<p>We are interested in learning more about this university, but find little about it on CC. As a USNWR top 50 LAC, with a long tradition and a credible presence in college guidebooks, the lack of any forum on CC surprised us. Any info would be much appreciated!</p>
<p>Sewanee's forum is under "T" for The University of The South. It wouldn't hurt to also have a connection under "S." Not many posters, but the school is small and rural and tends to self-select based on what applicants are looking for. It's affiliated with the Episcopal church. My D was accepted for Fall but hasn't decided where she'll attend yet. She loves writing and Sewanee has a strong tradition in that area. We visited the school. It's atop the Cumberland plateau and just appears in the middle of some woods. Very pretty campus; most buildings seem made of large stone block. The students, faculty and staff we met were all very friendly. Sewanee is isolated - besides campus, there's very little around. But it seems like an idyllic kind of place in which to learn and suits just what some students are looking for.</p>
<p>about 1400 undergrad, about 90 in the graduate school of theology or whatever it's called. founded in the late 19th century. the profs are moderate, students are slightly conservative, religious department is far left. 10k acre campus, very beautiful. Very strong humanities and forestry departments. As bumppo said, it's very isolated. three hours from atlanta, an hour and a half from nashville. a couple hours from birmingham. the university basically owns and runs the town of sewanee. </p>
<p>any specific information?</p>
<p>Thanks. I found the forum site , but there's not much specific there, possibly bc of listing under T (seems inconsistent with other schools that have university in the name being listed under their identifying names). </p>
<p>Interested in hearing about academic strengths, scholarships, student life, weather, geographic and other demographics of student body, alum support/networking, student athlete experiences, food, greek life, housing . . . esp from those with personal experience from visiting, applying, attending, having family/friends attend. Positives, negatives, ambivalences . . . any info is much appreciated!</p>
<p>Here I go...</p>
<p>Academic strengths- Humanities, forestry. Like many LACs...</p>
<p>Scholarships- Don't know much about. They have great FA and I believe they have several merit scholarships, but I don't know how big they are. </p>
<p>Student life- ~70 percent of the students are in fraternities or sororities. Obviously, drinking is big. But there are plenty of students that don't go for that kind of thing. The motto is basically work hard play hard. </p>
<p>weather: Not that severe. pretty hot in the summer, but not that bad during school. </p>
<p>demographics- Very low numbers of minorities, but there are some. About 70% out of state. </p>
<p>alums- don't know</p>
<p>athletics- they've got the main sports, but they're DIII so no scholarships or anything. they've also got club sports and intramurals. </p>
<p>housing- 90-something percent on campus. guaranteed all four years. nice dorms, big rooms. good food in the cafeteria. </p>
<p>Some of the positives can also be seen as negatives and vice versa. It's small, very remote, rigorous academics. Mostly white kids. Kinda preppy (popped collars, bow-ties, etc.). Greek life/partying are big. Huge campus with lots of caves/lake/trails/etc.</p>
<p>I read in the newspaper (Baltimore Sun) last year that they were actively recruiting in Northern areas (and that included Maryland). The male students that were interviewed all said they had very nice scholar/fin aid (I really do not remember which it was) that helped them decide to attend. I just love the name - Sewanee.</p>
<p>Thanks, Sibelius, that's very helpful! A few more random questions:</p>
<p>Know anything about the American Studies major?</p>
<p>Is a car needed or useless given the remoteness? (We prefer no car freshman yr -- at least)</p>
<p>Among the 70% out of state students, which home states are more common?</p>
<p>What about cell phone and internet -- have heard this may be a problem?</p>
<p>Athletics -- indoor practice field? turf field? student support?</p>
<p>S interviewed with admissions rep at his school last fall, now has been invited to a Md reception for admitted seniors, but is only a junior. Prob a good way to pick up more info, as Apr 28 campus day for prospective jrs appears impossible due to game conflict and prepping for APs, SATs.</p>
<p>interesting cmbmom</p>
<p>The addition of men's and women's lacrosse is consistent with this recruiting strategy!</p>
<p>No one from my S's school has ever gone to Sewanee, but my college roommate's brothers both loved it - a generation ago ;)</p>
<p>Actually, I believe a bunch of the schools in Sewanee's conference (the SCAC) are going to be adding lacrosse & field hockey in the next few years - Hendrix for sure, and the Texas schools are also looking into it. The SCAC is an outstanding group of schools (kinda like the NESCAC of the south), and the additions of Colorado and Birmingham Southern should help in raising the conference's profile even further.</p>
<p>I have been there and I'd want a car. The town is very small.</p>
<p>Is a car needed or useless given the remoteness? (We prefer no car freshman yr -- at least)</p>
<p>I'd imagine it would be nice for getting around places, but it's not necessary. </p>
<p>among the 70% out of state students, which home states are more common?</p>
<p>The southern states. And Maryland. </p>
<p>What about cell phone and internet -- have heard this may be a problem?</p>
<p>Their official stuff says cingular gets the best reception, but it's somewhat spotty up there. I think the dorms as well as some other building are all wired. </p>
<p>Athletics -- indoor practice field? turf field? student support?</p>
<p>For which sport? Football? Their general facilities are pretty good, and they've got a fairly nice field, but I don't know about their practice stuff. I'm sure exploring the website would get you some more info on this</p>
<p>A friend of mine is considering Sewanne, and one bit of info she told me about interested me...</p>
<p>Supposedly, for every class you attend, you have to dress semi-formal. So, you can never wear jeans, sweatpants, khakis, or the like to class. </p>
<p>Other than that, she tells me it's a very nice school. However, she is struggling with the prestige issue, since she also got into Berkeley.</p>
<p>Hard to imagine any modern, non-military college surviving with a dress code like that! No sweats, maybe, but no khakis? That is un-American and VERY un-Southern ;)</p>
<p>I heard a bit about an Order of the Gownsmen, modeled after Oxford, but this includes only certain students, who wear the traditional English student robes to class.</p>
<p>Interesting about the addition of lax in these southern DIII schools -- demographics make sense given that it's the fastest growing team sport in the nation, with esp big growth in the south.</p>
<p>almostmidnight, that's not exactly true. The class I sat in on had dress ranging from jeans and a polo to a coat and tie. People are generally encouraged to dress up, but you won't get kicked out for not wearing a tie. Generally it's "preppy" but it's not like there's an official rule</p>
<p>The dress code is informal. From what the tour guide says, students will dress around 50% of the time. There are several interesting traditions to Sewanee, especially the wearing of academic gowns by the professors and honor students.</p>