<p>I certainly hope the increased collaboration will keep more students from transferring, and bring more students in. I know they were adding more buildings to the center, so I can only imagine it expanding. </p>
<p>As for the weekends, the reason is that a good amount of students live nearby and go home for the weekend. Plus, some students study or work, and so just in terms of space and ratio (the small school size and population), many students just won’t be bustling around campus. The plus to this is that because of the small community, students will just catch up with their closer friends or roommates and watch movies, go to the beach, check out the Abacoa shops or take the 20 minute car ride to West Palm Beach, which has fun downtown area full of shops, restaurants, and other quirky places (even a trolley tour!) </p>
<p>The interesting thing about the workload is that yes, it is a lot, but a factor that I found when speaking/working with other students is that it feels worth it because the professors care. Nothing ever felt like “busy” work–we could always see the sense in what we were doing. You learn to balance the work–it’s really not that bad, especially because the courses are so varied due to the liberal arts core, and the support is there if you need it (office hours are the only way I got through statistics!) </p>
<p>There were a few factors in my decision, as I was between the HC and UF. One was proximity to home; I like the South Florida area. Another was financial–the HC gives out scholarships to all incoming students. Yet another was the sense of community I felt when I visited, and I kind of wanted to take the “path less traveled” than my other peers, who were all going to UF. I wanted to be a big fish in a small pond. What I think really sealed the deal, however, was when I received my acceptance letter. The director of admissions had hand written a note on the letter saying that she enjoyed the essay I submitted that was part of the application process. </p>
<p>If your D does not want to get lost in a large school, having to push through many others to get past the competition and have her needs met, the HC will be a pleasant surprise :)</p>