<p>We attended a private reception locally last night with President Sullivan, his wife and several trustees. We enjoyed President Sullivan's sense of humor, perceptiveness, personal style and future plans for the school.</p>
<p>He mentioned the big increase in applications this year (same with every school) and that SLU is searching for well rounded kids and not the students who have a big spike in one particular area. He talked about SLU having 21% of their students on Pell Grants, the highest % of any school of their calibre. I think this should help to distrupt the myth that SLU is a rich preppie school. He mentioned that SLU has a strong commitment to the North Country and that SLU's unique location makes it off the well beaten path of those doing the Eastern LAC search. Students who check SLU out do so NOT because they could swing by, but because they had an interest in learning about the school.</p>
<p>He spoke about the new Science Center and that it has been slow in building but will be absolutely amazing on completion.</p>
<p>He also talked about the Arts and the schools commitment to them.</p>
<p>He also spoke about how effective the school is at raising funds and their ambitious plans for the coming year.</p>
<p>He seems to be a President who makes things happen.</p>
<p>Thanks for the helpful information. The president was not at our local reception so it was interesting to hear his comments. It is especially good to hear about financial aid since the rep as a rich preppy haven was a concern. We received a very generous grant making it affordable. S & H felt the students they met at the reception were friendly and down to earth. After all, the college's location attracts a lot of outdoorsy people - more apt I would guess to spend their $ at REI than Saks :). Looking forward to hearing more about the new science center at the admitted student day next week. Everything I have heard about SLU from college reviews and former students has been extremely positive. Just wish it wasn't such as hassle to get there!</p>
<p>SLU can be a hassle to get too, but the good news is that from the East, it is through some amazing country!</p>
<p>One other thing I thought of to add, the new Science building is allowing the school to move toward more immersion learning, rather then typcial lecture format. Students will have the opportunity to more actively participate in active experimentation to gain concepts.</p>
<p>I have decided that the preppie thing is tiring. At this point, I am not even sure what the real meaning of a preppie is. I guess a preppie isn't, Goth or cosmo or anything between but does that mean that they all drive fancy cars and vacation on the shore? I can tell you that my s dresses fairly conservatively by the above standards but we are definitely a middle class family just trying to make things work on a month by month basis. I have heard about 2 other kids from our area joining the 2010 class and they are from the same middle class hard working back ground.</p>