Southern LACs

College Search & Selection
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@lots2do @MidwestDad3 For me, I don’t bother with the list price of colleges, preferring to go straight to the NPC-determined cost of attendance. And then adjusting the price each year by 5% (except for Sewanee… !).

Sewanee is a magical place… though I’ve only spent a few hours on the campus! Sitting on the porch at the coffee shop on a beautiful day will be etched in my mind forever.

Here’s a brief report of the trip my D2 and wife had to Trinity and Southwestern. Weather was superb the entire weekend. They found Trinity to be great on the inside but so-so on the outside. I’m sure the programs are excellent, but the place didn’t speak to D2. Surprisingly (to me anyway), D2 thought Southwestern was a real gem. She loved the “quirky” student body and the atmosphere of the campus. It helped that Austin was within driving distance (one of her favorite cities to date). We may be making another trip there next year to visit a second time… probably in the winter!

502

Thank you all for continuing to post updates. We will be visiting Hendrix in a few weeks with our daughter and a trip to Trinity and Southwestern is planned for later this spring.

503

@txmom11 my daughter will be at Hendrix in a couple of weeks too. Is she going for the Hays Scholarship?

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@Sophmore1 - no my daughter is a junior, so we will be visiting for the first time. What were your D’s impressions of Hendrix? what is she wanting to study? We are just starting our college search. She has visited our state flagship and really like it, but I am wanting her to consider some small schools as well, as I think they may be a good fit for her. Would love to know what other schools your D is considering!

505

D has only visited Hendrix once before her Junior year. She is visiting again after Hays weekend to do an overnight. She loves the academics at Hendrix, small classes and all. She is worried it might be a bit too liberal / party school for her. She plans on majoring in Psychology with a pre-med track.

She is also interested in Rhodes College in Memphis. We took Sewanee off the list at her request.

506

I am debating between southeastern and Trinity. Southwestern gave me over 100k in merit scholarships but Trinity gave me a generous amount too. I am visiting both colleges very soon. I am so indecisive because both are phenomenal schools. Any advice?

507

read through this whole thread. lots of commentary that may be useful. and do visits/overnights.

508

@texastexas20, your personal feeling about which environment is the better fit should probably trump everything I’m about to say, but here are a few data points worth considering:

SAT ranges:
…CR…M
SU 520-630 530-630
TU 580-680 590-680

Endowment:
SU $265 million
TU $1.18 billion

Faculty-to-student ratio:
SU 12-to-1
TU 9-to-1

5 year graduation rate:
SU 73%
TU 80%

Median earnings of students who received federal aid 10 years after entering college (College Scorecard site):
SU $47,200
TU $53,200

I think you see where I’m going with this; leaving fit and strength in particular areas of interest out of the equation (both important!), Trinity is the stronger school on a range of metrics.

509

^Should read student-to-faculty ratio, in case that wasn’t obvious.

510

@rayrick, these factors are indeed important, but so are many others - For example, Southwestern was much more generous with merit aid, in our experience. It is also smaller, and has a real “liberal arts” college feel, for those interested in that kind of nurturing, residential environment.

Trinity feels more urban. In terms of campus beauty, SU wins hands down, in my opinion.

The (slightly) higher median earnings at Trinity likely reflect its many Engineering and Accounting graduates - as a traditional liberal arts college, SU does not have an engineering program.

Trinity is much more STEM- focused, which can be good or bad, depending on what fields are of interest to the student. For my D, it was something of a turn-off. At the open house we attended, the traditional liberal arts disciplines were definitely played down as secondary to Engineering, Business, Accounting, and science majors. It felt less like a liberal arts college to us. On the other hand, the English class we sat in on seemed excellent, and I’m sure all of its programs are great.

SU is also more diverse, socioeconomically, though I am sure Trinity is relatively diverse as well. This has been a plus for my D, as she appreciates learning from people with different life experiences.

The President at Southwestern is involved with everything, is very accessible, smart, and a dynamic, excellent leader in my opinion. I met him the first time we visited, and spoke to him multiple times when we dropped our D off this summer. The guy is literally everywhere - in the dorms, the dining hall, the classroooms, out talking to maintenance workers and students and everyone in between. This is not at all unusual at SU, but not the norm elsewhere. I view the quality of this President as a huge positive.

Ok so I’m biased, but It really does come down to fit. @texastexas20, you will likely know once you visit.

@dadof1, so great your D2 was able to visit both schools. Southwestern really is a gem, quirky kids and all. Its turned out to be the perfect choice for my D. All that hard work and research paid off, as it did for many of you!

1 Like
511

@4kids4colleges, I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said, though I can’t comment on relative beauty of the campuses, having never visited Southwestern (we thought Trinity was actually quite pretty). The proximity of Trinity to a big city will be a draw for some kids and a turn-off for others. I’m not sure what you mean by a real “liberal arts” college feel – having visited over 20 at this point between my two kids, I thought that Trinity felt plenty liberal-artsy, but perhaps you’re describing some difficult-to-quantify aspect of Southwestern you found especially attractive.

And the post-graduate earnings bit no doubt reflects a greater percentage of STEM and business majors at Trinity, as you correctly pointed out. I thought about leaving that piece out entirely, as I think it’s not a terribly useful metric. For my particular kid, the strong STEM programs and facilities at Trinity are a big draw, but, of course, others mileage will vary.

Anyway, I’m not trying to bash Southwestern – it sounds like a terrific school – but I do think the metrics I listed are worth tossing in the ol’ decision-making cuisinart, along with all the other harder-to-quantify factors that should be weighed (and some easy-to-quantify ones like amount of merit money!).

And I also don’t want to sound like I’m a hard-data-uber-alles kind of guy – I could have written a very similar post comparing Trinity to another of my son’s top contenders (U. of Puget Sound), but I’m not pushing him to pick Trinity over UPS, because things like fit and strength in particular areas may well override all that other stuff.

Anyway, I endorse the general consensus that @texastexas20 should visit both and see what feels right. Good luck!

512

How have I just found this thread? So interesting and a great idea to have a thread that acts as kind of a subforum.

My sons looked at multiple schools mentioned here. I’m posting because I see that 4kids4colleges is a fan of Dr. Burger and wanted to make sure she follows Southwestern on FB. If not, you might so that you can hear his weekly podcast with the local public radio station. He talks about all things education and usually does a puzzler at the end. Here’s a link to the most recent episode. He’s clearly smarter than I am. :wink: I’ve never met him, but I hear great things about him from the many people I know associated with the school.

http://kut.org/post/higher-ed-teaching-intangibles

513

I’m not sure… I don’t see this thread listed any longer under the “college search and selection” forum… even when there are new posts. BTW, I really appreciate all of the people that continue to post.

Here’s another thing I love about LACs. My D1, who is not an athlete, was asked by the Rollins sailing coach to tryout for the team. (She was taking a sailing class elective with the coach). IMO, this type of opportunity typically wouldn’t happen at larger universities. Needless to say, D1 is very excited!

514

Alright, it’s not just me! I stumbled on it once and then couldn’t find it again. I finally bookmarked it because I couldn’t figure out how to get back to it.

I agree about the great opportunities. My ds1 went to college thinking he’d play one sport and ended up playing another.

515

We just returned from a visit to Hendrix. The campus is beautiful. So many things we loved about the campus. The Odyssey program is a source of amazing opportunities, the students we spoke with were passionate about the campus and professors, the students who spoke to the parent group were very impressive. The admission counselors were very helpful. I would be very happy if either of our daughters attended Hendrix. Our D loved the small class sizes and possible opportunities. However, she felt the student body size is a bit too small for her, and she realizes she wants a campus located in a more vibrant town. The campus recently received a very large donation and plans to build two new dorms and update the existing ones. This is a true gem for a student looking for a small, passionate student body. My H who attended a large research university was previously not sold on the benefits of a LAC for our D. However, after this weekend, he realizes that this is the type of environment where she could really thrive. So, we are now on the lookout for a similar environment with a larger student body and larger town. We are heading to Trinity in San Antonio in a few weeks. Will report back. Thank you to everyone who has made this one of the most useful threads!

516

Does anyone know if going to chapel/services is required at Furman University? I’m interested in applying next year. I know they used to have ties to religious groups, but those were cut. I’m not religious myself and I can’t find a definite answer if it’s required and how much religion is involved if it’s required.

517

Furman is a secular school having cut all ties to the Baptist church in 1992. There are no religious requirements at all. We are not religious and my daughter had a wonderful experience there.

518

Thanks!