Lessons from college visits

You don't know until you stand on the campus, eat in the cafeteria, and talk to some students.

Some colleges are just what you thought they'd be, but in my experience there are usually some surprises, not all deal-breakers, but some sure are.

One college I thought would be perfect turned out to feel like a small private high school, even though the campus wasn't all that small. It's just that the buildings, and all the rooms in the buildings, just felt small and kind of dark. I think it must have been all the big shady tress, but I just didn't like the feel. Great food, though. Gulag style dorms.

Another college I thought would be too big felt just right, a combination of the campus layout and the town it was in. I could see myself living there.

This is going to be tough, but try not to make your decision based on your tour guide, because their experiences may not be what you'll experience.  But I have to say that's really hard to do, because you wonder if all the students are like this one person, who may be annoying or just, well, not like you or your friends.

One of the whole points to going away to college is going away, right? Going away from your high school groups, whatever they were, and going away from your past in a lot of ways. Something new, different and even a little bit foreign might be a good thing. Right?

New element on the periodic table

High-school chemistry students, beware. Japanese scientists say they have created one of the elements still missing from the periodic table. The elusive element 113—an atom with 113 protons—has to be manmade because it doesn't occur naturally on Earth. On Wednesday, researchers at the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science announced the successful creation of the element for the first time. If the atom withstands scrutiny, it will be the first element discovered by an Asian country, giving Japan naming rights. So far, only American, Russian, and German scientists have had the honor. There are about 20 synthetic elements, the first of which was created in 1940.

Read it at CBS News

September 26, 2012 4:19 PM

I'm going to need a bigger backpack.

Just when you think you've got your routines down, your desk set up, all your studying ready to go...then, boom! AP Chemistry lands in your life.

Worth it? Yes - just take a look at any college's AP credit page, and then think for a minute about just how big a classroom (auditorium?) would have to be to hold the 300-550 students in an intro chem class.

Bigger backpack. More pizza.

Senior. Like the sound. Now for the reality.

A class period off. Off campus privileges for lunch. Reserved parking space. Prom. All good, right?

College applications, essays, decisions, visits.

And then there's the work, the classes, the tests, the homework.

Pacing is all. Ok, sleep too. Maybe breakfast.