<p>Visit Comments from Spring Break visits for DS</p>
<p>GPA 3.4
Taking SAT next week
ACT 25
Interested in Music Business/Music Industry</p>
<p>List of colleges </p>
<p>Belmont
Middle Tennessee State U
U of Evansville
U of the Pacific
U of Puget Sound
Cal State Northridge
Murray State U (probably off list now)
Loyola Marymount U (recently added)
U of Redlands (recently added)
U Colorado Denver</p>
<p>Belmont: Beautiful weather in Nashville-- we went from snow in Spokane WA to 80 degrees in Nashville. Plane was on time, so we were in a good mood arriving in Nashville. We walked around the Music Row area and then down to Belmont so he could see the area. He loved it-- lots of studios, both large and small companies. We walked around campus and saw lots of students outside in the sun and heard lots of musicians practicing. Next day he had admission session, tour, info session with music dpt, info session with music business school all arranged by admissions. Impressed with everyone-- good presentations, lots of information given out. I attended all of this since they were all group sessions. Large numbers attending each of the sessions. He also then met with one of the guitar teachers-- he had arranged this meeting on his own. He asked for a brief meeting (I was thinking 15 minutes) and he went to this on his own. I waited in a coffee shop. 90 minutes later he came back-- the guitar teacher had spent over an hour talking to him about all the options, which might work best for DS, answered all his questions-- I was impressed. He went way beyond what we expected. Next morning he attended a class. Overall impression-- loved the programs, the people, the area. Would be a perfect fit
Only concern-- school is expanding faster than they can handle-- overcrowding in the dorms (doubles made into triples) and overcrowding in some of the classes</p>
<p>Middle Tennessee State-- Still beautiful weather. Arrived on campus around noon before 1:00 class. Parking was a nightmare-- After getting visitor pass and looking for parking spot for 45 minutes I finally told DS to get out of the car and find the class he was sitting in on. 20 minutes later I finally found a spot when someone left. The rest of the visit went much better. I met DS after the class–class size much smaller than he expected. Then met with the Recording Industry Dept (I think that’s the right name) Two undergrad students showed us the facilities-- we were in a group with 3 other visiting students and parents. They did a great job-- the facilities were very impressive-- lots of studios where it looked like undergrad students could get lots of hands on experience. Students knew about all the majors offered, gave their insights about their experiences, talked about options-- overall we were very impressed with the program and facilities. The students spent over an hour with us and DS learned a lot about the majors offered. The next morning we did the campus tour and admission session. Campus tour was ok-- huge group (I think 30) so hard to hear tour guide. Admission session was not helpful-- lasted about 5 minutes and they basically asked who had questions. But overall DS had a posivie experience. He had 2 concerns-- first is if he wants a large university (I think 26000 students total) . Once he was in his major classes it would be fine, but might be overwhelming freshman year. Second concern-- you aren’t admitted to the program until you have completed 3 semesters-- so may be a risk as to whether you could get the major you want.</p>
<p>Evansville-- Arrived in the afternoon and met my friend from grad school who we were staying with. He works at the University so that was nice-- he had arranged for DS to meet with a faculty member in the business program, who DS really liked. He also met with the guitar teacher that afternoon, They only offer classical guitar (not what DS is interested in) but he liked the teacher. The next day he had admission meeting, campus tour, a class and a meeting with the percussion teacher. Admission meeting and tour were good-- the tour only had 3 students in our group so we could talk to the tour guide more about his experience. After sitting in on the class the teacher spent about 20 minutes talking to DS-- not originally scheduled so very nice for the teacher to take the time. They talked about the Music Business program structure-- it seems like 2 minors put together, in that about 1/3 of your classes are gen ed, 1/3 are music classes, 1/3 are business classes. The percussion teacher was helpful too-- an audition is required so he found out more about that. Overall he really liked the school-- seemed like a good size, liked the students and atmosphere, he felt like it was a good fit. Only concern-- the major is not exactly what he was looking for-- more of a classical music program combined with business classes. But he liked the school enough that it is still definitely on the list. Also liked the fact that he could switch to Business degree if he wanted</p>
<p>Murray State-- we didn’t end up going since the admissions office was closed the week we were visiting-- it was not their spring break, but for some reason they weren’t schduling tours or sessions at all so we skipped it</p>
<p>This is very long-- but looks like DS will apply to Belmont, Middle Tennessee and Evansville so trip was successful. ALso decided he wants to go where weather is good-- tired of rain and snow here</p>
<p>He still wants to visit a few more-- scheduled to visit Puget Sound this month since that is closer for us. Then will maybe visit Pacific and Denver in the fall, plus whatever else he decides</p>
Like I said elsewhere, in the end, the individual profiles of our children will probably vary a great deal. I just think this is a nice space for the parents of kids who are looking at schools for the more typical student and schools that really do look past the numbers.</p>