<p>My D visited Rhodes College and stayed overnight and had a fabulous time. Will a CA girl fit in at a southern school? When people say " you know its in the South" not necessarily in a positive way, what do they really mean? Any feedback on the social atmosphere at Rhodes would be appreciated. Drew University - my D loves the 4-1-4 calendar, the location and the school is beautiful. What is the social scene like - are students happy? is it a suitcase school and lots leave on the weekends?</p>
<p>I know someone whose son went to Rhodes and transferred to Rice after a year. He seemed to not fit in socially, even though he's a very warm, friendly kid. He thought the other kids were very phony. By the way -- he LOVES Rice!</p>
<p>Welcome to CC, twinkletoes. I am not really familiar with Drew University, so I can't help you there, but we did research numerous schools and Rhodes was one that my daughter visited (overnight) last September. It had been at the top of her list until her visit ... after which she removed it from the list completely. If you'd like to read the review of our visit, here it is ... it's combined with a visit to another school. Unfortunately, my daughter did not enjoy her visit to Rhodes. Scroll down to Thursday (cont.) to read about her visit there. <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=1251716#post1251716%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=1251716#post1251716</a></p>
<p>p.s. I am always disheartened to hear folks talking about the south like it's a bad thing. Many of us who were born and raised here can't imagine wanting to live elsewhere. IMO, folks who are orginally from the south tend to be friendly and mannerly. I hope that is what you have personally experienced. Y'all all come see us when you can! ;)</p>
<p>My son will be attending Drew this fall - so we've visited it several times and had researched it extensively. From all we've learned and have seen, the students at Drew are very happy (we'd talked with quite a few on our visits). It is not a suitcase school - although I'm sure a small percentage do go home on weekends. Also keep in mind, Freshman AND Sophomores are not permitted to have cars - so going home on weekends would not be too easy. Aside from limited parking, I think schools that do not allow cars for Freshman (and Sophomores), want to create a close-knit, "residential" campus environment.</p>
<p>All in all, Drew seems to be a great school for those seeking a small LAC that is known for many wonderful involved professors, small classes, beautiful suburban location which is convenient to NYC... and anyplace else as the train station is only a 10 minute walk. Don't underestimate that train station! We'd looked at some other LACs similar to Drew, they too did not permit cars for Freshmen - BUT, unlike Drew, they did not have public transportation nearby and would certainly present a problem for getting home - or anyplace else - for that matter!</p>
<p>Best of luck with your daughter's decision :-)</p>
<p>blackeyedsusan - thanks for the quick reply. It's great to hear that your friends son found a school thats he really happy at, even if his first choice wasn't right for him.</p>
<p>SplashMom - your trip report was incredible. Thanks for sharing your experience. </p>
<p>lelalellen - where are you from? my d visited Drew the day before students returned from a break. The admissions office was very helpful and arranged for a tour guide who had returned to campus a day early to show my d around for a few hours. My daughter had a wonderful time, throughly enjoyed her visit and like you thinks the easy train acess to NY is a big plus. </p>
<p>Drew has so much going for it, beautiful campus, great location, LAC with small classes and caring professors - does any one know why more students don't apply? (they accept about 70%) and why their yield is so low?</p>
<p>Hi Twinkletoes... we are from NJ so Drew is only an hour and 15 minutes away. </p>
<p>As for Drew's low yield, from what I've read it is primarily due to the fact that there are many other less expensive schools in the NJ / NY area. </p>
<p>What is your daughter planning on majoring in? What other schools is she interested in? How far from home is she looking?</p>
<p>I am a student, but I know many happy and successful students and graduates of Drew. I have heard from people I've known who have attended that they love the school, the students, and the teachers. It seems like some of the profs go out of their way for the students. I know they also have a strong theatre program, if she has any interest in that. (I know one of their students was chosen to be in the national tour of Rent but turned it down for grad school!). I have a couple of friends who will probably be attending next year, and they are happy to do so. The school also tends to be generous with financial aid and scholarship money, and all of my accepted friends were overjoyed with the financial aid packages they got, whether they were students using it as a safety or first choice. All of these kids are happy, bright, and smart people, so I'm assuming they picked a college with like minded students. </p>
<p>Most students do not know about Drew, and it doesn't have a big, well known name like other schools, so I think that explains why many students do not apply. If their yield is low, I would guess that it's because many talented students apply, and some of them get into and decide to attend better known schools. I know some students who applied to it as a safety school, but all of them would be happy to attend.</p>
<p>I am not sure if it is known as a suitcase school, but I live a good distance from Drew, so people from around here certainly aren't coming home for the weekends.</p>
<p>I agree about it not being as well known, although it has a decent rating (if you look at that) and is called a "hidden gem" in many books on colleges. My son said on his visit, students told him that although some kids go home, there isn't a large number that do that on a regular basis. It is an expensive school, but as mentioned, they can be very generous with aid and for a small school, have an nice endowment.
I don't know if this professor is still there, but one student wrote me that she was poor and hiding a problem with dyslexia. She had gotten through high school without much of a problem. One paper she was too tired to check well got through, and the professor wrote A, crossed it out and then put D, "see me!" on it. Long story short, after discussing why her papers were so inconsistent, etc. and not having insurance, he paid for her to see a doctor nearby and mentored as she adjusted to her new learning style. She told me as a graduate, she will never forget him and owes her success to his caring.
I'm sure you will find caring professors at a lot of colleges, but it is nice to hear about some not jaded by work.</p>
<p>corranged - when students write it's the best! Thank you! It sounds like Drew is a wonderful, caring, supportive, generous and happy environment. My D just signed up for an overnight during Ambassador Days.</p>
<p>Any suggestions on housing - what dorms are more popular, fun, bigger?</p>
<p>Any advice for a new student that you wish someone had told you before you started at Drew?</p>
<p>Debruns - You are right Drew is very generous with merit aid. What a wonderful professor, the special kind of person who truly saw each of his students as individuals.</p>
<p>Although D is at Vanderbilt, Rhodes was a strong second choice. She has a good friend whose sister is a Rhodes grad and their family speaks highly of the quality of the education there. We were impressed with all we saw on our visit, but it is a very small school which means limited choices for on-campus dining, limited chance to cheer for big name teams, etc. It is a beautiful campus and I would love to see how the new library has turned out.</p>
<p>2VU0609 , we were there (Rhodes) in September and the new library is awesome and beautiful. I'll bet you can find some pictures on their web site. It is truly impressive.</p>
<p>Now I'm even more interested in our visit to Drew during our east coast jaunt in April. (As a former NJ girl, I remembered Drew as a worthwhile school, and it's near family, so we added it to our schedule to check out. I'm glad we did!) Thanks for the info, everyone!</p>
<p>Twinkle, I am a high school student--not a student at Drew, so I don't have any information on dorms. My info was all from what I know of graduates, currect Drew students, and my friends who have applied. Sorry!</p>
<p>My first post... D just got her acceptance to Drew today! Her father and I both graduated from Drew back in the Dark Ages! Don't know if she'll end up there, but she really liked the campus, the people she met and the atmosphere. Welch used to be THE dorm for freshman women...but that was hundreds of years ago!</p>
<p>Glad I found this thread and hope that you all who have kids who are attending in the fall will fill us in on how things are going... Had wanted to make the visit tomorrow as it's a big open house at Drew, but can't do it. Hope to visit sometime in June...though I don't imagine there'll be any students around...though they have a summer school, I believe.</p>
<p>Have heard very good things about this school - daughter's English teacher is a grad as is the headmaster of her high school, both loved it there.</p>
<p>Congrats to your daughter xxpat and to your son, lelaellen! :D</p>
<p>Didn't Curmudgeon's d. turn down Yale and Amherst for Rhodes? Do a search and write him.</p>
<p>I'm a high school senior (and going to Dartmouth next fall, not Drew) but I did a summer program there three years ago. I can really only tell you about the non-academic stuff (obviously), but the campus was gorgeous and the dorms were about average. It's incredibly small though (and because of the layout of the campus and the surrounding stuff, it seems almost smaller than it is). Of course, the size thing could really change during the school year.</p>
<p>As for the 4-1-4 plan, a number of other schools have that plan (summer refer to it as a January term) -- Middlebury's the only one I can think of off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are others.</p>
<p>MIT and Johns Hopkins also have a 4-1-4 plan.</p>
<p>We visited Drew in April on our east coast tour. For the size of the student body, the campus didn't seem overly small or confined, and it was indeed beautiful. The way the academic buildings are all in one area together was a nice feature, and the students we met all seemed happy and engaged. It's definitely on my son's list!</p>
<p>Obviously my family thinks very highly of Rhodes. The campus is beautiful. The profs have been engaging when we have been on our "stealth visits". My D felt that there was variety enough in the food choices (actually she knows she'll be sneaking away to get ribs and tamales at our favorite spot on Beale).</p>
<p>1600 kids. 2 Goldwater's this year. A Rhodes last year. Excellent post grad office. Research and internship opportunities at St. Jude's , UT Med School, and Children's Hospital. An inclusive Greek system that by and large defies the stereotype (with some glaring exceptions). 93% acceptance rate to med school recently, twice the national average usually . Excellent Physics department that churns out future Phds at record pace. </p>
<p>We have visited 4 times together and she has been once on her own. Even prior to her scholarship being raised, Rhodes had moved past several excellent choices on the basis of her weekend there last month . Even though it was more expensive she had already decided that she preferred it to Hendrix, Millsaps, Hanover, Texas Tech Honors, and even Case. The scholarship took out everybody else (including the schools mentioned by mini). </p>
<p>She felt strongly that there existed on campus a critical mass of students with energy and intellect to do great things. As many as Yale? No, and maybe not even as many as Scripps but still enough to push each other, demand from each other, challenge each other to reach higher longer farther. She felt the physical plant and modalities were in place to let them do those great things. (That new library is outrageous.)</p>
<p>That's what she was looking for and the choice was made.</p>