Dear Prospective St. Mary’s Parents,
My wife and I have been through this college admission process twice in the past 4 years, so we have some experience. In regard to St. Mary’s College, our experience has been outstanding. From the first open house in April of 2004, Matt wanted to attend St. Mary’s College, and I wished that I could go back to college at St. Mary’s, also. We visited St. Mary’s on a beautiful, spring day, and we were impressed by the beauty of the setting of the college, but even more we were impressed by the faculty. The English professor, who spoke to the parents and prospective students, gave such a great speech about St. Mary’s education that we knew it was a special school! Matt was so happy when he received the acceptance letter, and he made a great decision to attend St. Mary’s College.
Matt is now a junior and an English major. He just returned from his fall semester abroad where he studied in Oxford, England. This was a life changing experience for both Matt and his parents. He grew into an independent adult who learned to live in a different city and country without his parents. As parents, you cannot ask for more from St. Mary’s College! Matt is well rounded as well as well educated. He has interests in art, and he has been very involved in intramural sports. He plans to continue his English studies after graduating, and his dream is to teach English at St. Mary’s College.
We live in northern Baltimore County, and St. Mary’s location is convenient, but Matt does not come home very often. St. Mary’s College is not a college where everyone leaves on the weekend. It is a great place to receive a liberal arts education where the students are expected to work very hard but also have a social life on campus without the Greek influence.
Please realize that the decision to attend a certain college is not always a good first decision as it was in Matt’s case. Our son, Jon, decided to attend a liberal arts college in Pennsylvania in 2007, and he has already transferred to another college for his second semester of 2008. Our advice is to have a second choice available, if the first choice does not work out. Unfortunately, in Jon’s case he never applied to St. Mary’s College, so when he told us that he was unhappy we did not have the time to start a new application process with St. Mary’s. The good news is that he had been accepted at his second choice, and when we contacted that college they used his previous application for his transfer application and accepted Jon as a transfer with the scholarship he had been offered earlier.
As parents, we try to help our children make the right decisions, but in the long run the student has to be happy with his college life to be successful! Susan and I can only tell you that our experience with St. Mary’s College has been wonderful, and that Matt is very happy and successful.
Please feel free to contact us,
Bill and Susan Decker
410-472-3124
<-- Back to More Parent Letters
