After attending a highly ranked and academically challenging high school, many Lane students want to continue their education at an equally prestigious university. Due to the distance between Chicago and some of the country’s best schools, visiting them before applying can be difficult.

Seventeen students got the chance to explore potential college choices when they visited Tufts University, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Boston College, MIT, Harvard, Boston University and Northeastern University over the course of five days from Feb. 28 to March 4.

Teacher and trip coordinator Ms. Young said that the trip’s destination is decided yearly by a survey sent to Alpha students at the beginning of the year and that the trip was open to any Lane students with an unweighted GPA above 3.5.

“The group has been to southern California, Boston, New York, and now back to Boston, so this is the fourth year of doing this,” Young said. “It gives the kids an idea of do you want to go away.”

Students like Michael Puczko, Div. 052, were drawn to the trip by the opportunity to visit well known schools far away from home.

“I got interested in the trip because I saw that it was Boston and I knew that MIT and Harvard were going to be there, and I’m really interested in going to one of the more prestigious schools,” Puczko said.

The trip gave students a look at colleges that they might not have otherwise considered attending. Sara Vucic, Div. 964, was intrigued by the visit to Tufts University, a private University not far from downtown Boston.

“I’ve never heard of [Tufts] and if I didn’t go on the trip I never would have considered that school, but now it’s a school that I really want to go to,” Vucic said.

Puczko was similarly surprised by the visit to Boston College.

“It was a big shock to me how beautiful the campus was and how great the curriculum seemed,” Puczko said. “I’m probably going to apply there because it seemed so nice.”

While in Boston, the students got a taste of what living on the East Coast can be like. On Wednesday, the first day of the trip, the group went on a guided sightseeing tour.

“I really liked the whole Boston area because it’s so historical,” Vucic said. “It reminds me of Chicago but not really, it’s cleaner and more green.”

The following evening, they visited a bowling alley to try their hand at bowling New England style. According to the International Candlepin Bowling Association,
Candlepin bowling is played with balls that are smaller and lighter than those used for regular bowling and ten mostly straight pins. It is popular in parts of Canada and the Northeast United States.

The return flight to Chicago was delayed by two days following the arrival of a nor’easter on Friday. A nor’easter is strong area of low pressure along the East Coast, causing heavy rain or snow, strong winds, coastal flooding and rough seas, according to The Weather Channel.

During the extra two days spent in Boston, the group got a tour of Boston University from a Lane Alum and walked the campus of Northeastern University. Neither school was on the trip’s original agenda.

“It was pretty rough,” Vucic said of the storm. “We were out touring Harvard and all outdoors and my umbrella broke. You thought Chicago weather was bad, but that thing was like a hurricane.”