<p>We are trying to compare/choose between HWS and Rollins in FL- comparable costs and academic ratings. Please offer any advice! Thanks!</p>
<p>If you kid doesn’t mind the cold and snow my vote goes to Hobart. Lovely school, solid academics, terrific career services and alum who go out of their way to place students in internships while in school and jobs after. Also, Hobart, imo, is a better school.</p>
<p>I’ve never even heard of Hobart. I’ll look up on the College Board later. I grew in Winter Park, FL where Rollins is and if there is a more ideal place to spend 4 years of your life living, learning and growing I’d sure like to see it. As far as I know, Rollins has exceptional FA. </p>
<p>When I was growing up we, as high school kids basically, used to go to the essentially open keg parties at Rollins from time to time. I’m sure that doesn’t thrill you as a parent but Rollins has cleaned up its act. It was, basically, a warm weather school for obnoxiously rich Northern white people to go to for a few years and have a really great time and if they learned anything in particular that was just a bonus. At least that was its reputation. </p>
<p>From everything I can gather it is a much different place now. Its demo’s are still skewed towards the rich, white and Northern but it si actually a great school with serious students. I interact or have interacted with a few grads over the years and they know what they need to know. Hobart better be good if it better than Rollins because Rollins is what you’d picture as small LAC to look like expect it is here in subtropical Central FL and believe me it is spectacular. Its a bit old, compared to an urban school like UCF, oddly all the young kids like modern buildings, but for my money Rollins blows UCF away and any fool that would go to UCF over Rollins desreves what he or she gets. </p>
<p>For full disclosure, I did not go to Rollins. I went to a CC and then an in-state public.</p>
<p>Thanks! Yes, Rollins has a lovely campus- I gues we’re just worried about the reputation… any other thoughts about Hobart anyone?</p>
<p>My niece is a Jr at HWS now… She had okay academic stats and comes from a moderately comfy income family with 3 kids. My SIL was floored by the merit & need aid they got… $12K, when they were expecting none. She spent the first half of this academic year in South America, on exchange…which is highly encouraged.</p>
<p>I visited there this past summer with my S1 - and it is beautiful there… right on one of the Finger Lakes. I liked that students had flexibility setting their own curriculum (within limits) …it wasn’t a stringent set of requirements. It is remote …acres and acres of corn in summer- and lots of snow and ice in winter.</p>
<p>My cousin went to Rollins and left after a semester. The drug use was so awful that it would take place in dorm hallways. It was not controlled and it was ridiculous. He said it was fully of extremely wealthy kids who felt above rules and the law. He now goes to Florida State and is much happier.</p>
<p>If you want to reconcile the divergent viewpoints about Rollins consider this theory. </p>
<p>First, none of us has reliable information. I visit the Rollins area often because I live here and I interact with Rollins grads both of which are at best secondary sources of data. </p>
<p>Second, it is my opinion that Rollins focuses a lot of its resources on mature and/or executive education for returning and/or graduate students. These tend to be students who can afford Rollins and who do not want anything to do with the meat market that is UCF. </p>
<p>So, Rollins is a great school with serious students for students like that but perhaps if you enter Rollins as a FR and live on the dorms, who knows, there might be cocaine parties in the hallway. I doubt that, frankly. I simply don’t believe that. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t hesitate to send either of my kids to Rollins. Rollins isn’t even on our list because we are in love with FSU. It is the right place for us. We also have the benefit of living near a great CC, sorry if I sound like a broken record on multiple threads about it but some CC’s are good and others, apparently, from what I read here, aren’t. I just got an email about what they are doing with this particular CC’s honors program and it is amazing. I also just this week ran into a parent whose D graduated from the honors program here and got a scholarship somewhere. The parent was thrilled about how it all worked out. </p>
<p>I guess with all the negative talk about CC’s here, I can’t help setting the record straight so to speak.</p>