Austin College Roo Day visit report

Colleges and Universities A-Z Austin College
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Our family went to Austin College for their “Roo Day” event on 4/10/2023. Thought I’d post details here in case anybody is looking for info about this school down the road.

Like other college tours and visitor all-day events these days, you have to sign up/register for this ahead of time. We decided to explore this college since 1 of our HS counselors mentioned Colleges That Change Lives.

LOCATION:
About 45 min north of Dallas in Sherman, TX. The college president said a few remarks at the start of the day and he mentioned that Texas Instruments has a massive $300B plant expansion underway in Sherman. We passed it on the way to the college.

PRE-HEALTH ADVISING:
D24 is interested in becoming a PA (so she’ll be a pre-health/pre-med student). There were several different info sessions to choose from. We chose to go to a pre-health advising one. Some details gathered during that session were:

  • this is handled by 1 of the bio professors and an english lit prof.
    the english lit professor said that he helps a LOT with pre-health students crafting their personal statements for grad school apps. I thought that was pretty cool.
  • pre-health advising is done in addition to meeting regularly with your faculty advisor. Pre-health advisors ensure that you’re taking all of the necessary pre-health/pre-med classes in the right sequence, making sure that by the time you apply to grad school you’ve taken all of the necessary pre-reqs.
  • pre-health advising also assists pre-health students in getting volunteer experience, internship experience, research experience, etc. that students might need for med, pharmacy, dental, PT, PA, etc. grad schools.
  • lots of regular 1-on-1 advising during junior & senior year. Mock interviews for grad school applications, workshops for personal statement writing, how to put your application together, interviewing.
  • they have admissions office visits from lots of professional schools
    many pre-health students do a “Career Study Off Campus” during Jan Term. said it’s a good way to shadow a healthcare professional in whatever field you’re interested in. They have lots of connections for this in the Sherman, TX area and set these up all the time for pre-health students. Must be at least a sophomore. Must keep daily journal and write a reflection essay at the end of the 3-week Jan Term ‘course.’ Students can also do this during Jan Term at home if they want as well.
  • ~60% of pre-med students go straight to med school right after graduation. After 1-2 gap years, the # goes to 80%.
  • Austin College has a good # of connections/special agreements with different health professions grad schools.
  • see https://www.austincollege.edu/academics/grad-school-opportunities/health-sciences/ for more info.

UNDERGRAD RESEARCH:
Lots of opportunities here. Austin College doesn’t have grad students, with the exception of its master’s in teaching program and its new PA grad school (starting 6/2024).

  • Summer Sciences Research Program - requires an application. Is a paid summer position. You live on campus and work in a professor’s research lab all summer.
  • there’s also specific course-based undergrad research on specific topics, like Cancer Biology, Investment Management, Extreme Physiology, etc. Work done by the undergrads in these courses can sometimes result in the professor helping them get published in research journals.
  • can also do research during academic year for course credit. Much easier to get involved in this compared to at a large public university.
  • 1 of the bio professors spoke about how she worked w/4-5 undergrades a couple of summers ago and they did research on prairie lands from Texas up to Minnesota to collect blood samples from ground squirrels in order to compare how they store up fat for the upcoming winter. The research got published in a research journal and the professor put all of the undergrad research assistants names on the paper as coauthors with her.

MENTORING/ADVISING:

  • This is done regularly with your assigned faculty mentor throughout your time at Austin College.
  • Faculty mentor that gets assigned to you is whoever’s the professor teaching the First Year Experience class that you take 1st semester of freshman year.
  • The FYE experience class starts about 1 week before regular classes start.
  • “big” classes are 40 students.
  • My husband asked how hard is it to get the classes you need for graduation. They smiled at that question, said that it’s never an issue because your faculty mentor advises you every semester on what to take for the next semester. And that person knows which classes are only offered in fall vs spring, etc. AND if you really need a class and it’s full, you basically ask nicely and they add you…and since there aren’t 500 people already in the class, it’s no big deal.

CAMPUS VIBE

  • We were there on a week day (a Monday, day after Easter). Saw students going to/from class.
  • D24 thought that everybody she encountered was really friendly, really easy to talk to.
  • I noticed in the dining hall that students were eating together in small groups, engaged in conversation. Nobody seemed to have their phones out. Most students were eating with others. Everybody seemed pretty happy.
  • Also, while we were waiting to go into the dining hall, saw several students walking up to the entrance by themselves and meeting up with other students who they ran into. Lots of fist bumps and bro/dude hugs between male students.
  • we noticed that all of the professors and staff genuinely seemed to want student to succeed, were openly friendly & helpful, did not seem fake or contrived. Very open and genuine.
  • big sense of community here. Participating in the campus community. Giving back/participating in the local Sherman, TX community. D24 definitely felt that. DH & I did, too.

RELIGION:
The tour guide described the school as Presbyterian and there is a chapel/church on campus. But the vibe is very much one of “There are services here if you want to attend. But if you don’t want to attend, it’s no big deal and we aren’t going to force you to go. All faiths are welcome and we celebrate multiple religions here.” There are no requirements to take any Bible-related classes. No requirements to go to a chapel service each week. Students are also welcome to study in the chapel whenever they want.

GREEK LIFE:
There are sororities & fraternities on campus, but it’s sort of a small thing. The majority of students do not participate in Greek life. There are 8 sororities and 9 fraternities. More info is available at https://www.austincollege.edu/campus-life/student-life/greek-life/. Basically, if you’re not into Greek life, you’ll still have a social life here. D24 isn’t interested in joining a sorority, so that was a plus.

FOOD:
Got to eat in the dining hall for free. We all thought the food was much better than the dining hall food we’d had at NMSU. There was a pasta bar which was popular. The pizza was good. They had a soft serve ice cream station, salad bar, sandwiches, etc. Set up is such that you swipe your school ID card first and then it’s all you can eat. So if you’re super hungry, you can go back for seconds w/o having to swipe your card again.

Students said that they thought the food on campus was good, but after awhile, you get tired of it a little, which is understandable.

In addition to the one dining hall on campus, there’s:

  • Pouch Club - open 4:30-11:00 pm
  • Kangaroo Coffee - open M-F 8 am - 6 pm, Sat & Sun 10 am - 5 pm. also serves as the campus convenience store. They sell Starbucks coffee here. they make smoothies here, too.

We didn’t explore downtown Sherman on that day, so don’t know what other options there are within walking distance.

STAR Leadership Program:
I don’t have much detail on this other than this is a program that teaches students how to work as a team in the sciences. The professor who spoke about it mentioned that once you graduate and work out in the real world, EVERYBODY has to work in some sort of team. This program is designed to grow students’ leadership abilities but in different ways than a student normal thinks of leadership (i.e., not a president of a club).

APPLYING:

  • EA I deadline = 11/1. If you visit Austin College in person and submit all your app materials by 11/1, they give you a decision by 11/15.
  • EA II deadline = 2/1.
  • RD deadline = 3/1.
  • then rolling admissions after that.
  • Merit scholarships - are awarded w/admission decision letter. Merit scholarships go up to $32,000/yr. Merit scholarships are awarded regardless of financial need.
  • there’s also fine arts scholarships up to $4000/yr. These are also available for students who are not fine arts majors. Includes music, choir participation. Separate application for this, apply by 2/1. Details on their website.
  • FAFSA - will be available 12/1/23 for the 2024-2025 school year. Financial aid letters will go out probably in January. Everybody who submits a FAFSA gets an automatic $500 institutional grant

AP & CLEP Credit:
They give college credit for both AP and CLEP exams.

NEW BA-TO-PA PROGRAM:
Starting 6/2024, Austin College will have a new Physician Assistant master’s degree program. Along with that is also a new “BA-to-PA Program.” We attended an hour-long info session about this led by the lead professor of the new PA program. The professor mentioned that getting into a PA program is now harder than getting into med school…mainly because each PA program doesn’t accept very many applicants.

GENERAL PA PROGRAM DETAILS:

  • 24 mo long program
  • 34 students accepted/year. Purposely keeping class size low similar to the undergrad college.
  • application cycle will be April-Nov. You should apply early in that application cycle.
  • program will be located at Texoma Medical Center.
  • clinical rotations have all been set up with each relevant specialty with multiple providers in the area.
  • avg accepted student GPA nationwide is 3.5-3.6.
  • no GRE or other standardized test required. Professor said that the research they did on it showed that there really wasn’t any correlation between a student doing well in a PA program and a student scoring high on a GRE or other graduate-type standardized test.
  • You must be US citizen or US legal permanent resident
  • 1 semester of O Chem required, not 2.
  • Statistics required, but not Calculus
  • no shadowing required
  • 3 credit hr of Genetics
  • 3 credit hr of Psychology or Sociology
  • 1 credit hr of Medical Terminology
  • 8 credit hr of Anatomy & Physiology
  • 4 credit hr of Microbiology w/lab
  • min cumulative & science GPA of 3.0 in order to apply

BA-2-PA ACCEPTANCE PATHWAY:

  • must start at Austin College as a freshman (transfer students not eligible)
  • if you meet all of the criteria listed, you are guaranteed an interview
  • must be US citizen or US legal permanent resident
  • must work w/pre-health program regularly to take prereq coursework in allotted time frame
  • if you apply @ end of juior year, may have no more than 2 outstanding prereqs AND those need to complete by end of fall semester senior year
  • if you apply at end of senior year, must complete all prereqs by end of fall semester senior year.
  • cumulative and science GPA of at least 3.5
  • at least 200 hr of documented direct healthcare experience (paid or volunteer) is strongly recommended, but not required, in order to get a guaranteed interview.
  • when you take Statistics, must get ok from your pre-health advisor prior to enrollment to make sure you’re taking the right one.
  • BIO courses required: BIOL 115 (Evolution, Behavior, & Ecology), BIOL 116 (Cell Biology), BIOL 228 (Genetics), BIOL 234 (A&P), BIOL 230 (Microbiology), BIOL 352 (Systemic Physiology), BIOL 261 (Medical Terminology)
  • CHEM courses required: CHEM 111 (Gen Chem I), CHEM 112 (Gen Chem II), CHEM 221 (O Chem I)
  • PSY 101 (General Psych) or SOC 101 (Intro to Sociology)

Austin College also has an Early Acceptance Program with Texas Tech School of Medicine. Details are on pg. 2 of https://www.austincollege.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Health-Science-Professions-Information.pdf. Texas Tech also has early acceptance programs with Austin College for:

  • PharmD
  • Master of PA Studies
  • Dr of Physical Therapy
  • Master of Occupational Therapy
  • MPH
  • Accelerated 2nd BSN

There’s also programs set up with Oklahoma City University for:

  • guaranteed interview to PA master’s degree program
  • guaranteed direct entry to accelerated 2nd BSN program

LAKE CAMPUS
Austin College has a lake campus at Lake Texoma with beach-front property at the lake. apparently, they do events with students there regularly. Students, alumni, and staff are welcome to use the lake front area any time it’s open (closed when school not in session).

WRITING CENTER
This is housed in the library on 1st floor. Writing tutors are mainly upper division English majors. English majors are required to take a class that teaches them specifically how to tutor/teach other people how to write for various purposes. Similar to other colleges, there are walk in hours available and you can also set up specific appointment times.

HEALTH CENTER:
It’s small. Only open on week days. Provider is, most of the time, a nurse practitioner. MD comes in at specific times (I don’t remember the details on that, though). Texoma Medical Center is an 11 min drive away and has an ER, medical clinics, and all that jazz.

there’s no pharmacy on campus, so if you need a prescription filled, have to get that off campus at Walgreens or CVS. Closest CVS (according to Google maps) is 3 min drive away. Walgreens is also 3 min drive. 25 min walk or 7 min on a bike.

SHOPPING NEARBY:
Lots of stuff nearby…Walmart, Kroger, Hobby Lobby, Sam’s Club, Lowe’s, Office Depot, Kohl’s, Target, Aldi, Olive Garden, and lots of other restaurants. All about 10 min drive.

PARKING:
is cheap. I think they said $25 to register your car and get a sticker for it? Or maybe it was $100 for the whole school year? Super cheap. Park pretty much anywhere. Nobody ever has any problems finding a place to park.

DO YOU NEED A CAR FRESHMAN YEAR?
Probably not. Our daughter will not have one. There’s enough other students there with a car that if you need to go off campus for something, you can bum a ride from somebody you know.

HOUSING:

  • something like 90% of students live on campus the entire time.
  • on campus includes college apartments. Seniors usually live in the apartments.
  • there’s 1 all-male dorm, 1 all-female dorm, and 2 coed dorms.
  • there’s no LLCs (living learning community) because, honestly, at a student body size of 1300-1500 students, you don’t really need LLCs.
  • there’s no separate honors dorm. Nor a separate honors college. The entire college operates like an honors ‘college’ at a big public university. However, having looked at honors college info at a few big public U’s, I’d say that this school is more personalized and 1-on-1.

DO NOT GO TO THIS SCHOOL IF:

  • you want a big Div I sports experience
  • you want to go to big college football and basketball games. They have a football and basketball team, but it’s Div III.
  • you want the ‘big college experience’ where nobody cares if you do or do not show up to class. If you skip class, odds are high that the professor here will be worried about you and will email you to check up on you, see if you’re sick or something.
  • you want the big fraternity/big sorority experience living in a big fancy frat/sorority house on or off campus, complete with big raging parties every Fri/Sat night.
  • you want to major in engineering. Because they don’t have it as a major. They do offer a 3+2 program for engineering with another school (don’t remember which one) though. But this would require you transferring elsewhere after your junior year. So just be aware of that.

MISC:

  • head financial aid officer said that Austin College is all about student outcomes, making sure that every student has internship opportunities, opportunities to apply their learning outside the classroom, etc., so that can be translated into real job & grad school opportunities.
  • the school also has a lot of community-based learning experiences. One of those is a Jan Term course where you spend the 3-week Jan Term helping local non-profit organizations write grants in order to get their projects funded. English majors are often encouraged to participate in this, but any student can enroll in that.
  • study abroad is encouraged but not required. Can be for a semester or for a 3-week Jan Term.
  • graduation requires every student to have at least one 75-hr applied learning experience. This can be a study abroad thing, a shadowing experience during Jan Term, an internship during the summer or during the school year, a summer research experience, research experience during the regular academic year, etc.
  • 1st floor of the library has a whole mock court room set up. Used by their mock trial and Model UN teams. It looked really cool.
  • library has interlibrary loan, so if the on campus library doesn’t have something, they’ll help you borrow it from another university/college.
  • campus is VERY VERY SAFE!
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Also FYI - nearest IKEA is 45 min drive to the south. :slight_smile: