Oh great school. GORGEOUS campus based on the pictures I’ve seen.
That is so amazing!! Congratulations!
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Would love to hear more about Stetson. My S22 is considering it and we are from MA so we don’t know anyone that goes there and it doesn’t get a lot of talk on CC. Possible business major. We were a bit concerned that it might be a bit of a suitcase school as it seems a lot of kids are from FL. We are hoping to visit Stetson, Rollins, and U Tampa sometime soon.
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What a great story with an awesome ending. I was rooting for Roanoke and it sounds like he will do great there. I think it makes such a difference when a student mentions a school to someone and they get some name recognition in return. My S22 is starting to realize that just because he’s never heard of school, it doesn’t mean other people haven’t heard of it. And once someone says their 2nd cousin’s son’s went there and loved it, he is suddenly more interested in the school.
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Great story, great ending, great school.
And you get to visit the gorgeous Roanoke campus and region… 
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@BGTENN I’d never been to that part of the country before. Stunning! He loves those mountains.
I will say that Xavier was my second choice for him and he got a piece of mail from them today that reinforced all the good feelings I had about the school.
Just a simple mailer that was a quote from his essay on one side and a note from his admissions counselor on the other: “I’d list all the reasons you’ll be a great Musketeer but you said it best yourself.”
The quote they pulled was “It is never as easy to get out of the hole of missing work as it is to get in.” Funny it was the one line he read to me before he submitted.
I know it’s a simple printing process to customize but it means they actually read essays. Schools that read essays are where kids like him belong.
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Congratulations to you all!
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Stetson is a great small school. They are D1 so sports are big there. There is also tons of school spirit as well as lots of opportunities to get involved on campus. A great sense of community.
As for where it is located, DeLand is such a cute town with a main street within walking distance from campus. And when you go in the local shops and restaurants they have nothing but praise for the SU students. DeLand is also 25 mins from Daytona and an hour from Orlando so lots of entertainment is never too far.
I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area. If you can only do virtual, it really is as beautiful as it appears. 
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Congrats on Roanoke. A Roanoke alum teaches at my DD22’s school and is a great guy. I bet it will be a great fit for him!
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@luvtoscrap23 thank you so much! We are hoping to visit Stetson, Rollins and UTampa sometime this spring.
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I started a new thread for Stetson. (Sorry to hijack ububumble) Happy to discuss more there.
So glad we can feel comfortable discussing “the right fit” over prestige and ranking. Not that you can’t have “the right fit” feeling at a top-ranked school but I have seen many kids (and parents) get obsessed by how others view their final choice instead of following their heart.
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Due to your fabulous post, I have added Xavier University (OH) as a possible visit this summer. Since this seemed to be a choice for you and your son, would love to hear more thoughts about it.
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@luvtoscrap23 I’m so glad the thread evolved into including other schools! That way if folks find it a while from now, they have even more options to explore. There were several Florida schools we were encouraged to take a look at early on but the weather wasn’t high on his list. 
I do think it’s easier sometimes for those who aren’t in the top 10% (YMMV pick your number) of their class to focus on which school is right for them because it feels like there is less outside scrutiny on the choice. I’ve been lucky enough to see new grads from the other side for a long time though and know that the value in their school was what they made of it vs. the logo on the sweatshirt and kids are more likely to make more of it in an environment in which they feel comfortable to explore and make mistakes.
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@nidaco I’m a fan of the school based on what we know. I’m jealous you’ll get there in person as we never did. Finding Xavier started because I wanted to see if there were any Big East schools where he might be accepted and that fit his basic criteria. Having seen Butler when we moved his brother in, he liked the size and the Big East-ness of it all for sure. And mid-west nice is something both of my kids respond positively to after growing up in NE.
Ultimately all of the other Big East schools were eliminated early based on location/campus (DePaul, St. John’s, Seton Hall too urban, Creighton too Nebraska) or requirements (Georgetown, Villanova, Providence…ummm, no) or size (UConn too big) or just a bit too reachy (Marquette, Butler). So we looked at Xavier.
Here’s what my S21 liked about it: size felt like a great mid-range (small enough have some personal relationships, large enough to feel like over 4 years you’d still be meeting new people), the attitude and spirit of the school–All for One really does seem to come to life in every interaction and in what they value, huge community focus. This comes from a Jesuit base but felt like a place it would be okay to not be religious. Big focus on support beyond academics–every student assigned a mentor that sounded like his EF coach. Closed campus but next to a city–he’s seen this work really well for his brother at Butler in Indy. Cincy is still a little bigger than this S21 would like but he felt like he had an example of how it could work. And, of course Big East basketball. According to the numbers, this one was one of the two biggest reaches on his list. And the secondary ed program is a little different than most schools. Those two things aside, he wanted to try.
If Roanoke hadn’t been in the mix for him at the end, we would definitely have visited to get him on campus. Goes to show how two very different schools can appeal to the same kid.
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Can you share anymore about what your son likes about Butler (and any cons as well). My D20 was accepted and we visited but she ultimately chose another school. I have it on my preliminary list for S22. Any chance your son is a business major? How is the school for someone from the northeast? It reminded me somewhat of Providence College (my alma mater). When we toured both the AO and the tour guide seemed a bit surprised we were there “all the way from MA” which sort of made us feel that it had somewhat of a regional reach to it.
@MAmom111 Butler has been a great choice for S18. Yep, he’s a business student (marketing major) and has a Strat Com minor. That’s the industry I’m from and I can see he’s getting a solid background.
He loves being in the mid-west, that was part of the appeal for him. But, yes, the students are (I want to say) 60% from the mid-west and the others are spread out so he can recognize a MA license plate for sure, there aren’t many of them. It’s a regional university in the sense that many of the schools in NE are predominantly NE students. For him that works for two reasons, all of the students are committed to a campus life and so even those from IN aren’t going home on the weekends. We were good with him heading away but didn’t want it to be to a suitcase school. Butler is NOT that. The second reason the location works for him is that he loves the mid-west nice attitude. He just finds it friendlier and less-competitive than NE. Everyone wants to do well but they want everyone to do well. Honestly he fell in love with the area and he’s planning to stay after graduation–either Indy or Chicago. If your S already knows he wants to end up back in MA, the network won’t be as strong but I know it exists because my S has had reach outs from it.
In terms of the business school, top notch. He was choosing in the end between Bryant, Bentley and Butler. He appreciated getting a top business education but in a broader environment. Amazing professors. Great integration with the Indy business community which is full of fortune 100 businesses. The RBE (Real Business Experience) course has them developing, manufacturing, and selling a product sophomore year. Profits are the students’ to keep.
Choosing a school with broader academic choices also means that he isn’t surrounded only by other business students too. So his roommates are in motorsports engineering, speech therapy, strategic communications. And he’s been able to take some courses for his core requirements that are just interesting and fun for him.
Socially the school gave him the smaller size he wanted (about 5,000) but with a big Div 1 experience. Basketball there is amazing and so fun for students. Made me happy to see him on tv in the student section when we watched the games at home! Greek life is big there but not overwhelming. My S isn’t Greek but two of his roommates are. Feels like he got the best of both worlds in that way. They also don’t pledge until second semester first year because they want students to explore a bit before deciding Greek is the way for them.
He also likes the housing approach (dorms year 1&2, on campus apt year 3 and off campus rental house year 4). For him, he could picture the “growing up and out” approach to that. S21 was far more interested in whether a school had a 4 year on campus option. Campus food is good but they also love the local restaurants in Broad Ripple and elsewhere.
Cons–it really would depend on what your S is looking for. It’s not a small, nurturing environment but there is a ton of support and connection at the slightest request.
We were thrilled when S made the choice to attend Butler. The sense we had about the culture of the school was confirmed in two interactions: 1)At summer orientation a Dean spoke to the students about how every choice they make adds up to who they are; it’s not who you say you are, it’s how you behave “you can walk around wearing white gloves all the time but if you get in the mud to play with pigs, the mud doesn’t get glove-y.” 2) At convocation the President told them they would have great relationships with professors and peers and administration, that was a given. But what he really wanted them to do was get to know the people that made their food every day and the people that did the amazing landscaping on campus and the people that kept the place spotless and clean because those were the relationships that would truly differentiate the experience at Butler from any other school. Those were the people who make Butler, Butler."
As you can see, I’m a fan. Nothing is perfect but we only hope our kids find the place that’s right for them.
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Thanks for the review on Butler. On my sons list. I’ve heard from family that Indy is a great city. And as much as my son wants to go somewhere new (which I respect), there is something real about “Midwest nice” and I secretly hope he doesn’t go far.
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@ububumble thank you so much for your review. It’s so helpful. A lot of what you are saying is what I felt when we visited. We actually spent a lot of time on campus. We kind of hung out at the restaurant on the edge of campus and there was a basketball game going on so we got too a lot of the student body and some fans. We also saw a lot of people going into frat/sorority parties that night. The tour guide and the people she bumped into in the tour all seemed so friendly. Everyone held open doors for us and a couple kids yelled “come to Butler”. Now I wish we had brought my S22 on the tour. My D20 had Depauw in her top 2 so we definitely liked that Midwest vibe.
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Fun little Friday update here. S21 was just accepted into College of Charleston’s !Charleston Bridge Program which offers a first semester in London, Dublin or Rome and then enrollment into CofC spring semester.
Certainly he’s made his choice but there was a light in his eye for a minute or two when he thought of London or Dublin in the fall.
And he can say he went 8 for 9 in total admissions now. We’re having fun around here speaking badly about Salve and how they missed the S21 boat. Not mature at all but a good time.
He continues to get more and more engaged with Roanoke and is more and more excited about what the fall will bring.
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Google the weather in London and Dublin in the fall. That will put him right off, haha.
Congrats to your S! I’ve been a silent follower of this thread and have loved following his journey. Roanoke is an incredible school and they’ve got themselves an incredible student.
Wishing him all the best for the next four years!
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