College Visits

[danielle]

A recent thread about choosing colleges got me thinking that it would be a great benefit to all of us if those of us who are visiting colleges would post a report on the school(s) visited. Just a few impressions would be really valuable at least to me. Longer reports, great also.

 

How 'bout it?

Danielle

[hsmamainva]

Sounds great! I'll even volunteer to go first!

 

Here are the colleges my oldest has visited:

 

Juniata College (PA) - in the middle of nowhere .. dd wasn't impressed at all with it because it didn't have much of a campus feel...sort of a college dropped in the middle of a neighborhood in a really, really small town

 

Coastal Carolina Univ (SC) - my dd loved it! Beautiful campus about 10 miles from Myrtle Beach. Lots of out-of-state students (around 50%). Huge marine biology / science program.

 

Campbell Univ (NC) - this was really in the middle of nowhere! Very Christian campus. It was pretty, though!

 

Saint Mary's College (MD) - another college in the middle of nowhere -- right on the water literally - strong academic program -- a public honors college

 

Virginia Tech (VA) - HUGE campus...all the buildings look the same .. freezing cold when we visited ... long, long walk from the dormitories to the academic buildings

 

Univ of Virginia (VA) - beautiful campus -- lots of college tradition

 

William & Mary (VA) - lovely historic campus -- hard working students (or so it appeared!)

 

Radford Univ (VA) - nice campus -- friendly students

 

Longwood Univ (VA) - lovely campus... in the middle of a cornfield -- nothing much there, other than the school

 

Randolph-Macon (VA) - a very nice school! Very welcoming to homeschoolers -- if they can come up with the $$ needed for the $36K price tag

 

Old Dominion Univ (VA) - an urban campus .. trying very hard to lose its reputation as a commuter school. Lots of construction on campus as they try to build more dormitories and other niceties (my niece graduated from ODU 2 years ago)

 

Univ of Mary Washington (VA) - beautiful campus in the middle of an historic city (very similiar in feel to William & Mary) -- downside for dd is we live 20 minutes away from it

 

James Madison Univ (VA) - my dd's 1st choice school and the only one she's applied to so far -- terrific campus -- huge student body involvement -- wonderful academics -- she has her fingers and toes crossed!!

[Alyce]

University of North Carolina at Charlotte - big city, big campus, great student involvement and all the amenities of home including Chick-Fila and McDonalds. One card takes care of everywhere on campus student needs to get into or can buy. Easy to put money on card and student can track expenses on line. Superb at providing Financial Aid. Got NAFSA parent contirbution in stafford loans, Everything else was grants and one 1000 scholarship. Easiest college to deal with. Dd loves it and says teachers are great. Son plans to attend in 2 years. Easiest to apply to. Do online application, send in transcript and they do the rest. Treat Homeschoolers like everyone else. There is a huge homeschooling society in Charlotte so school is used to dealing with homeschoolers and looks for them in recruitment.

[Kareni]

Another board that I like does have a section of college reviews. Take a look at the College Reviews section here.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[QueenCat]

hsmamainva,

What did your daughter think of St. Mary's? I went there back in the mid-'80s. Lovely campus. When I went there, there were about 1200 students. Professors often ate in the cafeteria, and would eat/chat with students. I've heard it's grown but not too much. If we lived closer, I'd have encouraged my son to look there.

Cathie

[hsmamainva]

hsmamainva,

What did your daughter think of St. Mary's? I went there back in the mid-'80s. Lovely campus. When I went there, there were about 1200 students. Professors often ate in the cafeteria, and would eat/chat with students. I've heard it's grown but not too much. If we lived closer, I'd have encouraged my son to look there.

Cathie

 

She really enjoyed the academic aspect of it! A great deal of professor / student interaction and they really have some terrific programs (being a public honors college helps with that!)

 

Very quiet campus -- although they had a bomb scare in the middle of our visit and we were all told to leave .. that was a bummer, but it was a nice campus!

[Chris in VA]

We are going to Virginia Commonwealth U in Richmond on Oct 11, so look for my review.

 

What do I do with these feelings of disappointment about ds choosing such an urban/ugly/no football team campus? I'd love it if there were another VA school that offered a film program, but no go. Why is that? I don't think ds will do well at VCU, and I don't think it will be good for him morally or have enough support for him (he has Aspie tendencies and has a medium hard time socially and with making inferences academically--also has to learn to study, not just do homework). I'm just generally a little anxious about college for him.

 

I realize this is a bit of a hijack--feel free not to answer the above here.

[mawirth]

This is a great idea.

hsmamainva, I've heard JMU is a really big campus--do you know about how many students are in the classes? Is it hard to get into?

Thanks

Donna

[Ria]

Schools we looked at two years ago and the programs we looked into at each school:

 

Lehigh University (PA) (engineering) *

Lafayette College (PA) (engineering) *

Bucknell University (PA) (engineering)

York College (PA) (engineering and nursing) * ^

DeSales University (PA) (nursing) ^

Rowan University (PA) (enginering and nursing)

Cedar Crest College (PA) (nursing)

West Chester University (PA) (nursing) ^

 

^ = schools to which twin #1 submitted applications

* = schools to which twin #2 submitted applications

Both twins were accepted at all schools to which they applied

 

Schools we are planning to visit this year (ds is interested in business):

 

Muhlenberg College (PA)

Moravian College (PA)

Franklin and Marshall College (PA)

Gettysburg College (PA)

Bucknell University (PA)

 

Ria

[hsmamainva]

This is a great idea.

hsmamainva, I've heard JMU is a really big campus--do you know about how many students are in the classes? Is it hard to get into?

Thanks

Donna

 

JMU is an in-state university meaning that, because it receives money from the state, a certain number of students have to come from Virginia (I believe it's 30% out of state and 70% in state). So it's harder to get into out of state.

 

Also, it's an incredibly popular school. I believe they receive more applications than any other college in the state of Virginia -- something like 20,000 applications for 3,500 spots, if I remember correctly.

 

I believe there are around 17,000 students there. I don't believe they have TA's (teaching assistants) so I think all the classes are taught by professors. The introductory classes can be large, but the average class size is around 25 students.

 

Hope this helps!

[Heather in VA]

We are going to Virginia Commonwealth U in Richmond on Oct 11, so look for my review.

 

What do I do with these feelings of disappointment about ds choosing such an urban/ugly/no football team campus? I'd love it if there were another VA school that offered a film program, but no go. Why is that? I don't think ds will do well at VCU, and I don't think it will be good for him morally or have enough support for him (he has Aspie tendencies and has a medium hard time socially and with making inferences academically--also has to learn to study, not just do homework). I'm just generally a little anxious about college for him.

 

I realize this is a bit of a hijack--feel free not to answer the above here.

 

((((HUGS)))) Chris. I wish I knew what to say. Has he been there? We can always hope he'll hate it (ok that's bad :-) ). I suspect that most film programs are in urban areas. Are there other options he could visit to see if he'd see the differences and choose something you think would fit him better?

 

Heather

[sagira]

SIL loves Yale -- the students, the campus, the academic atmosphere.

[Paz]

My ds is at Palm Beach Atlantic University. We all fell in love with the school when we visited. It is a Christian liberal arts college that has the feel of a large youth group. There are tons of fun, wholesome activities, the campus is beautiful and the beach is a mile away. My favorite part is the downtown area which is within walking distance and has an upscale, outdoor mall with many nice restaurants. (I can't wait to go visit and shop with my mom sometime.) Most of the activities and programs are student run and they have an excellent leadership program beginning the freshman year.

 

My dh just visited Bethany College in WV when he was in the area. My dad is an alumni. It is small (a little over 800 students) and has excellent physcial education and exceptional education programs. Many students play a varsity sport and they have an equestrian program. The campus is rural and beautiful, very hilly, close to Pittsburgh, PA. The have an Learning Center that is great for LD students and they provide some additional LD services for a fee.

[mawirth]

Thanks ! hsmamainva this is very helpful!

Donna

[Guest Katia]

Here are some colleges that dd visited and our thoughts:

 

Ball State University (Muncie, IN): Large campus of about 20,000 students. Muncie was a small-ish town but only 20 mins. away from Anderson which has about everything. We looked mostly at the music building and program since dd is planning to be a music major. It was a new facility, built in 2002 and was state-of-the-art. Very, very, very nice. The professor was wonderful and accessible. She even took us for a tour around the music building herself! The campus itself was nicely laid-out, although large, and they had special devices at each street corner to make crossing busy traffic safe for students. The cafeteria area was similar to a food-court in a mall. Dorms were, well....dorms. Nothing to write home about. Over all, dh and I really liked it. Either of us would have been comfortable there and I know dd would have received the best training, but dd noticed that when walking around campus, all the students we came in contact with had a dead look in their eyes. And they did. Not one student that we saw on the campus looked excited about being there, what they were doing or had anything to say to us. Not one student looked at us, said "hi" or smiled. This was one of dd's top choices because of the terrific music professor. It was hard to decide against her, but she thought perhaps it might be a good place to consider pursuing her graduate level studies. However, they are known as a 'party-school' and they have two on-campus bars to cater to students, and the student rape/assault is very high. Not the place we wanted our just-out-of-homeschool dd to attend. But, like I said, good for a graduate level student with more experience being out in the world.

 

Oberlin Music Conservatory (Oberlin, OH): A small town off the beaten path. Very, extremely Liberal college with a capital "L". If liberal is your thing, you belong here. Each student at the Music Conservatory believed they were the best ever and God's gift to the music world. Very competitive. Cut-throat even. Dorms were all co-ed with the exception of one floor where half was women and the other half men "if that is your thing". (direct quote from college guide) Decidedly NOT for dd, although the harp professor is one of the best anywhere, so the training is exceptional. It just wasn't for 'us'.

 

University of Northern Iowa (Cedar Falls, IA): Cedar Falls is a nice size city and part of a 'twin' city as it is connected to Waterloo. Easily accessible by interstate. Small for a state university, has a nice homey feel and the music performing arts center building was terrific. Actually, all the buildings on campus were nice. The professors here are accessible and want to help the students succeed. Their orchestra was top-notch and instrumental training excellent. We really, really liked the instrument instructor here. Dorms were like most state U dorms. If dd needed to transfer from her current college for any reason, she would transfer here. DS received his BA in Computer Science from this university, and DH received his MA in Instructional Technology from this university. So, we are fairly comfortable with what this school has to offer.

 

Luther College (Decorah, IA): Small, private liberal arts college. In a small, isolated town. Hard to get to (all back-roads). Their 'theme' is Nordic Vikings and all the building's architecture carries out this theme. Dorms were interesting as they were in a bar-bell shape with 4 students per room: two in each end of the bar-bell and a small living area in the long part. We didn't like the feel of this campus at all, even though the buildings themselves looked nice. We didn't like that they offered music majors but had little music instruction time. IE: they only required one 1/2 hr. music lesson per week and only 1 hr. of practice time per day for only 5 days a week. Anyone that studies a musical instrument will know that this is impossible. And, if you wanted more instructional time, you had to pay through the nose. Nope. Not what we wanted. This is a good school for safety (no on-campus crime or violence) and they offer summer internships with good companies. The students here didn't actually talk to us, but all that we met smiled and said "hi" which was very pleasant. Over-all I think it is a good school, just not what dd was looking for. Oh, and they offered good scholarships and financial aide. They look expensive at first glance, but do a good job with the aide.

 

Hillsdale College (Hillsdale, MI): Off the beaten path, but easily accessible small private liberal arts college. Conservative in all ways. We immediately fell in love with all the old buildings and their old architecture. Small campus, each building easily accessible. Nice dorms. Actually, the nicest dorms we looked at, even the one they thought was not nice was better than the best dorms at the state U's we looked at. The students here all looked "alive". Many stopped to talk to us. They were animated and friendly and happy to be there. DD chose to go here and she is loving it. She is stressed with carrying a waaaayyyy to heavy work-load this semester, but she love, love, loves the college. I'm not so sure she loves the music instruction or the orchestra as it is of a lower caliber than what she participated in at the University of Northern Iowa, and since that is her major.....she may need to transfer out. We hope not as she loves everything else about the college. The academics here are top-notch. This also looks expensive at first glance, but their financial package was one of the best dd received, and the state U's gave her very, very nice packages, so.....just sayin'.

 

That is our experiences with the schools we visited. Hope it helps someone. I was already helped reading about Palm Beach Atlantic. Looks like it might be a good fit for my younger dd and we had never heard about it until this thread, so thanks!!! We will check it out.

[Paz]

Katia,

Feel free to email me about PBA if you want more information. Hillsdale looks like it may be a good fit for my younger dd but she has some LD problems (dyslexia) so we'll have to see how her test scores, etc are.

[PamJH]

We just visited Austin College in Sherman, Texas, this past week. It's a small liberal arts college, the oldest one in the state (I think), set in a largish town. The school has many interesting programs and classes, decent dorms, wonderful cafeteria facilities and long-time profs, and no TAs. My DD attended a French class and said the professor took some time to talk to her.

 

The college welcomes homeschooled students and doesn't ask them to submit more materials than a student who attends a public school. As the admissions rep said, "What would be the point of that?"

 

Financial aid packages are said to be generous.

 

We very much liked the place.

[mcconnellboys]

Okay, I'll play.

 

We've toured UT, Knoxville, my alma mater. It's a big school. It's not really what I hope for in a school for my son, but I want him to be able to juxtapose larger schools against smaller ones.

 

It is still a big engineering school. Mostly foreign graduates in that, like most engineering programs in the US these days. There's a large Indian population in Knoxville still, as there was when I was there. They still have a strong law school, solid business school, very good vet school and good pre-med program (med is in Memphis, I believe). The medical anthropology program has grown very strong over time and they train a lot (maybe all for TN) of the CSI investigators in this part of the country. Anthro was my major there.

 

The library system has been greatly consolidated and enlarged and seemed pretty impressive to me. They have made some good changes in housing, allowing certain majors to floor together, etc. There's a good transit system still to get around campus. They've increased their pool capacity so that they can do olympic trials now.

 

There was a good mix of students from all over the country visiting on the day we were there.

 

By contrast, we toured UK, whose campus is in Lexington, where we live, this summer and I was not at all impressed with the mix of students touring with us, or with the students I saw on campus. It seems that by far and away most come from Kentucky. I'd have to check stats to see what their admission actually includes, but they did not look well diversified at all.

 

The campus is large, but not as spread out as UT. The med school is here and is a sound program. I don't really know what other programs UK is considered strong in, sorry. They have one of the best endowed libraries in the country, but I've still heard complaints about it. I don't like the housing at all. Tons of it is very old and in major need of renovations.

 

Even the honors program offerings did not seem at all impressive to me and they seem very lax about who they let in ("You need a 3.75, but if you don't have that, don't hesitate to talk to us and you might get in, anyway.") Okey-dokey, then...... The honors students do live in separate housing (but that's getting ready to change) and on the same side of campus with the "greenies", who apparently are more concerned with the environment than with school, LOL.....

 

We drove around Wake Forest, but didn't have time to do a tour there. It's a lovely campus in a nice, small town (but close to larger areas). It's one of the more selective colleges in the country. Great med school. There's also a small, private all-girl school there, in Old Salem, that I'd not heard of and it seems to get very high marks from those who've attended. I think they even take some junior high and high school girls as boarders, as well. (Winston-Salem, by the way....)

 

We visited Vanderbilt and I have to say that I was very disappointed. We were in town on a day when they did not offer a tour. We were told that a counselor would meet with us and allow us to view the intro film, anyway. He didn't. He wasn't very helpful or forthcoming with info. My overall impression was one of, "Why are you here? If we didn't send for you, how dare you presume to come to us?" I don't know, maybe it was just me. The campus was okay, but I don't like where it's situated in Nashville. It seems that it has become a commuter campus sometime over the past years and they are apparently working to take steps to correct that problem. The campus was far from vibrant on the Thursday mid-afternoon when we were there. They are building new freshman housing that's off on the Peabody side of campus, sort of all to itself and removed from the heart of things. They will require freshmen to live on campus once that's finished. Then they will rebuild sophomore housing, etc. until they've finished and I believe they said that they will require at least the sophomores to live on campus, as well.

 

Vandy obviously has terrific professors and a first rate reputation. They are considered a top notch school and have very selective entrance. However, I'm sorry, but I was totally underwhelmed when I was there.....

 

Bellmont is another small, private school in Nashville that has a solid, good reputation and that might be interesting to check out.

 

We drove around the campus of Hanover, a small liberal arts college in Indiana, this summer. It is a lovely campus, but it's in the middle of nowhere and I'd be scared to death of kids running back and forth to Indy for something to do. Greek life is huge there and I'm not sure that's right for my son, either.

 

We visited Centre College, in Danville, KY, this summer. I already knew a lot about the great reputation of this small, liberal arts college. I new that I liked the lovely little town, close to Lexington, and that the professors there have a top notch reputation. I knew that I loved the campus and the world renowned Norton Center. But I never guessed how super impressed I was going to be with the people, the process, their philosophy - WOW!

 

They've just received something like a 64 million dollar grant with the stipulation that they spend it in 3 years, so they're building like crazy, but maintaining the integrity of the campus. They're in many top lists right now, like Colleges that Change Lives and Best Value in Colleges, so do check out their details and I can certainly provide more if you're really interested.

 

They don't have the greatest dorms, but they're okay and quirky and fun (lots better than UK's, that's for sure!) They are pushing toward a mix of 50/50 on KY students and students from elsewhere. There were kids from Australia visiting the day we were there.

 

They guarantee you graduation in four years, study abroad, and internship if you want those things. The profs come looking for you if you miss class. They have a January term where students take classes they'd never otherwise take and/or study abroad (and the programs for those classes are terrific at integrating various specialty areas).

 

Greek life there is big, but not essential in order to fit in or feel comfortable. There's also a huge, huge intramural sports program there as they include everyone to be active and develop a healthy lifestyle.

 

No summer school at this place. You take 4 classes in fall, do a January program of study of some sort, then 4 classes in spring and graduate in four years. They have something like a 96% placement rate in a job or grad program within 6 months after graduation and they begin working with the kids on job/grad school placement as soon as they get there.

 

That's all thus far, but we're getting ready to gear up for a big year of college visits, so stay tuned!

[Sandy in Indy]

Purdue University...we met with someone from the School of Pharmacy last summer. Even though I'm pretty familiar with the school (since everyone in my family--but me--is a Purdue grad), I was very unimpressed with the meeting. I'd made an appointment and we met with someone at the school of Pharmacy--that's it. No tour, no real offer of anything else. Many of the classes there are large and I believe the total student pop is about 40,000. (It's a bit big for us!) DS will still apply there, but it's not his first choice.

 

Butler University...Butler is a small, private school here in Indy that offers Pharmacy as well. It's an old, established school with about 4,000 undergrads. The staff there was great and took the time to answer my questions. We had an enthusiastic tour guide who walked us over the entire campus. A real plus for Butler is that they offer an automatic advancement program for pharmacy...as long as you make the required grades and pass the PCAT, you continue into the professional part of the program. Butler is first on ds's list...and mine, too!

 

IUPUI...we haven't toured IUPUI yet, but will soon, as they also offer a pre-pharmacy program. It would probably be last on our list as DS would have a greater chance of continuing in pharmacy if he completes his "pre" program at a school that offers the professional phase.

 

St. Louis College of Pharmacy is still on our list but we haven't toured there. I like that it's a small school and also an auto-advance program. I don't like that it's further from Indy!

[Sharon in MD]

Sorry it has taken me SOOOO long to get around to this....I hope it may help someone out there.

 

We ran around a whole lot last fall :auto: and are doing a bit more now to finalize the apps.

 

Here is where we went and our impressions....remember your mileage (literally HA HA) may vary and I don't mean to hurt your feelings if we didn't like your alma mater!;) These are in no particular order....

 

Grove City College near Pittsburgh PA....Beautiful campus, friendly students, but very restrictive program. We thought we'd love it, but we decided that we did not like the way you had to declare the area of engineering you wanted to pursue before you even walk through the door. They were not at all open to changing your mind from mech to ee after you start, for example, or at least that is what they told us. It is very difficult to get into the engineering program here. You pretty much have to be willing to apply early decision, almost all accepted engineering students come from the ed pool. I really don't like ed because of the way it ties your hands...so that left a bad taste for us. We also didn't like the extremely restrictive program where you have to take their Core or specific courses....no choice on history electives and such. I know a Core has certain advantages of course, but I just want ds to be able to explore a bit if he wants to.

 

Rennselear Poly Tech in Troy NY. Not a bad looking campus, but Troy is not particularly attractive or safe feeling as a town. The university is up on a hill, however and so a little separated from the city. We loved the high tech side of RPI, but we felt like the school was very impersonal. We got the distinct impression from talking to the students that many courses were TA taught and that it was not easy to find opportunities to get to know your profs, especially on the research side. We felt like it would be a better place to go to grad school than as an undergrad. We also did not like the warnings about cut-throat students....the labs have locked storage for the students projects to protect the students work from sabotage. We were also told that the printer rooms in the dorms have locks to help keep students from stealing other's print outs.....not the kind of place I'd want to live. We did not see many students hanging out and it was a beautiful Fall Saturday....not much socializing going on. We just had the impression that it was not a really happy place, but perhaps we just caught it on a bad day.

 

Olin College of Engineering Boston MA. Tiny school, very, very hard to get in, but all students are fully scholarshiped on tuition. This is an interesting place. They are trying to re-invent the way we create and educate engineers. We really liked the school, but I don't really think our ds would have a prayer of getting in. At this time they only offer Mech, EE and CE and just plain Engineering (where you can emphasize a different area). For us, they are a bit too new to the game for our comfort level, but I think they are really going to be dynamite. It is a very different kind of school, in a positive way.

 

Lafayette College in Easton PA. We really really like Lafayette. It is a lovely campus, great LAC. Students were super friendly and enthusiastic about their school. We visited here twice because we liked it so much. I especially like the way the students truly get to know the profs. No TA's as it is a college only. Loads of opportunities for the students to do research, which is a high priority for us. Pretty steep admissions standards and pretty steep pricing too. The only reason we've dropped them from our list is that they don't offer a materials science degree and ds has decided that is what he'd really like to aim for.

 

Messiah Collegenear Harrisburg PA. This is a nice LAC with a decent engineering program for a small Christian School. But, they are a bit underfunded in the research areas in my opinion. It was our alternate Christian engineering school after we decided that Grove City was not for us. We liked the campus, students seemed really nice and the professors we met went out of their way to talk to us and spend time with us. Since they knew ds was interested in materials, they suggested he might major in Chem or Mech there and then go to grad school in materials. It is sort of a safety school for us and they are really close to Ski Roundtop...which makes ds happy too.

 

University of Maryland Baltimore County obviously near Baltimore MD. We really liked this school too. It used to be just a commuter campus, and still has a large commuter population. They have quite a rivalry going between their engineering department and the big brother of Un. of MD, College Park (the big University of MD campus). When we went to visit the first time we were told that undergrads have an opportunity to be involved in research, but on the second visit, the guy said he didn't think there was much opportunity for it...so I'm really a bit confused. The website certainly indicates that undergrads are able to be involved in research. The advantage that UMBC has over College Park is that it is smaller....I think all the courses are prof. taught. Although they don't have a materials degree, we are keeping them on our list as a local fallback school. DS could always start there and then tranfer to College Park as a soph or Jr.

 

Drexel Univeristy Philadelphia PA. This is the one we LOVE. If there is any way of sending ds here, this is where he wants to go (at least that is his top choice at the moment) We have been up there I think 4 times now? It is not the prettiest place in the world because it is a city campus. But, it was well maintained and they are building like crazy. They are trying to add more and more green spaces too by closing off some on the internal streets to make little parks. It is amazing in terms of the opportunities for research and facilities. Ds went there for 3 weeks this summer and loved every minute of it. He also loved all the opportunities to run around and sample Philly. Drexel is a co-op school, so it generally takes 5 years to graduate....but you come out with 18 months of real world work experience. Everyone we have met went out of their way to help us and really talked to us at length. We were very impressed with our 1st visit when two profs spent more than an hour each with our ds who was just a Jr. at the time. They really took an interest in him and in showing him their departments.

Unless our upcoming visit to College Park or Lehigh overwhelms Drexel, that is the one we will keep on the top.

 

We will visit College Park this weekend and Lehigh in another two weeks. We already know alot about College Park from several summer camps, but we have not really talked to them directly about their Materials program. It isn't my favorite place because it is so HUGE. But, we feel like we need to give it an honest look and not just discard it based on local prejudices.

[Bev in B'ville]

Of course we're a little biased in our house as it's my husband's alma matter. However, I was very impressed. 68% of the students are from Georgia, 38% are out-of-state and international. There are ~19K students total.

 

They have six colleges including Engineering, Management, Archiecture, Computing, Liberal Arts & Sciences, and Sciences. They do not admit students based on chosen major. They only consider two parts of the SAT, leaving out the writing section and only the English and Math sections of the ACT. They also do what's called "Super Scoring" which is taking the best sub-scores from a student's portfolio and combining it. So, for example, if your English score is higher from the spring test, but your math score is higher from the fall test, they'll combine those two scores as your final score. The admissions person also said they do not recognize high school honors courses (which I already knew), but they do recognize AP's (but not SAT-II's). When they get a transcript, they automatically take out any weighted GPA's and give everything a "true" value (A=4.0, B=3.0, etc.) They will add .5 point for an AP course, but that's it. The average SAT and ACT scores are 1280-1410 and 28-32, respectively.

 

As far as costs goes, out of state cost is ~$35K a year, which includes tution, housing, meal plan, etc. In-state is ~$16, but will drop by $5K for HOPE recipients (which everyone in state will get if they're at Tech because minimum GPA for HOPE is 3.0 and the minimum GPA for admittance is 3.6).

 

When asked about an Honors program, the admissions person said all of their courses are honors level courses, which, of course, explains why Tech is considered one of the tougher schools academically. However, they do have an honors program for those students who wish to have dual majors. There's even a special dorm for those students.

 

Speaking of dorms, the rooms are nothing to write home about. They have the normal dorm rooms, suites (where four people share a bathroom between two dorm rooms) and dorm apartments, which I didn't get to see so I'm not sure about them. Ga Tech has a 95% retention rate (which means 95% of their freshmen return for their sophomore year). They attribute this to dorm life. Each dorm has a tutor and each student is given an amount of time in which to utilize that tutor; additional time can be purchased. There's also this math tutoring service where you can call a number and a person will try to answer your question over the phone. If graphics are needed (e.g. a white board), they ask the student to tune their television to channel ## and that person will work the problem out live. There are also what they call "recitation" classes. If, for example, the student has Calculus on MWF, the recitation class meets on T/T. It is not required, but it meets in a smaller classroom environment, usually with a TA who will answer questions and explain material to those who need the extra help. I really like all the ways they try to help the students acclimate.

 

Of course, GT is known for their sports, but what I didn't know is what they did with the Olympic swimming venue from 1996. They still have a high dive (10 m), but they've also added a water slide, a lazy river, and a rock climbing wall. The recreation facilities were amazing!

 

I forgot to mention GT's other campus sites. They have a Savannah, Georgia campus (which is xfer only), a campus in France and they're opening a campus in India soon. They encourage students to take advantage of these international opportunities and have an "international plan" which would have a special designation on the diploma and entail a special senior project.

 

If I've left something out, please let me know and I'll add it if I can.

 

Cheers,

Bev

Edited October 11, 2008 by Bev in B'ville
forgot something important

[xxxxxxxx]

Thanks

[Michelle in GA]

Of course we're a little biased in our house as it's my husband's alma matter. However' date=' I was very impressed. 68% of the students are from Georgia, 38% are out-of-state and international. There are ~19K students total.

 

They have six colleges including Engineering, Management, Archiecture, Computing, Liberal Arts & Sciences, and Sciences. They do not admit students based on chosen major. They only consider two parts of the SAT, leaving out the writing section and only the English and Math sections of the ACT. They also do what's called "Super Scoring" which is taking the best sub-scores from a student's portfolio and combining it. So, for example, if your English score is higher from the spring test, but your math score is higher from the fall test, they'll combine those two scores as your final score. The admissions person also said they do not recognize high school honors courses (which I already knew), but they do recognize AP's (but not SAT-II's). When they get a transcript, they automatically take out any weighted GPA's and give everything a "true" value (A=4.0, B=3.0, etc.) They will add .5 point for an AP course, but that's it. The average SAT and ACT scores are 1280-1410 and 28-32, respectively.

 

As far as costs goes, out of state cost is ~$35K a year, which includes tution, housing, meal plan, etc. In-state is ~$16, but will drop by $5K for HOPE recipients (which everyone in state will get if they're at Tech because minimum GPA for HOPE is 3.0 and the minimum GPA for admittance is 3.6).

 

When asked about an Honors program, the admissions person said all of their courses are honors level courses, which, of course, explains why Tech is considered one of the tougher schools academically. However, they do have an honors program for those students who wish to have dual majors. There's even a special dorm for those students.

 

Speaking of dorms, the rooms are nothing to write home about. They have the normal dorm rooms, suites (where four people share a bathroom between two dorm rooms) and dorm apartments, which I didn't get to see so I'm not sure about them. Ga Tech has a 95% retention rate (which means 95% of their freshmen return for their sophomore year). They attribute this to dorm life. Each dorm has a tutor and each student is given an amount of time in which to utilize that tutor; additional time can be purchased. There's also this math tutoring service where you can call a number and a person will try to answer your question over the phone. If graphics are needed (e.g. a white board), they ask the student to tune their television to channel ## and that person will work the problem out live. There are also what they call "recitation" classes. If, for example, the student has Calculus on MWF, the recitation class meets on T/T. It is not required, but it meets in a smaller classroom environment, usually with a TA who will answer questions and explain material to those who need the extra help. I really like all the ways they try to help the students acclimate.

 

Of course, GT is known for their sports, but what I didn't know is what they did with the Olympic swimming venue from 1996. They still have a high dive (10 m), but they've also added a water slide, a lazy river, and a rock climbing wall. The recreation facilities were amazing!

 

I forgot to mention GT's other campus sites. They have a Savannah, Georgia campus (which is xfer only), a campus in France and they're opening a campus in India soon. They encourage students to take advantage of these international opportunities and have an "international plan" which would have a special designation on the diploma and entail a special senior project.

 

If I've left something out, please let me know and I'll add it if I can.

 

Cheers,

Bev[/quote']

 

 

My son is in his 2nd year at GA TEch! He is a computer science major. You are right about the dorms! His freshamn dorm(Woodruff) was AWFUL( small, dank, poorly lit)...This year, he is in the North Avenue apartments and likes it SO much better! He has his own room, that opens up to a common area that he shares with three other boys. All in all he is really enjoying his Tech experience.

[Blue Hen]

My BIL just retired from Austin College, English Prof, and I will confirm that it is very hs friendly. He and my sister live in Sherman. Give me a PM if you'd like me to get you in contact with him or if you want any other information about the place. I know DS and I liked our visit to their campus too.

 

Austin College is also on the 40 Schools that Can Change a Person's life list. Can't find the website for it but there's a book out about it too.

 

Carole

[Blue Hen]

Oh, was the French Class run by a woman? Dr. Bernice Melvin?

 

Carole

[Kareni]

The book you are referring to is Colleges That Change Lives by Loren Pope. Here is the website: http://www.ctcl.org/

 

The book is well worth reading!

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Chris in VA]

Just have a minute, but wanted to post about our visit to VCU.

It's the largest public univ in Va, and come to find out, their Art School is #1 in the country for public art schools! (Art school is visual arts, theatre, film/photography production, fashion merchandising--all the B.FA majors)

 

We had an Open House visit--really nice and well done. First we met in the basketball arena (no football team, but b-ball is pretty popular), then we broke up into each School, going around the campus with a few students. We went to the Cinema program. It's new, being only 2 years old. Ds had a revelation during the Art School presentation, and decided to go for Cinema instead of Film Production. He won't have to submit a portfolio, and he won't have to do the one-year Arts Foundation program, so he can go in with little/no experience in film making and not waste time learning to paint and draw (not that these are a waste, but it would be for ds).

 

The campus is definitely urban, but most of the buildings are all together, so it really has a campus feel. The school gave us free passes for lunch, which we used at their refectory that is a super-duper, multiple choice place--so cool, and so yummy!

 

We did get a little lost, going back to the car, but some friendly students helped us read the map. We did not see a dorm or take a complete tour of the campus, but we did get some wise advice from the students in the Cinema dept.

 

All in all, it's a great place, and we left feeling wonderful about the school. Here's hoping ds can get in.

[cathmom]

My son visited the University of Minnesota last fall and LOVED it! He would be going there now if another school hadn't offered him a full scholarship. He wants to go back to MN sometime though!

[periwinkle]

I guess I will have to put in a good word for Grove City, as it has gotten two thumbs down in this thread already.:001_smile:This was the school that oldest ds visited and said "It's the one!" It is small yet serious about academics, and we have been nothing but impressed so far. A handsome campus and good-sized dorm rooms were helpful, but the low tuition was a huge factor for our family.

[LoriM]

East Carolina University...if anyone wants to visit ECU, you are welcome to stay with us. Just send me a PM. My daughter is a "senior" at ECU (in hours), and will graduate in December 2009. Since my DH was a dept chair there for 4 years, we have lots of info on all the programs. http://www.ecu.edu

 

LoriM

[Sharon in MD]

Okay....we are FINALLY done doing the visit thing.

University of MD College Park Near Washington DC, just inside the beltway. Very congested suburb of DC...this is not the same feel as a truly urban campus like Drexel, but has the very busy city kind of feel as it is really close to the city. College Park is huge and very popular. It is not an easy school for out-of-state students to get in, nor is it easy for in-state.....pretty competitive. They do have an excellent rep as an engineering school. We went down two days in a row...the first day was a general open house and the second day was dedicated to the materials science department. We have pretty much decided that they are ok afterall. We had been concerned about rumors of being just an anonymous number there, with 400 of your closest friends in a lecture hall, but they are making real efforts to ensure small recitation sections for those big into classes. And, as is the case pretty much everywhere, expect the smallest colleges, once you get out of the intro classes and into your subject area, the class sizes are much smaller and you get to know the profs. There is ample opportunity for undergrad research here and real commitment to it. Loads of school spirit of course, being a big ACC school. The only things we really don't like about UMD are the dorms....yuck, and the Music department was disappointing. We were turned off by the attitude that if you don't major in music you don't have real opportunities to be involved. We felt somewhat snubbed by them. So, if ds winds up here, he will just continue with his private tutor and may live at home for the first year or two until he gets an apartment or something. Oh and they do have a co-op option, which I didn't know about before, so that was another plus, there is an office with in the engineering dept specifically dedicated to working with these students.

 

Lehigh University Beautiful campus...prettiest one I've seen. But, it should be for the $50,000 price tag! This is also a bit tougher to get in...maybe a bit of a reach for us. DSs scores on SAT are at the lower end of their 50% range. Good news is that most of their applicants are not early decision...so there is less ED pressure here. We really liked the school, great engineering departments loads of research facilities. Pretty good opportunity for undergrad research...but you have to be persistent to get a spot. It seemed to us that the students really have to pursue the profs a bit more to get an opportunity to research, especially underclassmen. They do have co-op, but it is more limited than either Drexel or UMDs. At Lehigh, you can co-op but you have to take all your fall classes during the summer between Soph and Jr. year. Then you co-op for 6 months, come back for the spring term...then work for the same co. that next summer. So, while that is good, it is less broad than UMD or Drexel. One other thing....only about 50% of the students get aid....which means this is a pretty affluent school if half of the students are paying full fare. Not that there is anything wrong with being affluent, just noted that most of the students appear to be pretty well heeled. This is the least diverse school we visited, again not necessarily a bad thing, just a point of info.

 

Our personal final ranking of where DS would like to go is

1. Drexel

2. UMD College Park

3. Lehigh

4. UMBC

5. Messiah.

 

So now we just have to finish and in some cases start the applications....PANIC!!!!

[Blue Hen]

DS and I went on our first college tour to University of Delaware, Newark, DE. We went since it is in our backyard but prior to this DS didn't seem thrilled about the thought of attending.

 

UD is set in the middle of the City of Newark Main Street and the bustling cars and other traffic is almost everywhere. We've driven by it for years but just never stopped and walked the campus.

 

The tour was their short-tour, 2-1/2 hr walking campus tour, and a visit to a dorm room. DS liked what he heard though and on the way home spoke about the advantages of attending---close enough to home for visits, he could stay on his in-line speed skating team, do research work as an undergrad (I want to find out how true that really is), and walk in with almost his freshmen year completed since UD gives credit for AP courses. Our tour guide took 4 AP courses, 4s&5s, and walkedin with 26 credits (~30 is what a freshmen has at the end of the first year). We also found the center of the campus to be green, quiet and calm. We finished our afternoon with a burrito and a hamburger from one of their snack areas and I heard DS say that he would have no problem eating there for 4 years.

 

More tours to go on but the first one is out of the way.

 

Carole

[Kelli in TN]

I'll play!

 

Thus far we have toured:

 

Christian Brother's University

If dd was looking for engineering or premed, it would be a great choice. We knew going in that their poli-sci dept was not going to wow us, they don't even have a poli-sci major. But she wanted to look at it because she would consider a history or marketing major with a poli-sci minor if the school were wonderful enough. The campus is nice, the faculty was wonderful. The dorms were the nastiest dorms we have ever looked at. The liberal arts are, in my opinion, weak at this school. It just did not wow us at all. And the scholarship offerings are very limited, and that chased us away even more than the ultra-nasty dorms.

 

Lambuth University

It is on the list. Nice, intimate college where everyone knows everyone. Very liberal, little bit of a party school but I know my girly so I am not at all worried about her falling into that stuff. Very good poli-sci dept, the dept head frequently loads up his poli-sci kids and totes them to Nashville to visit the political muckety-mucks. So great networking for future jobs. She would be one of a small handfull of conservatives on campus though!

 

University of Tennessee at Martin

Probably my biggest surprise of the visits so far. I had my heart set on sending her to a private institution until we visited. Major party school, and I have my husband's memories of his days at UTM to taint my opinion further. But once I got there and we met with one of the poli-sci profs and really talked about the small, intimate poli-sci dept, the internship program, etc I was blown away. The campus is small and easy to navigate, the facilities are in a constant state of improvement and upgrade. Obviously it is on the list.

 

We still have to tour Freed Hardeman, Austin Peay, and maybe Middle Tennessee State University. She wants to look at UTKnoxville but I said no. I also said no to Memphis State.

[Karenciavo]

Grove City College near Pittsburgh PA....Beautiful campus, friendly students, but very restrictive program. We thought we'd love it, but we decided that we did not like the way you had to declare the area of engineering you wanted to pursue before you even walk through the door. They were not at all open to changing your mind from mech to ee after you start, for example, or at least that is what they told us.

 

I thought a student could enter as undecided science and engineering?

[Sharon in MD]

Not that I know of....but I could be mistaken. That is what we were told by the admissions folks in Fall of 07 when we visited. And my best friend's son applied there last year and he had to declare ME at the time of his application. Perhaps it has changed since then.

[periwinkle]

Ds changed his mind and applied as a computer science major, so we didn't have to go science engineering undecided. Sharon is right that what major you declare may have an impact on acceptance; Grove City has the option to be picky. This year they only accepted 33% of their applicants. I do know all the engineering majors have the same schedule first semester; not sure about the second (but I could check). Ds's roommate is an EE major; he may have some insight into this. Feel free to pm me if you wish, Karen.

Edited October 25, 2008 by periwinkle
typo

[Karenciavo]

Thanks Deb and Sharon. Grove City is in the back of my mind for mathy ds13. Their web site is not loading for me now, but I'll see if I can find the page where I saw the info when it does load.

 

ETA: OK, here it is:

"SELECTING A MAJOR: Grove City College recommends that all applicants declare a major, since this is one of the many methods the College chooses to shape the freshman class. There are limited openings for each of the majors offered at the College, and each applicant may be considered for only one major.

UNDECIDED APPLICANTS: Students who are undecided about choosing a major may select either "Undecided - Liberal Arts" or "Undecided - Science and Engineering" and must choose a major by the end of their sophomore year. After enrolling at the College, a student may change his/her originally declared major pending department approval."

Edited October 25, 2008 by Karenciavo

[Sharon in MD]

I really suspect that this is the kind of thing that could change year to year depending on the applicant pool. What I do know, from the experience of some dear friends, is that at this point in time the majority of the applicants who are accepted into the engineering program are chosen from the students who are willing to apply early decision. It is a highly competitive Christian school. So, you really have to weigh your desire and decision.

 

But, your daughter is just 13, right....so the whole landscape could be decidedly different when you are ready to apply. I do applaud your early thinking, just be aware that the game changes constantly. For example we visited two schools last fall who adamantly stated that they did not care what the SAT writing section said. But this year, as ds applies, they suddenly care.

You are stuck with the whims of the admissions folks and must just go with the flo. However, the case being the you are apparently interested in a firmly Christian school, I would add that it is all in the Lord's hands anyway and He really knows what is best. We just must do our best and wait on Him.

[Guest Katia]

small, intimate poli-sci dept, the internship program.

 

Kelli, if you are looking for a small private school with an excellent poli-sci program, you should check out Hillsdale College in Michigan. It is supposed to be one of the best.

[Michelle in MO]

if you have any questions, I can answer them for you. Caveat: I graduated over 20 years ago, so my information will be dated! They are building a huge football stadium, if your ds is into football.

 

Chocolate Princess, I can add to your requests for Midwest Colleges. My personal top choice for a school in the Midwest would be St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Absolutely beautiful campus; older, ivy-covered buildings, lots of trees and park benches. A lovely atmosphere, and only 50 minutes away from the Twin Cities. The St. Olaf Choir is the best or definitely one of the top three college choirs in the country. Their music program is top-notch all around---band, orchestra, vocal, instrumental, etc. They also have a very strong science and pre-med program, and they have a highly recommended Great Books program. A degree from St. Olaf means something. Another college, Carleton College, tends to rank higher than St. Olaf even, and it's also located in Northfield, Minnesota. I think the city's slogan on their "Welcome" signs reads something like this: "City of Colleges, Cows, and Contentment". How quaint!

[coopers5]

Hello Everyone,

 

My daughter and I visited Vanderbilt U., in Nashville, this past weekend. It was a delightful experience. The school certainly appears top notch.

 

Let me see if I can rate some of these different aspects for you guys like they do on some of the other reviews on other sites: scale of 1-5, 5 is best.

 

As far as location - they are almost right in the heart of Nashville, a tiny bit outside of downtown, so life and traffic are busy right outside of the bounds of campus. But inside campus, it is almost like another world and very beautiful, green, inviting. I give it a 4/5 because it's great in that for college age kids who like to have a lot of activities available to them have easy access to those, but not perfect because, personally, I don't like all the hustle and bustle, horns honking, sirens, and overhead helicopters because of the neighboring medical center.

 

Dorms - we went in only one, which was a brand new one (nice strategy...) and would give it a 4/5. Beautiful building, really spacious rooms, but dorms are coed, with alternating floors for girls/guys. So, yes, girls are all on a floor together, no guys living there, and the guys' cards only swipe to their floor BUT, duh, guys can come on in the other halls with their girlfriends, etc. It's not rocket science to figure out. My daughter isn't super thrilled with that, but already has decided that she would network and try to get a roommate (if she were to get in and to attend) who shared Christian values, etc. We learned from an actual student that this is what friends of hers did.(yes, even freshmen; they apparently are cool w/roommate requests) - more on the actual student "connection" we had later in this post...

Also, you have to use the card swipe for just about every entry point in the dorm - from the outside door, to elevator, to hall doors, etc. All require the key swipe. And guys' halls are on the bottom floors.

 

Group session and tour - the informational "talk" was really good. It was helpful, thorough, interesting even, and carried out by a sharp counselor who had a nice balance of seeming confident and commanding while at the same time being quite warm and welcoming. Not condescending at all. Believe me, I've been on LOTS of college visits. Some of these people can sound condescending, and MANY of them can be quite boring.

The tour guide/student was quite entertaining and actually very well-informed about the campus - it wasn't just a "this is this building and that is that building" type of tour. You got a little bit of history as you went along and good explanations for several quirky things, etc. We'll rate this 5/5. I won't go into it here, but anyone interested needs to go to the VU website and check out their newly announced financial aid policy. It's phenomenal.

 

Academics/Course set up, etc. - (sorry, I don't know right off the best thing to title this) - we've studied the ISI books quite a bit and realized VU doesn't have a serious strong core required, as far as everyone getting a really strong, old fashioned liberal arts base. However, my daughter was impressed that they seem to highlight over and over again how flexible they are about majors and courses of study and how they let kids design exactly what they want. (we're very interested in a more traditional liberal arts base, strong west. civ., lit., from which to build). My daughter will likely study in an area that would require many of these types of courses, anyway. But, just to let you know, they seem highly flexible.

From what we could see, and based on that flexibility, 5/5.

 

Student Life - In this area, we benefitted greatly by meeting up with a student whose mom I actually got "connected" with through THIS FORUM! Yea! We were formerly complete strangers, but, oh what a wonderful meeting this was, and, I hope, a lifelong bond that may be formed. Our daughters are "facebook friends" now. This young lady, a current sophomore, was able to meet us and treat us for dinner in the dining hall (one of them). Food was good, atmosphere, too. All of the buildings we were in were quite nice. I know I am not using any real architectural terms here or decorator terms, but I'm just keeping it simple. There are several places on campus where kids' meal plan cards/ID work for meals. A bigger selection than I've seen anywhere.

We learned a little about sororities and fraternities. But we'd not be able to afford most of those, anyway, and learned that it's no big deal if you don't. However, my daughter is interested in the new Christian sorority that this young lady told us about, which would be CONSIDERABLY less expensive to pledge and they have activities with the Christian fraternity (which was actually in existence longer than the sor.).

Many Chrisitian orgs to choose from. BCM and RUF active, thriving groups, it seems.

Students have free access to "Vandy vans" which make a circuit around campus during the day/night. There are also cars on campus kids can reserve.

There are student newspapers, student gov't, (of course), a variety of sports choices - ranging from, let me see if I can get it right Div.1 (?) stuff to club teams, to intramural. Or something like that....

There are grad schools right on campus - med, law, bus., er...I think engineering, and, then various ones fitting under arts/sciences.

Everyone has to live on campus all four years. Besides the dorms earlier described there are some dorms with single rooms - like the whole place just has single rooms (I think). There are apartment style buildings. All with varying layouts.

An interesting point in particular - at VU, they have the freshmen "sequestered" off in a whole area of campus together. All their dorms together. It's a nice feel. The Commons building (in this freshman area) where that dining hall is - has also a fitness area and large downstairs student center/lobby/gameroom area - with coffee shop and more.

Students are admitted free to any activity/event on campus - games, plays, concerts. (just a flash of that good ol' ID - though at the student concert we attended, there was no need even for that - btw, this was a wind ensem. concert and then orchestra - simply wonderful, very impressive! I think their music school admits cream of the crop!)

Oh, and our friend told us that as far as conservativism/liberalism on campus, she felt like it was pretty evenly split among students, while among profs, they were heavily liberal, but our tour guide did tell us a story about how one of her very liberal profs (she is apparently conservative) did not mistreat her in any way because of her opposing beliefs in political science. (and that would be a huge testing ground - would it not?)

5/5.

 

Friendliness - well, we were bowled over by our new friend whom we ate with and asked several questions of, but didn't honestly notice much contact besides that to comment on, except what I said about the admissions folks. 4/5 based on who/what we saw - our friend - gets of course a 5/5!

 

We had intended to arrive on campus in time to visit a class, but did not make it early enough, so have nothing to report about that.

 

Also, we stayed in a Country Inn and Suites - under $100 - much better rate than anywhere else we could find and still have indoor corridors, and relatively close to VU. It was quiet, clean, comfortable, good breakfast.

 

I'll quit for now. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to PM me. I would not mind answering anything you might want to ask.

I would also like to add - I am so very thankful for this wonderful WTM forum. It was here that one day recently I posted a thread asking if anyone had had a child go to VU. I was so thrilled to receive a PM from a mom on here who gave me SO much invaluable information even before our trip. And then, of course, as I mentioned was able to get us connected with her daughter. And the rest, as they say, is history.

I do thank God for the wonderful way that the internet can be used; even though there are several ways it can be abused, what a blessing to be able to communicate in this way and make these connections with other homeschoolers and other believers.

 

God bless and I hope this serves someone out there!

Jo

[ShelliR]

Kelli, no Union?