"D" and I looked at Southwestern (Texas) today - it's TINY!

Parents Forum
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<p>Thought I'd post my impressions of a quick visit to Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas with my daughter today. We've been looking at schools here in Southeast Texas for the past few weeks, and she's about to wrap up her junior year. We were told Southwestern has a good reputation for a top academic school here in TX, and that the campus was pretty nice. </p>

<p>Well, it was nice, but my goodness was it small! I guess I wasn't prepared for that. But then, there's only 1,500 or so students, so maybe that's all they need. The school my wife and I attended had about 14,000 students, and that's what I was accustomed to. Lots more going on than I saw at the Southwestern campus. And that place was a ghost town today. I realize it was a Saturday after session, but we actually didn't see another person on the entire campus, and we pretty well walked the whole thing. Kinda weird actually.</p>

<p>From there we went down to U.T., and her impressions of that campus (Austin) were much more favorable than she expected. She kept saying she wasn't into the whole "rah rah" competitive school spirit thing (esp. U.T. vs. A&M), but I could tell the campus, the capitol and the surrounding area were growing on her...</p>

<p>Anyone else looking at Southwestern?</p>

<p>John.</p>

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<p>To me tiny is where my nephew is - St. Johns, Santa Fe. I think they have around 350! But I agree 1500 is pretty small. Personally, I like 3 to 5000 undergrads.</p>

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<p>Why would there be any students at Southwestern? They had graduation three weeks ago. Everybody has gone home for the summer.</p>

<p>It can be difficult to evaluate a college if it’s empty.</p>

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<p>I’m a Southwestern alumna, and when I attended the student population was 1000. You go to Southwestern for the great academics, personal attention and relationships with professors (they will notice if you are not in class!), beautiful campus, and to be with other students who are as interested in their education as you are. Oh yes, and the merit aid Southwestern offers is quite nice. </p>

<p>Visiting colleges during the summer will be hit or miss. The public universities generally do have some kind of summer sessions occurring, but many liberal arts colleges won’t have any students around. It would be unfair and unwise to hold that against the college.</p>

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<p>^^FFS, I wish my d would look at Southwestern. Alas she wants to go out of TX but the schools on her list are so similar to Southwestern. She’s danced at the Salado Highland Games the last several years and we all love the area.</p>

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<p>limbwalker, what would you think a LAC campus would have activity-wise in the summer?</p>

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<p>Why all the defensive posts? All I said is that it was empty. I never expected to see lots of folks. In fact, we’re going to see these schools on the weekends for that reason. We want to be able to look at the campuses without fighting traffic, getting parking tickets, or any other distractions. Geez. But it seemed kinda weird to not have anyone around at all. Usually there are grounds people, construction workers, maintenance workers or a few faculty. Never seen a campus with zero people on it before…</p>

<p>Anyway, she never said she didn’t like it. She’s still trying to decide on the “size” and activities she thinks are important to her. These preliminary (and they are only that) trips are just to show her the difference between schools.</p>

<p>John.</p>

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<p>If you’re looking at Southwestern, you might also look at Austin College (Sherman, north of Dallas) and Trinity (larger and in San Antonio). We visited all three last summer and liked them all. My D is going to be attending Trinity in the fall (ED). We know several Southwestern alums in our area who all have good things to say about their alma mater.</p>

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<p>What fireflyscout said. Husband and I attended the same large (20,000+) state school. Son needs a small school and knows it. He very much needs someone to notice whether or not he’s in class. It did sort of freak me out visiting all the small LACs…where are the neighborhood stores, restaurants and bars? The campuses are lovely but so sanitized.</p>

<p>One very nice thing about Southwestern is that there are no grad students competing for research oportunities. Oh yeah, and their merit aid is great.</p>

<p>For a size between Southwestern and UT, try Trinity and Baylor.</p>

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<p>thats the reason for visits, so each student can get an idea of what size.location,amenities,etc means to them.Often the visit will make a surprising difference.It made quite a difference to S when he was looking.Rejected smaller schools (he considered those 3-5,000 student schools small!! including a place like Rice…he thought it was just too spread out and quiet) and went big flagship public U.Decided he wanted somewhat urban rather than rural due to visits also.
If your D didnt like the quietness of Southwestern but enjoyed the busyness and energy of UT/Austin thats an important thing to learn beforehand IMHO.
OP you’ll find parent types here will get defensive if they think you are “bashing” their alma mater or institution their kid is attending, even if there isnt really a bashing going on.</p>

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<p>If the OP’s D didn’t like the size of the Southwestern’s campus, or the appearance of the buildings, or the adequacy of the facilities, those are useful things to know. If she didn’t like the quietness of the campus when school was not in session and no one was there, that is not a useful thing to know. When school is not in session, she wouldn’t be there either.</p>

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<p>“where are the neighborhood stores, restaurants and bars? The campuses are lovely but so sanitized…”</p>

<p>Exactly what I was thinking, but then, I’m not her. My college (SFA) had all those things and more, and lots of activity all the time. </p>

<p>We spent about 4 hours on the U.T. campus after our visit to Southwestern, and even walked down to the Capitol building to look around. She really liked the Capitol building, but she’s wondering if U.T. is just going to be a little too much. </p>

<p>So at least she has some points of reference now. Next visit will be Trinity in S.A. She and I have been to the Zoo and she remembers that area, so she’s looking forward to it. </p>

<p>Cathymee, got it. :wink: I’ve noticed that emotions can run high on this board, compared to those that I usually frequent.</p>

<p>C.F., point well taken. Our visits at this point are just to put the places on her internal “map” and give her a point of reference when we talk about them later. And actually, I will respond to your comment about “useful things to know” by saying the registration building should ALWAYS have school brochures and other printed information available outside. The dang building was locked up tight and there was (like I said) NOBODY in sight, but we could look through the brand new front doors and see at least 7 school brochures and glossy publications on a rack. How difficult would it have been to put at least a few of those outside for folks like us? I can understand it being closed up (although I’ve never seen that before) but I can’t understand all the brochures being locked up inside. </p>

<p>The “nobody home” certainly struck me much more than it did her, and I’m objective enough to not allow that to persuade her in her decision. If I were picking schools for me, that wouldn’t be a “fit” however. I like a little more going on around the campus.</p>

<p>John.</p>

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<p>When Fang Jr and I were doing college visits, we found it useful to contact the college beforehand. That way we could avoid visiting at a bad time. Of course, wandering through a nearby college on a whim is perfectly reasonable and fun, but if I were making a special trip, I’d talk to the admissions people first, or at least check the online calendar.</p>

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<p>I don’t have a bone in this fight. Just genuinely curious what OP thought would be happening at an LAC after school ends for the year.</p>

<p>Large uni’s will have summer school, camps, etc. so will have things happening even in the summer. My dd (a rising senior) once attended a summer camp at Baylor - but I doubt a prospie would base an opinion on seeing high school groups at a college ;)</p>

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<p>If she is in love with Austin, St. Edwards might be an option. It is a little larger (~3,500 undergrads) and in a beautiful setting overlooking Austin.</p>

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<p>I also don’t have a dog in this fight, but I do think it’s funny that you seem put off that no one was there. You came to campus without any kind of appointment three weeks after school got out. What did you expect? If I were doing that (not sure I ever would) I’d have gone online and printed out my own materials for a self-guided tour.</p>

<p>Ds has toured SW’ern and really liked it. In fact, at one point it was his no. 2 choice (not sure now). The tour we had was wonderful, and the man from admissions with whom we met was amazing. I think he’s what sold ds on the program. Too small is how I felt when we went to Austin College (about 1,200), but ds loved it. Both these tours were in the summer, so no kids on campus, but we had official tours and had a favorable opinion of both places.</p>

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<p>OP, a friend’s daughter was seriously interested in Southwestern, UT and Trinity. As it turns out, she thought Southwestern was too small, UT was too large and Trinity was just right.</p>

<p>Would your D consider SFA, or is that too close to home?</p>

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<p>For those that posted helpful comments, thanks… ;)</p>

<p>“I also don’t have a dog in this fight, but I do think it’s funny that you seem put off that no one was there. You came to campus without any kind of appointment three weeks after school got out. What did you expect? If I were doing that (not sure I ever would) I’d have gone online and printed out my own materials for a self-guided tour…”</p>

<p>Ever thought of being more spontaneous? ha, ha. Your comment makes me sound pretty stupid for spending time with my daughter on a road trip to a prospective school. Thanks.</p>

<p>With my three kids and work schedules for my spouse and I, the only way we’re going to even see some of these campuses in the next 2-3 months is if we just GO whenever we can. Good grief. What on earth is wrong with that? And my impressions are just that - mine. So I kind of think it’s weird if someone is offended or confused by them… And I ain’t doing this for me anyway, so it really doesn’t matter that much what I think now does it?</p>

<p>“if I were making a special trip, I’d talk to the admissions people first, or at least check the online calendar…”</p>

<p>Exactly. And like I said, that’s what we intend to do if the “D” wants to look closer at any of the schools she’s seen. But until she’s laid eyes on them, its pretty hard for her to say one way or the other if she wants more information. </p>

<p>And why is it so strange that I would expect to see at least ONE human being on a multi-billion dollar campus, on a Saturday in the summer? I mean for goodness sake, you’d think that they could afford to have someone behind the reception desk at the admin/registrar’s building just to answer the phone or something. We were there at 1:00 p.m., not 10:00 p.m. If Jack in the Box can keep a window open at midnight on a Wed., I would think a school with a budget like Soutwestern could at least offer SOME information to passers-by…</p>

<p>Missypie,</p>

<p>I wouldn’t be surprised if my daughter arrived at the same conclusion. We’re set to visit Trinity next, and NO, it probably WON’T be on a guided, scheduled tour. Most likely it will be timed to coincide with a family trip to the S.A. Zoo. 'Cause that’s how we roll ;)</p>

<p>Wife and I attended SFA, and daughter really likes the campus. However, the areas she’s interested in (History, Math, Anthropology and a few other things as well) aren’t really the strengths of that school. Wife and I have Forestry degrees, and that’s the place to go in TX for that…</p>

<p>John.</p>

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<p>I’ll walk away from this post because there seems to be a lot of miscommunication. My intent was not to make you feel stupid but simply to point out that if someone shows up unannounced on a weekend weeks after school gets out, it hardly seems fair to blame the school that there wasn’t a lot going on. Spontaneity is great; sometimes the payoff is less so.</p>

<p>Good luck in your dd’s search.</p>

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<p>No miscommunication. I got your message loud and clear. </p>

<p>“I do think it’s funny that you seem put off that no one was there. You came to campus without any kind of appointment three weeks after school got out. What did you expect? If I were doing that (not sure I ever would) I’d have gone online and printed out my own materials for a self-guided tour…”</p>

<p>Does anyone else interpret that differently? And, once again we’ve spent 80% of our time discussing something that really only was 20% of the visit anyway… </p>

<p>Oh, and the “payoff” was just fine. Got to see the school, period. All we were after.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>John.</p>