Wooster from a current student's perspective

Colleges and Universities A-Z College of Wooster
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<p>for those of you who are parents, family members, and/or students interested in the College of Wooster:</p>

<p>i am a current student (freshman), and am available to answer any questions you may have about the College. if i don't know the answer, i can post it to someone else who may know. anything goes :)</p>

<p>i've developed a testimony of sorts, so here it is.</p>

<p>i LOVE it here at Wooster. i honestly could not imagine myself anywhere else. a lot of people may say that and you think, yeah yeah i bet they're getting an incentive to promote, but i mean it in every sense. every day i spend here, whether it be in my dorm room to classes, and whether it may be a bad day where things aren't going so good or a rather spectacular day where i get my work finished early and can do whatever, i would not want to be at another college/university. </p>

<p>not only is there always something going on around campus, but the faculty and staff are amazing as well. it really does feel like an extension of home, which was very important to me. doing laundry is not that bad because you can always start that paper for a class or knock out those 10 chapters you need to have read by next class time easily. </p>

<p>now for a tidbit of general college advice:</p>

<p>keeping productive is not too challenging, and my suggestion is to do everything in manageble portions and not feel like you have to get something done the very same day you get the assignment, also time management is key! sometimes a little dose of procrastination is needed. break things up by the day it's due. it will make things a lot more easier to swallow and control than if you either try to cram it all into one day or rush to do it at the last possible minute. i've had to do a couple of late-nighters (latest so far is 4:30am O_O ) and same-day rush, and it could've been prevented had i managed my time and spaced things out a little better.</p>

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<p>Thanks for posting. What can you tell me about dorms and food service?
Is the campus attractive?
How is the social life? What are your fellow students like?
What about the town of Wooster itself?</p>

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<p>lamiller, I don't know if you know about this, but if not maybe some other poster has the answer. I noticed that for tuition payments they do not use Tuition Management Systems (lots of schools use this), but Key Bank. Can someone tell me how Key Bank works? Is this a payment plan where one needs to pay interest?</p>

<p>Lamiller, I am glad that you are loving school, and thank you for coming back and taking the time to post! Prospies love the latest inside info from the student's perspective!</p>

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<p>Thank you, lamiller, for starting this thread and I wish more prospective students were plugged into it. Wooster really is an amazing school. (I wonder if you know Applicantmum77's daughter--a fellow freshman at Woo?) ... My daughter is a junior. She's an archaeology major, with minors in art history and religious studies, and this past spring finished her study abroad in Florence, Italy. She also plays for the women's soccer team. ... The Wooster professors are great and the opportunities for a motivated student are aplenty. I can't say enough good things about this wonderful school.</p>

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<p>sorry about the lack of response guys, but i've just pulled through my first exams then fall break...phew!</p>

<p>i'll make a separate posting for each poster :)</p>

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<p>Hope it all went well and hope that you enjoyed your break, lamiller!</p>

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<p>northeastmom, this is yours :)</p>

<p>i DEFINATELY know about this!! Wooster does use Key Bank, but they do also use Tuition Management Systems. if i'm correct they are both interconnected/within the same corporation. also, as a side note, the college has recently informed us that keybank will no longer be providing educational loans as off the end of this year, so other options will need to be looked at. anyways, i'm enrolled in the TMS monthly plan, and it's been really nice for me and my mom to break up the 650 i had to pay that the school didn't cover with my basic full scholarship into 10 easy payments. they also have a 12-payment plan, but we missed the deadline for that one. you don't pay interest with the TMS. when you enroll for the first time (have to re-enroll for every academic year), you pay a 50 dollar fee and any back payments that may have already occured, if applicable. you can pay by mailing a check in, writing in your credit/debit card information and mailing it, or you can also process your payment online using information from your checking or savings account, a credit/debit card, or another option (not sure). they also have an option where your monthly payment can be automatically deducted each month or charged to your card.</p>

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<p>hindoo,</p>

<p>haven't yet met applicantmum77's daughter (maybe i have and don't know it!). what's your daughters name, and did she enter any pictures into the returning student's contest? i seem to recall a few from italy, perhaps it was her :)</p>

<p>as a side note, i'm thinking about bringing this site to the attention of admissions to see if they'd be interested in utilizing it as other colleges/univerisites have. we've already started to have the prospie flood, and it makes me glad to not be in their shoes this year and recalling my experiences with not knowing until the deadline where i'd be going! however i'm more than happy to convince them to come here :D</p>

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<p>lamiller, thanks for the info about TMS and Key Bank. I appreciate it.</p>

<p>I hope that you are enjoying your first semester at COW!</p>

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<p>ago, i'm getting to your post, but i have to play in the football game/homecoming thing :)</p>

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<p>Thanks, lamiller, I look forward to your post. I'd love to hear anything you think might be of interest to a prospective student!</p>

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<p>hey everyone!</p>

<p>i'm finally back, after fighting a bout of slight pneumonia and not being able to hear (which i still can't quite yet), so i really apologize.</p>

<p>anyways, ago, here's your answer(s) at last!!!</p>

<p>there are 13 dorms and over 30 program houses on campus. from personal experience (summer music camps, when my SIL was a student here, and currently), i've stayed in babcock, armington, kenarden, and currently am housed in compton, and have been inside of wagner, holden, and one program house. some of the beds were kind of hard, but some were comfy, so i think it's just by luck. this year i was very lucky to get a comfy bed :D my room is slightly small, but it's cozy enough for me and my roomie to have our own space but yet still have just enough to fit 5+ people, not including us, in here for a tv party watching "the office." there was one dorm that just opened this year, gault manor, which houses around 73-75 upperclass students, and is directly across the street from my dorm. babcock is closed this year for a complete 1.5 million renovation, which it very much needed! as a side note, the city is also in the process of reengineering/revamping beall ave. (pronounced bell, not like beell), which will be completed HOPEFULLY by the start of the next academic year, if not january 2010. the road is horiffic, and i feel like i have to apologize to my car everytime i drive down it!</p>

<p>there are two dining halls on campus, lowry and kittredge. the main dining hall, lowry, is located inside lowry center, the main hub/student center. inside lowry there is the campus bookstore, the post office, scot lanes (on-campus bowling alley and gaming place, really sweet!), mom's truckstop/woo-mart (mom's is another dining alternative, i highly recommend the chicken sandwich that comes with bacon and cheese on it (it's very fresh) and mozzerella sticks...delicious! you can also buy various things like candy, soda, milk, a few frozen meals, 12 packs of soda/water, bandaids, etc. anyways, lowry (the dining part) is much like a food court, where there are seven or eight different stations, and it's what the college calls "all-you-care-to-eat," aka amongst the students as buffet. on the other hand, kittredge is known as the "no-fry zone," and has some really awesome food! they don't fry anything there, but use other methods of cooking such as stirfry, baking, broiling, etc. they host a wednesday night stirfry that is incredibly popular amonst the students, and if you literally don't get there early, you will be waiting in line for both to get in and get your food. but it's certainly well worth it, they make a MEAN stirfry :D i go everyweek. so overall, there are many many many options for food here at COW. just gotta learn what you like and be creative and open!</p>

<p>The campus is beautiful, not just coming from me, but i've also heard it from family members, citizens of the wooster community, and other guests that come to the College. there have been some breathtaking sunsets lately here in the fall, and the trees look amazing. i'll take some pictures once i get camera batteries and see if i can't work with a moderator to post them here, or be allowed to include a link to an album online. if neither option works, contact me on PM and i'll be more than happy to email them to you.</p>

<p>wooster definately has it's unique social atmosphere. we have our own on-campus club/pub called the underground, or the ug for short. it's not just for clubbing and whatnot, but it's also used to host comedy and a few musical events such as guest garage bands, etc. i've mainly been there for the comedians. the ug is sweet, it looks beat, and us college kids love it. as far as the city social scene goes, options seem somewhat limited, but there is certainly something going on during the week and weekends, like concerts in the music center, sporting events, etc. there's also two movie theathers in town, along with various restaurants like chipotle, panera, applebees, mcdonalds, etc. wooster is small, but not so small there's never anything to do nor so big that you'll get lost. it's like the three bears analogy...just right :)...</p>

<p>the students here are some of the friendliest people you will ever meet. it seemed rather intimidating being a first-year and being new for the first week or two, but it just got better. it also helps if you get involved with a group, whether it be athletics, service groups like circle k, or the scot band. of course, just like wherever you go, there will always be a few bad apples, but they come far inbetween here at COW. i haven't really ran into any rude people. the people here are very helpful in addition to being nice, and it's not fake either. everyone geniuenly loves being here and gets along fairly well.</p>

<p>please let me know if there's anything i can clarify or if there's any more questions i can help answer for you :)</p>

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<p>just an update for you all who may be interested:</p>

<p>i applied to be a tour guide about 2-3 days ago, and won't know the results of my application for a while. i will keep you updated and let you know if i'm selected!</p>

<p>as always, any questions about the college or life here,etc. are always welcome! (especially during finals week ;) haha)</p>

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<p>for those of you who may not have read the Class of '13 thread recently, i was chosen to interview for that Tour Guide position i mentioned previously! very excited, and will post an update when i find out anything more.</p>

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<p>lamiller, Congratulations! Glad that you got the position that you were hoping to get!</p>

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<p>well, i was away the past couple of days on a conference trip with other Music Ed majors, which incidentally was the same week as interviews, so i'll have to wait til next week to do my interview, as in the week of jan. 26th :( so unfortunately, i will not be a tour guide for the 19th trip that someone on here is attending, sorry guys! but you could always butter them up extra good for me! haha jk..</p>

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<p>well.......i didn't get to interview for a tour guide position. i emailed the lady in charge of it since she was gone last week this morning about setting a time up, and she said she never heard back from me and they already hired everyone while i was trying to work out a make-up time........so it sounds like they were just going to give me a courtesy interview, even though i wasn't going to get "hired"</p>

<p>feeling really bummed out right now :(</p>

<p>but i guess that's how life goes.</p>

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<p>Keep your chin up, lamiller. You're an asset to the Wooster community. ... My daughter went through the process last year to be an RA, but didn't end up getting it--which also bummed her very much. Now she's working for the athletics department, which makes her even happier. :)</p>

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<p>College</a> of Wooster Traditions</p>

<p>I'm going to (or at least planning on it) talk/discuss a different tradition here at the college, every day or every other day, as some can be combined due to there similarity :) For the main explanations, I will directly quote the website and add my own comments afterwards.</p>

<p>First off will be about Kauke Arch, and then every student and alumni's favorite: filling it with snow!!</p>

<p>"The Delmar Archway, or "The Arch" as it is more commonly known, was constructed during the 1961-62 renovation of Kauke Hall. Kauke Hall is the most recognizable building on campus, and "The Arch" is the reason why. Students are introduced to "The Arch" when they first arrive on campus. First-year students are led by the Scot Pipers through "The Arch" into McGaw Chapel, where they are welcomed by President Cornwell. The first-year students also congregate in front of "The Arch" for their Class picture. </p>

<p>Graduating seniors march through "The Arch" before being seated in the Oak Grove for the start of Commencement ceremonies. When they return for their Class Reunions, they will march through "The Arch" again as part of the Parade of Classes. "</p>

<p>i'll post our class picture in front of kauke and the arch within the next couple of days, or a link to it if actually posting it isn't allowed on here. the processional throught it during orientation was kinda fun, but i didn't have any family there since my mom and gran didn't think it was necessary to take pictures, walk around, and that stuff lol.</p>

<p>"One tradition that has taken on nearly mythical proportions involves filling Kauke Arch with snow.</p>

<p>Legend has it that if the Arch can be filled to the top with snow during the night, blocking the main doors, classes will be cancelled the next day. (Conveniently overlooking the fact that there are at least half a dozen other doors into the building.)</p>

<p>Hope springs eternal, however, and college officials make no attempt (usually) to interfere with the students’ efforts. And while classes have never been cancelled as a result, generations of students who have taken part in the arch-filling festivities remember it as an event that unites the student body in a powerful way."</p>

<p>this is amazing! it's happening soon, but can't say exactly when. again, i'll post pictures if i take my camera and it doesn't get too soaked! it's only been 2-4 times in the history of the College that classes have been cancelled, but you know us college kids will work our butts off to get any day cancelled haha..usually someone emails the dean so he'll tell security to board up the doors inside the arch so they won't get busted, and also to prevent security from having a cow (no pun intended) like they did back in 2007...go to youtube and do a search, number of videos. that incident i believe made news as far away as the Washington Post and a couple of national tv stations like ABC.</p>

<p>next installment is tomorrow :D</p>

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<p>I thought I had heard that classes were called off last year due to filling the arch with snow? LaMiller, how is the golf course? That is my son's big question!</p>