Hello All,
I am a current sophomore at Hillsdale College. A Finance Major and Psych Minor I am attending Hillsdale College in the hopes of going to law school and believe that I have made a wonderful choice in attending Hillsdale College. Many people will be receiving or have received acceptances and I am here to help you guys choose to come to the one college in America that seeks in its mission to teach the good, the true, and the beautiful.
I am involved in IM athletics, am president of an athletic club, work as a contact member for admissions, work in IT, and have recently been elected to officer position on Student government. As someone very involved on campus, I can pretty much any questions you all might have. As the title aptly says, you may “Ask A Charger Anything”!
I have a son who has been accepted to Hillsdale and is over the moon! We are financially very limited so would you mind answering a personal question? How much debt is average for current students to walk away with? Hillsdale is his dream school and it would be a perfect fit. His second choice school has offered him a very strong financial aid package with more coming when he attends their scholar’s weekend. I don’t want to discourage him from Hillsdale but want to keep him realistic. We won’t encourage him to take on debt no matter the school.
I can’t promise you anything but I can say that typically students who have debt are usually in the 15-30k range. Hillsdale is very generous, and if your son is around the median for this years incoming GPA and ACT (what I am hearing is that a 3.8 and 31/32 ACT is going to be the incoming class) Hillsdale will likely offer him a large merit tuition package. Financial Aid is very good and if you explain your situation and fill out the CFFS (Hillsdale’s version of FAFSA) you will likely be happy with the outcome. Hillsdale also is a big believer in rewarding students with additional scholarships as they progress. If you son does well on his classes, he will likely receive more funding for his merit scholarships. Also, depending on his major/minor and GPA he has the potential to pay nothing in tuition on top of his scholarships. The Journalism minor gives out scholarships to sophomores who in their freshman year have written and helped produce quality articles for the Hillsdale Collegian (9th best College newspaper in the nation), and earned a 3.0 GPA. Those scholarships are usually 1/4 tuition and can range up to i think 3/4 tuition. If your son declares a major in American Studies and has a 3.2 GPA i believe he can get up to 1/2 tuition.
Ultimately, Hillsdale is very very generous and understanding of everyone and truly wishes to minimize debt.
@Artsy16 sorry if that was an information overload
No, it was very helpful. My son had a 31 on his ACT and was just shy of a 32. He has a 4.0 GPA and is an Eagle Scout. He plans on majoring in Political Economy. I know he’s also hoping to work on campus. They’ve offered him almost 3/4 merit tuition which is fabulous but again it leaves debt. They are currently working on need-based aid. We are really hoping it’s enough to make his dream a reality. He lives and breathes Hillsdale. Reads Imprimus religiously, has taken many of their free online courses and when he interviewed in the spring we practically had to pry him off campus. We, as a family, have had some real financial losses and are just encouraging him to be very smart about college debt as we’ve learned how hard this economy can set you back. Our communication with the school has always been very encouraging so our fingers are crossed. I can tell you that every student we have ever communicated with, including yourself, has been outstanding! Our student ambassador when we toured campus was golden. I really appreciate you taking the time to give such good information.
@kypdurron just to clarify: I know the reality is he’ll probably have to take on some debt but we want to keep it low obviously. By the time we factor in room and board that’s where my worries come in to play.
Just curious, who was his Student Ambassador? I know if you compare your other offers, sometimes Hillsdale will try and match it.
Poli-Econ is a great major and some of my best friends pursue it. A lot of people have good jokes about that major
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Please don’t ask for people to identify others by name on the public boards.
@MaineLonghorn my bad. Sorry
I’m sorry as well. I know now!
Awesome, I’m glad this is here! I was accepted to Hillsdale College this past month, my dream school and the only one I applied to, and I could not be more excited! I don’t have any “serious” questions, if you will, but I was curious to know one thing that really surprised you when you first started attending Hillsdale that might not have been obvious during any visits. Thanks for posting this thread! I’m really excited to be a student here at last!
You will be a little fish in a big pond, but you will learn to appreciate it. Students are really, really driven and work hard. It’s difficult to skate by and get even a 2.5. That being said, the community is stellar and people love helping each other out.
Hi, I am currently a first-year at a state university, and I am interested in transferring to Hillsdale. I have finished up my application, and I have a visit next month to see campus and do an interview. What can you tell me about the admissions interview? How should I prepare? What kinds of questions will be asked? What are they looking for in an interviewee?
Any specifics about the interview or advice on how to nail it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I’ve toured Hillsdale and everything, but I was wondering if you had any insight into what life would be like for a gay student. What are student attitudes lie, do you know any gay students, ect. Thanks in advance!
What percentage of students are homeschooled?
My daughter is Asian. Would she feel out of place at Hillsdale?
MODERATOR’S NOTE: This is why we don’t like “Ask Me!” threads. The OP hasn’t been on the site since March 9, so you probably won’t get an answer from him or her.
However, anyone else is free to answer questions in the thread.
Hi there! I am also a current sophomore at Hillsdale, and I’m hopefully going to major in a science, maybe biology or biochemistry. I’m involved with music and a religious group on campus. I also work two jobs on campus, in a lab and in the Arb. I just noticed this thread and thought I’d comment to the best of my ability…
@sorvanman : looks like my comment is a little late! Hope your interview went well and that you’ll be joining us on campus in the fall 
@billfarhat : honestly, I would say student attitudes are probably very split, but most people aren’t super vocal about what they think (although there are some that are). Despite Hillsdale being well-known as a conservative stronghold, there are people whose views lie more to the center or left (myself included; don’t know what you intend to major in, but I’ve definitely found this in the sciences) and being at Hillsdale makes it very easy to seek out a supportive group of friends and acquaintances, from all kinds of places and walks of life.
I can’t say that I know any gay students at Hillsdale, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any.
@jen2016 : I don’t know an exact percentage, but there is definitely a homeschooled presence at Hillsdale. If I could give it my best guess… I’d say maybe 25-30%.
@Muad_dib : My current group of friends is actually quite diverse and I have met people of all kinds of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Hillsdale is still overwhelmingly white, but I don’t think feeling out of place would be an issue. Hillsdale really is chock-full of quality people, and that makes it so easy to find wonderful friends and people very quickly.
If anyone has any other questions, I can try to answer them to the best of my ability!!