Claim to Fame

Rebecca R. Ruiz, “How Applicants Winnow Their Choices (as Reported by Parents)” • Fri May 15 2009

Media: Blog, The New York Times, The Choice Blog • [link]

The Squirrel Club is mentioned on a popular thread in College Confidential forums, which is then blogged by The Choice Blog of The New York Times. The accompanying photo (by James Gordon) features a squirrel with the caption: “For some prospective students, a squirrel sighting might be the reason to reject a college.”

A conversation thread on the College Confidential Web site explores the instinctual decision-making of some students through the posts of their parents. The title of the discussion: “Stupidest reason a child won’t look at a college.”

Southern accents dissuaded one commenter’s daughter from applying to Duke University. For another student, it was the size of the squirrels at the University of Michigan, a favorite subject in this forum, with others writing to validate the abnormally large size of Ann Arbor’s squirrel population and offer a link to the University’s “squirrel club.”