Welcome to St Mary’s!
It wasn’t long ago that I was pouring over admissions websites hoping to help my daughters select a college that wasn’t based on school colors and attractive mascots.
If my experience can help you, I’m happy to share. Because you’re looking at St Mary’s, your child must be looking in to challenging academic programs. SMCM’s reputation for academic excellence was definitely a draw for us—Lindsey (’09) was interested in a career in child psychology and Liza (’13) is studying for a career in biology/medicine.
SMCM’s track record for acceptance to some of the top grad schools was a draw for us, but many schools are a gateway to great graduate programs—so why St Mary’s?
From day one we were invited into the St Mary’s family. Ask a question—which I did often—I got an answer quickly. The Director of Admissions, Rich Edgar, jumped on many phone calls with my questions. The head of the bio department responded to an email about AP classes within minutes. IT helped with computer purchase questions, and so on and so on. These folks let me know that my daughters would be surrounded by individuals who were working to make the college experience special. So take the question test—call the schools you’re looking at and see if these are people to count on—because your child will be counting on them.
Ok, so St. Mary’s has really smart, responsive people in charge—what about the collegiate experience? Lindsey went into her freshman year as a shy, young woman. I was happy that her classes would be intimate, with the largest freshman classes at around 35, and her core courses more in the 15-20 range, and that they were being taught by actual professors and not TAs. Her small classes offered a depth of course work beyond anything I covered in my undergrad experience, and as a freshman she started doing research with a professor that continued for all four years. It was pure pleasure to watch her present her senior SMP (St. Mary’s Project) as a bright, articulate, and poised senior. I don’t know if that growth would have happened in a larger, more impersonal program. And when it came time to write her grad school recommendations, she was well known by the faculty.
From the get go, she loved her new friends and she loved campus. Believe me, having a happy kid at college makes it so much easier to let your child out of the nest. Soon we started a ritual every couple of months where I made the 90 minute trek to campus to have lunch at the Great Room—eating really, really good food, (where else do they have Bay crabs and sushi?), and then going for a kayak outing with Lindsey. The beauty and peace of campus provided a nice balance with the demands of class work and Lindsey shared stories of school traditions—guitar gatherings at the Point beach, studying & tanning on the docks, Hallowgreens (the unofficial Halloween celebration), Mardi Greens (the unofficial Mardi Gras celebration), and so on and so on. She learned to sail, played intramural sports, took yoga class and volunteered. There was a richness of spirit and mind—I was jealous and never wanted to return home.
It was no surprise that Liza expressed interest in St. Mary’s. Liza is a serious student as well as a soccer player. She was recruited to play both D1 and D3 soccer and making the decision was initially a bit confusing. While playing D1 holds some cache, coupling that with a bio major would add lots of stress and take away from the pleasure of both. After lots of contact with the coach and a meeting with the team—a great group of athletes who check their egos out the door—Liza’s choice became easy. She finished her freshman season with lots of playing time.
How in this economy can I not mention the value that St. Mary’s offers students and families? With a husband who has an MBA, that’s always part of the equation. At St. Mary’s your child receives a stellar education, an opportunity for tremendous growth through lots of faculty interaction, a diverse, supportive student body—and it‘s affordable. We had considered some private colleges where tuition was twice of what we paid—in hindsight there was no comparison.
Yes, I am a bit of a cheerleader for St. Mary’s, but I challenge you to speak to anyone on campus and not hear the same. Needless to say, visiting lots of places will help you make your choice. Lindsey’s initial thought was that she was destined for a college of 7-10,000 students and reluctantly attended a St. Mary’s Open House. She left by saying, “I want to go here!!”—end of story, biggest and best decision she’s made so far.
So here we begin 2010, Lindsey has taken a gap year between college and grad school. She is one of the few high school friends with a job in her field—working with children with Asperger’s—and she received her first grad school acceptance today.
Feel free to get in contact with me over email if you have questions, comments, concerns about SMCM, and best to you in your search for the right fit--
Terry Sitz
btsitz@comcast.net
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