<p>Parents.. would really appreciate any information you might have on Southwestern University (Georgetown, Txs) - other than what I have already found out on website, from brochures, etc. I have posted under the university but haven't gotten one response. Interested in hearing from anyone who has been to the campus, knows anyone who attends, etc.. i.e. any "inside" scoop. D is really interested in this school..seems really small (a lot smaller than I thought D would like), high frat/sorority participation, worried about "fitting in", cliques, etc. I would really appreciate any feedback. Thanks!</p>
<p>Isandin - Fireflymom is an alumnus - she should comment soon. She has been on campus recently with her daughter. I love Southwestern - beautiful school with top notch academics. The low percentage of out of state students was a turn off to my daughter. Collegiatechoice.com sells an excellent video of their actual admissions walking tour that may be worth getting.</p>
<p>carolyn.. thanks for the info. Hopefully I will hear from Fireflymom soon. We have a copy of the collegiatechoice video and you're right it is excellent. I am more trying to get a feel for the campus i.e. personality there. D did mention concern re: out of state students but supposedly they are making a big effort to pull in out of staters.. so next years class may be a little more diverse. They have been really attentive to my D with emails, letters, personal notes, phone calls, etc. Makes her feel special~ She has also received the Cody Sholarship (12,000/year). However, not sure if this takes her out of the running for the Brown Scholarship (full ride). I think if she would get the Brown we would probably withdraw all of her other apps. and say "yippee!" and be done.. Just a little concerned about the size and how difficult it would be to make friends, etc. (Funny, D is not the least bit concerned about this - in fact, she laughed when I brought it up and said "come on, I'm 17 not 7", LOL!</p>
<p>OK, I"m home from work now and will try to tackle this! Please understand that I graduated from Southwestern almost 25 years ago, and have only been back five times since then (most recent was college tour with daughter last March). I was an accounting major, and got a great education - the usual accounting courses plus quite a few history, political science, fine arts, etc classes - love the liberal arts curriculum (also got a nice job with a Big 8 accounting firm). SU is small. It was a little smaller then. And I knew who most people were, where they were from, what their major was. Some will like that, some will prefer more anonymity. The majority of students do join fraternities/sororities, but it's rather low-key. The fraternities have houses, the sororities do not. Students who choose not to join are respected. As Carolyn said, most students are from Texas. Georgetown is practically in the middle of Texas, so there is not much draw from neighboring states. But generally high schools only send one or maybe two students to SU so the freshmen really don't know many other students when they get there. Therefore, I don't think out-of-staters will be uncomfortable (in fact, we always viewed out-of-staters as favorably exotic). Almost all of the dorms have been built/renovated in the last 10 years. (I say this with some sorrow as my favorite dorm is a memory). When my daughter and I visited, she was impressed to see professors and students sitting at tables together at the cafe (including one of my former professors!). That's pretty typical; the professors have always taken the extra step to get to know their students. The campus is quite pretty with the limestone buildings, and it is very easy to walk to classes, etc. Georgetown is more interesting now than when I was there (thanks to a downtown revitalization project) and Austin is closer now than ever. I made great friends at SU that I still see regularly, and I was quite happy there. It's a comfortable place, friendly. </p>
<p>As to the scholarship, receiving the Cody does not put her out of the running for the Brown Scholarship (which they started when I was a junior). </p>
<p>If you have any questions, please feel free to send me a PM.</p>
<p>fireflyscout: thanks so much for the info. I tried to send you a PM but for some reason I couldn't get my profile changed to do that..so I hope you don't mind if I ask a few more questions here. I wonder if you know much about the English program? My D is going to pursue an English major (wants to eventually become a professor). She loves to discuss literature, books and really abstract ideas. I sometimes have a hard time keeping up with her - she craves information. I know she will love having the opportunity to discuss things outside the classroom with her professors.. which is why she is now leaning towards Southwestern (the only small school on her list..the others are all "medium" sized). When she interviewed (by phone) her admissions counselor gave her a really good feeling. She is also interested in studying abroad..we saw that there are some opportunities there but do you know if a lot of the students take advantage of these programs? Are the sororities more academic oriented? She said that the counselor said that the sorority members had a tendency to have higher GPA's then the "non-members". It is nice to hear that you made lifelong friends there. D laughed when I told her what you said about out of staters being considered somewhat exotic..she said that would be a first for a girl from PA!! The more we hear about the school the more we like about it. Any additional information you can share would be really appreciated. Thanks again!</p>
<p>Three kids we know from down here graduated from Southwestern this year. None of them did the Greek scene because they were all involved in theatre. We went to visit during the summer, because they had stayed on to work on the Summerstock productions. I was really impressed that the professors we did run into knew the kids. The campus is lovely. I like the fact that you can traverse it easily without a car. And of course the close proximity of Austin is an added bonus.</p>
<p>I was on campus two Sundays ago for a basketball game and have visited the campus 5 or 6 times in the past several years. I really like the school and the students although I cannot speak to the academics from personal experience. I will tell you that students were studying in the stands at the basketball game. I figured that was a good sign. The school has very nice facilities , in fact really impressive facilities for a school that size and the grounds and buiildings are kept spotless. Along with Rhodes and Centre, it is an LAC on the way up IMO.</p>
<p>We took a tour two summers ago-- our first college tour. We really liked it and always intended for our son to seriously consider attending there. I would say: "ditto" to all the remarks above. The big Texas foundations are putting some serious money into the school.</p>
<p>Our son has not responded to our requests that he take another tour now that he is actually into the college app game as he really wants UT Austin. He did like his tour of Grinnell a similar sized school, where he has applied. Just like some kids like the challenge of going to the East Coast I think he sort of likes the challenge of making it at big bad UT, the largest campus in the country. Of course having cousins and a couple of dozen friends or acquaintances, all of whom seem to love UT, doesn't hurt either.</p>
<p>A doctor friend has a son who goes there and thinks the education is outstanding. In some ways he thinks it is better than UT Austin, where his other two sons, one a year younger and one a year older go were both in honors. Dad likes both schools a lot. Apparently all three love their schools and get together frequently. The two at UT were slightly better highschool students and were definitely a little more assertive.</p>
<p>I talked to a professor at Southwestern who said that the students are generally a little more conservative, though open and friendly , than the professors who tend to be part of the greater Austin somewhat liberal scene. I get the feeling Austin helps them draw outstanding young professors.</p>
<p>Some think that the essentially suburb location to Austin is tending to decrease campus life a bit as many go to downtown Austin or even UT for excitement. Of course as a professor told me they go together as groups of Southwestern students. For most Texas kids a 25-30 minute car trip to downtown Austin is nothing.</p>
<p>Coincidentally, I attended a college seminar for parents at my daughter's school last night and one of the speakers was an admissions counselor for Texas Christian U who had previously worked in admissions at Southwestern U. I had a chance to ask him his impressions and he couldn't stop raving about Southwestern's academics and it's intimate campus. He said he considers Southwestern to be close to Rice in terms of academic quality. He did say that admissions has become tighter there in the past few years.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the information. Carolyn - nice to hear the comments about the academic quality being close to Rice. D has applied there as well. BUT, she still seems to like the things that she has heard about Southwestern. Well, I guess we will see how things turn out. Texas is a long way from home, LOL! But, as long as she is happy that is all that matters to us. Academic challenges are what seem to make her happy and from all that we now know about Southwestern, it would seem to be a really nice fit.</p>
<p>Hey, just last week DS's mother was talking about possibly submitting a last minute app to Southwestern. Good luck.</p>
<p>Funny you should mention study abroad opportunities - I was one of the early "pioneers" of study abroad at SU. I did 4 fabulous weeks in London. It was music and drama in London (concerts and plays) with classes at University of London. I think they are still offering this particular program, in addition to several others.</p>
<p>The sorority members, like most of the students, are very concerned about grades. The students are there for education first and foremost. I remember attending my sorority's state convention and feeling somewhat out of place - we ALWAYS won the award for the highest GPA. I'm pretty sure the other sororities at SU did, too.</p>
<p>As for entertainment, yes Austin is close. But we also created our own entertainment in Georgetown. Nice bonus - there's a wonderful "swimming hole" in the river near downtown Georgetown. Spent many a sunny afternoon there.</p>