Southern Methodist University vs. Furman?

<p>I'm a senior and have recently been accepted to both schools. I applied early decision to furman and have to tell them by january 15th if I want to attend. I'm looking to major in journalism and am very interested in pre-law. </p>

<p>Can any alumni/parents/current students give me some insight on the differences and pros and cons of each school? I'm really interested in both, and I'd like to hear more from people who have actually attended the schools, and what opportunities there are at each.</p>

<p>Hey Croft,</p>

<p>Great job getting into Furman! For a general idea of what the school is like, check out some of the older posts on this forum. We’ve covered a ton of stuff; if you have any other questions feel free to ask.</p>

<p>As with Elon, I’m not an expert on SMU, so it’s hard for me to offer a direct comparison. What I absolutely recommend is that, if you have the time/money/ability, stay overnight at both schools. I hosted a few guys last year, and it was an awesome experience. All of them, in the end, chose Furman. </p>

<p>If you want to visit Furman, you’ll have to do it soon. Contact the admissions office to try to set something up; you can also message me if that doesn’t work.</p>

<p>When you visit, make sure that you’re getting set up with a student who has a similar major/interests that you do. If you visit Furman, it’s not really going to be as informative if you stay with a freshman music major, who probably has taken all of one or two non-music classes at the school, and doesn’t know about Mock Trial, the Paladin newspaper, WPLS radio, FU2 TV, or the pre-law society. Ask your host to try to show you around all of the key parts of the school, and to introduce you to their friends. In my experience, people bent over backwards to give me and my prospective students things to do. </p>

<p>After visiting, you’ll know which school feels right. If two schools are really tight, I think that you really do have to visit to decide.</p>

<p>Now that I’ve thoroughly argued for a visit, I can talk a little bit about your situation.</p>

<p>Furman’s pre-law program is very, very, very good. Our Mock Trial team is one of the best in the nation (frequently beating the Ivies in national tourneys). Our Political Science program is tip of the top-notch. If you want to go to law school, Furman is a fantastic option. You’ll have close relationships with your professors, tons of opportunities to consult with the pre-law department, a great number of fellow pre-law students, etc. I can’t say enough about the experience I’ve had.</p>

<p>As for journalism, Furman doesn’t offer that as a specific major, but I do know that it’s possible to create your own major, which would be very doable by picking from classes in the Communications dept, and the English dept. Both are very good. The school administration is awesome to work with, and we’ve recently brought on a journalist from the Greenville newspaper and a long-form non-fiction writer to the English department. The Communication dept tends to focus more specifically on broadcast communication, and rhetoric. On a sidenote, I have lots of friends in journalism programs around the country (I was my HS’ newspaper editor in chief), at schools like Syracuse, Northwestern, Maryland, and Wisconsin. There is something to be said for getting immersed in a journalism program, but the piece of advice I got from the reporters I talked to was that it was much better to major in something more practical and liberal-artsy, all while gaining experience working on campus media outlets. I write for the school paper (not as much as I’d like to), and have a radio show on campus. At bigger schools, it can be hard to get a leadership role in those organizations if you aren’t part of the J-school, and don’t want to devote 40 hours a week. I love the laid-back atmosphere at Furman.</p>

<p>SMU is twice the size of Furman, and has a law school on campus. I don’t know exactly what that means for undergrads, but I would imagine that’d be a bit of a plus. The atmosphere of the two schools is also different, with SMU in a major urban center–Dallas–and Furman outside of a medium sized city. </p>

<p>I can’t comment on SMU’s journalism program, so I’ll leave it to you to research that.</p>

<p>I hope that answered some of your questions! If you have anything else FU related to ask, feel free to do so.</p>

<p>Thank you so much for all your help! I actually did visit recently, though not overnight. It’s really nice there! I met with the head of the communications department, and she’s said similar things as you. They also put a stress on personalized attention from professors because of small class sizes. I really like the idea of not being 1/400 kids a professor is lecturing to. I understand there is a tutoring system available in the library. Do you have any experience with that?</p>

<p>That’s exactly right.</p>

<p>Furman’s Communications dept has grown a huge amount in the past several years, and only in the past year or two has the school really caught up with hiring and funding it. Each class has gated enrollment so that Comm majors have the first shot to get into the sections they need. I have a few friends in the dept, and they all have positive things to say. </p>

<p>As for the tutoring service, it’s sort of an interesting thing. The library offers the service, which is good and free, as well as many different departments. I have mixed feelings about it because on one hand I think it’s really good that they have free tutors, but on the other hand, I realize that the quality of the service depends entirely on who you get as a student tutor. Some tutors use the service as a way to make money by getting their friends to sign up for tutoring hours that they don’t really need. The tutoring that is done by the academic departments (particularly the math department) is excellent, and helped me a lot. Individual professors are also incredibly good at meeting with you to go over problems. </p>

<p>There is also a great department in the library called the StudioLab, which has tons of AV equipment and is the best place to get help with writing assignments. The students who work there are required to go through a semester length class to learn how to help edit papers, work all of the technology, and be incredibly helpful. It’s also free, and is one of those things that tends to be under-utilized (except for the month before exams when it can get packed).</p>

<p>Hey Croft,</p>

<p>I’m majoring in political science at Furman right now, so if you have any specific questions about classes or professors or really anything let me know. I also have a lot of friends that go to SMU and can confidently tell you that Furman is a much better academic school. Again, if you have any specific questions let me know.</p>

<p>While Furman is a cute school, it has nowhere near the opportunities provided by SMU. The growth SMU is currently undergoing in all dimensions of the academic experience, as well as its location in thriving Dallas, make it a very attractive school. I am currently a student at SMU and I can assure you that many people here had Furman on their application list only as a safety school and nothing more. The journalism department at SMU-Meadows School of the Arts is fantastic and a wide variety of internships in the field are available in Dallas. Further, SMU has a great Pre-Law department that feeds into SMU law (A top 50 Law School). Other popular law schools of recent grads include UVa, UCLA, USC, Duke, and Vanderbilt. Applications to SMU this year alone have surged by over 100%, making the new average ACT rang a projected 30-33. (Far above Furman’s 25-30) Apart from academics, the social experience at SMU is unparalleled. Dallas offers endless entertainment options with shopping, professional sports, and the highest amount of restaurants per capita in the country. SMU football is also an incredible experience. Furman and SMU are both good schools, but SMU is a steadily rising star in academia and would be a great choice for your academic pursuits.</p>

<p>[Southern</a> Methodist University Profile - SMU - SAT Scores and Admissions Data for Southern Methodist University](<a href=“http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegeprofiles/p/smu.htm]Southern”>Southern Methodist University: Acceptance Rate, SAT/ACT Scores, GPA)</p>

<p>[Furman</a> University Profile - SAT Scores and Admissions Data for Furman University](<a href=“http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegeprofiles/p/furman.htm]Furman”>Furman University: Acceptance Rate, SAT/ACT Scores, GPA)</p>

<p>You can read those and make your own judgements, but I can tell you that Furman’s Law School acceptances are very impressive. I’ll try to get specific data for you in the coming days. To say that Furman is a safety to school to SMU is hilarious. </p>

<p>As far as living experiences, living in Dallas will be much different than living in Greenville (you’ll have to put up with Mavericks fans and Mark Cuban). Dallas is a huge city so it will be different from going to college in a smaller city.</p>

<p>What TPaul10 said just plain can’t be true. Read this article from the Daily Mustang:</p>

<p>[SMU</a> Makes Changes in Admissions, Adds Enrollment Management : SMU Daily Mustang](<a href=“http://www.smudailymustang.com/?p=39625]SMU”>http://www.smudailymustang.com/?p=39625)</p>

<p>ACT ranges don’t change from 25-30 to 30-33 in two years. They just don’t.</p>

<p>The article says that SAT scores have gone up 100 points in the last 10 years. This I believe. It also says that applications are up 30 percent – that I believe, but I don’t believe 100 percent. TPaul10’s claims aren’t believable, so I don’t think I’d put much weight in what he or she says.</p>

<p>Let the numbers speak for themselves!</p>

<p>Published Facts on US News</p>

<p>Freshmen Retention Rate
Furman - 92%
SMU - 88%</p>

<p>4 year grad rate
Furman - 81%
SMU - 62%</p>

<p>6 year grad rate
Furman - 86%
SMU - 77%</p>

<p>SAT
Critical Reading:
SMU 560 - 660
Furman 580 - 690 </p>

<p>Math:
SMU 580 - 680
Furman 570 - 690 </p>

<p>Writing:
SMU 560 - 660
Furman 560 - 680</p>

<p>The cultures of the 2 schools ( setting aside all else-which IMO is impossible) is totally different. While there is a major role for Greek life at Furman, it does not dominate the student experience. We know several families with kids at SMU this year. If you have unlimited funds and can spend time and effort to out dress your classmates, then SMU is the place you want to be. There are a number of style blogs run by SMU students-LV, Prada, LaBoutin=on and on. I love great clothes and our kids enjoy them, but what I see is an emphasis on how you look and what car you drive versus who you are. </p>

<p>I am confident during rush week at Furman, you did not have girls’ mothers come to Greenville and camp out in case their daughters needed different clothes for events. However that is common practice at SMU. </p>

<p>And in regards to SMU’s law school, the school started a program this past year where the school pays the salaries of it’s graduates for the first year at law firms in Texas who can or are willing to hire them. It is great the school has raised money for this endeavor, but it gives their graduates an unrealistic view of current law firm job market.</p>