What's the Real Story of High Point University

<p>soze, what are you arguing about? Many business programs DO NOT have AACSB accreditation, although more have now than 10 years ago. This is still what gives AACSB accredited schools some ability to market themselves as having it. It is not unreasonable to want to attend a school with this accreditation over one without it, if you are interested in being a business major. If you want to major in nursing, or history, I don’t think it matters whether a business program has AACSB accreditation or not.</p>

<p>Just adding that if you attend a school without AACSB accreditation your life is not over. It might be smarter to select a school that has it, but you can still have a fine career or make it into a grad school.</p>

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That’s right. Who are you to argue? But that clearly hasn’t stopped you.</p>

<p>Are you, perhaps, a little envious?</p>

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<p>For what?</p>

<p>I didn’t “attack” anybody.</p>

<p>I said this:</p>

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<p>She said that she picked High Point over Penn State because of those reasons. If you want to quibble over the fact that I’m claiming that Penn State offers a better quality education than High Point, well I guess you could try arguing that point and at the end it’s really just one person’s opinion over another, but I don’t really think I’m going out on a limb making that claim.</p>

<p>Looking for that thumbs up symbol zoosermom!</p>

<p>soze, the perception is that you are being patronizing by assuming that the student and her parents blindly chose HPU without thinking about it. It is up to each of us to figure out what is the right fit and IMHO, the whole point of the parents bulletin board is to support each other. The student that chose HPU was not second guessing her choice or asking for our opinions.</p>

<p>Back in the day when my son was applying to college, he received many mailings from HPU. It wasn’t a school we gave consideration to at that time. Our neighbor’s son graduated from HPU, however, and is now an extremely successful manager for a high end auto dealership nearby. He was a kid very much like my own dilettante son in high school and now he is definitely successful by material standards. </p>

<p>I was curious about all the talk of the steakhouse and the like so I went to the HPU website. Their foodservice is run by Aramark who also provides food service at a multitude of college campuses - and offers steakhouses or their equivalent “high end” student dining at many of their locations. In general, when a food service company enters into a contract to provide service, many times (depending on the value of the contract) they will also agree to build the facility. I suspect that’s what happened here - Aramark is quite probably paying for many of the new dining facilities or absorbing the costs for much of the dining service “glitz”. </p>

<p>Just my two cents. I don’t think the steakhouse is going to be Morton’s or Peter Luger’s or the like.</p>

<p>“think they will be getting something else, namely a high-quality education.”</p>

<p>If they think they’re getting a high-quality education (by CC standards), then I don’t think it’s HPU’s fault. HPU certainly isn’t marketing an Oberlin-style classroom experience.</p>

<p>Soze, again:

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<p>This is BEYOND obnoxious.</p>

<p>I would like to thank you all for talking about me like I’m not there. Yes Penn State has amazing programs lalalaa. And who do you think you people are talking about my parents and do they know where they’re spending their money? It’s MY choice where I want to go to college. Sorry if I don’t want to stay in crappy dorms, have none of my professors know my name, be lost in the shuffle, and be in a cold environment. You people really have nothing better to do than talk about a senior in high school and her college decision. COOL. I’m going to have an amazing time at High Point. :D</p>

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It’s not “people.” It’s “person.” The rest of us agree with you completely.</p>

<p>I wish you well and, frankly, I’m the kind of person for whom the environment would have mattered a lot. My D visited one college that touted its environmentalism and how natural the campus was. Tour guide said “if you want a country club, don’t come here.” My D turned to me and said “find me a country club.” She will be attending the University of Delaware as an art conservation major and the aesthetics of the campus are very important to her.</p>

<p>Sorry zoosermom! Thank you all for supporting me except for one person and congrats to your daughter! UDel is a great school.</p>

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<p>Ditto, what zoosermom just said. </p>

<p>I would rather have a professor know me as a student than to attend a large university and be unknown to some of my professors. Naturally, someone could tell me to pick Vasser, Oberlin, Bard, etc. over HP. One needs certain stats to have those options too, and in most cases, one needs a certain amount of money earmarked for college expenses for those schools as well.</p>

<p>Yankeegirl, I just crossposted with you!</p>

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<p>LOL. I think I remember that story from the parents of '10 thread. It’s just as good the second time around. :D</p>

<p>yankeesgirl, if my kid had to choose between Penn State and HPU, I could see him choosing High Point. Mega-schools are not for him. I understand your point completely.</p>

<p>My daughter is a freshman at High Point. She was 15th in her class of 300. All honors classes and several AP classes. She received a generous scholarship from High Point and we are paying less for her to attend then we would for her to attend our state schools.</p>

<p>She is enjoying all the extras, but she is working very hard for her grades! She finds the classes challenging and is loving the small class size and the professors. She does go to the pool to relax if she does not have work to do. She does enjoy her nice dorm room and free laundry. </p>

<p>Why is it a problem that the school is making life a little easier for their students? I don’t find it a problem that my kid does not have to buy a water or juice when she is rushing to class in the morning. Whats wrong with grabbing a free ice cream in the afternoon after a hard test on your way back to your room? Really is all this stuff free or is it just a different way to use your meal plan? Instead of having an ice cream after eating a big lunch, they get one later in the day without having to swipe their card again. Seems smart to me.</p>

<p>They can only eat at the steakhouse once a week. They have to make reservations and there is a dress code! They enjoy dressing up and having a nice meal without the worry of paying for it and leaving campus.</p>

<p>Whats wrong with the President eating lunch with the kids everyday? Most kids have no idea who their President is. He has come up to my daughter several times to talk. She loved his freshman class.</p>

<p>How is Nido getting all of the millions in donations if nobody knows about this school? I just looked at the education site and High Point had a couple teacher rookies of the year. I guess they got jobs! Have you seen the technology in the communications building and business school?</p>

<p>Do I think I am throwing away my money? NO I have already seen a change for the better in my daughter.</p>

<p>I just looked at the steak house menu on line. I have to say, that’s pretty awesome.</p>

<p>I think more and more schools (not just High Point) are really emphasizing the student experience and amenities. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. One of the things my daughter liked the most about UMich was an absolutely fantastic dorm that she’d be living in. It was beautiful. </p>

<p>bfranz, thanks for posting. I’m glad she likes HPU.</p>

<p>YankeeGirl - are there any schools between Penn and HighPoint that you were accepted to? Perhaps another LAC with the same small feel of HP but perhaps with a higher academic rating? Seems like we have both ends of the scale here but nothing in between.</p>

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<p>Sure, it’s obnoxious, and maybe not the nicest thing to do. But I’ve noticed people are pointing out that maybe we should stop trying to herd the teenagers into college, instead of tech school, or jobs- that our doing so demeans the value of the B.A. degree. Even people on this forum. </p>

<p>So which is it? Should we say it’s a-okay to go to school for steak? What does High Point really do to educate its students? I have no knowledge of this school outside this thread, but it seems pretty silly to say you wouldn’t go to college for the education. That’s what college (or at least any self-respecting college) is about- education. Higher Learning. If you don’t want that, don’t go to college. Spend the $30,000 or so on an actual steak house meal, and tech school, or get a job, or go to career training. Free ice cream isn’t special. I may have only been to three schools, but all three of them had icecream in the dining rooms free- this includes the “general” ASU dining hall; which pre-barrett wasn’t exactly the most academic place around, Scripps, and Conn Coll. </p>

<p>Ice-cream isn’t some unheard of perk. </p>

<p>I have never before questioned (truly) someone’s school but with a president/dean(?) who insists on beautiful students? </p>

<p>If you aren’t going for higher learning, why bother going to college? This is what is missing for me- I really feel like the place sounds a bit skeezy.</p>

<p>It’s plain rude to tell a student (not a parent that is asking about possible colleges) that her intended school is not very good and to pass judgment on her and her parents decision.</p>

<p>As to the free aspect, they refer to it as being comprehensive pricing so they don’t nickel and dime you like most colleges do, like paying for laundry or a shuttle service to the airport. </p>

<p>Regarding the Steak house, according to our tour guide, that is not run by the same food service as the dining hall.</p>

<p>I don’t know what is wrong with its academic ranking, in reference to post #96. This school is in the baccalaureate schools of the south grouping by USNEWS, and within this group of schools it is ranked #5.</p>

<p>Cross posted with Kathiep. Just wanted to add that other schools offer “free laundry” too, if you want to view it as free.</p>

<p>There is certainly something to be said regarding smaller schools, class size, etc. My son was at a smaller school (around 5000). He transferred to a large U for other reasons (one of which was $$). The things he missed about his first school were small classes, the profs all knew his name, the profs had the students to their homes for dinner, and yes, the president ate with the students. He loved having administration or profs asking to join him at lunch occasionally. Having been at both types of schools I think he could really see the differences. </p>

<p>He is now thinking about grad school and feels like he will go back to first school for rec letters as those people knew him much better. (hope they remember him!)</p>

<p>If one started out at a large U., you really wouldn’t know what you are missing. (Not to say the larger schools don’t have their own sets of pros!)</p>