Busy Week with College Visits

On Wednesday,  Theresa and I drove to the University of Montevallo for a college tour. It's a small school - about 3,000 students. It was a bit odd that unlike UNA, the Admissions Counselor didn't sit down with us individually. Our tour was one other student (a male athlete), his dad and us. It's a small quaint campus so I think freshman fifteen has the potential to occur. I must say my brain is mush and since I didn't take notes I have limited details. The campus is not far off I-65 but there is pretty much no town that we could see. The dorm rooms didn't have carpeting, each room may have a fridge or microwave (not both) unless you rent from the university at $80 a semester. Even if you bring your own, you must pay $10 for a sticker each semester/year (not sure which). They have a nice gym with workout room and waveless heated indoor pool (not that Theresa is interested in athletics). Their applications do open on June 1st --- earliest I've ever encountered. Their student/faculty ratio is 17:1 which is great for students but not for the checkbook.

After our tour on Wednesday we continued to head south and spent the night in Troy. We got up on Thursday for a 10am tour of Troy University. This is the first college tour with Theresa at a school I've not previously toured. It is an absolutely gorgeous campus. The academic buildings are arranged around a beautiful quad complete with a fountain. There were lots of students out and about as it was a beautiful spring day. We met with an admissions counselor. Theresa mentioned that although she knew no current students at Troy, she did know that a member of Newsies had attended. The counselor not only knew of him but had been in Intro to Theater with him when she was a student. We were shown dorms (although not the traditional style) and they were all nice. Students are permitted fridges and microwaves. In one room I also saw a Keurig, crockpot and toaster oven (my gut says these are contraband). There is no way I'm paying for my child to have a single room with a full-size bed and a mounted flat screen tv.  But I am willing to pay a little extra for her to live in the Newman dorm. They have suite style - two bedrooms (for two students each) with a living area and a shared bathroom. And on the first floor is a small Blessed Sacrament Chapel. There is Mass on campus on Sunday nights in Sorrrell Chapel. The Newman dorm and chapel were not a part of the tour but Matthew took us there when the tour was complete.  We saw classrooms---- from the small upper level to a 'large' lecture hall of 120 seats (enrollment is capped at 110). The campus is very diverse and is large enough to have activities for everyone.  It's downside is it's more than 4 hours from home but other than that I loved it. Plus Theresa will earn a full tuition scholarship. Just FYI, they do superscore for scholarships.

If I think of other details, I will come back and add them.