College Visit and a Little History Tour. . .

It is good to be home!  We made a whirlwind trip to Florida to visit University of Tampa for Big T.  He loved it and it was a very pretty campus with lots to offer.  The admission office is on Tampa's haunted destinations.  I overheard a student talking with the family of a prospective student and telling about the fact that the building is haunted.  That might be a draw back to some but certainly not to Big T, he loves ghost stories especially places that he can visit.   We ate in the school food court and that was really good. 

This is the admissions office that was a hotel back in the day and the train depot was right outside.

This is the haunted admissions office.

Big T and the hubbs outside the admissions office 

The backside of the admissions office and the quad.

The front porch of the admissions office 

The best Key Lime Pie Ever!!!  located in Ft Pierce Fla. 

Navy Seal Museum of Ft Pierce Fla 

Amazing place with lots of history 

The Yorktown 

Beautiful scenery we got to enjoy. 

We had such a great time and saw some beautiful scenery.  We did visit two other colleges that did not make the cut.  We drove around and spent some time in and around Tampa and it is a beautiful area.  We used to vacation in Ft Lauderdale  when I was little, I had never been to a NC or SC beach until I was a senior in high school.  This trip brought back some great memories, we did not get to go as far as Ft Lauderdale this trip but it was wonderful to be back in Florida.  I am excited that Big T is thinking about going to UT.  

We toured the Navy Seal museum in Ft Pierce and it was very interesting.  Lots of history and the hubbs and Big T loved it.  We had the best seafood there also and did a little visit to the beach there.

College Tours and What I Have Learned. . .

Sprat had said on numerous occasions that he did not want to go to a big school.  I thought it was important for him to visit a large campus and a small campus so that he would be sure that is what he wanted.  I picked a small campus that was close to us for our first visit.  Sprat fell in love with it, the most appealing thing was the 10 minute walk from dorm to class.  The draw back of smaller schools is that they may not have the major that your student is looking for.   This first campus tour set the level that all other tours would have to meet or exceed to be on his list of prospects.   This first tour was awesome because we actually met the Vice President of the University, he came in a sat with Sprat and I while we waited for our tour.  He was genuinely interested in what Sprat was going to major in and where he might go to school.  The one thing that stood out from this visit with the Vice President, he told us to pay attention to how the different schools treat you as a prospective student.  Do they care about the student's success or do they just care about the money.  That has gone with me and with Sprat to each visit.  We have paid attention to how they treated us as prospective students.  Our next visit was to a larger campus, here we were treated like a number and shuttled through just like one of the herd.  Sprat was not impressed with this University and there was no attempt to impress us with what they had to offer.  I knew going in that Sprat was not interested here but they did not know that.  Our third tour was another smaller campus, not as small as the first campus but smaller than the large Universities.   We were treated like dignitaries visiting another country here.  We received the red carpet treatment, we were driven around in a golf cart to visit the instructional buildings, dorm rooms, and the campus.  We had our interview first with an admissions counselor who wanted to make sure Sprat knew about every opportunity they had for him.  They also talked about scholarships he might be eligible for  and also told us about other places to look for scholarships.  In my eyes this University cares about their students and wants them to succeed, because if the student succeeds then the University succeeds.   They also gave us the contact information for the admissions counselor and told us to contact them if we had any questions or concerns.  That is the first time any of our tours gave us this type of information.   

The last tour I did not get to go on.  It was Sprat and the Hubbs alone.  That is kind of scary.  I sent my questions and all the things I wanted to know and just hoped that the hubbs would ask those questions.  This was another smaller University, it is a little closer than the others.   Even though this was a smaller University they behaved just like the "big boys."  The hubbs said all they talked about was how much money was required and when you had to pay it.  They do not offer the scholarship opportunities the previous University did.  Sprat was not impressed with any part of this University and neither was my hubby.  He said they were treated like a herd of cattle and there was not red carpet feel at this one.  The other thing that troubled me was that only 20% of the students were in state students and I am sorry I have a problem with Universities that only take a very small portion of students from their own home state.  

I do not need to be treated like a queen but I do want to be treated special since we are considering paying a great deal of money for a top notch education.   We do not have any other tours on the calendar right now because Sprat is pretty serious about school number three.   We will wait and see how the summer goes with his online class at our community college.  I think he will apply to school number one and school number three.  

We will have to wait and see though, you know how teenagers are and how they change their minds.

Stay tuned for the college search and application process. 

College Tours. . .

Went on another college tour yesterday, to my Alma mater.  We have plans to go to the hubbs Alma mater next week and one other school and that is all we have.  Sprat wants to go somewhere small, where he want be in an English class of 300+ students.  He is a lot like his mama, even if he does not want to admit it.  I picked my college because at the time I wanted to go to pharmacy school and I wanted small classes.  Obviously I did not go to pharmacy school but, I did like the small class size and the small campus and I think I am doing ok with my biology degree.  I must admit, I felt proud to be back on campus and I felt proud that my son may attend my college.
It was funny, on the way home Sprat fell asleep and the hubbs and I were talking and the hubbs got a little misty at the thought that our oldest is growing up and will be moving on.  I do not think he has thought about it seriously before yesterday.  It hit him right in the face as we were riding on the golf cart across campus looking at all the buildings, touring the library and the dorm.  Our baby is growing up and will be going off to college in a year.  Oh Boy!!  Did I really just say that?
This was an interesting visit, I do not think I went on a visit before I attended.  I just applied and went, the kids now get to interview prospective colleges to see if that is where they want to go.  I did a drive through on the way to the beach with my parents and said, yeah I think I would like to go here and then applied.  I like the interview process, the college sort of helps the student find them selves and sometimes figure out what they want to major in.  Our interview yesterday may have helped Sprat really decide what he wants to do.  I was very impressed with what they have to offer in the way of helping the student find work after graduation and the opportunities that will be available to him while he is there.  I think this college moved up to number one.
We have two more to do in a week or so and then I think he will be ready to make up his mind.  Oh, and let us not forget the Prom in four more weeks.  Stay tuned.. . .

College Prep and Other Stuff. . .

Preparing to send a kid off to college is no easy task.  Sprat is two years away from going to college but there are still things that have to be done at this stage.  Sprat is supposed to be preparing by taking classes and being involved in clubs and the community during these couple of years before applying to college.  Our high school offers many AP and Honors classes for the kids preparing for college.  They changed things up this year and required the parents and students to attend an information session about the AP classes.  If you did not come to this meeting your student could not apply to take the AP classes.  I agree that parents have to be involved and that both parent and child should be aware of the commitment required to do well in these classes but, I think this may be a little far reaching.  The students were also required to sit in on a talk by the teacher about what ever class they were interested in.  If they did not sit in on that session then they were not allowed to apply for that AP class.  I say "apply" because they made the students write an essay on why they thought they deserved to be in this particular class and what they were going to do to excel in that class.   Again, I think this is just a little over the top for a high school.  They have now scared my kid to death about taking AP classes.   I thought the whole point of our education system was to encourage our kids to learn and want to excel and want to do their best.  Our high school seems to be discouraging our kids at every turn.  I wonder what would happen if all 450 students in my sons' class did not sign up for a single AP class?  I know that won't happen because the parents in our high school have been brain washed to follow the pack.  

Sprat is so afraid of taking those courses, he is afraid he will not do well and it will hurt his GPA.   So, instead of encouraging our kids to stretch their limits our school is trying to squelch them.   I am trying to encourage Sprat to stretch his limits but he is afraid because of what the administrators have told him.   He is taking honors classes, so that will help.  

Sprat will be a junior this year and this is the year to start applying for some scholarships.  We still have a few more tours to do when I can work them in.  Then he will start actually deciding on where he wants to go and start filling out those applications.  He already knows of two schools he does not want to go to, one because it is too big the other because it is in the mountains and is very cold in the winter.  How is that for choosing a college?   Everyone has their own criteria I guess.   At least he has an idea of what he wants and does not want.   I found this giant book of scholarships at my local used bookstore and it has a lot of scholarships that kids can apply for and some do not require essays.  There is one in there that only requires the kid be over six foot two inches in height.  There is another one for kids that are left handed, I cannot remember if that one requires an essay or not.  

By the time I get Sprat ready to go off to college I should be an expert on this stuff and Big T should be a breeze.  Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!!!!!!

Stay tuned lots going on. . .   The hubbs made salsa last week and feel another batch to come. . .

Update Tuesday. . .

Sprat came home from camp on Saturday and I spent most of the day airing out the funk.  Washed all grades of laundry and used almost an entire can of Lysol on what I could not put in the washer.  He had fun and I guess that is the important part.  He swears he took two showers a day but, I am not sure I believe all that.
We were treated to a great baseball game by my brother-in-law and his wife on Sunday after Church.  We had awesome seats and all you can eat food and ice cream and we were in the shade.  Shade was pretty important on Sunday.  We had several foul balls hit out way and scared the life out of me.  My head is a magnet for foul balls.  Every game we have ever been to, at least one if not more foul balls have almost hit me in the head.  My dear hubby has saved me on more that one occasion, by mere inches.   We had upper deck seats for this game and they also gave us wine and beer passes for the bar.  The hubbs and I rarely drink but when it is free and you have a driver we might indulge.  The over 21's got a different colored arm band for the bar.   The young man that was giving us our arm bands gave all of the adults a band without asking our age.  Big T of course he did not ask because he knew he was too young but, he asked Sprat if he was 21 and wanted an arm band.   Ughhhhh, Noooooo!!!   I guess because Sprat is tall he looks older than he is but he does not look 21, that of course is a Mom's opinion.   He is only sixteen.
Yesterday was College tour day for Sprat and I.  We took a road trip with a good friend and her son that is good friends with Sprat.   Our friend is interested in going to this College, Sprat not so much.  I wanted Sprat to see this campus because it is a larger campus than the one we went to earlier this year.  He needed to see that on some campuses that you cannot just walk out of your dorm and right into your classroom or be at your classroom with-in five minutes.   The food that this larger campus has to offer did intrigue him, they have really good places for the kids to eat on campus and they are covered by the meal plan.  It is a much larger city so there are more things to do around the campus and I did like that they offered a bus system for the students to get around and all they had to do was show their student ID.   Before the visit Sprat was sure he did not want to go to this particular College but after, he was not all that sure anymore.   That is the big reason we are going on all of these tours and visiting the different campuses because you just do not know until you see it for yourself.   I am amazed at the different perks that are offered to the students as well.  We had fun and it was really nice to be able to visit this College with friends.

Sprat listening intently at the College information session.

He really hates having his picture taken.

My very handsome boys at the game.

This was where the foul ball landed behind us.

I Like the Small Campus. . .

We had a great time this weekend.  Met with the Vice President of the college, that was a surprise.   I would wager a guess that the Vice President of NC State would not sit down with a prospective student.  I was very impressed with the campus and all of the student perks and the people.   The student that showed us around was great.  At one point when we were walking across campus, I asked Sprat what he thought about everything.  I expected a smarmy teen answer but, he said he liked the campus and the fact it was smaller.  One thing the Vice President told us was that when doing the college tour thing to pay attention to how the people associated with the college treat you.  He said he took one of his kids on a tour of their dream college and they were treated just like a number.  I am sure that is why he was visiting with each family on the tour personally.  He knew what it felt like to be treated as a number.  All of our other college visits will be compared to this one and I am not sure how they will measure up.  Stay tuned, several more trips to come before a decision is made.  We hope to go to a larger University in June.  

Bless Big T, he got car sick on the way to the college and I had to call my mom to come get him so Sprat and I could do our tour.  Thank goodness mom and dad do not live far from the college, I told Sprat that would be a perk too.  He could go and visit with Gee and Poppy any time he wanted and I know she would feed him.   Below are two of my pictures from our tour;  the first one is the Honors College dorm and the second is  the clock tower on campus near their student center.  

College Visits. . .

Sprat is a sophomore in high school and between football, school and the orthodontist I am afraid we will have little room for college tours next year.  We have our first college tour tomorrow, it is a small private Christian school.  We are starting with a small school so that we will have perspective when we visit a larger campus this summer.  Sprat is still not sure what he wants to major in so we will be visiting many different places.  The one place he is sure he does not want to go is Appalachian State, he hates cold weather.   The way things are going so far, it is a plus that we at least know one place he positively does not want to go.
Yes, we are starting early but, I much prefer to start early than to be late to the party.   I hope visiting a college campus will get him excited about the possibility of going off to college and being on his own.  I will share some pictures of our visit over the weekend so check back.  I will also post a follow up about what we learned on this visit.
This particular school holds some family ties;  my Dad went to this college for a brief time before going on to NC State, one of my uncles played football and graduated from this college, and one of my aunts taught at this college.
By the time all of this is said and done Big T will know everything he needs to know, and then some, about going to college.    Stay tuned. . .