momofgals
04-15-2010, 08:33 PM
Since I have enjoyed reading of college visits, I thought I'd report on two of the schools which dd and I recently toured. Here's the first one....
Centre College is a small (1200 or so students) liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, which is south of Lexington. I became interested in it after seeing the school listed as one of the “Colleges That Change Lives.” One piece of information I gleaned is that the college has very loyal alumni, even though they do not have Division I sports teams. Their endowment is quite large for such a small school, and the graduation rate for entering freshmen is quite high. I take this to mean that the professors and administration connect well with the students. After dd read about the school, she was intrigued, too, so we made a short visit there last week.
The campus is lovely, with a new student center and many lovely, large trees scattering the grounds which include mostly brick, Georgian-style buildings. Dd sat in on a 200 level English class which she felt was sufficiently challenging. The students whom we engaged – our tour guide and a student who took us to lunch – were both pleasant and bright and were able to articulate what they liked about the school. (Some other schools have had rah-rah tour guides who had great personality but didn’t seem academically inclined.) Both seemed to appreciate most the relationships which they are able to have with professors.
It is a small community, and the school has no plans to grow much bigger. Danville is a small town, so social life appears to be confined to campus unless students drive to Lexington. Though there is a Greek presence on campus, only a few students live in the college-owned Greek houses. Despite its small size, the school offers great variety in its study-abroad and internship programs, both of which they emphasize.
Our only question is whether or not there is a viable Christian campus group or church with which she could be involved. Also, an overnight visit might help her see if she can connect with the students easily. That will have to wait until senior year!
Centre College is a small (1200 or so students) liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, which is south of Lexington. I became interested in it after seeing the school listed as one of the “Colleges That Change Lives.” One piece of information I gleaned is that the college has very loyal alumni, even though they do not have Division I sports teams. Their endowment is quite large for such a small school, and the graduation rate for entering freshmen is quite high. I take this to mean that the professors and administration connect well with the students. After dd read about the school, she was intrigued, too, so we made a short visit there last week.
The campus is lovely, with a new student center and many lovely, large trees scattering the grounds which include mostly brick, Georgian-style buildings. Dd sat in on a 200 level English class which she felt was sufficiently challenging. The students whom we engaged – our tour guide and a student who took us to lunch – were both pleasant and bright and were able to articulate what they liked about the school. (Some other schools have had rah-rah tour guides who had great personality but didn’t seem academically inclined.) Both seemed to appreciate most the relationships which they are able to have with professors.
It is a small community, and the school has no plans to grow much bigger. Danville is a small town, so social life appears to be confined to campus unless students drive to Lexington. Though there is a Greek presence on campus, only a few students live in the college-owned Greek houses. Despite its small size, the school offers great variety in its study-abroad and internship programs, both of which they emphasize.
Our only question is whether or not there is a viable Christian campus group or church with which she could be involved. Also, an overnight visit might help her see if she can connect with the students easily. That will have to wait until senior year!