University of Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame (visited 11/21/19)

Notre Dame is fabulous. Visually appealing, vibrant, and with all the opportunities you could hope for, students seem to thrive. Students have the best of all worlds: top-notch academics (“professors aren’t just top of their fields – they’re famous,” said a student), arts (the fine and performing arts facilities are some of the best funded and most-well resourced that I’ve seen), athletics (the stadium fills up – and it holds several times more than the size of the student body), and more. “If you’re willing to think of things you want to do, talk to people, make things happen … sky’s the limit here.”

I contacted a junior I know who met us to show us around; he was much more forthcoming than most tour-guides would be, and we feel like we walked away with a clear picture of the types of students who would thrive, find and take advantage of opportunities, and contribute to the life of the school. “You definitely have to take the initiative to talk to professors,” he said. “You can do a lot here, but nothing is going to be handed to you.” He’s said that he’s an outlier on campus. “I’m not motivated by grades. Many students here are. I’m cognizant that I’m not typical.”

Touchdown Jesus

“It’s very Catholic, white, and upper middle class here. If your name is Katie, Michael, Patrick, or Brendan and are from the suburbs of Chicago, you’re going to fit right in.” He admits that he was being half-sarcastic … “it may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not but much!” It is ranked as the #1 Catholic school in the country; there’s plenty around campus to remind you that you’re at a religious school, it’s less in-your-face than I thought it might be … two notable exceptions are the Touchdown Jesus mural and the First-Down Moses statue (“someone stuck a pumpkin on his finger at Halloween!”). The university does, at least superficially, abide by Catholic policies. For example, the student told us that birth control had been banned through Health Services (not unheard of at many Catholic or other overtly religious campuses), but the ban got overturned by students who protested. He thinks that the ban was originally put in place maybe to appease donors, “but this also speaks to the fact that they do listen to students.”

Campus is huge, much bigger than I expected for the number of students (a little under 9,000 undergrads). Construction and/or renovations seem to be ongoing, and they stick with the yellow brick that they’re so famous for, although on one building, it was easy to see where they ran out of the traditional brick and used a slightly different mud. There are quite a few things walkable off campus; we ate with the student at a Chipotle right off campus where there were a couple blocks of shops and restaurants with apartments above them. Most students do live on campus, and dorms are good.

Athletics, of course, are a staple on campus, both to play and watch. On Football weekends, the student said that he knows that it’ll take longer to walk to class on Fridays “because the alumni family is back and taking up the sidewalk. The Michigan Game was the most ridiculous I’ve seen so far.” Famous people regularly come in to tailgate. The stadium regular fills up, “and it holds many times the number of students at the university – that’s how many people come to watch. People have bought places in town to stay just for this reason.” Overflow parking is on the golf course “which tells you how well they regard golf here.” They’ve recently build massive sport-specific training facilities; we didn’t go in, but we could see in through the windows at the extravagance of the equipment (including technology). These were larger and nicer than many academic buildings I’ve seen. It was definitely over-the-top, but seeing as they’re Associate Members of the Big 10 Conference, it’s clear that they’re making this a priority.

The Crown that inspired “More is More” comment in regards to the university

Luckily, academics are also superbly well-funded. “More is more here. There’s this sense of ‘How much can you do?’ Things radiate outward.” The Physics building was used for some of the early research of the atomic bomb, and in fact, the government took it over for a couple years; they have an accelerator here and in an abandoned mine in SD. These have to be underground to avoid random particles in the atmosphere. The College of Science is separate from Arts & Letters here. They’re well known for the computing programs with options in Science-Computing, Chemistry-Computing, and Applied/Computational Math and Stats. Surprisingly, the Med School acceptance rate is only about 80% – while still well above the national average, I expected higher at a powerhouse like Notre Dame.

The interior of the Performing Arts building

The Performing Arts building (housing the Film, TV, and Theater major) is phenomenal with lots of concert halls and a cinema with THX. They have a College of Architecture and College of Global Affairs (each one with only the 1 major; Architecture is a 5-year program).

interior of the chapel

Students are good in terms of service and giving back; being here has made the student learn about the sheer impact Notre Dame has on the world. They have enough money to help students get involved in what they’re interested in. Summer Service Learning Projects (SSLP) allow students to get grants for an 8-week immersive project with a non-profit. The grant provides a stipend, room and board, and sometimes 3 credits towards a major. “Notre Dame is very much about the equality of opportunities …. Almost!” He feels like there are ways they could improve. He comes from a more progressive area in California, and he sees some of the hypocrisy here, much of it stemming from the Catholicism. For example, ND sponsors March for Life but not for Choice, even though there are many students who participate in this. “LGBTQ may not be as well funded as other things, as well, although the community is here and accepted on campus.”

People are good at global-mindedness, as well. Somewhere between 60-70% of students study abroad, both at the ND-run centers in Ireland and Rome and through other programs.

© 2019

Goshen College

Goshen College (visited 11/20/19)

Goshen is a hidden gem. If you’re looking for an “interesting, eclectic place,” this might be for you! It’s a warm and welcoming community with a socially and environmentally aware mindset and a globally-focused curriculum. Students are happy and engaged; academics are rigorous but not overwhelming; the social life is active – all on a beautiful, brick-filled campus. Fun fact: new college Presidents get dunked in the fountain in front of the library.

Global awareness and competency is a key part of life on Goshen’s campus. All students complete at least one Study-Service Term (SST) abroad, although there are alternatives for students who are unable to go. For example, nursing students can go to Nepal as part of their program without losing clinical hours. The programs focus less on the popular Western cultures and emphasize both cultural immersion and service. This has been ranked at the #4 best study abroad program in the nation. Not surprisingly, a lot of students will do a service year after graduating.

Although campus is cut in half by the railroad, it’s accessible and very walkable. There are also lots of bikes and long boards around (and the Trail along the canal right off campus that even gets plowed!). The have a Native Landscape Garden running alongside the train tracks; an annual Burn is done in the spring by students in the Sustainability Major.

“Walking through campus, it was a feeling I could only describe as peace,” said the tour guide. “It may sound cheesy, but that’s what we’ve got.” It’s a fairly residential campus, but not entirely. Students must live on campus until they earn 90 credits or are 22 years old. About 30% of students true commuters (living at home with family) with maybe 45% total living off campus. That being said, campus is active: we visited campus from about 5-7:30pm, and students were out and about around campus. The dining hall was full. People were taking advantage of spaces. The tour guide said that there’s a lot to do on and around campus – a couple things worth mentioning were Slip-n-Slide kickball and Bad Karaoke Breakfast Bash.

The city of Goshen has a population of 32,000 which helps support lots of things to do. “Night life in downtown is really good,” said the tour guide. The students we ate dinner with said that there was a lot to do and that First Fridays in town were popular. Many business owners are alumni who didn’t leave town. They support the students with discounts, hiring them, etc, and the college supports them in return through placing orders (t-shirts, etc). There’s also an interurban trolley between Elkhart and Goshen for students wanting to go a little further afield without too much effort.

The campus chapel (also used by the community)

Although this is a Mennonite school, they are open and welcoming to people of all or no faith. The rep said that they have students from 41 Christian and 12 world religions on campus. Students of any level or denomination of faith will be comfortable here. Acceptance is the primary goal: “It’s an interesting, eclectic place.” For some people, this would be too much in terms of individual differentness. “Here it doesn’t matter. We’re do inclusiveness on purpose.” The rep, who grew up in nearby Angola and got her Masters here at Goshen, told me that some local churches have stopped giving scholarships to students if attended Goshen because of the colleges inclusiveness towards the LGBTQ community (who are very safe and welcomed on campus).

The concert hall

Their Mennonite numbers have been dwindling from about 48% to 28% over the years, reflective of the general population in the church. They’ve been popular with students from similar denominations such as Quaker. Students do need to earn 12 convocation credits per term. Convos can be whatever the students want them to be: it could be students presenting about their SST experiences, an author speaking, etc. “Sometimes they’ll offer it for campus events like bbqs, sports, or theater performances,” said the tour guide. “These aren’t faith-based. You can also get credit by going to chapel, but there are enough other options that you can completely fulfill it without ever doing something religious.” As Mennonite institution, they do house the Mennonite Historical Library, one of the largest collections of primary source material. “You can do genealogy there.”

I’m really impressed with the range and quality of academics offered here:

• 

  An ongoing, joint student-faculty project to learn about and produce biomass for fuel

  Not surprisingly, they are strong in areas such as Peace, Justice, & Conflict Studies, Criminal Justice & Restorative Justice, and Social Policy & Advocacy (minor). Their religion options include Anabaptist-Mennonite Studies (Minor).

• Their music programs provide incredible resources, including a major concert hall with recording-quality acoustics. There are a few strong minors or tracks like Piano Pedagogy, Musical Theater, and Music for Social Change.
• Sustainability is a strong focus of the colleges as a whole, and they offer a variety of programs with that, including Sustainable Food Systems, Sustainability Management, Sustainability Studies, Environmental & Marine Science, and Agroecology (minor).
• Nursing students almost always have jobs before graduation.
• “The education dept was a pleasant surprise,” said the tour guide.
• Goshen is one of the few colleges in the state to offer ASL programs, particularly with the number of options such as ASL, ASL Education, and Sign Language Interpretation.

© 2019

Bethel College

Bethel College (visited 11/21/19)

Bethel is a small welcoming school on a pretty campus (including several fountains), lots of traditions (a couple involving said fountains), solid academics, and a strong faith-based community; “you have to be willing to engage with the religion,” said the tour guide. Students must earn 3 chapel credits per week in any combination of services (chapel meets at 10am on MWF), coffee with a philosophy professor, small group bible study in the dorms, etc. They’ve switched chapel credits this year, the tour guide thinks it’s a good change: “There’s more choice and it shakes things up a bit.”

The small chapel

Our tour guide wanted a school that wasn’t just Christian in name. Bethel is intentionally Christian in everything they do, including their Statement of Faith and expectations for the community. People here want to grow in their faith. They choose to participate not just in established activities such as Chapel, but seek ways to go beyond that. For example, our tour guide described “Scripture 66” which takes places over a weekend every fall semester. Students read the entire bible out loud between chapel on Friday and chapel on Monday, usually in the small chapel.

Students tend more towards the conservative religious side. If that’s what they grew up with, they’ll be comfortable here. Students have a lot of forums to speak up. The tour guide feels that they do a good job of being inclusive of all races, but “We’re predominantly white. We’re in Indiana. That’s going to happen.” They’ve create clubs for spaces for people and to have a forum to talk to admin. “The effort is there.”

This still feels very much like a small regional school. Only about 800 of the 1400 live on campus (and, living up to the Christian school norms, it’s a dry campus and dorms have specific coed visitation hours). Retention is ok, hovering around 72% but there’s definitely room for improvement, which they realize. They’re starting a new First-Year Experience to help students create connections, and they’ve hired a new grad to revamp it.

They have some fun traditions: Pond Run is held on the first day of freshman year. Helm Run is held on the day of the first snowfall: guys run in their underwear (and no shoes) from the dorm to the Helm and back. Babe and Dude weeks (Babe Week is usually first) are also big deals – they do slip-n-slide in the dorms, panels, FroYo runs, initiation, etc. They also have good activities such as an Escape Room campus.

Since they’re in NAIA rather than NCAA, they can provide athletic scholarships. They just brought in a new athletic director so games tend to be drawing in more fans now.

Bethel is flexible with AP and dual enrollment. They have some interesting options for majors an minors such as:

• Human Bioenergetics emphasis in their Biokinetics program.
• A robust array of religiously focused programs such as Reconciliation Studies, Biblical languages minor, and Missional Ministries.
• Nursing is Direct Admit. Half of the seats are saved for students who apply to come in after taking A&P.

© 2019

Trine University

Trine University (visited 11/20/19)

Some of the original buildings on the quad

Trine is a small university in a small town in rural northern Indiana. In addition the standard array of liberal arts degrees, they offer strong education programs, design engineering tech, biomedical engineering, and golf management as well as lots of unusual minors. Sports and Greek Life are big deals here. One of the old buildings in the attractive quad area had Hall of Humanities engraved in the stone; we didn’t get to go into that, but we thought that might be an indication of what they thought was important, but choices for majors in Arts & Sciences are limited.

Trine is the fastest growing private college in Indiana; they’re looking to keep growing over the next 15 years. The main campus has about 2,200 undergrads (skewed heavily male) and 5,000 students total. (There’s a smaller satellite campus in Ft. Wayne that hosts Health Sciences and some online programs). Almost half (45%) of students are engineering majors; the rep, an alum gave us a tour and zoomed past the biomedical building in the golf cart so we didn’t get to see any of the labs which would’ve been cool. (Note: we did ask her to show off what she was most proud of; we ended up spending a chunk of time wandering around the new sports arena; she walked us around the entire perimeter of the basketball court and showed off the bowling alley but not the eSports room … go figure). Although they’re mostly considered a STEM and education school, they do offer some other options:

• Engineering and Computing is arguably the strongest school with 10 majors including Biomed, Chem, Civil & Environmental, Design Engineering Technology, Electrical, Mechanical, Computer, and software.
• Business includes a Golf Management program (they have a course on campus). There are maybe about 30 students in the program.
• In the Education department, everyone can get Google Certified. They boast a 100% job placement over the last 6 years and pass rate on the state level pedagogy exam.
• Arts & Sciences have very limited options. There are 3 routes for pre-law – Criminal Justice, General Studies, and an accelerated 3+3 with a few options for law school.
• The School of Health Science offers 5 majors including Biochem, Exercise science, and forensic science. They bought an Anatomage (like a giant iPad) which allows them to study anatomy and physiology without a cadaver lab. They offer direct entries into their MPAS and DPT programs; applicants would need a 1210 SAT and 3.5 GPA to be considered for the Direct entry.
• Some of their unusual minors include Gaming & eSports, energy engineering, aeronautical engineering, bioprocess engineering, metallurgical engineering, sport psychology, and forensic psychology.

Co-ops are encouraged but not required; typically students choose to do a full year. This will delay graduation if they choose to do this, but they do get paid and can receive academic credit after the 3^rd session. Their 5-year graduation rate is 60% mainly because of Co-ops, although their freshman-to-sophomore retention is also fairly low.

They are in a small town that’s difficult to get to for students coming from a distance; there’s no convenient public transport. The closest airport is 50 miles away (Ft. Wayne); the nearest train station is 15 miles (Waterloo). The town of Angola isn’t big, but there are a few things to do in town: students get free movies on Mondays at the Brokaw; MTI hosts College Bowling Nights 1-2 times a week, there’s Open Skate at the Thunder Ice Arena, and the Y hosts Trine Nights where students can use the pool, fitness center, sauna, etc. There is no pool on campus.

upperclassmen apartments

As counselors, we’re always looking to see what a school’s hook is – what would draw students to that school over other similar ones. This is a cute school with a few niche majors, but we had trouble finding a compelling reason to recommend this to people from a distance. We asked her what her “elevator spiel” was when students stopped to talk at a college fair and what would draw a student (particularly one who had to travel and really work at getting to campus) to Trine over another school. Unfortunately, she didn’t really have an answer to that. She mentioned the small school/class experience (LOTS of colleges have that), the “community feel” (pretty much every school out there talks about that), and that she would talk about her experience on campus – which she didn’t share with us.

One of the Greek houses

Trine recently built Stadium Hall, a new dorm, to accommodate the growing population. Students have to live on campus until they’re 21, unless they’re in one of the massive Greek houses (about 25% of students join Greek life but few live in the houses; the rep said, “Greek life is not dominant but it’s present.”) or in the non-denominational Christian Campus House which is technically not considered on-campus (landlords are different). They have 3 houses: 1 each for men and women and a Main house (surprisingly, only about 15 students total live there despite this being one of the biggest groups). They serve free hot dogs on Wednesday and pancakes on Fridays; host a “root beer kegger” during orientation; and offer alternative spring breaks, mission work, etc. Trine is not religiously affiliated, by the way.

Sports provide much of the social life on campus. They’re DIII with 35 competitive teams. Bowling, eSports, Cheer & Dance, and Synchronized & Figure Skating are club sports so they can give scholarships to students. Lacrosse is a big draw for East coast students. They’ve invested a lot of money into their facilities, including a great indoor track including long-jump sand pit.

Scholarships are based on GPA and scores, and they’ll accept new scores and transcripts until May of senior year. Students can only earn one academic scholarship but can stack up to 2 more awards such as Diversity, valedictorian/salutatorian, legacy, activity award (music, choir, skating, etc), or Pre-Health Profession Track. Students can be invited for the Scholarship Days where they come to campus to compete for certain awards.

© 2019

Holy Cross College (IN)

Holy Cross College, IN (visited 11/21/19)

Stained glass and some of the pews in the Holy Cross chapel (formerly a foundry for Notre Dam).

Fun fact: the Holy Cross Chapel used to be the foundry that made the bricks for Notre Dame’s iconic yellow buildings. Started as a 2-year all-male “feeder” school, this is now a full 4-year coed school in its own right, but it still feels a bit like Notre Dame’s forgotten younger brother. The people we met (an admissions rep/alum and a current senior) were incredibly helpful and so happy to show off their school. They said that they feel like the younger-brother feel has definitely dwindled in recent years, but it’s hard to shake that. However, for students looking for a much smaller academic environment but with easy access to the large rah-rah feel of Notre Dame (they’re literally across the street), this could be a good alternative – and for students who might like to transfer later, they have a specific articulation agreement with Notre Dame in which a select group of students can transfer as long as they’ve met the minimum requirements.

As an out-of-state counselor, it was hard to find what would bring students to Holy Cross from a distance other than as a stepping-stone into Notre Dame. This is a very small school of only about 600 students but may eventually grow up to 1000. This allows for personal attention and remaining true to the mission of the Brothers of the Holy Cross, the same group that started Notre Dame. “The motto is that the mind will not be cultivated at the expense of the heart,” said the rep. Their mission is education, holistically developing people, and giving back. They want to develop active global citizens; “students should engage with the people they’ll be serving.”

About 1/3 of the students do not identify as Catholic. Attendance at Mass is not required, but students must take 2 academically based theology classes. “They teach what the Brothers believe and what they do with that belief. It’s not to indoctrinate people,” said the rep.

The quad (which had been a parking lot not too long ago) and some dorms

Only about half of those students live on campus; they draw a lot of local students, and Juniors and Seniors may move off campus. They are located directly across the street from Notre Dame which helps alleviate some of the small feeling; St. Mary’s is only a couple blocks to the north. Student can get involved in clubs and activities, to the football games (it costs $330 for the season; it sounds like it’s an all or nothing deal “unless you can find someone selling an individual ticket,” said the tour guide), and take classes (1 per term) on the other campuses. Freshman can take classes at St. Mary’s right away; only sophomores with a 3.0 or higher can take classes at ND.

Some of the iconic Notre Dame buildings as seen from the Holy Cross campus. They really are right across the street from each other.

Very briefly (a couple years), Holy Cross was single-gender (male) when it served as a seminary (and the student body is still about 60% male); it remained a 2-year school until the early 2000s. They still offer a few AA degrees and some students take advantage of that, but mostly local students who will transfer or those who are Notre Dame hopefuls. They offer a Gateway Program which provides a direct transfer to ND; there are maybe 75 per cohort can transfer to ND after a year as long as they maintain a 3.5 GPA and are in good disciplinary standing. Students are selected from the Notre Dame applicant pool; they cannot self-select or indicate that they are interested in this program. There’s also a self-selected Driscoll Scholars program, a 2+3 engineering degree with ND; students major in a STEM field at HC for 2 years, then go to ND for 3 years for an engineering degree.

Some of the reading areas in the library

Because of the range of students coming to Holy Cross, there’s also a huge SAT spread (which we know isn’t the end-all of ability, but it can be an indicator of the range of students at the college); their middle 50% ranges from about 1010-1380. The other counselor with me saw that in one of their brochures and asked if it was correct. It is. “From a professor’s standpoint, sometimes it can be challenging to find that sweet spot to challenge people without swamping others,” said the rep. I asked about an Honors College or another way they could keep the high-fliers engaged. He said that they will offer Honors sections – but it’s up to the students to tell their advisors that they want the extra challenge. These aren’t advertised as well as they should be which is a bit concerning.

A symposium of Psychology 101 research was going on in the atrium on the day we visited

As part of the educational mission, Holy Cross helps DACA recipients. About ¼ of students at HC are First Gen, and they’ve brought on a coordinator to help them while on campus. They’ve started First Gen and Latinx clubs to help people feel more connected. “A lot of us felt like outsiders,” said our tour guide who is a DACA recipient from Chicago. “We felt like having a club would make it feel more at home instead of just a place to go. A lot went home every weekend. We host traditional events. It’s not even exclusive to Latinos. We’ve caught the attention of Notre Dame and the community. I feel like the impact is getting greater every year.” They also now have a Retention coordinator who meets with students who don’t aren’t settling in or who are academically struggling. Currently, their freshman-sophomore retention rate is in the low 60s. While still above the national average, this isn’t great. However, they do lose students in the Notre Dame cohort programs which disproportionately hits their retention and graduation rates.

The rep (an alum) said that he’s seen lots of good changes around campus since he came as a freshman. The quad used to be a parking lot but is now a great green space and gathering spot. “Holy Cross is also becoming it’s own thing rather than Notre Dame’s little brother.” They now have a Tri-campus sustainability class: students go through all campuses, looking what they’re doing to promote sustainability such as the farm t St. Mary’s, Geothermal units at ND, and getting rid of trays at HC. He’d like to see more articulation for Master’s degrees. There’s currently a 4+1 in Data Science and Autism Studies with St. Mary’s.

There are only 11 majors offered at Holy Cross Business, Psych, Theology, and Liberal Studies (with or without a pre-law track) remain the most popular majors on campus. The tour guide’s favorite class was Research Methods in Psych; he got to go to a conference: “it was interesting to present my own study on athletes and bullying.” The rep’s favorite class was Logic; “I liked talking about moral ethics.” Internships are required, as are seminars in Global perspectives. They offer Long Global Trips to Uganda, India, and Peru among other places. These are not tourism trips but try to be as immersive as possible, often staying with priests or brothers at a retreat center. Trips include service components. It’s highly subsidized; most only cost $1-2000. I asked if there was help for students for whom even that would be out of reach; there isn’t much help available.

© 2019

St. Mary’s College (IN)

St. Mary’s College, South Bend, IN (visited 11/21/19)

St. Mary’s (South Bend, IN) is a small women’s college clustered in the neighborhood with Notre Dame (which is literally across the street) and Holy Cross (about 2 blocks to the south). Started as the sister school to Notre Dame when they were still all-men, St. Mary’s has held onto their single-gender identity. Unfortunately, they’ve been a bit lost in the shadow of ND as that grew in size and prominence which is too bad; they’re a moderately selective school holding steady with 1,600 students, good retention and decent graduation rates, fairly good geographic diversity (only about ¼ come from Indiana), and strong programs in nursing, communication science/disorders, accounting, and management among others.

For students worried about attending an all-women’s college – don’t. With Notre Dame and Holy Cross so close, students get the best of both worlds – a small, nurturing, single-gender home base but with access to the large rah-rah feel of an athletic/academic powerhouse. They’ve retained a strong connection to Notre Dame; St. Mary’s students can cross-register for classes at either campus, and they can join clubs and activities (including the Marching Band) at Notre Dame. They can also attend the football (or other) games; tickets run about $330 for the season (the student thinks it might be an all-or-nothing deal unless you can find someone selling single tickets).

Buildings are beautiful, as is campus. These are mostly made of the same yellow brick as Notre Dame, not surprising since they grew up at the same time. The mud for the bricks is local and was made at the foundry which is serves as Holy Cross’ chapel.

A few programs that are worth noting include:

• BA/BFA in the Applied Arts and Design, including New Media, design, sculpture, photo media, fibers, Musical Theater, dance, and more
• Math/Computer Sciences – including Applied Math (in conjunction usually with Data Science, Computer Science, etc) and Statistical/Actuarial Math
• Speech Language Pathology
• Global Studies with concentrations in Anthropology, Economics, Justice and Human Rights, business administration, intercultural studies, and modern European Culture. Students must obtain intermediate proficiency in 1 language and introductory proficiency in a “less commonly taught language” (Arabic or Chinese are offered on campus) to be accepted into the major.
• Their interdisciplinary programs including film studies, gerontology, justice education, among others.

© 2019

Earlham College

Earlham College (visited 6/12/17)

“The pool here is too short for competition because …. Quakers!” said the tour guide. Earlham does, however, have an excellent club equestrian team and an Equestrian Center where students can board their horses.

As a CTCL school, it’s not a surprise that Earlham is known for its cutting edge integrated learning (and Money magazine has ranked them as top college in Indiana). They are vocal in their support for a liberal arts education: “You should be able to parachute into any situation and figure it out. You need to listen to others. It doesn’t mean you have to change your core values, but you need to understand what other people are talking about. They might have ideas you want to incorporate. Liberal Arts gives you the critical thinking and multi-disciplinary perspectives you need in today’s society,” said the college President.

Zen Garden

Earlham is a Quaker-affiliated school; other than perhaps the Japanese Garden in the courtyard of the Student Center (“students like to go there to get their Zen on,” said one admissions rep), there’s no visual indication that there’s any affiliation at all. However, they do embrace Quaker values: respect for one another, integrity, social justice, simplicity, and creation of community – they work particularly hard at this. The Peace/Justice mindset was evident even on the outskirts of campus where “War is Not the Answer” signs sat on lawns of houses, many of which (we later learned) were owned by Earlham and used as an upperclassmen housing option. A professor said, “Students can learn to protest on any campus, but this is one of a few where you can learn to do it and build community, not destroy it. Students will do what they need to do, but they’ll be asking questions along the way.” One student said, “I’m not a Quaker, but it’s what I treasure about the school.” Another said, “We aren’t a quiet student body.”

This is primarily a residential campus with most students (about 95%) living on or adjacent to the 800 acre campus. “We’re unapologetic about the 4 year residency requirement.” There are 7 dorms (2 all-female, 1 all-male) including gender-neutral housing. They provide “graduated living options” where first-years are in cohorts in traditional dorms or floors. Seniors can live in one of the 20 houses on the perimeter of campus, many of which are themed housing options. About ¾ of these are consistent every year (cultural or language, faith-based, etc). The others are Friendship Houses: students petition to live with friends, and they have to explain what this group will do to contribute to campus. Applications are read without names attached by groups of other students. “Students get comfortable living in ambiguous environments. This is where self-discovery happens which can take time. We specialize in helping them do this,” said the dean of residential life.

The main part of campus sits on 200 of the school’s property; the remaining 600 acres are called “Back Campus” with trails for hiking/biking/running, educational research, horseback riding, and more. Campus is never quiet: “Students tend to get over-involved. Most people here don’t know how to say no,” said a tour guide. 30% participate in NCAA DIII varsity sports. The student-athlete experience is positive here. The town of Richmond is welcoming of students with jobs and internships.

Science Center

Earlham provides an intellectually stimulating environment which is also close and nurturing. One of the students said, “Academics are so much better than I thought! Maybe also a little less fun …” although he said this good humor with a smile on his face! The stand-out program at Earlham is EPIC: Earlham Plan for Integrative Collaboration. It focuses on:

• Intellectual Inquiry through Liberal Arts explorations, the major, and Integrated Pathways combining curricular and co-curricular opportunities such as
  • Medical Humanities (ethical and social aspects of medical sciences)
  • Peace Corps Prep School for international development, offering courses in 6 sectors of the PC (Agriculture, education, etc). They get a notation on their transcript.
• 

  Student Center

  Immersion Experiences: internships, research, off-campus study

  • The Border Studies Program is a unique study-away experience; students are based in Tucson but spend time on both sides of the border. This program takes a sociological, ecological, and economical approach to immigration and migration, human rights, food, indigenous cultures, and more. This is open to students from all majors as long as they have completed at least 1 year of college level Spanish.
  • Other immersion experiences include semesters in India (Tibetan Studies), Jordan, Ecuador, and more.
• Integrated Learning including diverse collaboration, skill and competency development, career explorations

There are 5 Centers for students to choose from within this program:

• Center for Global Health (looking at things ranging from the degradation of natural habitats, food shortages, and health issues). Students have collaborated with Departments of State, School Districts, and more.
• Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
• Social Justice
• Global Education
• Career Education and Community Engagement

EPIC’s purpose is to advance the schools’ commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship, innovative teaching, learning, and transformative social action by funding internships or research for all interested students. These are transformative experiences; by funding them, it addresses an equity issue. Some students are in a position to do exciting internships, but others are precluded from those opportunities due to economics. This program makes it available to everyone, not just the privileged students.

They’ve recently built the CoLab (CoLaboratory) which allows a physical space for interdisciplinary work to happen. Stemming from this type of work, a team of 4 Earlham students won the Hult Prize, a student competition for Social Good. This was an international competition against 25,000 teams; they were in the top 6. The four students created an interdisciplinary team (one of the requirements) representing majors in Econ, Business, and Peace & Justice. They had to create a project to double the income of 10 million people by 2017; they created an “UberBus” in Kenya and are now expanding it with the $1million in start-up money they won!

They’ve been named as a Top 10 Most Diverse Campus. International students are well taken care of here. There are 3 dedicated international advisors, and students will even get shuttled from the Dayton airport. 70% of students will study abroad.

Their Museum Studies program (run jointly by the Art, Biology, Geology, and History departments) is amazing! Students curate exhibits and run the museum tours. Many combine this with a business program for marketing and advertising.

The New Arts building has individual studios for the Fine Arts students. They offer Fibers and Weaving concentration and Photography (about half of the art majors have a photo concentration) as well as extensive metalworking and ceramics labs. “We used to be kind of invisible,” said the Chair of the program. “We had studios and offices and darkrooms scattered across campus. The new building changes that.” The theater and music departments are also well outfitted; Michael C. Hall (Dexter) is an Earlham alum.

© 2017

University of Indianapolis

University of Indianapolis (visited 6/12/17)

“What happens in the buildings is way more important than the buildings (which are still phenomenal),” said the school’s President. UIndy is a comprehensive liberal arts school with about 4000 undergraduates. “Some kids come in with a laser focus, but many don’t, and we kind of like that! The first year is meant to expose them to the range of options so they can start to articulate passions. We draw an involved faculty who are interested in helping students see the relevance in what they’re studying and to help them articulate what they’re passionate about.”

This fall (2017), they’ll bring in 1,150 freshmen with 52 nations represented (China is the most highly represented with 250 students followed by 175 from the Middle East). Incoming freshmen had an average of a 3.52 GPA. Because UIndy is so focused on engagement, they’ve hired more staff and added more programs. Even with the enrollment growth, the student-faculty ratio dropped from 15:1 to 12:1.

They’re committed to keeping prices down and providing robust financial aid. They feel that this is one way to demonstrate an ethos of “Education for Service,” their motto and something they want the students to learn to apply as well. Even their sports teams have won awards for being first in their conference for community service. The athletics tend to be strong here with 600+ students in 23 DII sports, 15 of which have gone on to post-season play.

Students are smart and interested in their educations. “We’ve redone the library, It’s is no longer a book depository. It’s an idea factory. There’s a line at the door at 8am and we’re kicking people out at midnight,” said the President. That doesn’t mean that academics are all they do OR that they have a single focus. Students tend to have multiple interests in and out of their majors. Francesca Zappia is one of their recent alums; she was a computer science major who also loved to write. Now she’s a published author with her second novel coming out this spring: John Greene said she’s the next big thing in that genre!

The new Health Pavilion

Health Sciences are strong here. They even have a cadaver lab for undergraduates! The new Health Pavilion is a gorgeous building with intentional architecture to give students a taste of what the professional life will be; it’s also a place for the community to come together. One of the community hospitals has space there providing clinics (PT, OT, and psychological) for students and the surrounding community. More than 96 clinical placements for students are available on site. This is the first school I’ve visited that combines a PT or OT program with Psychology, Anthropology, and Public Health Education & Promotion.

They offer an accelerated 3-year BSN: acceptance depends on how they do the first year and then go year-round after that. Nursing itself is not direct-entry; students complete their first year and apply. The minimum GPA is 2.82; the GPA for a fall entry tends to be higher than that. There are 80 spots in the fall semester and 64 for a spring start; “there’s rarely not a spot for students who qualify and want to be in nursing,” said the Dean of Health Sciences. “Some may have to wait until spring to start, however.” If this is the case, they’ll graduate a semester late since there is no way to catch up over the summer with the clinical rotations.

They added 6 Engineering programs 2 years ago, and they’re phasing out the 3+2 program because it’s no longer needed. The design aspect, project-based learning, and unique curriculum makes UIndy’s engineering stand out. They complete 10-week intensive courses followed by a 5-week design experience. The university built a new maker-space supporting collaboration in a realistic setting, and they are able to utilize engineering concepts on projects with real clients.

The new living communities has driven engagement and increased retention. There are 7 dorms, 3 of which are predominantly for first-year students. They’re coed by wing with keys only for that wing. Food is “pretty good” according to the students, “especially Wing Fridays.” The tour guide said that he had 2 traditions he would miss after graduation: Homecoming and the Celebration of Flags, an event held at the beginning of every year where students from different countries hang their flags in the student center. He also said that “President Bob” is well liked by the students and holds highly-anticipated and well-attended events at his house every year such as Super Bowl and Election Result parties.

© 2017

Oakland City University

Oakland City University (visited 6/14/17)

One of the new buildings on campus

This is a small, private, Christian college founded by Baptists in 1885 with 400 students on campus; including their extensive adult education, online, and extension programs in 3 locations around Indiana, their undergraduate population hovers around 1200. This is 1 of the 2 lowest costing private schools in IN (usually alternating with another for lowest cost).

 

Freshmen walk through this arch as part of orientation; the other side says “Exit to Serve” — they walk out from that direction at graduation

OCU is a good school for students who want to get athletic scholarship money but who know they aren’t going pro. Over half the students play on one or more varsity teams; they must live on campus (unless within commuting distance) and sign pretty strict behavior agreements (including not drinking, even if of-age and off campus). They have all the “traditional teams” such as basketball and soccer. I get the sense (as did some other counselors on the tour) that this is the place that a lot of students attend in order to continue playing sports and get their education along the way … rather than coming to get an education and happen to play sports in their free time.

The Chapel

Other than the Chapel, there is little around campus to indicate the school’s religious affiliation. Chapel service is offered at 11am on Wednesdays when nothing else is scheduled – no office hours, no classes, and even the bookstore closes down. However, attendance is never required. “If you have something else you want or need to be doing, more power to you.” Students are required to take 2 religious courses: New Testament and one another. “A lot of people who aren’t Religious Studies majors take Old Testament. It’s easier,” said the tour guide. There are some typical rules around campus that you’d expect at a religious school: it is a dry campus (although students can drink off campus unless they’re athletes who sign pledges not to drink), and inter-visitation is pretty strictly monitored (doors must be all the way open, only allowed during certain hours, etc).

OCU currently has 4 single-gender dorms. Dorm Wars (a college version of a high school Spirit Competition) is a big deal, apparently. Dorms have colors assigned, and they’ll have games and other competitions throughout the year where students can win gift cards. The tour guide was pretty excited about Water Pong … There are two big building projects for campus including a suite style dorm and an alumni center. Part of that will have restaurants (including a drive-through) which will be accessible to town residents as well.

One of the dorms

Weekends are quiet. There isn’t much in the way of planned activities, our tour guide told us, but they’ll usually head to other schools and hang out. The town is also small and quiet. I asked her what there was to do within walking distance. “Well, there’s an ice cream place….” Driving away from campus took us by some houses and then quickly into farmland. Cars would be pretty essential here even for basic shopping trips. All students can have cars, and parking is free and not hard to find.

Classes are hands-on. The tour guide’s biggest class had 20 in one of her Gen Ed classes; now she’s often in classes of 3-5 students. Students on campus are allowed to take 1 online class per semester if they want. Their 3 biggest/most popular majors are:

• Education has a 100% placement rate, “Not surprising given Indiana’s shortage,” said the Dean of Admission. “It’s a pretty cool department. They have a floor that looks like and elementary school.”
• Business (offering everything from Associates to Masters).
• Criminal Justice is attracting students from all over. They’ve hired a new professor who has “done some crazy stuff in law enforcement.” They’ll have a crime scene house within the year. OCU will be one of maybe a dozen schools in the US that has one on campus. Blood splatter dummies. Soon, students will be able to investigate cold cases. Can take one of two tracks: more science or more CJ.

They also offer a Seminary program.

For merit scholarships, they don’t look at test scores and base it all on GPA. Students with about a 3.75 qualify for the top scholarship of $10,000. There are also athletic scholarship of up to $10,000 (which are not stackable with merit).

© 2017

 

 

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (visited 6/13/17)

The students who attend SMWC love it here… but it is a self-selecting sort of place. “People who come here pretty much know what they’re in for,” said the tour guide. For the student who is looking for small and Catholic – and possibly an equestrian program – this is the school. Most of campus is pretty with attractive buildings and amazing landscaping (making parts feel very wooded – go figure!); however parts of it raise eyebrows such as the weeds on the tennis courts. “You can tell we don’t have a team,” said the tour guide.

Some of the statues around campus.

This liberal arts college sits 10 minutes outside of Terra Haute which is very much a college town (Indiana State and Rose-Hulman are both here). “We’re trying hard to keep kids here on the weekends. We have a great student-life staff,” said an admissions rep. There are things to do, but it’s not a bustling campus, and nothing is walkable from campus. “I would rank the craziness factor at about a 3,” said the tour guide. “There’s definitely a social life and I’ve made lots of friends, but events end early. But that means that I can also get my work done. It’s kind of the best of both worlds.” Anyone can have cars and there are currently no shuttles offered to students to help get around town. It’s also a dry campus.

One of the dorm rooms; many are suite-style and some even have balconies!

SMWC is growing with the largest incoming class to date entering this fall. This is also their 3^rd year of being coed. “In real numbers, that’s about 40 guys out of about 380-400,” said the rep. They’re actively trying to change perceptions about the school (particularly in terms of them accepting men), and they’ve added golf last year with Cross Country and Equestrian (Western Hunt Seat) starting this fall (2017). In 2018, they’ll add soccer. Our tour guide didn’t pick the college because it was all-female, “but I ended up loving it!” However, she thinks that going coed is also a positive change for the school.

The chapel; the dining hall is in the building attached at the left

They can currently accommodate 400 students in the dorm (there’s only 1), but there are two floors in another building that can be renovated to re-use as dorm rooms as the need arises. About 240 will live on campus this fall. The single dorm building also houses security, the chapel, some departmental offices, mailboxes, and a place for breakfast to be served. Lunch and dinner are across campus in the building attached to the convent. “Meals are good! I’d rank food as about an 8. The community can eat brunch here on the weekends. We get that as part of our meal plan.”

The interior of the Shell Chapel

Campus is very clearly Catholic, although mass is never required and the only religious requirement is 1 philosophy or religion class. There are statues (including a walkway with the Stations of the Cross), a large chapel, a small chapel, a churchyard where many of the nuns are buried, a grotto, etc around campus. Campus was founded by the Sisters of Providence from France, and many still live on campus, “but it’s like a retirement home. They don’t teach, but will sometimes come in to do guest lectures on campus,” said the tour guide. This order is very liberal, and they’re often seen protesting the death penalty and other social justice issues. The nuns run an alpaca farm and use the wool in fair-trade goods. Students and community members can take spinning classes.

Some of the horses on campus with the barns in the background

Classes average 11 students with an option for online classes for undergraduates. Their strongest program might revolve around the extensive equestrian center. They offer Equine Studies, Equine Training and Instruction, and Equine Business Management as majors with Equine Assisted Therapy and Equine Science as minors. Students in the equestrian programs/majors are assigned a horse which they must take care of as part of their grade. The school also gets a number of yearlings that students train as part of a class.

The campus grotto

Other notable programs include Music Therapy, Professional Writing, Human Resource Management, 3+1 Leadership Development program (pairing any major with a Masters in LD), Healthcare Administration, and Nursing. Music is coming back; it had been gone for awhile because of budget cuts.

The main stairwell in the dorm

One of the favorite traditions is the Ring Ceremony. Juniors get class rings towards the end of the year during a formal ceremony after a dinner where they’re wearing their caps and gowns. This ring is presented to them by an alum, and they can choose who gives it to them. At this point, they wear it with the letters facing towards themselves. At the end of senior year, they have the Oak Leaf Ceremony where they wear oak leaf crowns (“I’m not sure if this will change now that we’re coed,” said the tour guide) and they turn their rings around to “face the world.”

In addition to regular merit scholarships, they offer a competitive, full-tuition scholarship. Students write essays for the first round; from these, admissions will select students to interview; 4 get the scholarship.

© 2017