<p>My daughter has been admitted to St. Mary's College, and invited to interview for the Nitze Scholars Program. My DD is very conflicted about going to this school, because there are so few out of state students at St. Mary's. </p>
<p>Can anyone provide their thoughts about this school and/or program?</p>
<p>hi! i am from WV and also got invited to the Nitze Scholars Program. I've visited the college and it seems to have a very nice program, but most students are from maryland. The Princeton Review says that only 17% of the student body are out of state. However, it is ranked among the top small colleges and the students i met seemed to be very nice and layed back.</p>
<p>Have you been to visit the school? The only downside, imho, was the location. It's about 1.5 hours from DC, down the penninsula. The teachers, faculty and students were super impressive. They have small classes with dedicated teachers. Great location if you like boating of course, or U.S. history. It is ranked "happy students" which to my mind should be high on anyone's list-who wants 4 years of bitter and crabby kids?
This is a great education considering it is a small public college. The way the schools move up the ranks is to get more oos students and they have to start somewhere. (g) If she has not gone I'd suggest visiting with an overnight if possible.
Although DD loved it we have not discussed it much, since I am afraid as an OOS student that, even if admitted, she will not get enough financial aid to go there.</p>
<p>Hi, my DD is currently a Sophomore Nitze student.<br>
Her 10 person suite is made up of a fellow Nitze from Oregon, and 1 or 2 exchange students. It is diverse. :-)<br>
I understand your reservations with a school that has many in-state students, but IMHO SMCM is different because MD is such a diverse state. As a DC native I can tell you the area is just full of transplants. If a given student is from MD, chances are their parents are from somewhere else and they have traveled there to see extended family.
My DD's Nitze cohort traveled to India this winter break and her Oregon roommate stayed with us in the extra five days before the return to school.
I would suggest the student visit with someone on campus, spend the night and see how it feels. Parents can stay at a nearby Hampton Inn in Lexington Park- ask about discount for college visit.
Good luck!!</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, ginas00. My daughter is at St. Mary's right now, attending a reception for Nitze candidates tonight and Scholars' Day tomorrow. She'll spend the night with a Nitze sponsor-student, so she should have a great feel for the school by the time she gets home tomorrow night. If she has any questions as decision time nears, I hope you don't mind if I pm you.</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore at St. Mary's. Personally, I've never found the number of out of state students to be an issue. The school is so small that people never really come with lots of high school friends. Geographically the school isn't very diverse, but I do think it has many different 'types' of people. </p>
<p>Being in the middle of nowhere is bad, theres no way around it. The way it usually works is that kids from say NYC have a hard time adjusting, but most other people do fine. Still, having a car is really nice, if only so you can go to the drug store, supermarket, etc..</p>
<p>does anyone know when nitze applicants find out if they're accepted or not?</p>