<p>We are considering a college visit trip to TX. I have seen a comment thet Saint Edward's is a suitcase school. Can anyone comment on this and any other facets of the school?</p>
<p>We are planning on seeing TCU, SMU, and Trinity and then possibly hitting Loyola in New Orleans afterwards. I think Trinity and SMU are reaches, TCU and Loyola are matches. Is there another school in the general vicinity we should consider visiting? Probably no state schools...we are from out of state so grades will be a problem and the schools are way too big for S (looking for less than 10k).</p>
Check out Southwestern University in Georgetown, JUST north of Austin.
[Welcome</a> to Southwestern University](<a href=“http://www.southwestern.edu/]Welcome”>http://www.southwestern.edu/)
It seemed like one minute we were in the Austin suburb of Round Rock and the next minute we were entering the small city of Georgetown.
DD, DS, and I visited in the fall and it is lovely. We all liked it. A small liberal arts school, one of the Colleges That Change Lives. Worth a visit if you are in Austin.</p>
<p>St Ed’s is growing and changing and doing good things. My impression is that it is not a suitcase school, and it’s in central Austin and close to lots of cool Austin places. Not like being stranded in the boondocks! You might want to check out Southwestern University close by in Georgetown. [Welcome</a> to Southwestern University](<a href=“http://www.southwestern.edu/]Welcome”>http://www.southwestern.edu/)
LOL - crossposted</p>
<p>Family friends sent all 3 of their kids to St. Edwards. I don’t really know much about the school but I know they love the school and definitely don’t leave every weekend.</p>
<p>My daughter has two friends at St. Edwards. Great location in the city of Austin. One of her friends does go home to Houston every weekend but I wouldn’t consider that a factor of the school. I think it’s worth checking out.</p>
<p>We have a friend who graduated from there last spring, she wanted to be close to the music scene and her parents wanted her to get her degree. She got the degree, and now is on the road doing the music thing :)</p>
<p>Didn’t St Edward’s start out as a seminary? I seem to remember a friend’s kid going there for a vocation as a brother back when… searched the website and nothing about that now. Can my Catholic friends fill in the blanks?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help. I guess we should check out Southwestern since we are in the neighborhood. 1,300 students sounds quite small for a college however it sounds like a great school.</p>
<p>Check out Baylor in Waco as well. It is halfway between D/FW and Austin and is similar to TCU and SMU in size and campus feel. St. Ed’s and Southwestern are much smaller. I would fly into DFW and see SMU and TCU respectively. It is a 1 1/2 drive to Waco from Ft. Worth to check out Baylor, another 1 hour to Southwestern in Georgetown and then 45 min to Austin to see St. Ed’s. My daughter is currently doing graduate work at St. Edwards after receiving her undergraduate degree from there. She had a unique situation as she transfered there after an accident prevented her return to her dream school, Syracuse. After two years she was ready to go back to school and just wanted to get her degree as quickly as possible close to home. Austin is a great city and so she ended up at St. Eds. For what it’s worth, she would probably agree with your initial assessment. Good luck on your search</p>
<p>OP, you and your son might get some feel about the campus by checking out the student newspaper. The wiki offers quick answers to several questions raised in this thread. I cross-checked the St. Ed’s website for their figures re: your “suitcase” query–it looks like 1200 of 3535 undergrads, or 33%, live on campus. Their viewbook (nice snapshot) confirms “traditional” freshmen are required to live on campus.</p>
<p>We live in Austin and never cease to hear great things about St. Ed’s. With that said, its location in a very “happening” part of town might not be everyone’s cup of tea. A visit is wise!</p>
<p>I agree with laserp’s idea of doing a driving tour from SMU to Trinity (or reverse). As an alternate to DFW, check Southwest flights into Dallas Love (DAL), which is just minutes from SMU. You can do an open jaw pairing with San Antonio to avoid that long drive back. </p>
<p>How much do you like roadtrips?! If you add Loyola, I guesstimate it’s a 9+ hour drive whether you do it from San Antonio or Dallas! (There are nonstops from Dallas; from Austin, we go Southwest with a touchdown in Houston–I think it’s the same for San Antonio.)</p>
<p>Thanks for the links TXArtemis. We will ask about the suitcase issue when we visit. Even though many students live on campus, in schools that draw largely from the local region many still head home on the weekends. A couple thousand miles from home it is nice to have a campus that is jumping on weekends and short breaks.</p>
<p>laserp - Baylor sounds like a nice school but mandatory chapel attendance is a deal killer.</p>
<p>The preliminary plan is to fly into Dallasw area, see TCU. We will probably skip SMU as it is reachier and also more expensive. Drive down and visit Southwestern and St. Edwards. Drive to San Antonio and visit Trinity. We don’t mind a road trip and we’ve never been to this part of the country so we may make the drive to New Orleans. Have to compar costs of flying versus driving. Either way we end up at Loyola New Orleans.</p>
<p>S has only visited one college when it is in session (a LAC of about 3,000 where his sister attends). He is a junior now so this trip will be to check out the specific schools and to also get a feel for the different sizes and locations of schools.</p>
<p>Thanks again for all the info. Very helpful.</p>
<p>Additionally, some of the student housing is apartment-style, not dorms. I think that takes away from the community feel – in a dorm, you leave your door open and people wander by and in and out.</p>
<p>As long as you are in town, are you going by Tulane? When are you travelling? Mardi Gras is fairly late this year (March 8th). You do <em>not</em> want to be in New Orleans that weekend or the one before if you are going for a college visit!</p>
<p>Well…there’s Jazz Fest in NOLA beginning April 29! See [New</a> Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival | April 29 - May 8, 2011](<a href=“http://www.nojazzfest.com/]New”>http://www.nojazzfest.com/) It is an amazing event, but would definitely impact logistics.</p>
<p>My D has friends at both St. Edward’s and Southwestern and they all seem to be happy with their choices. Even if lots of kids from St. Ed’s are from the area, there is so much for college kids to do in Austin that I don’t think finding entertainment on the weekend would ever be an issue! St. Ed’s is definitely in a fun and funky area of south Austin while Southwestern is in the lovely town of Georgetown, but still a short drive down IH 35 to Austin. </p>
<p>That’s a beautiful time of year to visit! Enjoy your trip to Texas!</p>
<p>I wouldn’t discount SMU… They may be an academic reach (I have no idea your kiddos stats…just going by what you are saying) but they are known in our community (south central texas) to give significant merit aid.</p>