U of O, Lewis & Clark, Oregon State, Willamette

Thanks to the Stolberg family for this summary of their Oregon trip.

Over the ski week, my son and I took a swing through Oregon to see some colleges. It was a great trip. We hit perfect sunny weather, which should fool any student into thinking Oregon is THE place to head for college. There are some excellent schools up there for creative types like the kids at The Marin School. 

Our favorite - University of Oregon. Our impression was that it is a large university but not too large. About 16,000 undergrads, which is half of some of the big state schools. The campus is beautiful, very green, very college like. Great facilities, wide range of majors and programs, and probably from what we could tell, a great college experience.  My son liked it a lot. And they filmed the movie"Animal House" there—which gives me pause but he seemed stoked about it. I wonder why. Great architecture school too, possibly one of my son's interests. 

The other very cool school was Lewis & Clark College near Portland. Much smaller. 2000 undergrads ... the "Marin School" of colleges in that the kids get a lot of attention and access to profs. Classes are small. A shuttle runs into the city in about 20 minutes, so the kids get the best of both worlds. A small liberal arts college that is located in a forest and a big city nearby for culture. Great, great feel to the school. One dorm is devoted to artistic kids (with its own photo dark room and ceramics room in the dorm) and another to outdoorsy kids. So you can meet other like-minded students. 

My son was less interested in Oregon State -- nothing wrong with it, but Corvallis seems very small town. 

Willamette University was a nice campus, but didn't feel right to him. They seemed to have a great science program for kids who are interested in life sciences. 

We would definitely recommend a trip to Oregon for TMS kids looking to venture a little further for college. We were very impressed and it didn't rain at all. I bet it never does, either.

Eckerd College

Thanks to the Kliman family for providing this summary from their recent trip.

The campus is arid and large but includes a wonderful marina, beautiful beach and nice athletic grounds.  The marine biology building is impressive, with outdoor tanks for marine life study and indoor labs and aquaria that look great.  The dorm rooms are good sized.  There are no flowers/gardens except for vegetable gardens with herbs that the chefs really use.  There was an empty feel to the campus; no observable energy with people and activities quite spread out, no tangible sense of community.  There are a couple dorms that take pets.

Our Guides:  one freshman (learning to guide, well-intentioned, smart, majoring in marine biology, something and French); one junior, transferred in this year, junior college in Maryland, travel to Brazil, motivation for college and good connection to Eckerd, majoring in art.  Both had “fallen in love with Eckerd from the first” – one because of the cute yellow bikes (that are around for anyone to use) and the other because her guide had been so good.

Academics:  We heard a lot of emphasis on honors work in high school as typical for accepted students.  The college is organized into colleges (rather than traditional departments).  It reflects the idea of an interdisciplinary curriculum but it is based on the notion that you learn science differently from language and literature, different from behavioral science/psychology, which may not be true.  The descriptions of majors and the breadth of them were impressive.  One like marine science entails many requirements:  calculus, chemistry, no mention of psychology.  The lab we saw where blue crabs were being investigated looked energized, the kids were smiling!  In general, there seemed to be an emphasis on “common ground” or fundamentals.  Although there is no English 101, there is a Western Civilization course that all freshmen take where they read classics like the Odyssey “to insure all have the intellectual fundamentals under their belts”.  The mentor program was excellent; one professor assigned for the four years plus an academic advisor/mentor in your major. 

Students:  we met one graduate, a fellow from Switzerland, and he loved Eckerd.  He majored in international business and French and was staying on an extra year (manning the desk at the Sirata Beach Resort) just to have more time nearby and in the general area.  He felt his mentor and faculty advisor were extremely helpful and always wanted to help him do his best and get the most from his education.  The students we saw on the tour were individuals going somewhere, often by skateboard, also a group of RA’s eating pizza and planning activities for their dorms.  Generally people looked wholesome and not too concerned about appearance.  Postscript:  friends invited two sophomore girls to have dinner with us.  They were very enthusiastic and described flexibility in curriculum (one was in marine science at first and switched to psychology major and marine science minor because she wants to be involved in dolphin therapy rather than marine science per se; the other said physics was a killer course and generally the introductory courses for majors are tougher than later courses with the intent to weed out those who were not serious about the intended major.  They were very happy with social life on campus, saying there is always something fun to do on weekends.)

Dining halls:  catered by Bon Appetit; food was very good.  Food bucks with various meal plans.  The college has an interest in growing organic vegetables for use by the kitchen, in addition to the herbs already in use.  Green lunch box program:  a pilot being done on an Eckerd student idea that spares landfill and ocean from Styrofoam.  Take out boxes are blue, washable clams that get returned and sterilized for continued use.

General area: A residential college.  St. Pete’s Beach closest, resort and retirement community.  Tampa about 40 minutes away:  good shopping, culture, cinema, theater.

Lynn University

Thanks to the Kliman family for providing this summery of their recent trip.

The campus is well-maintained; flowers, grass, fountains.  One of us thought it looked rather like a country club.  It has two moderately large swimming pools.  They are not for the sport; they are for the students.  The grounds are very nice, the buildings well-maintained and clearly (from the naming) the result of good fundraising. The cafeteria is large, pleasant, and the food is good.  Our visit included student visits to classes, a guided tour for the family and an informal interview from someone in admissions with the potential student.

Our tour guide was a delightful student from Ecuador, very enthusiastic and clear about the advantages of a college that has no big lectures, only small classes that never get above 30 students and often hover around 8-12.  She described the student community in very warm terms and was upbeat, informative and encouraging.  Our daughter loved a class in Anatomy and Physiology; they were reviewing a recent test.  She felt the teacher was excellent and showed that even very difficult material can be made understandable; i.e., she answered questions in depth and with an eye to whether the students understood the material.  Strong departments seem to be music, communications, aviation, liberal arts, education, and business.

There is an excellent support program for students with learning differences.  Each person in that program has an individualized plan that aims at academic independence by senior year.  Tutors have masters and doctorates as well as real life experience in their fields.  We heard very positive feedback about the support program from current students.

University of Miami

Thanks to the Kliman family for providing this summary of their recent visit.

The campus is large but calm, attractive and easy to navigate.  Students look engaged and happy. Our guide was terrific, enthusiastic and informative; someone from CT who thought she would go to NYU but got a scholarship at Miami and was changing her major from pre-dental to neuroscience, applying for a NASA internship for the summer.  She gave us the impression that all things are possible.  Dorm rooms were small and hallways were painted cinderblock.  Bathrooms were large and clean.  Dining options were varied.  The place had a large campus feel but not an impersonal one.  We were more interested after a visit than we expected to be.  Marine biology is very strong.

Florida Southern College

Thank you to the Kliman family for providing this post from their recent trip.

Campus:  Interesting. Rather hilly with Lake Hollingsworth below.  Architecture, old and new, was quite nice.  Well-known for Frank Lloyd Wright buildings and walk-ways:  only chapel he designed and built is there, some academic buildings, many long low walkways that protect from sun and rain but are low and designed for short people (like FLW, who was apparently less than 5 ft tall and felt no one had the right to be over 6ft).  New buildings also feature big windows (bringing the outside inside) and red painted metal, similar to the interior of the chapel.

Thoughtful organization of services: professors’ offices near classrooms; reps from all student resources/services in one place called the Solution Center.  Two female and one male freshman dorms; upperclass dorms are coed.  Rooms are larger than elsewhere with various options (single, double) available.

There was a good feeling about the place.  Students were friendly and diverse.  Staff were informative, eager to be helpful and energetic.  The college offers unusual programs for Florida, like pre-veterinary medicine.  Sports are important and enthusiastically supported.  The college is Methodist affiliated, but the chapel celebrates all religions.  There seemed to be an active spiritual life, but not a doctrinaire one.

A great, small liberal arts college if you don’t mind being in central Florida.