EA Rhodes 2025

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rhodes College
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Thank you! He is currently weighing Rhodes vs Union College (NY) vs Gettysburg. The money is about 15000 dollars per year better at Rhodes and it is merit so it is guaranteed vs part guarantee part grant at Union. My concerns - 13 years Catholic school - not worried about the religious differences but social - Ct Catholic school vs southern … I strongly dislike fraternities but that might be wrong - a bias due to ignorance - and Memphis - I’m just not sure why it is supposedly the most dangerous city in America and would that be something worth considering? I have no problem with Fordham so …looking for any relevant info that in non covid times would be covered with a campus visit.

Thanks - any information at all is welcome.

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Congratulations on having such great options!

As a start, you may want to look under the Rhodes College forum and read through the posts. There is a topic specifically on safety with great information from a Rhodes employee. I pasted the link below to make it easier for you to find.

While I have been to Memphis a few times for work/fun, I will be visiting Rhodes with my daughter for the first time in March (accepted students Senior Friday). I’m happy to pass along what we’ve learned from CC and talking to current students, but you may want to hear from others with first hand knowledge first.

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Hopefully you will hear from some some folks with personal experience at Rhodes. In the meantime, my two cents on Memphis and Greek life in general.

I have visited Memphis for work/fun. It is a fun and vibrant city. Keep in mind, I was in the downtown area/Beale Street which is a typical tourist area so I’m not at all familiar with other areas. My feeling is that it is much like any city, with areas that are safer than others. If you’re used to that and being aware and smart about going out in groups after dark, it should be fine. Since you are comfortable with Fordham and I assume NYC area in general, I expect you would be comfortable for your son. We live in Atlanta, which unfortunately also has a reputation for violent crimes. We know which areas are safer than others when we are out and about.

Regarding Greek life, I can answer from my personal experience in a sorority at a large southern public university. My best friend to this day is one of my sorority sisters. My brother pledged a fraternity at the same school. We both had many friends who were not Greek and considered the sorority/fraternity as a social organization for making friends, community service, etc. My D has a couple of friends currently at Rhodes. They are both in sororities but find it to be fairly low key. The impression my D got was that while apparently 50% of Rhodes students are involved in Greek life, there is no pressure. Some of that may be since they do not have Greek residential houses. Also, many sororities/fraternities are working to change the old stereotypes with policies for inclusivity and diversity. That is a general statement. I do not know enough about Rhodes specifically to comment other than anecdotally.

Now that they are offering some in-person visits, will you be able attend an accepted students day?

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44

Thank you for all your help. We are signed up for a visit in April. I am feeling pretty good about Rhodes , Memphis , and their Greek system. I’m glad I asked- seems like a school with a lot to offer.

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45

My son is Junior at Rhodes.

He is majoring in music but nearly all his friends are humanity based students. He is not in Greek life but lots of his friends are. We visited Memphis from the UK and found it to be so friendly we could not believe people’s concerns about safety. Only saw two panhandlers driving to and from accommodation to college whereas while we were stopping over in Philadelphia I was shocked by the number of homeless and we were only there a night. Not that homeless or panhandlers are necessarily the criminal factions might I add. We chose Rhodes over others as it offered the best money and we and our son couldn’t be happier.

Hope this helps

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46

Thank you for taking the time to respond! I’m glad to hear your son is happy and productive at Rhodes and you enjoy the Memphis area. I am looking forward to our visit as Rhodes is becoming a serious contender. It used to be unusual for a student from New England to go to the south for college but I’ve noticed that lately more of my students ( I’m a high school math teacher ) have been applying all over. It is hard to find a strong liberal arts school in a city and that is what my son is looking for! Thanks again!

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My son loves the city. It offers lots of opportunities even for a music major. He is doing a fellowship putting music to public art, of which there is plenty in the city.

Because of the city many of his friends of his have jobs off campus: country clubs, powerlifting gyms. In a smaller town the job opportunity may be more limited. His friends also come from all across the states.

Glad I could be of help.

48

I got admission to class of 2025. I had a few questions about grading at Rhodes. I am planning on pursuing the premed track and majoring in Bio. Is a 3.8+ do-able as a Bio major, or is this close to impossible to achieve? Would you say professors are pretty good at grading objectively or do they often let their own personal biases get in the way?

Are most people able to get into a med school the first time they apply? Does Rhodes have any affiliations to Med schools?

And finally, what are the habits/traits that distinguish those who are able to get into med school from those who are not at Rhodes?

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We are visiting Rhodes this week. If anyone has questions or would like to hear our impressions, let me know.

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50

I would love to hear your impressions!

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51

I would also welcome any information you can provide. We are scheduled to go in April which seems a bit late to be making decisions. Thank you!

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Does anyone know when rd applicants will find out? Is it rolling decisions? Is it bad that I haven’t heard even though I did apply close to the rd deadline

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Same here

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54

@whiskeyyankee @Ferryp @CPAT1971

We were in Memphis this past Thursday and Friday and spent time in the downtown area and at Rhodes. We were very lucky with warm, sunny weather on Thursday but it was pretty chilly and overcast on Friday, which kept us from walking around as much as we would have liked. Our hotel was downtown on the trolley line so we either walked or grabbed the trolley to get around that area. We did not have a car so Uber/Lyft elsewhere. We checked out the Peabody Hotel (ducks in the lobby!), Huey’s (burgers, yum), walked over to Mud Island (absolutely worth it), spent time on Beale Street (touristy but enjoyed good music and BBQ), walked around the zoo and a bit in the neighborhood around Rhodes before the tour.

A lot has been asked about the safety of Memphis and the area around Rhodes. As two women navigating Memphis for a couple of days we did not feel unsafe in any way. We were aware of our surroundings and did not stay out late, just as we would behave in any city, especially one we are not familiar with. The people we met were very friendly and helpful with suggestions of things to do. The Rhodes campus is surrounded by residential neighborhoods, which I was told are primarily the homes of faculty and rental houses for students. We walked from campus to Cafe Eclectic for lunch on Friday before our campus tour.

We were able to walk around campus on our own before the tour and even in a building. The campus is small but beautiful, with Gothic buildings and touches of stained glass. Once we were on the tour, our tour guide took us in additional academic buildings, the library and the dining hall. The tour group could not enter the dorms as they are currently occupied. After the tour, there was time with a professor and a student panel. We were told classes are currently hybrid and they have weekly random covid testing. They have not yet announced the plan for the fall. The kids were given gift bags with swag and made to feel very welcome.

I wish we’d had a bit more time and that covid did not have the campus and city somewhat shutdown. It would have been helpful for my D to see more campus life, but with limited in person classes plus the weather there weren’t many students around. Perhaps also because it was a Friday afternoon. There are many galleries, museums and funky shops in downtown we would have loved to explore. There is also a trendy shopping and food district about 1.5 miles from Rhodes, Crosstown Concourse. I understand students hang out there a lot. There was not much (that we saw) within an easy walk of Rhodes, other than a couple of small cafes, a small market, and the zoo as it seemed mostly residential.

Hopefully that overview is useful. Feel free to ask me any specific questions.

ETA: Downtown Memphis was fairly open. One impressive thing is the way the city has handled covid. All restaurants require patrons to sign in and include a phone number in case contact tracing is required. Even on Beale Street we felt the protocols were being enforced and taken seriously.

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55

Thanks for all the detail. Hope you both had a nice trip.

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56

Thank you for letting us know about your visit. We are going in mid April- I’m hoping the weather is nice and the covid restrictions are reduced but still safe.

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What was your daughter’s impression? Has she made a decision?

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Thanks for the lowdown. It sounds like is was a good visit.

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Overall her impression is positive and Rhodes is definitely in consideration. She is pre-med so Rhodes offers wonderful opportunities in that area of interest as well as being an LAC, which is what she prefers. The AO has been very communicative with multiple personal interactions that made my D feel appreciated. Rhodes has also been very generous with merit, which is important to us as we want to preserve as much of her education account as possible to apply to grad/med school. I wish my D had been able to see a bit more of campus life. She has been to Rhodes twice now, once when the campus was completely closed and now this recent trip where we’d hoped to see a more typical college experience. We saw more of Memphis and the Rhodes area this trip, but still did not see much of campus/student life. This, of course, is not unique to Rhodes as most colleges are so limited now in what they can show admitted/prospective students. I hate that for all our kids!

So I expect my D will make her decision in April. She is waiting on a couple other merit offers in the RD round that could come into consideration. I have a feeling April will be a nail biter!

If anyone else visits, please share your impressions. Maybe we can all piece together the whole picture. :grin:

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I’m sure that you will have been told that only the first years are on campus at the moment - hence the ‘lack of a student feel’. As you say I am sure that many of the colleges are in the same boat. Classes this semester are a mix of on-line and face-to-face, so again less students moving from class to class.
But as a positive story Rhodes students are volunteering at a vaccination centre and after so many shifts are getting any spare vaccines. From what my son tells me ‘everyone’ is doing it. If that were the case it bodes well for getting everyone back on campus in August.
Other feel good stories for a rather torrid time is that Memphis’s weather in February was similar to Texas and it threw everything into to a spin. The freshman on campus mucked in and picked up the reins when campus staff couldn’t get in for work shifts. I know they really have had a difficult time but the community spirit brings a warm glow.
My son is very happy with the way Rhodes have handled Covid, as we are as parents.

I can’t make a decision for you - everyone is different - but I think your daughter would not be disappointed if she chose Rhodes.

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