Anatomy Of A College Visit – A Day In Bloomington
By Shari Benyousky
Photographs by Tony Garza
Why Bloomington?
These words are the opening salvo of my high school senior. Many of you Purdue grads are saying the same to the screen right now (or worse). I’ve had two older kids attend Purdue, so I may have said those exact words at some point myself. But transparency first here, Tony is a graduate of IU Law School. So, when Fall Break rolled around, we had a few days to visit some Indiana Colleges, and no one can argue that the Bloomington campus with its impressive gray limestone buildings doesn’t exist in a golden halo during peak Fall leaf season.
TIP – If you’re a senior in high school, you’ve probably filled out the FAFSA already. If you haven’t, stop reading right here, right now, and go do that first. The money is given out first come, first serve, and that thing opened on Oct. 1. Seriously. Go do it now even if you’re just thinking about attending college in the Fall of 2023.
PLANNING YOUR VISIT
Before you get to the main campus (a 3 ½ hour drive from Warsaw), be sure to arrange a campus tour. It comes with a parking spot coupon which is a big plus. After the hour-long tour, you’ll feel overwhelmed by where to find anything, but the tour comes with a student who will be happy to give you honest answers and tell you the questions that you forgot to ask. The campus extends to almost 2000 acres, so don’t bring your spikey heels. After your tour, be sure to book a smaller session with one of the specific schools which interests your senior. We opted for O’Neil School of Public and Environmental Affairs and ended up in a smaller group of twenty where we could really get a feel for the personality and feel of how freshmen are connected with resources and opportunities. After that, we even spoke with one of the faculty members within the college. This helped my senior to see past the teeming hordes of students in backpacks to the actual potential of learning for himself.
TIP – IU consists of 12 schools and more than 200 undergraduate majors. Explore them here.
WHERE TO STAY?
We booked a tiny Airbnb within walking distance of the IU Campus. Hotels and other options aren’t cheap here. Expect to pay at least $150 a night on average. Do plan to walk a lot as finding a campus parking spot other than the original one with the tour will give you a headache.
TIP – Bus service on campus is FREE, and the IU Bus Mobile App allows you to track and find when they’ll arrive and where they’ll deposit you around campus too. Bus route maps can be found here, but Google Maps works fine too.
WHERE TO EAT?
DINNER OR LUNCH: After tramping all over campus and being plied with enormous amounts of information and career and major options, you’ll all need a place to digest and let the information sift its way into your consciousness. Bloomington boasts an unimaginable range of students from around the globe, so the food options are mouth-wateringly diverse. After consulting the Internet, we opted for some Afghani food at Samira Restaurant for dinner. Think luscious lamb kebobs, grilled veggies with amazing sauces, fluffy naan, varieties of dumplings, or a gorgeous ruby-red lentil soup. We followed with Shir Bering milk rice pudding with cardamom and tiramisu for dessert.
BREAKFAST – Generations of college students have eaten at the Runcible Spoon, a cozy, quirky gathering place since 1976. Drink a mimosa or a bellini or enjoy a coffee roasted on the premises. If you’re brain-dead, just marvel at the whimsical decorations and walls of books.
TIP – A runcible is a nonsense word invented by poet Edward Lear. Check out his poetry while you wait for pancakes bigger than your head. The word can also mean a spork like utensil used to spear pickles.
By now, you’ll know if your senior wants to pursue IU or continue wishing they could flee the Midwest. Either way, a Bloomington trip will put to rest the “Why Bloomington?” question with gorgeous art, interesting people, and excellent food.
Know of an interesting place, statue, or restaurant which you’d like to see featured in this column someday? Send SB Communications LLC an email at [email protected].