Virginia Tech – Blacksburg, VA

This campus is a spectacular one and the buildings are made of Hokie Stone, a native limestone found throughout southwest Virginia! There is a huge main quad called the “Drillfield” around which all university life revolves and this is where the “April 16th Memorial” is located, outside of Burruss Hall. New Jersey is the state sending the 2nd highest amount of incoming freshmen after Maryland, and the top three most popular academic programs for freshmen are 1) General Engineering, 2) University Studies (undecided) and 3) Biology. An unusual feature of Virginia Tech is their Corps of Cadets which numbers about 1,000 students. They are only one of three public universities to still have a corps along with Texas A & M, and North Georgia College and University. School spirit is incredibly high and the colors of maroon and orange are sported everywhere along with the “Hokie” Bird who originally was a gobbler transformed. My favorite Virginia Tech story has to be while I was getting lunch in their “Grab and Go” facility in Kelly Hall before meeting up with Gary Jackson, our NJ Rep in Admissions. I was fumbling for cash in my wallet when an unknown student came up behind me, swiped his card to pay for my lunch, said, “Have a lovely day!” and ran off into the afternoon sunlight. I thought that spoke volumes about the kind of students they have at Virginia Tech!

Towson University – Towson, Maryland
Driving to campus I was pleasantly surprised to find that Towson was a big school but in a residential setting with grassy areas and trees. A brief walk away is Towson’s four-level mall and the Baltimore Inner Harbor is a quick drive as well. The campus has great athletic facilities for their Division 1 athletes with their new 5,000 seat Tiger Arena opening in May 2013 and Johnny Unitas Stadium. The renowned Tiger Marching Band has performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

There are 17 different residential offerings with a mixture of old and new, including Living Learning Communities like Tigers Serving Others, American Sign Language and STEM Scholars. Walking through campus, I saw students hop a fence to join a pick-up soccer game and the University Union was alive with Greek life.
Their forensic chemistry and e-business majors are the only programs of their kind in the state.

The College of Liberal Arts is housed in one of the newest buildings on campus and is a fascinating structure since 93% of the original building it replaced was recycled into the new structure making it the first to be LEED silver certified. The Counseling Center is brand new and a state-of-the-art library is under construction.

Based in the Administration Building, their Director of Disability Support, Susan Willemin, and Learning Specialist, Carol Milligan Muller, go beyond the call of duty to help students with learning differences.

Stevenson University – Owings Mills, Maryland
Website: http://www.stevenson.edu/

I didn’t know what to expect when I approached the Owings Mill Campus since it had been at least seven years since I last visited. A lot has changed. I saw gorgeous new residence halls and classroom buildings that are state-of-the-art including a working courtroom which the county uses for overflow court cases. They are known as a school that offers a liberal arts curriculum with a career focus. They call it “Career Architecture” versus vocational because there is a lot more practical experience. Most popular majors include Nursing, Deciding, Business Administration, Criminal Justice and Biology. Their Pre-Professional Studies Advising program is located 25 miles from Baltimore and provides the opportunity for internships and co-ops.

 
Stevenson is part of the Division 3, Middle Atlantic conference in athletics and has strong men’s lacrosse. They’ve just built a brand-new football stadium and have terrific facilities to support their athletes academically as well.

The Academic Success Center is very strong and has been run by Ms. Christine Flax for 18 years. This includes the PASS program where she oversees 100 mentors for students who need a bit of extra help academically in getting started at the university. Stevenson might be just the right place for the student who wants to get out and make a career in the world.

Salisbury University – Salisbury, Maryland
As soon as we drove on campus, I was taken with the charm of the brick buildings and loved the fact that we were only half an hour from the beach at Ocean City, Maryland.
No wonder Sammy the Seagull is their mascot, even though he is a bit fierce. He has to be since Salisbury is in Division 3 Athletics in the Capital Athletic Conference and Empire 8 Athletics for Football. The campus is set on a nationally recognized arboretum and impressively has opened three new cutting-edge academic buildings in the last decade: The Frank Perdue School of Business (yes the chicken folks all went to school here), the Henson School of Science and Technology and the Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies. I have to tell you the digital media equipment in the Fulton School of the Liberal Arts is just amazing as well and absolutely cutting edge!

Their residence hall options include a brand-new residence-retail complex called Seagull Square and many of their halls have programming and team-building activities initiated by their staff for the students. My lunch in the Commons of the Guerrieri University Center was the nicest dining hall experience I’ve had in a long time.

In terms of Admissions News, they have just added an Early Decisions option to Early Action and Regular Decision with a November 15th deadline, so if you are really interested in Salisbury, you can show them the “love” that way. For our out-of-state students, tuition, room and board is $26,714 which for me is an amazing deal for such a terrific school!

University of Mary Washington – Fredericksburg, Virginia
As I drove up, I was immediately attracted to the beautiful brick buildings and the huge pedestrian bridge with the university name that connected the campus to a brand-new mall/apartment complex nearby. I even stayed at the brand-new adjacent Hyatt Place. It was an amazing juxtaposition of the school, located in Fredericksburg with its 40 blocks of historic buildings and quaint downtown.

Once the sister school for the University of Virginia, the university is named for Mary Washington, the mother of George, the “Father of our Country.” Now home to 4,505 co-ed undergrads, it is located 50 miles midway between D.C. and Richmond and on the Amtrak train line making it easily accessible by public transportation, a real plus. The most popular majors are education, business, the sciences, psychology, and of course history. Historic Preservation and Museum Studies are some of the unusual things you can study here.

I was also impressed by their completely student-run Center for Honor, Leadership and Service that drives and implements the school’s serious Honor Code and its complementary programs. The Center for Teaching and Learning Technologies provides a unique opportunity for students to design and create their own professional websites that they take with them beyond UMW, where their stories, artwork or anything they have created can be displayed! Real world ready.

I liked the students here. They were friendly, thoughtful and had an eye to the future….and to a person, felt as if they had come out of their shells at the University of Mary Washington.

April 2, 2013

The Dallas “metroplex” is the largest land-locked metropolitan area in the United States and is home to four of the most different and interesting colleges and universities in the Southwest. I visited these four schools on the “Magic in the Metroplex” tour in early March.

Austin College, located 60 miles from Dallas in Sherman, Texas is one of Loren Pope’s original “Colleges That Change Lives”. This diverse community (45% are students of color) thrive on experiential learning, 70% study abroad and many participate in the (CSOC) Career Study Off Campus internship program. Since 2010, Austin graduates have been awarded 10 Fulbright grants and six graduates have gone on to Teach for America. In the Fall of 2013, their new 103,000 square-foot IDEA Science Center will open with 16 classrooms, 32 advanced laboratory-classrooms, a 108-seat auditorium and an observatory.

They are also known for their Jordan Family Language House which provides an unusual language immersion program for 48 students and five native speakers in German, French, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese. While in the public areas of the house, residents speak and interact in their target language and there are language labs there as well for more intense practice work.

Southern Methodist University (SMU) is located near the heart of Dallas and offers real-world preparation through academics in the humanities and sciences, business, engineering, communications, performing and visual arts, education and human development. Driving down the campus where students and alums “Boulevard” – the SMU equivalent of tailgating for big football games, and looking towards their stately buildings gives you a sense of the history of the school! They also have the George W. Bush Presidential Library on their campus, a wonderful resource! The future is around the corner at the SMU/Lockheed Martin Skunk Works Program at the Lyle School of Engineering where students are working alongside professors on cutting edge research. Students at the Meadows School of the Arts can take advantage of the rich cultural life of downtown Dallas with its art museums, symphony orchestras, sculpture gardens and neon light shows to further their artistic careers. This is the only school to have a major in Arts Entrepreneurship.

Closer to Fort Worth is Irvine, Texas the home of the University of Dallas which calls itself “The Catholic University for Independent Thinkers.” This independence is achieved through an unusual two-year, 60-credit hour Core curriculum formed by certain Great Books and other class sequences which all students take, creating a common bond of study. This Core is strengthened by the signature UD Rome Program, begun in 1970, at their 12-acre campus located just outside the Eternal City. This semester abroad includes travel throughout Italy and Greece to complement the Great Book studies and it is a life-changing experience.

The University of Dallas like Austin College is one of 280 institutions in the US to have a Phi Beta Kappa chapter. President O’Keefe calls the institution “enthusiastically Catholic” but all are welcome. He also said that there are more National Merit Scholars in the school than any other higher education institution. Students come committed to work, and it shows in their outcomes, where more than 80% of students attend graduate school, 85% of pre-med students are accepted by professional school and 95% of pre-law students are accepted into law school.

Last but not least, I visited the home of the Horned Frog where purple is king, Texas Christian University. Five miles from downtown Fort Worth, the beautiful TCU campus is home to 8,229 undergraduates. 90% of the dorms have been renovated or are brand new since 2011 with fountains and flowering trees. Classroom facilities are unparalleled in the new Learning Commons built to fit right into the gorgeous architecture of the rest of the campus.

The new football stadium is home to their Division I team competing in the Big 12 Conference so spirits are high. Seven undergraduate colleges prepare students for the real world, and there is something here for everyone. Study abroad is a priority here and they want every student to have a “global passport” before leaving. Since Dallas-Fort Worth is the 5th largest media market, students studying in the College of Communications find great internships and ultimately jobs in their backyard. The Neeley School of Business is very popular for the same reasons. The Bob Shieffer School of Journalism, which is part of the College of Communications now offers new majors in Sports Journalism and Business Journalism, both in great demand. The numbers of Texans have decreased as the word has spread that TCU is a great place to get your undergraduate degree.

I was up in New London Connecticut in January 2013 where I was surprised by the innovative changes at 2 colleges I hadn’t seen in over six years. I added the US Coast Guard Academy to my list of schools visited.

Mitchell College has 864 undergraduates [53% male/ 47% female and 31% minority] with a focus that is personal and practical. New since my last visit is Mitchell’s Campus Center and the Duques Academic Success Center. The Duques Academic Success Center is the home of advising, tutoring and the Bentsen Learning Center Program (“BCLP”). The BLCP was just redesigned for the Fall of 2012 and has four levels of support specifically designed to meet the needs of students in their freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years. Students have to apply to BLCP simultaneously while applying to Admissions at Mitchell College. They must be accepted to the College before being accepted to the BLCP program. The liaison with Admissions is Bernie Shea. With these changes, the learning support and one-on-one strategies are stronger than ever leading to improved academic success.

Nearby on Mohegan Avenue is Connecticut College. Even on a gray day, the campus is impressive. Starting at the landmark Nike – Winged Victory statue, many historic buildings house the 1,900 undergraduates of whom 98% live on campus in residence halls where students from all classes mingle. President Leo J. Higdon Jr. has said, ”Connecticut College is already known for personalized attention to each student’s learning. Our program will be state-of-the-art among liberal arts colleges.” This is clearly evidenced by two new developments on campus.
Brand new to Conn College since my last visit is the $21 million renovation and expansion of New London Hall to create an amazing high-tech home for the life sciences and computer science. It just opened in the Fall of 2012 with state-of-the –art labs, workspaces and collaborative areas for science professors. Connecticut College is especially known for supporting females in the sciences, and those on their way to the medical field. i.e. the Science Leaders Program http://www.conncoll.edu/academics/factsheets/NSF.pdf
Another noteworthy development is the plan for the $11 million Academic Resource Center to be housed on the 3rd floor of the Charles E. Shain Library. It will encompass workshops for engaging students with faculty through its curriculum. Programs include time management, reading and strategies, note-taking, test prep and organization. The Center will also incorporate best practices for effective learning, coaching and focus on high level skill development. It will also offer programs and services for students with learning disabilities through the Office of Disability Services. The Roth Writing Center will also move into the Resource Center.

Right across the street, stately and beautiful in brick and on the banks of the Thames River is the United States Coast Guard Academy. We decided to make an unplanned stop while we were so close by. As we waited for walking tour information, Admissions Director, Daniel Pinch, offered us an impromptu info session where we learned everything about the Coast Guard Academy in an hour. The Coast Guard has more females than any other service academy [36%.] They have the highest retention rate after required service is completed which of course may have to do with the nature of their mission. The US. Coast Guard Academy is much more humanitarian in its service versus the other service academies who focus more on combat. They work with Homeland Security, protect our ports, support the CIA and FBI, contain oil spills, protect our borders against drug smuggling and illegal immigration, break ice for fishing vessels and support the shipping industry. The majors are limited to engineering, government and STEM subjects (Science, Technology, and Math), so if you have other interests to pursue, this is not the place for you. You must complete your studies in four years, so the curriculum is quite rigorous. However, these are “Leaders of Character,” and the rewards are great, not to mention four years of free tuition, room and board. It is a beautiful place to attend school.

There’s something for everyone in New London, Connecticut, not to mention the incredible restaurants – especially good for those who love seafood! We loved S & P Oyster Company in Mystic, Connecticut http://www.sp-oyster.com/ , Anthony J’s Bistro http://www.anthonyjsbistro.com/ or Azu http://azuct.com/azu/index.shtml , which we didn’t have a chance to try but next time we are in Mystic we are certainly going to do so!

With 300 days of sunshine, crisp clean air and the Rockies in the background, Denver is a great place to think of going to college. I recently attended the annual NACAC (National Association of College Admission Counseling) Conference in Denver at the beautiful Colorado Convention Center, and had the opportunity to tour five of the local colleges, offering many different educational options to our East Coast students!

My first stop was the gorgeous University of Colorado at Boulder which is 30 miles from Denver. The 600-acre pedestrian-friendly campus supports 24,757 undergrads, 5,127 graduate students, 11,000 bikes and countless skateboards, a very active campus! The beautiful red sandstone buildings and red slate roofs house many special programs including their College of Engineering and Applied Sciences that has produced 18 astronauts. The University also has well-known Programs in Environmental Design as well as the Leeds School of Business. Colorado Boulder is also known to have the second largest contingent of undergrads abroad of any college in the US with 330 programs in 70 countries. Called the “College with a Conscience,” over half of the undergraduate population does community service. School spirit abounds among the “Buffaloes” with their ever popular mascot, “Ralphie.” A chosen few actually try out to be her handlers during the CU-Boulder football games! Yes, Ralphie is a female.

The University of Denver was abuzz with excitement at hosting the 1st Presidential 2012 Debate while we were visiting and we got to see the actual venue days later. They transformed their beautiful ice rink in the brand-new Ritchie Athletic Center to accommodate the Presidential candidates, and what a great facility it is! The University is in the Cherry Creek suburb of Denver and their motto is to “wake up in a place others dream about.” With 5,061 undergrads and 6,301 grads, Denver is in an enviable position where all their professors teach both undergrads and graduate students, a bit unusual. Denver impressed me as a place where community service and dedication to the common good has a tangible presence, and students really make things happen. Every first-year student works with a faculty mentor, 65-70% complete internships, over 200 students participate in undergraduate research each year, and the Freshman Retention Rate is 88%. The Learning Effectiveness Program (LEP), a comprehensive, fee-based program for students with learning disabilities, has been around for 30 years and is a model for many other schools.

Regis University is told that their three-pronged claim to fame includes 1) their Denver location, 2) they’re a Jesuit institution and 3) their size, a little over 2500 students. They have a School of Nursing, Pharmacy and Physical Therapy, Education and Counseling, and Management. So there are many real world studies for the student who is looking towards the future. The campus is an arboretum, quite beautiful, and the student body nurturing and kind. Regis’ new President, John Fitzgibbons, just recently came from Marquette University and seems to have a lot of energy. Their chapel is gorgeous and was designed with the beauty of the Rockies in mind.

Next, we were off to Colorado Springs and the United States Air Force Academy. Our briefing began at 0800 so we knew we were on a military base, and we had to be prompt. Many of the same requirements exist for the Air Force as for the other “academies” but here the setting at the base of the Rockies made it unique with the buttressed chapel soaring to the sky! It was clear these “officers of character” needed lots of math and science to be ready academically for the academy. In addition, they needed to be medically and physically qualified. Candidates for admission need an official nomination to be eligible to compete for the appointment. Under no circumstance, would drugs, lying or untrustworthy behavior be tolerated EVER! It also seemed as if the Summer Seminar was very important. But the Air Force Academy is not for everyone…..just for a few good men and women. Unfortunately, we were unable to see all 4,000 of the cadets eat at the same time which I was really looking forward to!

Also located in Colorado Springs is Colorado College, one of a handful of colleges in the country with a “block schedule.” At Colorado College, students take one 3 and a half week long course at a time, with 25 students in a class. Classes are held in the morning, and labs are held in the afternoon. At the end of the 3 and a half weeks, exams are given, and papers are due, and the class is over. There is a 4 and a half day break, and then a completely new class begins. By the end of the first “semester,” a student will have taken as many courses as a traditional student would have taken if they had taken four altogether. However, this gives the class the opportunity to travel away for a day or two, go overseas for a week, or do projects. For example, a Coral Reef Biology Class goes to Belize for an entire block!
A Southwestern Course travels to the Grand Canyon. No one misses class because it moves very fast and everyone needs to participate. The campus is gorgeous and the town of Colorado Springs is quaint and lovely, and a lot of kids love the outdoors. Colorado Springs is also the home of the U.S. Olympic Training Committee so there are lots of internships available. I love their supplemental essay “Design Your Own Three and A Half Week Intellectual Adventure?” If you like being really involved in your learning, and want it to be fast-paced, you will be intrigued by the block schedule at Colorado College.

Not only is Springfield, Massachusetts home to the game of basketball and now the world-renowned Basketball Hall of Fame, but there are a cluster of small liberal arts colleges and universities which I recently had the opportunity to visit.

Over the course of 2 ½ days, I experienced American International, Bay Path, Elms, Springfield and Western New England.

I got the feeling from students, faculty and deans that if you were a bold female student who was interested in the allied health fields, Bay Path might be just the place for you! The school has 2,191 students on three campuses, including 1,600 on their main suburban Longmeadow campus and is known as the “New American Women’s College.” Bay Path is home of the WELL (Women Empowered as Learners and Leaders) Program that meets yearly. New majors include neuroscience, a physician’s assistant program, biochemistry and a minor in creative and performing arts. Bay Path proudly points out that 75% of their student body are first generation college students. The school has a large endowment that comes from the Breck Shampoo family.

Next, we traveled to Springfield College, where the game of basketball was discovered by James Naismith in 1891. The school has a strong connection to the YMCA so their triangular logo that bears the words, “Mind, Body and Spirit” is very reminiscent of today’s YMCA logo.

The school has undergone tremendous building in the last ten years and true to its ties to the YMCA, the focus is on its School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation that includes Spa and Wellness Management, Personal Training, and Sport Performance. There will be a new program in Nutritional Sciences in the fall of 2013. I was surprised to see the strength in their School of Arts and Sciences that include gaming, web design, and education. Springfield College has 2400 undergraduates.

Elms College is located nearby in Chicopee, MA and is the only Catholic college in Western Massachusetts. Their buildings are charming and full of gorgeous stained glass, and some of them are still dorms for their 851 students. The Freshman retention rate is 85%, due to their very personal attention. The spirit of community service is tangible and social justice is the real deal here. To them selective means “they select us.” Students who want that “Cheers” feeling of everyone knowing your name will choose Elms. Criminal Justice is a new major joining the other most popular majors of Nursing, Social Work, and Education. It’s impressive for a student body this size to capture the men’s basketball and golf 2010 ECAC and NECC Championships. The women’s soccer team captured the 2011 NECC Championships.

The Yellow Jackets of American International College boast 22 Division II sports with Division I ice hockey. It is very unusual for a school of this size to have such a strong athletic program – 1,755 undergrads and 1,825 grad students totaling 3,600 students. American International is especially strong in the Health Sciences with programs in Nursing, OT and PT, and in Education with Masters in many aspects of Counseling and Educational Leadership. I had no idea it has the second longest running learning disability program in the country called “Supportive Learning Services.” The school participates in a “Smart Thinking” program that is 24-hour on-line tutoring. There is a large commuter population at this school to be aware of.

I was also pleased to see the growth in buildings and programs at Western New England University since I had last visited in 2001. Their 2,550 undergraduates are split 61% male to 39% female, very unusual numbers to be seen in recent years! You don’t normally see a school of this size have a College of Arts and Sciences, an AACSB-accredited Business School, and a School of Engineering. They have just welcomed their first professional class to the College of Pharmacy, with a new $40 million Center for the Sciences and Pharmacy. Each College has its own Career Center focused on graduates of the individual school. Worth taking a look at!