Overall, I thought the day was very informative and the Trinity staff did a great job promoting Trinity. I especially enjoyed the student panel with Dean Tuttle. My child has always liked Trinity and left the day with an even more positive impression. We also took in some baseball and enjoyed the game- despite the wet weather. We ended the day with some great Mexican food. Always a treat in San Antonio.
I was very disappointed, however, to learn the way the scholarship recipients are going to be determined. My child was placed in a physics lecture. My child has very little interest in physics and very little background in physics. Needless to say, that particular class was not one of the classes that was requested. My child found the lecture to be quite boring, so I’m guessing the quiz results will not be very impressive. There was, however, one boy in the classroom who was very interested in physics and used the opportunity to dominate the conversation and later monopolize the same professors’ time during the subsequent info session at the auditorium. I question whether a good student evaluation can be made using this format.
I was much more impressed with some of the other colleges where my child interviewed for full tuition scholarships. The professors actually interviewed and interacted with the students and got to know their true strengths and weaknesses, as opposed to asking questions on one particular topic that was chosen through a lottery system. Picking the best and brightest students using Trinity’s approach appears to be (at least partially) based on random chance depending on whether your assigned session matched your strengths.
Trinity definitely has some great qualities and we have been treated well during each visit, but this particular process just didn’t seem to make sense to me. If I would have known the process, I probably would have suggested that we skip this opportunity once I learned the assigned class. It would have saved a great deal of travel time and money.
From reading this, I almost wonder if they intentionally place people outside their biggest areas of interest. My STEM child was in a rhetoric type class. And he had to write 1 essay, not 2 like the kid above and no quiz like the other kid!
I would also add that a kid who “dominates discussion” and “monopolizes a professor” would not be my pick for any kind of reward!
I think I’m sensing a trend. My non-STEM D had picked exactly 1 science class on her list of choices and if she could’ve ranked them she would’ve ranked that one last. Yep, that’s where she was placed. But she enjoyed the class, and the discussions they had. She also only had one essay to write but said it was challenging because the prompt was very lengthy and managed to contain nearly all the info they had just learned that she would have used in her response! She wasn’t sure what to write! But she managed.
I agree that it was an informative, well managed day. I would have preferred to have the tour at the beginning of the day rather than the end though, as it felt like we kept going places we’d already seen and spent a lot of time at.
As far as whether the event was worthwhile, like many of these types of events, I told my daughter the odds of getting the big prize are very low. They bring in a lot of kids and only hand out a few prizes. Thus, we ignore the competition aspect and treat the event like a special admitted student day, which is essentially what it is. She attended a class, ate lunch, met with current students, took a tour… all the things I would expect her to do. She’s evaluating the school more than they are evaluating her.
I do have to add, I loved staying on the riverwalk in San Antonio. What a cool place! I could get used to visiting her there for sure…
Although our kids were sent to classes opposite their interests, there were kids in the class that were matched with their interest. Like the physics wiz mentioned by @TexasHunter , my son also described a couple history buffs in his class. These guys were well versed in history, from Julius Caesar to JFK, from the Civil war to the Viet Nam draft. They pretty much monopolized the classroom discussion.
So, my theory is, Trinity already picked several “likely winners” and assigned them to the classes that match their interest. The rest were assigned to classes opposite their interests. So if no surprises, the chosen ones will do well and win; the unchosen ones will lower their expectation since they didn’t do well in the classes and responses, so when they don’t win they are not surprised.
I don’t know @bogeyorpar my theory stands that the kids who are monopolizing classroom discussion are NOT the kids who will win. My S was in a class that he listed, but not an obvious strength for him. I guess we’ll see in a few weeks?
My D was placed in a class related to her intended major. She also felt there was one student who was a clear “winner”, but she still enjoyed the discussion.
I asked my S; he didn’t feel there was any obvious “winner” in his section.
He also said he learned more in that one class than he did in his entire year of the topic in HS! (Wow! Must have been an amazing teacher at Trinity, or else my kid’s HS is even weaker than I suspected!)
I don’t think there is any intentional manipulation in class assignment. If 100 kids want the “engineering” topic, the vast vast majority are going to be “disappointed”. How many listed the Bible discussion as their first?
My daughter will take it unless she gets a better offer…as if! We don’t qualify for financial aid so this is amazing! She really liked Trinity when we went for the competition.
My uninformed opinion is results may continue to roll in since each “seminar” has it’s own evaluation component. Hoping for the best for your son.
DP Jr is strongly considering Trinity -it’s the leader in the clubhouse right now. We visited several times. It clearly would not have been feasible without the Towers Scholarship. He is waiting on one more college decision and then the final evaluation between a few options.
I am so so excited, I just got the notification that I was picked for the Semmes!!! I didn’t think my interview went particularly well but it all worked out in the end I guess.
