HOGGER GOES SOUTH - DAY 3 - (FLORIDA TECH)

Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech)

Melbourne, FL

Mascot: Panthers

www.fit.edu

Tourguide:  Molly ‘16

Hometown: Buffalo, NY

Major: Marine Biology

Why did you choose this institution? I also applied to Tampa and Eckard but chose Florida Tech because the marine biology program was so strong.

The most obvious and striking element of the Florida Tech campus was the botanical gardens, which make up a large majority of the physical space of the actual campus.

Despite being the scene of incredible natural beauty, Florida Tech has one of the largest undergraduate physics programs in the country.

The director of admissions encouraged us to seek out students who are curious to learn about the universe and what life might be out there.  He strongly suggested that Florida Tech is the kind of place they will be surrounded by tons of like-minded students.

There was a stark contrast between the classic engineering buildings and the natural beauty of the incredible gardens, but it seemed like a juxtaposition that could actual be of great benefit to the engineering and physics students. 

I really can't imagine a more beautiful location to study physics!

HOGGER GOES SOUTH - DAY 2 - (STETSON)

Stetson University

DeLand, FL

www.stetson.edu

Stetson is the oldest private institution in Florida.  It has a population of 2,500 undergraduate students and is anticipating growing to 3,000 in the next few years.

 Mascot:  Officially: "The Hatters" Unofficially, "John B." for John B. Stetson, the Philadelphia hat maker who gave generously in 1889 to financially stabilize and support the institution   The embodiment of the mascot at events and on clothing though is the most famous hatter of them all, John B. Stetson, wearing his famous Stetson Hat.
 

http://www.gohatters.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205365332

Student Name: Ben ‘16

Where are you from? Windermere, FL

What is your major?

Biology and Environmental Science (Honors College)

Why did you choose this institution?

“Actually my first choice was Davidson College (NC) where my brother is a student. I’ve spent a lot of time at Davidson visiting my brother, and I really was impressed by the prestige and students it attracts. I applied to Stetson as only of my safety schools. When I was accepted to Stetson, I was also informed that I had been admitted in the Honors College. I decided to attend a special event on campus for students accepted into the Honors College. Needless to say, I was blown away by the quality of the professors, opportunities, and fellow accepted Honors  College students, that i could not turn down their offer of admission.”

What are the benefits of being part of the Stetson Honors College?

- Freshmen year we all live together in the “Honors House” and immediately became a close cohort.

-Stetson will wave many of the general education requirements, which I benefited from, because it made it very easy for me to double major. I may even pick up a minor.

-The opportunity to design your own major. Some examples:Feeder Management, Non-profit Management, and Art Restoration.

What clubs and organizations are you affiliated with at Stetson?

-President and Co-founder of the Bee Keeping Club- the bees arrive in 2 weeks!

-Co-founder of the Improve Club

-Member of Hat and Harvest (an organic gardening club)

-Habitat for Humanity

-Intramural Soccer and Ultimate Frisbee teams

The little differences from institution to institution are the things that often stand out the most for me.  One of those awesome little things about Stetson is that it is pet friendly.  Students are allowed to have pets with them in the dorm, so long as they are less than 30 lbs.  Gus would be excited about their progressive stance on species-acceptance, but saddened by their size-ism. http://www.stetson.edu/administration/residential-life/residence-halls/stetson-cove.php


The Business school at Stetson is a large source of pride and also offers and MBA and Executive MBA program. I had the chance to pop into the business building, and it was gorgeous in and out. Among the most popular majors at Stetson are Business and Psychology. Stetson also has a highly selective audition based music program and offers a pretty unique comprehensive Russian Studies major.

 

I have felt incredibly spoiled by the access we have had at many of the institutions we are visiting.  Usually, when I just drop into a school while on vacation, or swing by on a weekend to meet up with an admissions rep, it is a pretty low key visit.  Because all of these visits have been planned for months, presidents of colleges keep dropping in to meet us.  President Dr. Libby has been at Stetson for 4 years and is known for the immediate impact she has had upon environmental sustainability, and upon Stetson's recent surge of investment in fundraising, facilities and faculty.  Students also remarked that she seems particularly adept at being respectful of Stetson's past Baptist affiliation (until 1995), while continuing Stetson's development as a premier, private, academic institution in the South.   

While I am not the kind of counselor who over-values "local climate" as one of the most important criteria for college selection, I must admit that each time I see a team practicing outside in shorts at 5pm in February, I do get a little jealous.  And it is nice to be getting up and running outside each day!

This is Sophie. She lives on the Stetson campus in a dorm.  Doesn't she look happy?

HOGGER GOES SOUTH - DAY 1 - (ERAU)

EMBRY- RIDDLE
AERONAUTIC
UNIVERSITY
Daytona Beach, FL
daytonabeach.erau.edu/
Mascot: The Eagles








Student Name:   Zach

Where are you from?:  Oklahoma City, OK

What is your major?
Aeronautic Space Engineering
Minor- High Performance Vehicle
(and very active member of the Rocket Club)

Why did you choose this institution?
I applied to USNA, Michigan, Notre Dame, Embry- Riddle and Purdue. I was accepted to all schools except for the Naval Academy because I am colorblind. The USNA was my first choice, but Embry-Riddle was a close second. I knew I wanted to Aeronautic Engineering and Embry-Riddle has the #1 program rated by US News & Report. I also thought it would be great to go to college 3 miles from Daytona Beach!

What is an Embry-Riddle tradition?
Every time a jet lands on our tarmat the entire school rushes to the airfield. The same thing happens when a rocket is launched from Kennedy Space Station.

What do you want to do after Embry-Riddle?
I want to work for Rolls-Royce. They interview on campus every year, I love high performance engines!
 
There is a strong military presence on campus. Zach’s roommate is ROTC and a Homeland Security major. About 30% of the student population are US military veterans. Other interesting stats the student body is 80% male and there are over 90 countries represented on campus.











I must admit that this is the first aeronautical university I have visited.  I have visited many engineering programs at many institutions, and to be honest, I was pleasantly surprised by the manner in which it still felt like a cohesive campus despite its clear emphasis on aeronatics.  There was also a very clear engineer pride on this campus, ranging from clever signage, to prominent display of the supercomputers/server rooms, and in the distinct manner in which students were genuinely proud of their focus and excitement about their field of study.

ERAU was also fascinating in that it owns 80 planes, and is located within sight of the Daytona International Speedway.

HOGGER GOES SOUTH - DAY 1 - (FLAGLER)

Flagler College

St. Augustine, FL

http://www.flagler.edu/

Mascot: The Saints

Flagler was certainly one of the colleges that I was most intrigued about as I was preparing to attend the Sunshine Tour.  I have met a number of Flagler Grads throughout my life, the school has enough name recognition that if you mention it among professionals, everyone generally nods their head.  But when pressed further, I don't know a lot of people with much in-depth experience.  It is exactly this kind of familiar unfamiliarity that makes a college visit so useful.

We had the pleasure of meeting the president of the college early in our trip.  He actually gave us the Financial Aid talk, and it became immediately apparent that he has a firm grasp on what goes on in all elements of Flagler College.  That is unsurprising as it also became apparent that he has been affiliated with the school for 43 of the 45 years it has been in existence.  I think that even though he never had the opportunity to graduate from Flagler (it didn't exist in time for him to do so) that he deserves to be considered "One of the Saints!"













Flagler has with great intention, attempted to focus on affordability for students.  Despite the trend across America to allow tuition to rise dramatically, the total cost of tuition, room and board at Flagler is still under $25,000.

http://www.flagler.edu/admission-aid/tuition-fees.html

This reality has placed Flagler in many of the the "Top Value" institution top-ten rankings over the last few decades.

The campus had an amazing Spanish Mission architecture to it.  Many of the buildings were strikingly beautiful. It is named after benefactor Henry Flagler, the founder of Standard Oil and the East Florida railroad, and many of the earliest campus buildings are renovations of the once famous Ponce de Leon Hotel. The college is nestled in St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city in Florida, and the impact of this old city on the architecture and style of the campus is obvious, refreshing and comforting.

In the way that many "small New England towns" impact the manner in which a campus feels "like-home," Flagler matches and engages its larger community in an unique an striking way.

As much fun as I am having I must admit that every time I see a large fuzzy beast, I think of Gus, my Husky/German Shepherd, who had the pleasure of accompanying me on my travels this summer.  Although I am certain that he enjoying hiking more in the snow, than he would be playing on the beach volley ball courts (all these schools have beach volley ball courts), I must admit to wishing he could be here.

HOGGER GOES SOUTH - ON THE ROAD AGAIN

I'm BACK.  Back on the road again.  Back on the blog again.  After such a positive experience this summer, I couldn't help but say "Yes," when I was invited back out on the road to see a few more schools.  For those College Counselors out there who are unfamiliar with the colleges of Florida, there is an amazing program called "The Sunshine Tour."  It consists of ten days in February in Florida, familiarizing yourself with the colleges all your students keep talking about because they happen to exist in a place with a lot less snow, and a lot more sunshine.  It is a busy time of year in the office, but I packed the laptop, some sunscreen, and shoveled my way to the airport just in time to make my gate!

DAY 27 - HOME AGAIN

We made it back to NMH, after an amazing trip.  Thank you so much to everyone who followed us on our trip.  I'll be updating as the summer continues (as I have a few more trips around New England that might involve me dropping in on some of my favorite campuses), but be sure to check back in and email me with any questions you might have.

DAY 26 - NOTRE DAME

Helmets that immediately say: NOTRE DAME
to any College Football Fan

Even Moses seemed proud of ND
proclaiming "We're Number One" 

Notre Dame du Lac /
Notre Dame University
South Bend, Indiana
http://www.nd.edu/

Mascot:

The Fighting Irish
(Embodied by the Leprechaun)

The Largest Church On Campus -
STUNNING Interior

Growing up Irish Catholic, Notre Dame was one of those schools that I felt like I knew about at birth.  My two sisters attended Boston College, though, so Notre Dame eventually transformed from famous pinnacle of Catholic Higher Education, into “the rival”.  It was exciting though, to finally step foot on campus.  The first thing I was struck by was the incredible size and scale of the campus.  Notre Dame has a lake, a golf course, and all the athletic facilities right on campus, and there is a lot of physical space between buildings, a large number of grassy quads and open spaces.  Approximately 8,400 undergraduate students and 3,400 graduate students are on campus in any given year.

Notre Dame's Famed Golden Dome, which inspired the
Golden Domes on its athletes

The second thing that struck me is that every building resembled a church.  The Gothic Architecture was striking, and a yellow/gold brick is the building material of almost every building.  It was visually impressive, without seeming over the top.

Notre Dame Football was also of obvious importance on the campus.  There were banners and statues everywhere proudly displaying the devotion of the Fighting Irish to their storied football franchise. 

I was glad to see Notre Dame.  Its high quality academic product, combined with its incredible history, and its dedication to social justice were previously known elements to me.  But setting foot on campus helped me better understand the beauty and powerful visual experience of being in South Bend. 

TOUCHDOWN GUSSY!
in front of
TOUCHDOWN JESUS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where next?

Another stop at Annie and Jeff's and then back to Massachusetts

 

DAY 25 - ON THE ROAD

Our drive continued in earnest over the course of the last few days.  We sailed through Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois with a sense of purpose, striving to make our arrival date back in Massachusetts.  

We did make one unannounced stop.  Our very good friends were headed cross country on their own trip, relocating from Groton School to the Fountain Valley School in Colorado, and we happened to be driving on the exact same route through Dunlap, Iowa, and we were spoiled to stop and have a brief but lovely reunion.

Route 80 through Iowa also is home to the single largest truckstop in the world. 









Crossing the Mississippi for the second time in a month was also a striking moment.  It is always fascinating to think what great ease we travel with in the modern era.  To cross the Mississippi during a lifetime was an adventure only a few decades ago. 

This distinction was lost on Gus.  He was mostly just annoyed that we didn't stop to swim in it this time.

 I am not even sure he noticed that we had gone by.  He was too busy eating a box of Ginger Snaps that Craig had left halfway open.