<p>(Sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong thread, but this seems to be the only place that has much activity.)</p>
<p>My son just got an offer for 'full tuition' at Westminster College in Utah. I'd never heard of it, so I looked it up...and learned that they just got added to Princeton's 'Top 361 Colleges.'</p>
<p>I looked at their website, but it doesn't say much about the social climate on campus. Does anyone know anything about this school? Not just academics, but other issues such as diversity, political leanings, etc. Being so close to Salt Lake City, would that mean that it is likely to be ultra-conservative?</p>
<p>And, how meaningful is the 'full tuition' offer? Obviously housing, meals, books, etc will add up. So I'm wondering just how wonderful this offer really is. Is there a gimmick or anything that I need to look for when receiving offers such as this?</p>
<p>According their website, they have been a US News top tier school for the last 11 years. And I checked for religious affiliation. They were affiliated with the Presbyterian Church until 1974 and have been a secular institution since then. One of our family members was transferred to SLC for a brief stint and according to him, Salt Lake and Utah in general are pretty conservative areas. </p>
<p>I would ask the admissions office to clarify the offer and also for a profile of the last few incoming classes. Geographical diversity is what you are looking for...it may mitigate the conservatism that would naturally be found in SLC. The school could be a real gem...the area is beautiful.</p>
<p>I just talked to a student at Westminster! (he's a friend of a friend, can you believe it?) He's 22 and just loves it there. He said the college is located in the 'liberal' area of the state - a little liberal oasis right in the middle of a conservative city. He said the conservative people are very nice and not at all pushy. He called it a 'little Portland.'</p>
<p>I've been to Portland and thought it reminded me a bit of Austin, which is a huge compliment.</p>
<p>So, I am encouraged. Definitely warrents further investigation. </p>
<p>I wonder if he'll get any more offers. This was totally unexpected.</p>
<p>OK, this is a really dumb question, but when colleges list a price for the dorm, is that just for the housing or does it include meals? About how much do you have to add for meals?</p>
<p>whether the cost they list for the dorm includes food really depends on how it is listed. room and board usually includi both food and housing.</p>
<p>it looks like at Westminster, room and board are listed separately. for a freshman in a double occupancy room, the cost would be $3370 for the year of housing and $2770 for the year of meals -- total for the year for room and board would be $6140.</p>
<p>One of my friends graduated from Westminster and got accepted at Stanford Law.She decided not to go, but I think she got a scholarship like your son.</p>
<p>Sounds interesting! It's 60% female, which might interest your son. 75% of freshmen come back for sophomore year. SAT score ranges are in the high 400s-low 600s. It accepts 90% of applicants.</p>
<p>My relative also enjoyed living in SLC. At first, they were a little ambivalent about the move. Worried about diversity, proselytizing, etc... But that was never a problem. They never felt pressure to be anything other than themselves. He worked for a big international company, so on the job bias wasn't an issue either. And they are real outdoors nuts who love skiing and climbing...so that part was great.</p>
<p>I remember my daughter receiving quite a bit of mail from Westminster...but it always ended up in the low interest bin, only because she was determined to head east for college. I think she feared if she even looked westward, she would wake up an engineering major at my husband's alma mater (Colorado School of Mines). :-)</p>
<p>Schools offering scholarships to kids who haven't even applied are suspect. I'd have to guess your son could probably get considerable merit money from any solvent school with a 90% admit rate.</p>
<p>The letter said that they were offering him the full scholarship because they want to increase their diversity. He is a Hispanic Recognition Scholar.</p>
<p>The student I talked to told me that about 40% of the students are LDS who prefer a more liberal college than BYU. I was expecting it to be very conservative, but he said the opposite was true - occasionally the profs get a bit of heat from the conservatives in the city.</p>
<p>Note: I don't mean to offend anyone here, ok? My son and I both have LDS friends. One of them plans to go to BYU - it is a perfect fit for her. So my assessment of Westminster is not intended to be offensive at all - it's just that my son leans to the left so I don't want him accepting a scholarship if it's not a good match for him.</p>
<p>I almost didn't even take the letter seriously. I thought maybe it was a gimmick of some sort, like maybe it wasn't a reputable school. So I was pleasantly surprised to see the school getting added to the Princeton list.</p>
<p>lealdragon - That makes sense...my d was also a National Hispanic Scholar/NMF. The letters she rec'd from Westminster basically stated that if she applied and if she was accepted, they would grant her xyz... Similar letters from UF, University of Arizona, Arizona State, OU, OSU, Baylor.... This is common practice by schools to early 'recruit' NHS and NMSF/NMF.</p>
<p>I was also looking at the Board of Trustees at the Westminster site....there are people from Duke, Colorado College as well as companies like Nissan and Serta, etc.. So I do think it is a reputable school. (And I'm not a big fan of Church of LDS, but I also have LDS friends who are wonderful people.)</p>
<p>We've had a bunch of mail from Westminster, but no scholarship offers. S is a Merit Semifinalist and we've had two letters offering him an almost-full-ride (tuition, fees, and dorm/food) if he is selected as a Finalist. I assume that such offers are not unusual for certain students.</p>
<p>ldmom, it's already started... My son thinks going to the mailbox is turning into the lottery. ("Dad, do I want to go to college in Oklahoma?" "Your grandmother was born in Norman, and left as soon as she could -- your call." "Yeah, but did she get a scholarship?") This whole college application thing is so strange now. When I applied to college back in the Pleiocene we all applied to three or four of the ten colleges we'd ever heard of and then waited. It sure ain't like that anymore...</p>
<p>lol Rick....I know the feeling. The mail lady was getting exasperated with us because the uptick in mail was making her life difficult. She is so happy now that our child is finally in college.</p>
<p>Btw....if ever my husband got to the OU stuff first, it went straight into the trash. No way was his kid gonna be a Sooner. ('Personal problem' related to favorite football team I believe.)</p>
<p>"S is a Merit Semifinalist and we've had two letters offering him an almost-full-ride (tuition, fees, and dorm/food) if he is selected as a Finalist..."</p>
<p>Ah, so they raise the stakes the higher the kid is. My son is a Commended. So it looks like they offer full tuition to the Commended, and tuition/fees/dorm/food to the Finalists.</p>
<p>Wow, that's great to know that there might be more offers from other colleges on their way. Full tuition is still a great deal, but he will have to decide is that's where he wants to go.</p>
<p>He keeps all the college offers he's gotten. He has a huge stack of them. I don't think he's really looked at them - we just assumed most were not in the running because of cost. He knows that it's just a ploy to get more applications. Still, it's good for the ego. And this is the first actual offer of tuition that he's gotten.</p>
<p>According to U.S. News and World Report, the average graduation rate is 53%, and 90% of the kids come from within Utah. I would try to find out why the grad rate is so low.</p>
<p>Is there any 'fine print' I should be aware of if we were to accept the offer? Any unusual strings attached to such offers (generally speaking)?</p>
<p>(I understand that it's pending acceptance, of course.)</p>