Visit to Rhodes

<p>I totally missed the post about the Bellingrath Scholarship weekend, momofthree! That is FABULOUS! I'm sure you must all be so excited. Please keep us up-to-date how things go! CONGRATULATIONS to your son on his acceptance and for the Bellingrath Scholarship weekend. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for him!</p>

<p>Thanks so much for the kind words! We are still smiling around here. The Bellingrath Weekend is March 19-21. All will be fine if son can get safely back in time from a big Spring Break jaunt to Florida with pals. Interesting to think he'll have a tan! They have promised him that the least $$ he will get is $16,500 per year, which already sounds pretty durn good. Rhodes is so much more reasonable, anyway, compared to many LACs.</p>

<p>Splashmom, I laughed when I read about your D "bleeding orange" as I reminded S that one really good reason to think of Rhodes is that he could still be a Vols fan (major to him!!) and I kinda doubted that anyone at Pomona or in the NE would quite understand the passion. Also laughed, fireflyscout, about the two UTs! The guy who does the financial aid workshop at my very rural high school every year always uses that as his reason for telling the kids to write out the whole name of the college on FAFSA if you don't have the right code: "The guys in the processing center in Iowa City are NOT going to know what you mean when you put down UT in the 'name of school section' so write it out!! They may send your aid to Texas!"</p>

<p>As a Memphian, lemme just say that a large number of exceptional student apply for the Bellingrath as a "safety", and that to get an invitation to the weekend means your son beat out some excellent competition. Congratulations and good luck at the interview!</p>

<p>Thanks so much vig180! How do you like living in Memphis? I was very taken with the city on the two occasions I have visited. Have you lived there long?</p>

<p>Splashmom, how was your weekend trip to UT? How would you compare what UT Knoxville offers for Honors with an LAC experience? Was your D impressed, or has it helped her clarify her choices?</p>

<p>Hey there, momofthree. We were talking about your family this weekend. I told D about your son and his opportunity for the Bellingrath. We are so excited for him ... that's such a fabulous thing! That weekend will be here soon and we'll be keeping our fingers crossed for him! I can only imagine the excitement that must be going through your household. </p>

<p>We enjoyed our visit to UT, even though the weather wasn't particularly nice. The tour guides were very nice and informative as were the admissions and honors people. Those who are accepted into the honors program get priority registration and priority housing which is very nice. The honors classes also have smaller class sizes and we are told there is more of a one-on-one between professors and students. D feels comfortable on the campus there, especially given our frequent visits during those fall weekends when "It's football time in Tennessee!" Having said all that, D's first choice is still Rhodes with Emory running a close second. We will visit some other schools of interest and hopefully she will be well prepared when it comes time for early application in November. </p>

<p>fireflyscout, we saw a lot of orange this weekend! Even the KAT (Knoxville Area Transit) buses are orange. UT (knoxville) and UT (Austin) are very similar in the fact that they both have lots of orange and lots of pride. As for the Rhodes overnight visit, D hasn't done that yet. I assume that we saw the same girl's dorm that you did while there and I agree that the room configuration is a bit odd. I may be confusing it with somewhere else, but didn't you have to go through the community bathroom to get from one pod to the other?</p>

<p>Hi Splashmom, </p>

<p>Sounds like you got a good look at a new and different side of UT! I think it sounds like a good option, but kids usually have some kind of internal sense about what is right for them. (DD "just KNEW" that Davidson wasn't right for her, but put it off on the color of the carpet in the library. :) )</p>

<p>We saw only a girl's dorm at Rhodes, and it did seem a little odd, with the BR in the middle. But is sure was nicer than a lot of dorm rooms I've seen, especially at some state schools. They didn't take us to a guy's dorm, (could it be the housekeeping??) but S will get to experience that soon. (I feel sorry for his future roomie where ever he goes.)</p>

<p>Sorry y'all didn't have better weather for UT trip! It was NASTY in TN on Sunday.</p>

<p>I sure hope we all saw the same dorm at Rhodes - I'd hate to think that in every dorm you have to walk through the bathroom to get to the common room! I had a "quiz" on Which Rhodes Dorm Are You?, but I just tried the link and it looks like the quiz doesn't exist anymore.</p>

<p>Momofthree - what is the color of the carpet in the Davidson library?</p>

<p>I didn't go on that trip, fireflyscout, but my recollection is that it was some yucky shade of green (this was five years ago, for you Davidson folks) I have laughed a lot about her way of discerning what was right for her. Guess you have got to have some way to weed them out! I really think what happened is that D was shown the Davidson campus by an student who was really high on the new athletic center, didn't show her or seem to know anything about the arts or theater. Never the athlete, she ended up at Swarthmore the year they got rid of their football team.</p>

<p>Vig180, Have you determined where you plan to attend next year? Did you ever consider Rhodes, or were you more interested in going away from home? I have read that a number of faculty kids end up going to Rhodes which seems a positive statement.</p>

<p>Momofthree--Rhodes would be an excellent choice. It has all the benefits of the small LAC -- close student-faculty bonds, sense of community, thriving social life. It's Sewanee without the mountain and without the uniquely Sewanee traditions -- angels and gowns and whatnot. Rhodes encourages community service.</p>

<p>Mamacita,</p>

<p>Thanks for your insights. One of my son's top criteria was that there be a thriving metropolis around somewhere. He is really enthusiastic about classical music, and wants a lot of chances to get some culture. Of course Memphis has a wide variety of offerings of all sorts of music, and he had a blast on Beale St. during a class trip last year. I think he will have an even better sense of what's available when he gets back from the Bellingrath weekend. Hard to believe that is only two weeks away!
Take care!</p>

<p>A student from one of my older daughter's college transferred to Rhodes, and it sounds like an interesting school. My youngest daughter is a h.s. junior, and I'm wondering if it might be a good place for her to consider. She's interested in biology, not pre-med. . . .anyone here have an opinion on sciences at Rhodes?</p>

<p>On another thread about a number of universities in the south, people broke the schools into two categories: those located "in", but not "of", the South (Tulane was an example) and those "of" the South--can't recall an example. Which category might you put Rhodes in?</p>

<p>chrisd,</p>

<p>That is a good question. My guess from visiting and from reading is that Rhodes has the best of both worlds, is friendly and welcoming (often considered a southern trait) but has a widening array of students and faculty providing diversity. A number of students do come from Southern states, but I don't sense that that is an overwhelming attribute. Hope that helps! I may be able to get more clear impressions from S in about a week and a half!</p>

<p>momofthree, I'm so excited about your son's upcoming Bellingrath weekend. I look forward to hearing all about it when he returns. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for him! How many invitees are there, do you know? I'll keep good thoughts for him. Is that the weekend of the 19th? D will spend five weeks in Memphis this summer ... she was accepted to the Governor's School for International Studies and couldn't be more excited. Rhodes continues to be at the top of her list and if she can find some free time during those five weeks, she may go over there and speak with someone personally. We did the tour thing in November, but didn't really have a personal conversation with anyone.</p>

<p>Again, GOOD THOUGHTS for your son!</p>

<p>Splashmom,</p>

<p>Thanks so much! The weekend events are Mar 19 to the 21st. There will be 21 kids there for the competition. It isn't as tense in a way, as they have already promised a generous grant and S is a Tennessee kid so will get lottery help too. I think it will mostly just be fun and imformative! Right now he is on Spring Break and is in St. Louis with his GF and her family looking at Wash U for the first time. He decided sort of belatedly to apply there when the Director of Admissions visited his school, but had not had time to tour. I am looking forward to hearing his reaction. Thanks so much for your good thoughts and crossed fingers. </p>

<p>And congrats to your daughter on the Governor's School. I think that particular one sounds so fun, and it will be good for you and her to be in Memphis to really get a sense of it. Is the School held at U Memphis? Hope she has a BLAST!</p>

<p>Good luck to your son!</p>

<p>A friend's daughter was a finalist last year - she didn't get the Bellingrath, but did get a very nice scholarship package. She's now a freshman and really loves it there.</p>

<p>Thanks, momofthree. D is very excited about Governor's School. Yes, it is on the University of Memphis campus.</p>

<p>Just a few days before your son leaves for the Bellingrath weekend! To be considered for such a scholarship is an honor! I know you must be so very proud of him. Either way, it sounds like Rhodes has already guaranteed him a fantastic grant. I'll be interested to hear what he thinks of Wash U. D and I went to an informational meeting several months ago and met Nannette (can't remember her last name ... started with a T), who made the presentation. We were both so very impressed! When we left, D said, "I want to go to Wash U." I told her after hearing that presentation, I wanted to go back to school, too, and I wanted to go to Wash U. That woman was so very energetic and she was the perfect person for that job. </p>

<p>I don't know about you, momofthree, but it is very hard not to try and "sell" D on an instate school, especially with the lottery money. I don't want her to feel like she "must" choose an instate school, but I think Tennessee has a couple of very good options. I do have a friend who has told me several times that she has read and heard that you should not let money get in the way of making a decison regarding college. That sounds good, but how can it not? D has said she really wants to try and graduate college without being in debt. I think that's because she knows if she continues on to law school (the plan as of now, but we all know that can change 100 times!), she will probably accumulate a good deal of debt for that. Hubby and I will, of course, help her financially, but the thought of a $40K+ school (Wash U) for undergrad and then law school is enough to make one very nervous. We've been saving for a while for her college fund, but I don't think either of us was thinking of such high dollar schools!</p>

<p>Splashmom, I will try to PM you about this topic. . . it is so very important!!</p>

<p>Fireflyscout, thanks for letting me know about the daughter of your friend, and her happiness with Rhodes. a big packet came in the mail with all the little details about the weekend; it comes complete with suggestions about dress, itinerary of fun stuff, and an article to ponder for discussion during the weekend's activites. S will be at the beach up till the day before going, just coming home long enought for me to wash his clothes, basically!</p>