<p>Im looking into applying to Rollins college (Winterpark,FL) next year (im a junior in H.S btw)
and i was just wondering
what are the students like? etc. etc.
any info on Rollins would be great...I just want to get some idea of what the school is like and all that good stuff.
thanks in advance.</p>
<p>The school is very pretty - Spanish style - on a lake. The town of Winter Park has a ritzy shopping district adjacent to campus.</p>
<p>My S is in his second year at Rollins and really is at home there. I believe that the small school atmosphere offers more opportunities for a person to develop and learn. However you need to determine if you thrive in that environment or if a larger school or state school gives you what you need. My D on the other hand may need that large school stimulation so that is something to consider. She is in the process of applying to schools this year.</p>
<p>There have been a few postings about the student body so just do a search on Rollins. I’ve posted before that there are the self absorbed types but also the down to earth types as well as every other range in between. There are quite a few well to do kids that will blow alot of money at clubs on the weekends but you will find parties on campus as well as alot of club activities depending on your interests. My S spends alot of nights just hanging with friends creating their own fun but there are places to go off campus. I know he has been to Downtown Disney and area theme parks as well as the beach. There is a movie house in Winter Park Village as well as shopping and restaurants. Park Avenue has some upscale restaurants and shopping as well. There is a Farmers Market on Saturdays and a lovely park to walk around with friends, eat ice cream…</p>
<p>The professors have been great even for classes outside his major. It is very easy to talk to the professors and discuss subjects beyond the course. My S took a summer course at home at our local state university and while there were things he enjoyed wth a larger school he did not have that connection with the teacher that he has had at Rollins.</p>
<p>Good luck on your college pursuits!</p>
<p>My son is a senior there and has loved his experiences. </p>
<p>The campus is gorgeous – the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of campuses. The classes are small (S thinks a class of 17 is big) and professors are accessible and good teachers. </p>
<p>Classes are demanding, so it is not a school for slackers. However, until S went to Rollins, he had been a lazy student with highs scores, but mediocre (about a 2.9) gpa. At Rollins, he has been solidly on Dean’s List even though the coursework is demanding. The courses are so interesting and the professors are so caring that S chooses to work hard. In his freshman level psychology class, he had assignments that were similar to what I had in my first year of a doctoral program in clinical psych. In a required script analysis course for his theater major, he had to write an 80-100 page paper (which was written over the course of the semester), more than I ever had to write until I wrote my dissertation. </p>
<p>S had been a slow and procrastination-prone writer, but with the help of Rollins professors and the curriculum, he has done fine in writing courses even though the professors do not give easy grades.</p>
<p>While there are some hard core partyers (Rollins used to be known as school for partying rich kids), frankly, some of those flunk out, become more serious about their studies or transfer by the end of first semester. However, if partying is your thing, you can find parties. </p>
<p>S is laid back, artsy, not into heavy duty partying, and hangs out with the theater crowd and with the students who tended to come in with merit aid. They socialize, but their idea of fun isn’t getting drunk every night.</p>
<p>One thing Rollins has that I’ve never heard any other college having is optional intercession classes. Those are one-week, 6 hour a day, noncredit classes that are the week before spring semester. Students who are interested in taking them are encouraged to choose a class in an area that’s NOT their major. S started Rollins as a psychology major and freshman year took an intercession course in group leadership through improvisational theater. Soph year, he took an intercourse in stage combat. By the end of soph year, he realized he wanted to be a theater major.</p>
<p>There also are very nice abroad opportunities, and all freshmen take a seminar class of their own choosing. The classes are offered on a variety of interesting topics and have 2 upperclassmembers as peer mentors as well as a professor known for the excellence of their teaching. It’s a very nice way to adjust to college and make friends.</p>
<p>The college overall looks for ways of saying “yes” to students, so if students have ideas for clubs, courses, etc., faculty tries to accommodate them. That’s how the college got involved in a program in which students can choose to make movies. It’s a free extracurricular that’s offered once a year. Equipment and instructors are brought to campus to help. The top films are shown on campus typically to a standing room only audience. The year that S participated, 70 films were made by individual students and student groups.</p>
<p>I heard … not saying that it is correct, that all of the students there are rich and party … A LOT. I also “heard” that if you aren’t rich "you better not make it known. " Hmmm, sounds pretty interesting, not sure if it’s true but that’s just what I heard.</p>
<p>There are some very well off students at Rollins. I suspect many of them are the ones more likely to be active in Greek life.</p>
<p>S – who is not well off nor is he in a frat – has some friends who are well off, and has a lot of friends who have work study jobs like he has. He doesn’t seem to feel the need to hide his lack of affluence. There also are plenty of cheap or free things to do on campus, so one doesn’t need lots of money there.</p>
<p>He continues to avoid designer clothes and to wear ratty T-shirts and jeans. He also doesn’t have a car and also works on campus, so is obviously not rich. That hasn’t been a problem.</p>
<p>One of the reasons that S chose Rollins was after talking to a senior there who was deeply involved in community service with the homeless, something that is one of S’s deep interests. After S started at Rollins, I met the person whom S had been so impressed with and that young man gave us a lift in his new Lexus.</p>
<p>During our conversation, I learned that the young man’s parents had given him something like $10,000 when he was a high school senior, and had let him invest it. He had made excellent investments, and had bought the car by using the income he was getting from rental properties he had bought.</p>
<p>He said he was more than happy to share information with friends and students who wanted to learn how to invest. </p>
<p>I suspect my son may have made other friends at Rollins who can introduce him to that kind of information – information that I definitely didn’t learn at my parents’ knees, so there can be some benefits to getting to know some people who come from a higher socioeconomic background than one has.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, fall of freshman year, there were many, many parties and S was a nonpartyer who had the misfortune to be housed in the dorm that was the magnet for freshmen partiers. </p>
<p>Son was told by upperclassmen that that atmosphere would calm down after students got their grades in Dec., and it definitely did. There still were parties, but not to the extent that there were in the fall. He also suspects that the most hard core partiers flunked out quickly. Based on S’s coursework, I can’t imagine that hard core partiers would be able to graduate from there.</p>
<p>S also was told as a freshman that every class at Rollins has noticeably gotten stronger and less interested in wild partying, and he definitely has found that to be the case. His friends have been very interesting people who tend to be juggling interesting ECs like writing a novel or participating in the campus improv troupe while also majoring in biochemistry or anthropology.</p>
<p>I have a question about Rollins…and ED:</p>
<p>My D is interested in going to Rollins but it will be dependent upon how much of a scholarship she gets. I just read thru their Requirements page under Admission and learned about ED. I went to a state public college with open admissions and my S is currently at the same school. So I have NO experience with ED…</p>
<p>We are in the proverbial purgatory of making too much money for federal aid, yet not being able to afford $50K a year for college expenses that Rollins would cost for tuition and housing. So, how does one apply ED, not knowing what type of scholarship or aid they might receive?</p>
<p>My D, currently a sophomore, has great stats now and plans to increase tests scores in future:
4.0 unweighted GPA
rigorous honors/gifted college prep courses (4 years each of english, science, social studies; 6 years of math)
6 or 7 AP courses by graduation
2 or 3 years of Spanish
ACT 26 & PSAT 192 (taken as freshman w/o prep, definitely plan to prep & score higher)</p>
<p>Good ECs:<br>
Beta Club, Treasurer (and plans to take more leadership roles in jr & sr years)
National Honor Society
Dance Team - 4 years
Symphonic Band - 4 years
Theatre - 4 years
Student council
Jr. Volunteer with Hospice
Student Teacher at local dance studio</p>
<p>I am hopeful she would get accepted and potentially compete for a Cornell scholarship, but what happens if she wouldn’t get one? </p>
<p>Now I’m scared at the thought of her applying ED? Is it possible she could get a Cornell or other great scholarship applying regular decision?? </p>
<p>Thanks for any info …</p>
<p>If money is a concern, unless you qualify for need-based aid and the college is a place like Harvard – which has the most generous need-based financial aid in the country – don’t apply ED. </p>
<p>Applying ED also prevents students from comparing offers.</p>
<p>Those great merit aid offers at places like Rollins are to excellent lure students who otherwise might not go to Rollins, so have your D apply RD.</p>
<p>Can you apply RD before Jan. 5 and still be considered for Cornell or Dean’s scholarships?</p>
<p>If you do apply RD when do they notify you of admittance and possible scholarships?</p>
<p>ED scares me to death! It’s like making a binding offer on a house without knowing if you can make the payments…YIKES!!</p>
<p>Thanks to all on these boards…you’ve enlightened (and frightened) this mom! But it’s good to know all these things now while we still have lots of time to figure things out!</p>
<p>What about the town? Is it expensive?</p>