<p>I've finally mustered the strength to "go there" again and report our visit (oldest daughter and me) to Texas State University a few weeks ago.</p>
<p>She had been accepted to the only two schools she applied to - UT Austin and Texas State U. in San Marcos, TX - and continued to show more interest in TSU because of the town and the campus. TSU had also offered her a pretty nice scholarship to attend, which made her feel "wanted" there. </p>
<p>So I set up a rather busy visit schedule for us - only one day in advance however. She and I both had the Friday off before the semester started back up. I scheduled a regular campus tour for 9:00 a.m., then a meeting with the chair of the Anthropology Dept. at 10:00 and a meeting with the chair of the modern languages dept. at 11:00 a.m., then a trip to the Honors dept. after that. </p>
<p>The first thing that impressed me was how easy it was to do. On less than 24 hours notice, I was easily able to schedule all those appt's. with no trouble. Part of that was good timing, as the staff was there for work that day, but the students were just moving back in. I would highly recommend choosing a day like this to visit. It worked out well for us.</p>
<p>We stopped in the admin. building to find out where the tour was, and the woman behind the desk was very helpful and polite. Good first impression. We made the tour right on time, and even though it was raining and windy and cold, the tour went well. A brief powerpoint at the beginning helped us realize some impressive stat's about the fast-growing college. It's now the 4th largest U. in Texas, and is catching up with Texas Tech quickly. I didn't realize that. Something like 34,000 students I think. And they have added an impressive number of faculty and programs in the past 5 years to keep pace. Their retention rate is impressive too, but I could tell why by the end of the day. VERY student-oriented environment.</p>
<p>From there, the meeting with the Anthro. faculty went much better than expected. Another faculty member (in the area of my daughter's specific interest) dropped in when he heard she was coming and said he wanted to meet her. The four of us talked for about an hour, with the dept. chair and my daughter having a very good Q&A discussion. We were VERY impressed with their personal interest and willingness to take that kind of time out for us. Great first impression there. </p>
<p>Following that, we dropped in on the chair of the modern languages dept. and he was equally available and helpful. Spent almost another hour with him and he offered some wonderful advice to my daughter about her college and career plans. Very helpful man, and personable. </p>
<p>It was a short walk from there to the Honors building, where she had a chance to meet about five honors students that were hanging out in the newly remodeled coffee shop inside the honors dept. It was very nice. The students were great. They all stopped what they were doing to visit with my daughter, ask her questions and answer some of hers. One young lady really went out of her way to talk to her about the honors dorm, and what she could expect there. </p>
<p>After a quick lunch (Which wich makes good, but expensive, sandwiches) we headed over to the Catholic student center and attended mass. Always a good idea to pray about decisions like these, I find. Met the new, young priest and several students there. They were all great too. Very helpful and welcoming. </p>
<p>Because of the weather, we decided to go home from there, but we swung by the honors dorm to take a look. Nothing real fancy, but it's in a great location close to the river and the beautiful island theater that's surrounded by little lakes. I made sure she saw the walking path that connected the campus to the public library with a little bridge over the San Marcos river. I'm sure she will wear that path out.</p>
<p>All the way home she kept making very "satisfied" and "comfortable" statements. I think that at least for now, she's found a home. Everyone seemed so welcoming and helpful, and the facilities were great. Very modern and clean, but not "over the top" either.</p>
<p>I had tried to schedule an appt. for the Anthro. Dept. at U.T. that afternoon, but got a little bit of a run-around, and the only person I could talk to was a grad. student "advisor." And she didn't have much good to say about U.T.'s undergrad. program. She really emphasized their graduate and research programs, which is clearly where their focus is. We talked to the faculty at the Texas State Anthro dept. about her going to U.T. for graduate school, and they said that is a very likely and logical path for her to take.</p>
<p>Just a few days ago, my daughter got her acceptance letter to TSU's honors program, with a nice hand-written letter. It indicated a room was reserved for her in the honors dorm and right now, life is good.</p>
<p>John.</p>
Every little bit helps, right?!?</p>
Just trying to keep up.</p>