<p>Roanoke College
Sticker price: $33,180, inclusive</p>
<p>Getting to Roanoke College in Southwestern Virginia to us meant traversing Pennsylvania east to west for 2 ½ hours and then heading South for over four hours on the very-popular-with-trucks Route 81. Fortunately, the scenery in all states (PA, MD, WV and VA) was one of rolling hills dotted with farmhouses and cows and the Appalachian Mountains in the near distance. My son and I alternated driving and reading our books and talking. This, after all, was our last college visit! My son had been accepted to Roanoke and our goal was to see if it was THE College. He had applied at my suggestion but after getting an excellent financial package and attending an accepted students reception in Philadelphia, we both wanted to see more.</p>
<p>Roanoke is a small liberal arts school with approximately 1,800 students nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in the town of Salem (population 25,000) but within 15 minutes of the small city of Roanoke, Virginia. Thirty-eight percent of the students are from out-of-state (41 states) and many of those are from the northeast. There is also a small international contingent from 25 countries. Nearby colleges include Virginia Tech (Roanoke has a 3-2 program with them) and Hollins University. According to a promotional flyer there are 52,660 college students within a one-hour radius! As soon as we arrived we were whisked away for the mandatory campus tour. Our tour guide was a native of Germany and spoke fluent English with a slight Southern accent. </p>
<p>The campus of 75 acres is filled with attractive brick buildings, large quads of grass, and just a few streets that lead to the town of Salem. The student center looks as old as most of the buildings that were built in the mid 1800s but is actually only 5 or 6 years old and has all the necessities one needs: large game room, big very attractive dining hall (son had a dinner and breakfast said food was good), smaller quick snack room, mail room, bookstore, study rooms and a ballroom that is rented out frequently for wedding receptions. </p>
<p>The classrooms are typical ones with desks, chairs and chalkboards but a few had the small theatre style seats in tiered rows. Since no classes have more then 30 students, there arent too many of these. The average class size is eighteen students. I didnt get to see the dorms but my son did an overnight and said they were quite large compared to the others he has seen. There were 2 sofas in addition to the beds and desks in the one he stayed in! </p>
<p>Students are required to live on campus freshman and sophomore years. There are two dorms just for freshman. There are four fraternity and five sorority houses on campus but our guide said that the Greek influence is not pervasive. About 20% of the students join the Greek system. The campus was extremely clean and well kept up. Students were friendly and looked pretty much like the ones from my sons public high school in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, the college was closing for a short Easter break the day after we arrived so many students were heading out. It's the second oldest college founded by the Lutheran Church but there are no religious requirements. The overall impression was of middle to upper class studious young adults.</p>
<p>There are two things that stood out to me about Roanoke College their commitment to community service and the May term. At orientation all freshman participate in a community service project and must also put in a certain amount of hours doing community service for the first year. According to the admissions person, many students continue with this after the freshman year.</p>
<p>The May term is an extra mini-session that is required once during the four years. They call it an intensive learning course where students tackle one subject and study it thoroughly for three weeks in May. Students are encouraged to take something outside of their major just for the joy of learning something new. Most offerings are a class on campus but the cool ones have mini-abroads built into them. This years May choices include one called Visualizing Italy, The goal is to study how Italian artists have visualized their world and how we, as travelers of Italy, visualize that world in our turn. This includes two weeks visiting Florence, Rome and Venice. Another is on the history of the Hawaiian Islands and includes nineteen days in Hawaii. I did ask about adult chaperones and was quickly turned down.* sigh *</p>
<p>Location-wise, Roanoke College is just great once you get there. Salem is a lively town with cute stores, bars, restaurants and churches. We went into the city of Roanoke before we concluded our visit and found lots of unique stores, a movie theatre and the usual big city enticements. There is also a small airport. The college offers weekly free shuttle service into Roanoke on weekends. They also entice students to stay on campus with Fridays on the quad, featuring movies and other entertainment. My son was a big hiker before he became hooked on computer games and with the Appalachian trail just 15 minutes from campus, I can see that he might want to lace up his boots again. All students are allowed cars on campus but except for driving home, he could easily get anywhere without one.</p>
<p>My son had a nice overnight but has still not decided if this is the one. Decision time is soon!</p>