<p>Hi, my son would like to look at Furman University this summer. It is a hike for us (N.J.), but we will fit it in if you all think it is worth it. How are academics, value, is it "very southern feel"? The Princeton review says it is half "bible-bangers" and half alcoholics! (I know, don't listen to student's reviews!) He is not an easy-going personality type, more type A and is a not a real outdoor type.(X-country is it!) He loves Wake, we spend alot of time in N.C. (Wilmington,the city which is alot like New Jersey!) He needs to add to his college application list. Your help is greatly appreciated!!</p>
<p>njmom, Furman was a school that my daughter had on her list of schools she would like to visit, but she has since removed it, fairly or unfairly based on reviews she has read by students. I believe this one was the nail in the coffin:</p>
<p>Splashmom what a great site to look up colleges, thank you!</p>
<p>Good site, just wish it had more schools. <a href="http://www.studentsreview.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.studentsreview.com</a> is another good site.</p>
<p>have a friend who teaches there....he's from Jersey...also we briefly visited recently. It is southern, white, etc. but seems to be open to Yankees...academics are solid....weather is great .Campus very nice. Good athletics facilities. If you like Wake you may want to check it out. Have you seen U. Richmond?</p>
<p>Hopefully Iflyjets will post as well to provide another viewpoint. Her D selected Furman from several competitive offers, and after a lot of research. She is doing very well there.</p>
<p>Hi, thanks for info- we have not visited Richmond yet, plan to this summer. I heard tuition went way up for next year...... again, thanks!</p>
<p>Some of my D's friends applied to Furman this year and one of her older classmen friends attends there. My D attends a mostly "preppy" private school in Florida, not bible-banger. A few of the kids were not accepted (fairly decent GPA's and SAT's), and some wanted to attend but are not because they recieved no merit money. I mean it is the South, but other than that I the school is providing a good LAC experience.</p>
<p>Way,way up. Of note Richmond is populated by northern kids. Another school in the Wake area is Davidson....also some kids who desire Wake also like Vandy and Virginia.</p>
<p>Hi:
I am a Yankee bred Furman graduate who met a NJ spouse there. We are decidedly not Baptist. Feel free to PM me if you want my honest experience there which was mixed but also fabulous in terms of intimacy with teachers who strongly desire to teach students from various backgrounds and geographic, religious and racial origins. Although I had some bad moments there with the misguided religiosity factor in some students, my Furman classmates are now tenured professors at northern universities, doctors, lawyers, novelists, journalists and I talk to many of them weekly. It is a stunning campus in a happening upland southern city that is enjoying a boom economy now, and the student body is career-minded. Students are serious and teachers are giving and generous and bright, and teachers do a lot to expand student thinking. Faculty is not at all conservative but some students are from conservative homes. Most students however are from big city suburbs and similar to kids from any big city burbs: Atlanta, Miami, Jacksonville, Charlotte. UR and Wake have more students from Middle Atlantic states at this time, and more moderation re religious diversity in the school culture but Furman aspires to diversity. Furman and Wake divested themselves from Southern Baptist convention money in the 1980s to preserve academic freedom. Classrooms are demanding but support is excellent.</p>
<p>Edunetwork take --</p>
<p>Although the general descriptions and qualities of the schools are helpful and seem mostly correct from a few of my campus visits, I'd take the info with a grain of salt. How old are these surveys? Mary Washington is MWC on Edunetwork, not UMW, but yeah, still a suitcase school.</p>
<p>Hi Splash Mom
I took a look at the post on Furman and other schools from your link...and have to comment this must be a very old board (Bowdoin for instance...is about to eliminate frats?? done years ago...) Other data on other colleges is also out of date..</p>
<p>
[quote]
Hi Splash Mom
I took a look at the post on Furman and other schools from your link...and have to comment this must be a very old board (Bowdoin for instance...is about to eliminate frats?? done years ago...) Other data on other colleges is also out of date..
[/quote]
Thanks Faline2. I'm not exactly sure how I came across that site, so I can't be sure how old the comments are, but based on what you and a couple of others said, I gather it must be old. I just get the impression from reading that I've done on several different sites that Furman is fairly religious. Do you find that to be true?</p>
<p>I think the quality of the site can best be summed up by their listing of that fine LAC, "Pamona". Out of date is the least of its problems.</p>
<p>I have heard (but can't be certain) that it is not as religious as advertised....that they have moved away from that in efforts to have a more national pool of applicants.</p>
<p>I had a good laugh at that one too curmudgeon and their strict alcohol policy, if that is strict we are in trouble!</p>
<p>I live fairly near Furman, and all I know about it is that the music program is great. They tried to recruit my son, not knowing he's really a math and science geek under all that musical veneer. We get program promotions for their music department regularly where we sing, and it all seems terrific. I don't know how relevant that is to your interests, but there it is.</p>
<p>I get so tired of supposed reviews that people wave around as doctrine. The remarks about Furman are so one-sided and out-dated that they become laughable to those who attend the school or are more familiar with it. I spent a good part of last night looking through student reviews. I was fascinated by the slams on so many well-known and "desirable" school. For example, after reading what is wirtten about Harvard and Princeton, I am surprised that any sane person would apply to these 2 schools. From one site, over 44% of students said they would NOT select Harvard if they had to do it again; other examples of the numbers who would NOT re-select their school were: 54% for Princeton; 31% for Cornell; 42% for Stanford; and, 44% for Vanderbilt. Furman was a 25% on this site.</p>
<p>What this tells me is that these reviews are myoptic, that they look only at a small portion of the student body or academic experience, or, even more troublesome, they exaggerate any negative information because, after all, this justifies the "mystique" of certain other schools (and attracts attention/buyers to publications/web sites). And in so many cases, by the time these reviews hit the press/wires, they are out-dated at best. </p>
<p>So, visit the schools you are curious about, talk to professors, check out what gradaute schools the students are moving on to...this last point is very important to us. My D, husband, and I have traveled to so many schools (visiting 39 campuses, many more than once with overnight visits) and were often stunned to hear that as many as 1/3 of the graduates were "taking a year off to find themselves." My husband's response: "for $180K after 4 years, they should have already found themselves!! For us, finding out that Furman graduates in my D's major in the last 2 years went on to Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, UPenn, Duke, UVA, Emory (more than 1 to each of these), and 3 went on to UGA, Clemson, and USC (as in South Carolina) said a lot about the caliber of the education and the preparation of the students.</p>
<p>Lets be absolutely candid. Furman is predomoinantly populated by southerners. And the Southern Baptist church is often the students families' church of choice. This does NOT mean, however, that you must be a fundamental Christian to find friends or fit in. My D is not a Christian and yet has still found many friends. Moreover, Furman is NOT a religiously affliated school (not for the last couple of decades); it is just that demographically so many students come from traditionally Southern Baptist/Methodist/Presbyterian backgrounds that they feel comfortable expressing their faith in ways such as saying grace at a meal. There are lots of non-religious organizations through which to express your political and personal values; for example, the feminist group on campus and the Libertarians.</p>
<p>Along with the process of maturing, many college students feel the need to break boundaries, express their angst, look for the unconventional, voice their idealism, and rebel against the "boring" middle/upper class lives the have come from. Their are also those whose primary criteria in selecting a college is the clout and (assumed) future economic benefits a college name may provide. Then there are those who are simply looking for a good place to further their education, explore research ideas, and expand their creative selves. Some even mix all these orientations. Furman is more for the student who wants to learn in an environment where professors are accessible, the course work is challenging but not overwhelming, the students are polite even when they disagree, alcohol is not the primary party focus (cosmic bowling gets more attention), and the overall campus environment is safe. </p>
<p>If you were a conservative student in the 1960's, you might not have gone to Berkeley. If you don't want a single-sex campus, you wouldn't want to attend Smith or Mount Holyoke. If you don't like a part of the country, attending aschool there wouldn't be your ideal. So, please, don't complain if Furman doesn't suit your needs; it works so well for so many. Find the school that matches what you are looking for and don't bemoan that school "X" has "all these shortcomngs," at least, according to your criteria. The students attending there would strongly disagree.</p>
<p>My son will be attending Furman this fall. He has a couple of friends that go to scholl there and loves the place. We live about two hours away. He was also accepted at Vanderbilt, where he received quite a bit of scholarship money, but decided to go to Furman. He also received academic money from Furman. He spent a week at Furman last summer. I think that he is a typical Furman student and will fit in very well there. He is a great student, straight A's, Basketball, running, golf, ACT 34, very political, etc etc. As he put it, the students at Furman all just seem so happy all of the time and the professors are too. Furman also has a great academic record. I agree with the other post on here that you should take the recommendations from some sources with a grain of salt. And it does seem that some of those reviews of Furman indicate that the only way to have any fun at all is if it involves drinking.</p>
<p>Hey Iflyjets.... I sent you an eMail but it must have been to an old eMail address. We talked last year before your daughter was in school about the Lay scholarship.</p>
<p>I agree that these review sites need to be taken with a grain of salt -- the unhappy camper will almost always be more likely to post something than the person who is thrilled. My favorite review from Students Review was: "If anybody suggests you go here, punch them in the face. If you're a parent and your son or daughter says they want to go here, punch them in the face." Geez, tell us how you really feel. </p>
<p>But still, since its impractical to do a detailed analysis (including visiting) of every school that my S might possibly be interested in, the review sites do serve some purpose, along with boards like this, the college website itself, etc.</p>