 Andrew Dickson White entered college at the age of 16 in 1849 . White dreamed of going to one of the elite eastern colleges , but his father sent him to Geneva Academy ( later known as the Hobart and William Smith Colleges ) , a small Episcopal college.At Geneva , White would read about the great colleges at Oxford University and at the University of Cambridge ; this appears to be his first inspiration for " dreaming of a university worthy of the commonwealth [ New York ] and of the nation . " This dream would become a lifelong goal of White 's . After a year at Geneva , White convinced his father to send him to Yale University . For White , Yale was a great improvement over Geneva , but he found that even at one of the country 's great universities there was " too much reciting by rote and too little real intercourse . " 
