College Search

I've commenced with the hopeless task of trying to find a college or uni that I wouldn't mind going to once we move down to TN/KY. It really is a frustrating task. This is what goes on:

First I look at tuition. If it is enormously out of my price range (like $56,000 for Vanderbilt U) then I don't even bother. If the tuition is below $30,000, feel free to look tentatively, carefully examining both room and board as well as scholarship opportunities. If it looks like the cost still might be doable with the grand help of God, then look at the academics.

Does it have an English BA? What are the concentrations in? (I prefer Creative Writing to Lit.) Does it require a minor? If so, do they have Japanese? If not, what do they have that looks even a little bit interesting? How many GER credits are required and would my current ones transfer easily? (This is a preliminary possibility. I look at the titles and level to see if they correspond. If not, then I'll have to wait until I'm seriously considering the school to find out.) Now how many credits in the subject matter (English) am I required to have and what do those classes look like. Are they interesting? Good. If  so continue to see the total amount of credits required and how long it looks like it'll take for you to get out of there.

Next is the Student Life. A very important aspect. I am SO not going to a college that is made up of fraternities and sororities. Not my thing. So what are the living arrangements like? Do I prefer a single room (absolutely, I am not sharing a room with anyone). Do I want air conditioning but smaller room? Which building/hall is closest to what? Will I need a car? (Definitely. I'm going to be visiting my family all the time.) Are the buildings coed (again, not doing), or not. What type of meal plan will I be forced to buy? Do I get stuck with freshman or can I have the senior hall option as a Junior. (Most often yes.)

Then there is location. This actually usually goes before tuition, but for the purpose of most important, it goes here since my family still has no idea where we are going to land. Is it smack dab in the middle of Memphis, the 24th largest city in the US? Is it out in the middle of nowhere? (I prefer a smaller town or city, but not completely deserted.)

Is the school Christian? If so what denomination? (I am not desirous of going to a Catholic school, not because I'm against them in any way but simply because of my beliefs.) Is it Southern Baptist? Methodist? What? These questions here matter because they are going to determine what type of education I'm going to get: which way the classes will be taught regarding different beliefs. Although most denominations are united under the banner of "Christianity" not all of them believe things I do. --f I don't know about a denomination I look it up. Learn more about it and see if they are a church I'd be willing to attend.

Also, what are their statistics? (I find this to be not only interesting but very telling about a school.) For example, what is the men to women ratio? If it is <:>, then I'm happy. If it is equal I'm cool with that too. Also, what is the racial/ethnic ratio? (I've found I'm very sensitive about this.) I have grown up around people who are not like me. First in Japan for seven years where I learned to be the minority, and then later in Alaska, which if the US is the great melting pot of the world, Alaska is the melting pot of the US. (It's thanks to military bases, I think.) Anyway, I like diversity. I enjoy going to a university where more than 30-40% of the people there are not white Caucasian. This preference makes it really hard for me to imagine going to a school full of 99% white, with the remaining <1% from the minor outlying islands. (And this school claimed to take transfer students from over 40 states--what? only the white ones?)

Anyway, (the above is a sensitive subject for me) Extra-curricular activities are next. What do the students do on the weekends besides study? Does the city/town/whatever have a movie theatre? Do they have other attractions like a mall, a Costco, parks, etc.? What sports are important to the local area and how often are there events to attend. Does the college/uni get many guest speakers, professors, and other important people? Are they into Homecomings (yuck)? Are there clubs and other organized activities? (Not that I generally would attend, but it's important to know.)

And finally, what are the rules. Things like how to qualify for in-state tuition, and what gets you put on the Dean's bad list. Is there a curfew? (I found two schools that required you to be in your room by ten each night and any unexcused absence got (points?!) taken away. They even monitored the halls of the college as well as the grounds for any 'immodest' relationships.
My word, talk about paranoia and serious control issues. The leaders couldn't be gods elsewhere, so they created a school where they could be... (sorry, another sensitive area.) The moment you start restricting people's freedom by trying to mold them to your beliefs (not God's!) you are going to have couples sneaking around and people breaking curfew. I just don't understand such a legalistic philosophy.

Otherwise, these are all most of the things I look at when browsing schools. You can see how it could get overwhelming once you are on to your 11th or 12th college.

Oh, and finally, (how could I forget?) where is the library? If the school doesn't have a library, however modest, then it is off my list. Thankfully most of them do have a library, and some of them have AMAZING libraries.

So that is it. And I am once again exhausted. More later.

--Moving Girl