Rating the Colleges I visited- Caroline Mastandrea

 Although I'm only going into Junior year, I have a pretty good idea of what kind of college I am looking for. No where small not too close but not too far. Ive gone back and forth with the idea of playing volleyball in college for a while now, but after thinking about the exact kind of college I want to go to, I dont think that a college sport is right for me. I want to go to a big school where I can cheer on our d1 basketball and football team. This weekend, I had a volleyball tournament in Connecticut, so my parents and I thought it would be the perfect time to drive through some colleges so I could get a better understanding of what I might like.

My number one school is an easy choice. the University of Connecticut would be my dream school with 32,000 students attending. Although my mom keeps trying to tell me that a school this big will not offer the same things to me as a smaller school, when it comes to getting to know professors, I keep tuning her out because I loved the college so much. Everything about the campus made me want to go more, it was so pretty and open and my favorite part was the "town square" which is basically like a whole town on campus. There were also sand volleyball courts and open basketball courts, which I loved because I could still get to play with friends.

Coming up as a somewhat close second is Sacred Heart. This campus was absolutely beautiful, and they have about 9,000 students. This is the perfect number because it is not too big or too small. My favorite part of this college was the diner on campus. Very retro vibes and it just seemed like a place everyone would go to. Even though there was construction going on, the places we walked through were so pretty and the buildings all looked very well designed.

In third place is Fairfield University. Theres no reason for this to be so low other than the fact I loved the other two schools so much. It also has a very pretty campus and I loved the location. The town leading up to the collee was such a pretty town and seemed so wholesome. On top of that, it is a 1o minute drive to the beach. I drove by the ocean and all of these tennis courts and could just picture how fun it could be to attend this college. There are 5,000 students here and although that isnt nearly as close to Uconn, it is still a big enough number for me.

In last place in Quinnipiac, with 10,000 students. I really didnt like this campus, even though it was pretty it was not for me. It was a much more nature-y vibe, surrounded by woods and creeks. This is not a college I would go back and tour, solely because it just wasn't my kind of style.