Looking for a good college

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Camden Northsider

Based on your input, I would really suggest checking out my own alma mater, the University of Minnesota - Morris. It's consistently rated as one of the top public liberal arts colleges in the nation as well as in the 'top' lists of best educational values in the midwest (having transferred there from a private college, I realized that I was getting a much better education for less than half the annual cost of my previous private school's tuition). The school is small (app. 2000) so has a very good professor to student ratio and 1 on 1 academic advising, and it has an excellent psychology/ social science department and faculty. Partying isn't much of a concern there - of course kids anywhere know how to have fun, but besides there not being a whole lot to do, a lot of the students are pretty academics-oriented (as an example, most of the athletics in the past have been generally pretty laughable and not well-attended, but this may have changed in recent years).

It is in a rural small town environment that can feel a little isolated at times, but regarding your concern to have your daughter experience diversity, UMM has generally been considered one of the most diverse (per capita) colleges in the Midwest and there are lots of activities/ events sponsored by the various student unions (e.g. Asian Student Union, Black Student Union, etc.) throughout the year.

I looked into Morris back in the dark ages when I went to college. It was and is a great school. It was less expensive for me to go to St. Ben's with scholarships and aid though. I have several friends that graduated from Morris and they all loved it there.

[ozzie679]

Originally Posted by Slig

If your daughter does decide to go to a school like CSB (College of Saint Benedict) I recommend she goes there all 4 years. I graduated from Saint John's in 2004 and I don't remember any students at either school transferring from a community college for their junior year. The majority of the students there come from wealthy families so community college is not part of most of their vocabularies. Also, I would say most of my lifelong friends were made during the first two years, so I would argue those two are the most important.

Are you kidding me? Half of the kids out at St John's are Central Mn farm and country kids. I know there is a small element of wealth, but you are not painting a true picture.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by ozzie679

Are you kidding me? Half of the kids out at St John's are Central Mn farm and country kids. I know there is a small element of wealth, but you are not painting a true picture.

Very true. Something like 80% of all CSB/SJU students receive financial aid. Yes, there are some pretty wealthy students but the most are your typical middle class kids.