Sweepstakes

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Flagler College, St. Augustine, Florida

Flagler College, in St. Augustine, Florida, several miles from the beach, is the most beautiful campus I’ve visited, with many buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. The main building is a resort, built by oil magnate Henry Flagler in 1888, with Spanish-Moorish Renaissance Revival architecture.

The school is a private liberal arts college with an in-state, public university cost. The 2011-2012 cost for tuition, fees, room and board was $22,500. If you are a B/B+ student, somewhat conservative, and looking to go South you may want to consider it.

The school has around 2,500 students, small classes, a small campus in the center of St. Augustine and a 19-acre athletic complex two miles away. About 40 per cent of students are from out of the state of Florida. The school is a member of NCAA Division II.

Flagler has a limited number of majors in selected liberal arts and pre-professional disciplines. The most unusual majors are deaf education and sport management. The biggest majors are business administration, psychology, sport management, communication, and education.

The college has been making changes academically. Freshmen take a keystone seminar investigating cultural identity and communal values, drawing materials from a variety of disciplines. To improve transition to college, Flagler developed clusters of courses around a central interdisciplinary theme with each class attended by the same students.

All Freshmen are required to live on campus. The residence halls are all single-sex residence halls and students are not allowed to visit rooms or halls of students of the opposite sex.


For additional campus photos, check out the Slosberg College Solutions Facebook page.  If you visited or attended Flagler College, what were your impressions? 

Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Florida

 

Looking to go South to study engineering, aeronautics/aviation, or marine biology.  You may want to consider Florida Institute of Technology in the small city of Melbourne, not far from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.  Florida Tech is a private national research university with small classes, a flight school, and co-op opportunities for engineering majors. 

The school offers up to $19K/year in academic scholarships. Eagle Scouts and Gold Awards (Girl Scouts) receive a minimum of $10K/year in academic scholarships, as do members of high school FIRST Robotics teams.

Melbourne is not a college town and there is a low male/female ratio, so college life may be limited. There is, however, Greek life and over 100 clubs. The school is starting up a Football program in Fall 2013 and is a Division II school. About half the students are from out of the state of Florida; 20% are international students.

The school wants to encourage you to attend so the application is free and if you visit and subsequently attend, you will receive a $1,000/year Florida Visit Grant.

Have you attended or visited Florida Tech? What were your impressions?

For additional photos check out Slosberg College Solutions LLC Facebook page.

Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY

Sarah Lawrence is a liberal arts college of 1300 students on 44 acres in Westchester County, NY that is unique in several ways:


· It is among the colleges with the largest percent of classes with fewer than 20 students.

· Students interview the professors for 30 minutes in order to decide what classes they are would like to take.

· The classes are modeled after the Oxford/Cambridge tutorial. The seminar classes include a round table discussion with a group of 15 or fewer where the students need to come prepared to reflect on their reading and have a conference with their professor every other week to go over their term research project/paper.

· The music, theatre, and dance classes are organized differently. Each class is broken into three-week sessions on a particular skill set. There are theatres, art and performance spaces, and music spaces.

· There are only 10 lectures courses offered each year and they are capped at 45 students.

· Professors give students a written evaluation of their work, in addition to grades.

· Their don (i.e., advisor) is also their teacher for their yearlong first year seminar. With the don, students create their own program of study.

· Students take three 5-credit courses a semester.

· Thirty credits are needed for a concentration (i.e., major). Many students take two or three concentrations.

· Many buildings contain teacher’s offices, classrooms and student housing. Freshman housing is not separate from upper-class housing,

· Sarah Lawrence is one of the most expensive colleges in the country.

The college is known for creative writing, visual and performing arts, history and international studies. The student body is 70% women and tends to be politically liberal. Eighty-five per cent of undergraduate students live on campus. There are six study abroad programs, including one in Cuba.

The school is located in an upper middle-class suburban area. There are some stores and restaurants about a 15-minute walk from school. Many students go to New York City, a 30-minute train-ride away, for pleasure, cultural experiences, or internships. A free shuttle to the train station is available after 5:30 PM. Those who stay on campus on weekends participate in dances, poetry readings, concerts, plays, or community service.

The school seems to be a good fit for an outspoken, well-written independent learner, interested in intellectual discussions in multiple disciplines and independent research in the liberal arts. The academic requirements include that students to take a yearlong freshman seminar, take a course in at least three of the four areas of study, and take 2 physical education classes. Students can earn a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in five years in Teaching, Child Development, or Women’s History. There is a 3-2 Engineering program with Columbia University. There is also a pre-med program.

The school has recently applied to join Division III sports. There is a nice gym and pool.

SATs / ACTs are not considered in admission. The college uses the Common App with a Supplement which includes the “Why Sarah Lawrence?” question. Students should submit a graded high school paper as part of their application. An interview is strongly suggested; seniors often conduct the interview.

The college is need-sensitive and uses the FAFSA and CSS/PROFLE for financial aid. Students are automatically considered for merit aid.

New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ

                                                                           Sophomore architecture contest photo

NJIT is on 45 acres, a few square blocks, in the University Heights section of Newark, NJ.  There is a light rail station next to campus which goes to Newark Penn Station. There is a limited amount of green space on campus.


NJIT is the only NJ state college with an architecture program.  It is also strong in engineering and the sciences.  The college has an  Honors college that offers enrichment, a significant scholarship, its own housing floor, and its own space on campus.  There is an engineering class that Freshman can take to help them decide on an engineering major.  Clubs that have to do with your major and internships (e.g., with at&t or PSE&G) are popular.

Housing is limited and there are many commuters. Students who want housing seem to get it. Freshmen have a choice between long hall building with the bathroom in the hall or a building with 2 room suites with a private bathroom for each suite. There is an Electrical Engineering floor and an Honors floor.  Upper classmen can live in those buildings or in apartment style buildings. There seems to be a strong safety focus on campus. I wouldn’t want to stray far from campus alone after dark.


I think a NJ student who wants to study science, engineering, or architecture but wants a school smaller than Rutgers with a multi-ethnic group, doesn't mind that the school is only one quarter female, and is not too interested in social life would be happy here. A student we met in the dorm said he went to class, studied, ate and slept.

Check out my business Facebook page for additional photos of NJIT.  If you are an NJIT student, add your comments to this blog.

Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA

Bucknell University has a beautiful campus in the Susquehanna Valley of Pennsylvania. It is a three-hour drive from Somerset County, N.J., not far from I-80 in the small college town of Lewisburg.

With colleges in Arts and Sciences, in Management, and in Engineering, this private university has more than 60 majors for the 3500 undergraduate students. Classes are small and professors spend three hours a week in office hours. There are few colleges that primarily award bachelor’s degrees in the liberal arts that also have strong engineering programs. Bucknell University is one of them. The employment and graduate school information of recent Bucknell graduates is encouraging.

Bucknell students are involved in over 200 organizations, including Division I Athletics; club sports; academic organizations; arts and entertainment; Greek life; leadership groups; multicultural groups; music, dance and theatre; publications; religious organizations; service organizations and political groups. Freshmen can participate in theme-based housing options, where hallmates take a seminar together and have opportunities to travel together. Forty-five percent of students study abroad.

On of my son’s best friends attended Bucknell (like his father) and studied accounting.  He got a great education and had a great time.

What did you think of Bucknell University, when you visited?

Penn State

Penn State is a university with campuses all over Pennsylvania.  Sixty percent of students start in a campus other than University Park, and then transfer after two years to the main campus in University Park, which is shown here.

The school is huge, with a plethora of colleges and majors.  Those students who are undecided can join the Division of Undergraduate Studies, which helps them sample different majors. 

Those who are at the top of the class may be part of the Schreyer Honors College which has smaller Honors classes, priority registration, special housing, a thesis, and a travel grant.
 
Penn State students have a great enthusiasm for their University and their Division I sports teams. In addition to being well-known for their academics and sports teams, they are also well-known for their job placement services.

Penn State likes to admit out-of-state students and it is not more difficult to be accepted if you are an out-of-state resident. Students can apply to start their Freshman year in the Summer or in the Fall.