lost on the way to PACE, I was not too confident I could find my way back to the school from the “cheaper” parking garage.
We started on time and after a short presentation, everyone attending was split into 3 groups. We got to tour the dorm, take a look at actual rooms of students (paid to keep their rooms clean and tidy), the library, classrooms, theater, cafeteria, student union offices. The classes are spread out mostly within walking distance but, a concern was that while there were security within the building, walking between buildings was not different than walking in the city. After all, it was New York. They did appear to have a very good Arts and Theater program in place. We left the tour at 1:40pm, confident of having enough time to make it to our next apoointment.
Our appointment at NYU was to start at 2:30pm. I already know that the drive was going to be bad, we would likely get lost again and the parking would cost us more. So, we left the car at PACE and decided to take the taxi. Plenty drove past us. A few asked how much we were willing to pay or, decided that NYU was too close for them to make money. I thought this thing only happened in Manila. Talk about an eye opener. we finally caught a taxi after 20 mins and got to NYU.
We were hungry. But since the tour starts at 2:30pm we thought the food from street hawkers would suffice. Hey, lets try that genuine chinese cuisine! Big mistake! Don’t get me wrong, we love chinese food. But I guess what passes for fast Chinese food we are so familiar with is the Americanized version. So, when in New York, stick to traditional hotdog on a bun. you can’t go wrong.
The format of the NYU tour was different from PACE. For one things, PACE gave away info ration packets geared towards your stated major when you registered. NYU did not. At the PACE, the formal presentation was short, the group tour longer. At NYU, the presentation was (snore) an hour long. The tour, also an hour. Problem was, we only entered the library and a students hall tea. for the most part, we were outside the buildings, classrooms, labs, etc. When asked, we were told that we could goo into students living quarters during the open house. I did not think I would like to conduct another visit for that.
Conclusion
The final decision lies with the kids. Both schools are very expensive. Both have good Music, theater and arts program although NYU seemed to have a slight advantage by reputation. NYU had more campuses, including inter nation portals in Shanghai and Abu Dhabi. But, if we were to base it solely on how the college tour was conducted, I would choose PACE.
Jersey Boys at the August Wilson Theatre
The days was not over. We were also here to celebrate my wife’s birthday (Happy Birthday!). We finished on time at NYU, 4:30pm. Plenty of time to get back to the parking garage at PACE, drive to the hotel, eat and then go watch the play. Wrong! again, we could not get a taxi ride1 took us 40 mins to get a ride, then we hit friday night traffic in New York. When all was said and done, after the taxi ride, the drive to the hotel, he subway ride to the theater, we had enough time to make it to the show, buy a $7.00 soda which came in a souvenir cup, $5.00 bag of skittles and start the show.
The show itself was worth it. The music was fantastic. brought back memories for those old enough to remember the music of The Four Seasons and made the introduction to a new generation more exciting. It was longer that I expected, at 2-1/2 hour including intermission. The seats were uncomfortable. There was enough space between your knees and the seat in front on you to slide two fingers between, but not more. Needless to say, when some one needed to use the restroom, everybody had to stand up. And I thought airline coach seats was already cramped. Everything looked so competitive and my daughter so confident of being in Broadway one day, I truly hope she makes it.
Travel Inn
Let me say something short about the hotel. Better not drive, the parking garage his very small, the hotel room (two twin beds) is very cramped, but livable. The rest room, very small. The shower? water wasn’t strong enough to keep me from practically liking the wall. that was how close I had to be because there wasn’t enough pressure. Finally, ran out of hot water in the middle of the shower.
But, for a single day and considering you were in New York, it was probably a typical experience. If I ever go through the same experience again, I will be sure to post it here.