It's a tradition...

Here's a quick way to get a sense if a college might be the right place for you.  Go to Google and type in the name of a college followed by the word "traditions." 

Seriously, try it.

Bryn Mawr, Bard, Denison, Ohio State, College of Wooster--pick any school that's interesting to you.

Some college traditions involve big parties before football games.  Some involve professors cooking breakfast for students during finals week.  Some are academic, some are social, some are superstitious, and some are just flat out strange.  But they all reveal a lot about the students and the schools.

College traditions are traditions for a reason--because students and faculty have embraced and honored them over time.  There's a reason why Duke students fondly recall camping out for basketball tickets the same way University of Chicago students remember camping out to get the coveted economics classes.  Both are great schools, but they attract very different students.    

If the traditions make the school seem like the kind of place you'd want to be, that's a good sign that you might have found a fit.  On the other hand, if you think to yourself, "If the president is going to cancel class, the LAST thing I'd want to do is go hike to the top of a mountain!" then maybe you should look elsewhere.