College Counseling at St. Margaret's

This post is by Ms. Amy Warren, Associate Director of College Counseling.

What a week! From Milwaukee to Madison, St. Louis to Kansas City, it feels like I have been all over the place! I started the week flying into Milwaukee to start the COWS (Counselors Observing Wisconsin Schools) tour. Along with 40 other counselors from across the world (American School in Cairo, anyone? Rift Valley Academy, Kenya?), we were met with enthusiasm (and lots of cow puns), by the staff at Marquette University. Marquette is a Jesuit University and is much more urban than I thought it would be. The school blends seamlessly into the city of Milwaukee, which was surprisingly accessible and diverse. Milwaukee is located right on Lake Michigan, and although they get a lot of snow, the beauty of fall and spring is worth it. Our tour guide was from Orange County, and she reassured us that she does not have a car, is a southern-Californian at heart, and survives each winter! I was impressed with how new so many of the building were. So much for a recession there!

The next morning, we headed to Ripon College in the small town of Ripon, Wisconsin. Ripon’s most famous former student is Harrison Ford, who completed all coursework except his senior capstone project. Harrison, get it together! The senior capstone is a highlight of a Ripon education. Students work closely with professors and advisors to conduct original research—but at a teaching college! It’s the best of both worlds. Ripon has just over 1100 students, great Division 3 athletics, and an outstanding financial aid program. In fact, it costs about the same as a UC education, but your classes only have 15 students. They have a ton of scholarships and do a great job bringing diversity to campus. At lunch (which I had in the dining hall, by the way—I love all-you-can-eat dining situations), I sat next to a student from Nepal. Pretty cool.
Later that afternoon, we mooooved (I couldn’t help it) onto Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Lawrence is one of the Colleges that Change Lives, and I can see why. The campus is beautiful—built overlooking the Fox River, with tons of new buildings. The school is small (about 1500), so each student really gets personal attention. They have an amazing organic garden, and they sell much of the produce back to their dining hall. Our tour guide was the 6’8” captain of the men’s basketball team, who had to run from our tour to pilates class. I love this place! Lawrence has a music conservatory in addition to the liberal arts college. Students apply to one or the other, but can also do two bachelors degrees in five years, which about ¼ of all conservatory students do. I think it’s a great way for students to really develop their musical talents while still pursuing other interests. Lawrence students have the motto, “Too many interests” and most will double major and minor because there is just so much to choose from. All freshman also take a Freshman Studies class the first two trimesters. You are placed into a class with 14 other freshmen and all sections study the same texts, art, music, etc. That could make for some pretty interesting dining-hall conversations. What is also cool is that these classes are taught by professors from across the curriculum. We had a sample class with a math professor, who was teaching about literature. What better way to prize the benefits of a liberal-arts education.

Next, we headed to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The school has 28,000 undergraduates and is beautifully situated on an isthmus (AP Geo, anyone?) between two Wisconsin lakes. While being on an isthmus makes for a gorgeous setting most of the time, it gets a little “congested” when say, the President, is visiting at the same time. That’s right, Barack Obama was on campus the same time we were, and let me say, it was electric. Or, that may have been Ben Harper’s guitar (he was at the same event). Our hosts did a great job making it work, though, and we had a great tour of campus despite the road blocks. Literally. The campus is large but very accessible. There is a great downtown area and a cheerful rivalry between two freshman housing clusters. Luckily, we had time to run into the bookstore so that I could get my son a “mini Badger” T-shirt.

Finally, we headed to Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin. Another one of the Colleges that Change Lives, Beloit had a lot to offer. Also located on a river (I think there’s a theme here), the campus is really pretty. There are just over 1300 students who seem to really find their voice once they come to campus. I met quite a few students who spoke about the comfort level on campus. Everyone is respected here, no matter where they come from. Students really collaborate with teachers and even call them by their first names! One student mentioned how he had to be careful in the “real world” because he learned quickly that his employers did not want feedback like his professors did! Beloit has an amazing anthropology program with a full museum on campus. They are just starting a “Liberal Arts in Practice” initiative. Now, students are required to have a local internship to relate what they learn in their liberal arts education (creative problem solving, critical thinking), to life off campus. Nothing wrong with graduating with an education and experience!
After Beloit, we headed to St. Louis for the NACAC (National Association of College Admission Counselors) Conference, which was amazing. Three days of networking, workshops, and connecting with old friends and colleagues is always fun. I actually presented a session with some old graduate school colleagues, which both Mr. Allen and Ms. McColgan attended—thanks guys! While in St. Louis, I also took a side trip to Washington University, St. Louis, and man, was I impressed. The campus is so gorgeous, and is as manicured as my grandfather’s country club. I always think of it as much smaller than it is—about 6,000 undergraduates. They are a big research university but manage to make themselves feel welcoming and homey. The dorms are out of control. I felt like I was in a small French village (or a Disney replication) in one new housing cluster. Washington University has a reputation of doing a lot of waitlisting, so we were able to talk about their theory behind that. Ask me if you are interested.
After St. Louis, I drove west to Kansas City for a Saturday night baseball game, but had to stop at the University of Missouri-Columbia on my way. If you want a big university with a super strong Greek like, Mizzou is for you. We saw fraternity house after fraternity house after sorority house, and they really use the Greek system as a way to make a large school feel much smaller. They have a very well-known journalism program, and as a land-grant institution, also offer such interested majors as dairy science. I was most impressed by the recreational facilities. The rec center had a huge pool (with hot tub and lazy river), over 30 group classrooms (turbokick, anyone?), a smoothie bar, indoor track, squash courts, and personal training. And this gym is for the non-athletes! It was surprisingly easy to get to from St. Louis, although they do have their own little airport as well. Go Tigers!
What a great trip. If anyone would like anymore details on any of the schools I visited, let me know! I’d be happy to share.