What can you tell me about Messiah College and Huntington University?

[Jane Elliot]

Ds #3 is deciding where he'll apply and these two sparked an interest. I think he'd most like to go to Letourneau with his two brothers, but he's considering other options as well.

[creekland]

I don't know a whole lot about Le Tourneau, but from what I do know, Messiah is going to be more liberal with their Christian teaching if that matters or is desired.

 

Messiah is in our neck of the woods and many students who want a Christian college from our ps go there. Those I've asked have generally liked it. Like many Christian schools, there is a group that is there because they want a Christian education, and those that are there, but don't really want to be, and do the party and drinking scene.

 

Adults/alumni I know from there seem to be well-educated, but I can't say I know that many of them (one teacher in our ps, one other adult). I also don't know things like their stats going into grad schools.

 

Students from there are generally well-liked in the community as is the college in general. It's in a nice location just a little south of Harrisburg, PA.

[Jane Elliot]

I don't know a whole lot about Le Tourneau, but from what I do know, Messiah is going to be more liberal with their Christian teaching if that matters or is desired.

 

Messiah is in our neck of the woods and many students who want a Christian college from our ps go there. Those I've asked have generally liked it. Like many Christian schools, there is a group that is there because they want a Christian education, and those that are there, but don't really want to be, and do the party and drinking scene.

 

Adults/alumni I know from there seem to be well-educated, but I can't say I know that many of them (one teacher in our ps, one other adult). I also don't know things like their stats going into grad schools.

 

Students from there are generally well-liked in the community as is the college in general. It's in a nice location just a little south of Harrisburg, PA.

 

Thanks. This information is quite helpful.

[Halftime Hope]

Ds #3 is deciding where he'll apply and these two sparked an interest. I think he'd most like to go to Letourneau with his two brothers, but he's considering other options as well.

 

Messiah was one of the last three colleges left standing in dd's college search. It is the school that I most would have liked for her to attend, of the colleges she looked at. Even though they offered very generous financial aid, we were not able to stomach the debt she would have had to incur to attend, so she chose another college that I think she will be very happy with.

 

There were many things dd liked about Messiah, and I have no doubt she would have gotten a fantastic education there. (I am a Wheaton grad, and I would have been entirely comfortable with the rigor of the education at Messiah. Some other places, not so much.)

 

What set them apart from any of the other colleges she visited was the feel of "family" that we had, from the very beginning of getting to know Messiah all the way to the end. The admissions people went far, far above and beyond, treating her exactly like a good friend's daughter--picking her up at the airport, housing her through the PA blizzard, helping her reschedule flights, lending her snow gear, etc. Every time they called us and spoke with me or her, they were personable, gracious, and very articulate. With several of the other Christian colleges we/she visited, we were made to feel as though they were doing us a great favor arranging a campus visit for us. Sigh!

 

The faculty she met on the honors interview weekend were all very different from one another, and all were warm and engaging. She did not care for one departmental administrator, but that was because the person "mentally turned off" when it became clear that dd was not primarily interested in that department but in another. (I might have done the same thing on a long, busy day.)

 

Several of the faculty made a special effort to continue to connect with dd during times that were not pre-scheduled, inviting her to meals or to visit areas of campus they thought might she might enjoy; one made it a point to go with her to visit the service/ministry office, because the knew that was important to her.

 

While she was on campus, she noticed a general atmosphere of trust and safety that she had not experienced other places. People walked away from their laptops, left food in the community fridges, left bikes at racks without locking them. She asked about it and was told that, indeed, things did not get stolen, and people looked out for each other. Very different!

 

The one slightly negative comment she had was that students seemed to have very little awareness of or interest in dressing smartly; what she described is what I would call "dowdy." Dd is generally a jeans and blouse gal, but she likes to look cute. That might not matter in the slightest to a guy, and it would not have been a deciding factor for her.

 

I have more detail, but it is specific to her major/field, so probably not of much interest to you.

Edited July 2, 2010 by Valerie(TX)