This past Presidents Day Weekend, some of Study Hut’s top tutors, counselors, and test prep gurus embarked upon our first annual Study Hut College Tour.  To call the trip a success would be an understatement, as we learned a plethora of new information about colleges that some of us knew very little about.  We wanted to visit a range of different types of universities, and our only criteria for year 1 was to visit local universities that most of the counselors had not visited before, so as to make the experience as new as possible for as many members of our team as possible.  The universities that we chose to visit do not reflect a judgment or position on behalf of our organization as to the admissions standards, prestige, academic quality, etc. of these universities, but rather as a starting point for conversation and exploration, and a launching point for knowledge gathering.

The Study Hut College Tour began on Friday at CSU Fullerton, the largest Cal State campus by student population.  Although Fullerton is a commuter campus, the on-campus housing was a pleasant surprise: it seemed like the type of place that most of us would love to live!  The facilities exceeded expectations, and we could not believe how much action there was on campus, even on a Friday.

Next, we hopped onto the freeway and checked out Cal Poly Pomona, one of the CSU system’s two polytechnic universities, which is nestled in the San Gabriel foothills.   With an emphasis on math, hard sciences, and engineering, among other popular majors, the oasis that is Cal Poly Pomona has quaint charm to it, especially given how close to Los Angeles the campus finds itself.

We continued the Study Hut College Tour by taking a tour of UC Riverside.  Overlooked by some of our students during the college application process, UCR students have several major advantages over students at other UC schools, namely that none of its majors are impacted.  Ease of access to classes is a major plus for many students at UCR.

To finish off the first annual Study Hut College Tour, our group decided to enjoy a self-guided bike tour of the Claremont Colleges, which turned out to be a fantastic decision.  We managed to tour all of the different schools on the campus, and the facilities were world class.

If you are interested in more details about our trip, please feel free to email rob@studyhut.com.  Also, please keep an eye out for more blog articles on this front; we plan to go into more detail about each school in the coming weeks.