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Elephants and Art Heists: College Prep Session 2!

It’s been a busy couple of days! The first days are behind us, and students are really in the thick of things now. Yesterday we had our second college visit, to Tufts University, and tonight we visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on Neighborhood Night.

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Dsc_0059 First, Tufts– this was such a fun campus to visit! They have so many quirky traditions on campus, including painting a real canon. The campus is beautiful, located on a hill, with a pretty spectacular view of Boston. We learned all about Jumbo, the school’s elephant mascot, and met with an admissions officer after our tour. Dsc_0081 The students were very impressed with how much Tufts emphasized the personal element– it’s not just about the grades here, our admissions counselor told us. It’s also about the personalities. They really want to know you! This is great advice for the students as they move forward into next week, when we start working on college admissions essays!

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Tonight, at the Isabella, we wandered through the new wing, listened to music, made crafts, and had some much needed down time.

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The Isabella is a unique museum– part house, part museum, part performance space, it has an enormous collection of art, letters, and historical artifacts. The collector, Isabella Stewart Gardner, built the building to house her collection and once lived in the fourth story of the original building. The Isabella was also the site of a famous art heist– the thieves stole a variety of pieces of art, including works by Rembrandt and Degas, among others. The empty frames are still hanging in place (below, left, is where a Rembrandt painting once was). Isabella Stewart Gardner stipulated that nothing could ever be moved in the museum– it had to remain exactly as she had arranged it. Unfortunately, that includes events of theft! 2013-07-11 20.12.102013-07-11 19.35.53 We’re not supposed to take pictures in the museum, but I took a couple of sneaky shots. That’s all for now from College Prep!

-Megan Hooper