Show Notes
On today’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) hosts the first installment of a new series called Regional Spotlights, which will bring on college counseling experts who have deep history or knowledge of the exciting college options from (and cultural nuances of) a particular geographic region.
We’re kicking off this series with Colleges in The South. Our Southern specialist and special guest today is CEG’s very own Renee Ferrerio.
Renee began her career more than 30 years ago, first as a public-school counselor and more recently as the Director of College Counseling at The O’Neal School. She is Co-Chair for North Carolina’s State and Area Initiatives Committee and might be considered by some as a counselor-fly in connoisseur, having participated in dozens of visit programs at various colleges and universities across the country.
On the episode you’ll hear Renee and Tom discuss:
The myths and realities of going to college in The South
Admissions trends at Southern flagship public universities
How to make studying in The South more affordable, including special scholarship opportunities
Hidden gems and unique, specialized programs that you may not have heard of before
Our hope is that, for students and families, spotlighting some of these “little things” about studying in the South will help you see that there may even be bigger things in store for you there than you originally anticipated… beyond BBQ.
Play-by-Play
0:24 – Welcome & Introductions
2:57 – Why are we doing regional spotlights?
3:56 – Why should geography be a factor in a student’s list-making process?
7:26 – What are some cultural realities students should keep in mind as they’re putting together a college list with Southern schools?
15:57 – What are some misconceptions about Greek Life?
24:03 – What should students applying to public flagships know?
31:06 – College affordability in the South
39:50 – Studying STEM in the South
47:51 – Rapid-fire Southern Spotlights
48:34 – Schools in Florida
55:02 – Schools in Georgia
59:16 – Schools in South Carolina
1:02:45 – Schools in North Carolina
1:08:31 – Schools in Tennessee
1:10:39 – Schools in Texas
1:12:01 – Schools in Virginia
1:16:26 – Wrap Up & Closing Thoughts
Resources
Scholarships in the South:
Show transcript
Tom Campbell 0:08
Tom Howdy, everyone, and welcome back to the College Essay Guy podcast. My name is Tom Campbell, and I'm college essay guy's community manager and a co host of the College Essay Guy podcast, along with Ethan Sawyer, the College Essay Guy. How many times can you say College Essay Guy in one sentence? Because I think I just think I just broke a record. Anyway. My background is in college admissions and college counseling, particularly at Pomona College and College of the Holy Cross. And I've also worked as a college counselor at an independent school in Seattle. Really, really excited today to be kicking off the first installment of a new series that we're developing called regional spotlights, where we're bringing on various college counseling experts who have deep history or knowledge of the exciting college options and the cultural nuances of a particular geographic region. We're kicking things off in a big way with colleges in the south, and our southern specialist who's joining me on the podcast today is a very special guest and college essay guy's very own Renee Ferrario. Renee began her career more than 30 years ago, first as a public school counselor and more recently as the Director of College Counseling at the O'Neill school. She's co chair for the North Carolina State and area initiatives committee, and might be considered by some as a college counselor fly in connoisseur, having participated in dozens of visit programs at various colleges across the country, but definitely with a deep focus in the South. On this episode, you'll hear myself and Renee discuss the myths and realities of going to college in the south, admission trends at Southern public flagship universities, how to make studying in the south more affordable, including special scholarship opportunities as well as hidden gems and unique specialized programs that you may not have heard before. Our hope is that for students and families and counselors, spotlighting some of these little things about studying in the South will help you see that there may be even bigger things in store for you there than you originally anticipated, beyond barbecue. We hope you enjoy.
All right, so welcome back everyone to the college as the guy podcast, or if you're tuning in for the first time, you are in for a sweet tea of a treat. If I Tuesday so myself, I'm glad you're here, and I'm also glad that it's not just me rattling along as usual. I'm joined by a very special guest, another CEG staff member, who I would say very much brings Spitfire energy to the to the party. I don't know if you know she would agree with that, but probably I've been told that time or time again, Renee, want to go ahead and introduce yourself. I'm
Renee Ferrerio 2:32
glad to be here. My name is Renee Ferrario, and this is actually my third year at CEG as a college counselor, my first school counselor position was in Atlanta, and I worked in the Fulton County School System for over about 20 years. I then decided to pursue something that I knew that I would like the best, which is just working on college counseling. So
Tom Campbell 2:59
Renee, the reason that we're here today as folks who work with students and families and helping them put together their college lists and think about how to finagle and approach the behemoth of us, colleges and universities, the 4000 or so that are out there, we figure one of the biggest initial questions that people are going to be asking when putting this list together is where so we queue College is a guy's new podcast series, which is a regional spotlight on different parts of the US and the realities and some of the pros, cons, benefits of attending college in certain different regions of this beautiful nation of ours, Right? Yes. So as a resident expert of the South, I'm very, very thrilled to have your expertise and your insight on so many different schools in the south. So before we kind of dive into some individual school spotlights, I'd love to kind of talk a little bit about how geography can be a can and should be a factor in a student's list, making process in putting together their college list, right? I know, for example, at a school that I used to work at in Washington State, I would always have kids who would say, I want to study. You know, one of the biggest things that they would mention right from the beginning a I want a school that's prestigious. So, you know, let's just get that out of the way and be I'm really interested in schools either on the West Coast, particularly California, maybe still in Washington and the Northeast and basically everything else. I was like, what about all these, like, you know, 45 or so other states that you are just not even touching or considering so in general, you know, I think especially when students are not familiar with the place, and if they've lived most of their lives, there are 17 or so years of life in a certain region, it can be really intimidating to consider going somewhere else. Right? So Renee, in your work as a college counselor, what would you say are some common talking points or considerations that you put out to students and families when they're thinking about what. Air to study and which regions to spotlight, and I guess, how geography can play a role in in your college search?
Renee Ferrerio 5:07
That's a really good question. And you know, here at the O'Neill school, I am in the south, so, you know, we'll have students typically looking for schools here in the south. But when I'm working with CG students, a lot of times I'm, oh, I'm getting students from all over the place, and it might even be international. And I find it funny, because the first thing we do is a college list questionnaire, and the students will put down their, you know, the parameters that they're looking for in colleges, and some of the colleges that are already on their list, and some of the absolute no's, or, you know, these are, I don't want this in a college, and I'll see a lot of times I don't want to go anywhere in the south, but then you look at their list, and they'll have Vanderbilt or Duke or UNC study how
Tom Campbell 5:48
that works, isn't it? Right? Right? Because I
Renee Ferrerio 5:50
somehow they forget this is in the south. And then they'll say, Well, I don't want anything too hot, but I would like UT, Austin or University of Miami. And I, I remind them, well, those are both in the south and very hot, and the others you know are, they're all in the south. So if you're willing to look in the South for this school, maybe I could make some suggestions that are quite nearby that would also fit the bill, that might not be as super selective as we're trying to diversify the list. I mean, the South does have a lot to offer. In fact, one of the reasons that I moved here to North Carolina from the state of Georgia was because of the college options, because I have a daughter who was a high school student at the time, and I was thinking, you know, thinking a few years forward, where would she go? And in Georgia, there are a lot of options, but I didn't know that they were good fits for her specifically. And moving here, she had a lot more options. So I like to definitely throw those on students list to look into and research. And a lot of times they'll be pleasantly surprised. I, you know, I can't get them to necessarily come down here and do a college visit unless they're already heading down here, but if I can get them to at least go online and do like a virtual visit or something like that, a lot of times they'll say, Well, that's I didn't really know about that, or, you know, it even, but it even happens here at O'Neill, where I'll have students, and they're like, I'm only going to apply to UNC or NC State. And then I say things like, Well, what about UNC Asheville, or, you know, have you heard of you know, what about Davidson? Or I'll come up with other schools or Elon or something. And then, and then they say, Oh, I hadn't thought about that. So it can go even for students in the south,
Tom Campbell 7:23
totally, yeah, even in your own yard. You may be surprised. What would you say are some of like, the biggest cultural realities or things that students should be keeping in mind as they're putting together a college list with Southern schools, whether those, whether those are those large, flagship public some of those smaller schools, like a roads. What are some things that you think you know by and large, students are going to find at many different college campuses and during their research. And then maybe some of the things that students may think that they know about the region, from the media, from movie portrayals, things like that, that may not necessarily be the whole story about school options in that part of the US,
Renee Ferrerio 8:00
right. Okay, so, I mean, I would say as far as misconceptions. I mean, I feel like, and some of these misconceptions even occur here in the south, but thinking like, you know, I University of Alabama is so easy to get in, or I can get into the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, no problem. And you can just kind of walk in. It's all these the schools in the Northeast are the ones that are hard. And just to let you know that, you know, we have super selective schools here in the south, very, very selective. Vanderbilt Duke, I mean, I can go on, and we also have schools that are a little bit easier to get in, and we have schools that have very high admit rates, just like every other state in the in the union. There's also, I think, a misconception that if you're attending school in the South that it's going to be very conservative, and just like any other state in the union, you could ask me as a student, or if you fill out your questionnaire and you say, I'm looking for a very conservative political environment, I can find a school like that here in the south, for sure, as well as I could find numerous very progressive liberal environments. So I think that what the misconceptions that people have about the South, that it's a certain way we're pretty much like any other state in the union. You can find big schools, small schools, liberal schools, conservative schools, party schools, athletic and very sports oriented in Greek schools, versus not having that as much. And so I think it's really in finding the fit, as we always go back to as college counselors, that if you dive deep into what you're looking for, you're going to find gems. You're going to find schools out there that fit what you're looking for in every state. And I think one of the things about the South, at least I can say for North Carolina, and I've heard this once before, and I don't know where I heard the statistics, but for North Carolina itself, I heard that the public colleges here are the best return on investment in the country if you're a North Carolina resident, and the other one is California if you're if you're a California resident. But the flip side of that is if you're an out of state student trying to come to North Carolina, and it's hard to get into some of the schools here for out of state but. The price point is not so bad, because our cost of living is a little bit better. So even if you were going to live in a dorm the first year, then you want to live in an apartment off campus, you know, you're going to be able to find affordable housing, which, if you're in Boston or you're in Chicago, you're New York, maybe not so much. You know, affordable housing may not be very accessible in some of these larger cities in the northeast, or in Portland or Seattle, or any of those other large cities out there somewhere in California. So in as far as misconceptions, I think that some of them, but as some of the realities and exactly some of the things that I ran into, I would say mostly for the large flagship publics. A lot of them, if not all of them, are going to be pretty big in Greek life, some bigger than others, like Alabama and Auburn, I think, win the prize, and maybe hence the Bama rush documentary that I still have to watch. You know, there is a huge football culture here in the south. There is football over the country, but I don't believe the entire town stops like, you know, anywhere else, maybe, maybe Ohio State or or some of these other Michigan State type, types of towns for football. But for the most part, the SEC and the ACC football rules down here in the south, so you attend one of those schools and you're not a big football fan, that doesn't mean you have to go to football games, but literally, the entire school, the entire town, but there's football stadiums that have 120,000 spectators. People come in from outside of town. All the alumni show up. The hotels fill up, the restaurants fill up. So you pretty much just hang out and lay low during that weekend, or you need to participate. And the Greek life kind of melds in with the with the traditions. There's going to be parties, lots of parties that weekend. Tailgating is going to go everywhere. Basketball is not far behind. I think basketball is more kind of nationwide. You know, I think more people get into basketball all over the place. But, you know, there's a lot of rivalries here. Not that they don't have rivalries in other places. But, you know, FSU University of Florida, as we mentioned when I went to the FSU University of Florida, gators versus seminals. Games can get kind of touchy, you know, out the crowd. Probably worse was F issue versus Miami. You know that? I think that's a worse rivalry. I would see fist fights breaking out. It was gonna get a little scary there. But um, and they keep going back. I mean, it's not just the four years you're in school. They'll go for the rest of their life and buy season tickets. So this is a thing. And then, you know, there's a lot of traditions here. I know, just here in North Carolina, at UNC, they have the rushing of Franklin Street. So anytime UNC beats Duke in basketball, probably they beat them in anything, they rush out into the street and basically nuts, go nuts out into the streets. Duke has a tradition. And I'm not sure whether they're going to keep this tradition up or not, but it was a tenting for the game, for the UNC game. So they would set up these tents, and what they call kayville, which was for Coach K who's now retired. So whether this will continue on, or if it is, I don't know, but the people that were in these tents, they had to stay there for weeks at a time, 24 hours. So they would take shifts. And I believe they were only allowed to go back inside if it was like below 26 degrees or something crazy. But if they stayed, then they would get first dibs on the lottery, I believe, to get their ticket. So that's, that's an insane tradition that they have. NC State, this is just here. The triangle area has the Krispy Kreme challenge. And funny story about that, I before I actually moved to North Carolina, I did the NC State fly in, and was there for three days learning all about North Carolina or NC State. And I had a friend that I met at another fly in, and he we were texting back and forth, we were both going to be on the NC State fly and he said, Hey, there they have this thing called the Krispy Kreme challenge. Do you want to run it with me? I think it's about two miles. And I said, Okay, I can do that. I'll train and get ready. Because, you know, I was a little bit younger and in much better shape at the time. I said, Yeah, I can do this. So I would run every day, get get up my stamina for my two miles. And about the about a couple days before, I got an email from Krispy Kreme, because they had right they asked you, do you want to participate? And they registered you. So I get this email that says, Oh, hi, Renee, thank you for registering for the Krispy Kreme challenge. Here's your number. This is how you pick it up, etc. And remember, this is a two and a half mile run to the donuts and two and a half mile run back. And I said, Huh? What? So five miles. So I did participate in the Krispy Kreme challenge. You're supposed to run two and a half miles pick up a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts, eat them as fast as you can, all 12 and then run back. I ran back with my donuts because while I'm gluten free and I'm not going to eat donuts anyway, but I noticed a lot of people getting kind of sick, and you kind of had to kind of navigate that as you're running back. But I did it in 15 minutes. I found my time the other day. I was kind of proud of that. Right now, I probably can't walk to the mailbox, but hey, that was like, you know, eight, nine years ago. So I participated in that. That's a huge fundraiser for the school. I mean, everybody in the town comes out as really fun. They dress up in costumes. And so if you ever get a chance to run the Christopher King challenge here in the Raleigh area, you should do that. Yeah, you're also in the south, you're probably going to see a lot of sweet tea in the dining halls, which, you know, before I moved to Tallahassee, never heard of sweet tea. I just drink on unsweet tea. There's a lot of agricultural departments in the southern schools, yes, all right. And there are some in other states as well. But there are heavy here, very heavy. I mean, UGA has an animal science, dairy science, you know, you know, there's a lot of that. And just in general, I mean, I think, I think I've covered most of what I would say are the common things that I would see, and also some of the misconceptions I might think of a few more as we go along and add them in. But yeah, I mean, I think
Tom Campbell 15:36
definitely one of the, you know, so in addition to athletics, right? The ACE athletics, agriculture, I'm trying to think another a they brought up agony, agony with the Krispy Kreme race that I am, yeah, falsely advertised as two miles, who does not equal five. I, you know, I never was a math genius, but I got that far, okay, one of the other, you know, big. And we kind of touched on this a little bit with Bama rush. Is Greek life, right? And I think something that was really interesting for me, you know, I didn't go to a school with Greek life in my work as a college counselor, often I, you know, haven't would have students who would say, like, Oh, I know, I don't want Greek life, you know. And I think there's kind of, you know, an immediate sense of exactly what it entails. And I think something that I became aware of in talking with a few friends of mine is kind of like the variety of what a sorority or a fraternity can look like. You know, for example, in 2023 like, it's not super uncommon. You know, some schools actually have like, even like, co Ed, Greek ways of operating, which is not, I would say, very common, but it does exist. And I know my friend Katie, for example, she went to school. She's from Maryland and but she went to school at Loyola, New Orleans, and she was, like, we were kind of like, you know, in Rudolph, like, the Island of Misfit Toys, like we kind of like all we were the sorority of, like, a lot of queer people, people really into, like, the arts and funky and already, you know, to begin with, we're in New Orleans, which kind of like You were mentioning how South Florida, cultural, culturally feels very different than the surrounding geographic area, right? The same can be said for New Orleans, for a lot of students, right? It does kind of have that distinct culture that does kind of pertain to the city limits. And loyal Orleans in particular, is known to be like a really big art school. A lot of into music and chef. She kind of like, you know, I met some of her sorority sisters who still live in New Orleans, and they all are, you know, one is a doula, you know, one is like, they're all kind of doing, I'd say, more eccentric and kind of outside the norm professions and just personality wise, like, they kind of were that was like, kind of like, what banded them together and Brought them community with each other. So it was basically, kind of like utilizing that model that can have kind of like a very like stereotypical image to it of rushing and whatnot, but doing it in a way that kind of like gave community and space for people who maybe didn't really feel like they wanted to be a part of kind of the traditional, you know, sorority or fraternity, right? So I don't know if you have kind of any additional thoughts or ideas around Greek life that for students who are either excited about it or worry about it, kind of what they might want to know before adding some schools to their lists and and considering it?
Renee Ferrerio 18:15
Yeah, absolutely. Tom Well, I mean, what you everything that you said is correct. And I think the thing with Greek life. I mean, I do believe there are a lot of misconceptions about and there are some things that are true. I mean, you know, there are your traditional stereotypical fraternities, mostly fraternities, probably and sororities, but a lot of the high jinks and the things you see on TV happens to mostly be fraternities that I see, you know, the hazings or the drinking, or the things that you hear that are terrible
Tom Campbell 18:43
well, but play that on the frontal lobes, exactly, the undeveloped frontal lobe. It's science. Yeah. I
Renee Ferrerio 18:50
mean, you know, I think they've done a lot, a lot of things over the years to kind of crack down on some of the things, underage drinking and so forth. I'm sure it still goes on. But there's also a lot of really good things that go on with fraternities and sororities. There's a lot of philanthropy that goes on. In fact, there are a lot of schools that have they'll have your more social 40s sororities and fraternities, and then they'll have more academic or community service based type organizations. You have schools that don't have them at all. You'll have schools that have them where they have houses on campus or just in the outskirts, and people students can live in the houses, they'll have others that have a meeting space, but you can't live so there's a lot of different variety there. There's also some of the pros are connections that you make. I mean, I know people I was not personally in one, but I know a lot of people who were her in either fraternity or sorority, who've made lifelong friends and connections for their future careers and so forth and or they still, you know, I go to the airport and I see a group of girls with their sorority outfits, and they're in their 60s and 70s, and they're like, Oh, we're doing a girls trip, you know, it's they've stayed lifelong friends. So it's really neat. I mean, some of the things that can be expensive, and especially if you were to live in. The in the house, I believe you can add a lot, another $10,000 onto your bill, probably when it comes to housing and food there. But in the south I mentioned earlier, like Alabama and Auburn, I believe actually have the two highest in the south rates of membership in Greek life. And I also believe that even if a school has a low percentage of students participating in Greek life. That doesn't mean that you won't feel it, even though you'll hear that when you go to admission session, they'll say, oh, it's only, you know, 20% but that 20% can be really loud and out there, whereas you'll have a school that might have a little bit more, but they might be more philanthropy based or more academic based, and you may not feel it as much. And then there's schools like, let's say, David said they don't have any Greek life, but they have dining clubs, I believe they're called. And so instead of a rush where you go to try to get selected for a sorority or fraternity, you get selected for your dining club. And I, from my understanding, you can't get turned away, but I'd have to go back and revisit that. And so those kind of act as sororities and fraternities, but it's a place where you go eat your meals together. You don't live in the dining club, so there's some variations, but it does require a commitment of time, too, from what I understand. I mean, if you can't just join the club and you go drink beer on the weekends, that's not what it's all about. I mean, you know, maybe some people think that, but you do have to join and be involved in the activities. And they run, they throw program, they have programming that they do throughout the year, and they have events that they do and fundraisers that they do, and they're involved in a lot of the student life activities that are on campus a lot of times. So all in all, you know, I think, and also here in the south, you'll find a lot of schools that have, you know, one or 2% Greek life. It's just really small. And then you'll have the variation to very large, like, you know, your Alabama, your Georgia, you know, those types of schools. So,
Tom Campbell 21:54
yeah, definitely a spectrum. And I think, I think the network piece was something that I also became so much more aware of when so my my friend Carolyn, who was, you know, wedding I went to. I actually also went to her bachelorette in New Orleans, my first time going on one. And it was a whole new world, not just because it was a Bachelorette, but also because the majority of the attendees were her sorority sisters from road. And I learned the first day a little bit about kind of the selection process and what goes into putting together the sorority. And I had no idea how much of it, you know, of course, I was thinking it was just based on, oh, like, she's cool, she's annoying, you know? And this story, I was like, there's actually a lot of thought and kind of like pragmatic thought into, kind of like students with different interests. And if, you know, oh, this person comes from this state, and her family works in this industry, like, you know, it'd be great to have someone who has those types of connections, you know, to be a part of our family, like literally thinking about kind of building up a network that you can tap into far beyond graduation. And the thought that kind of went into that, I was, like, really surprised like that, that that that that is really a piece of just a slice of kind of like, and just one example of ways that students will, kind of like, think about building up, essentially, this kind of enterprise and something that they want to be involved in and be a part of. And yeah, that kind of long term thinking related to it is super, super interesting. And anyway, so Renee, a few of the public schools that you mentioned, you know, you just mentioned Alabama, and how really big, you know, participation in Greek life there, in terms of, you know, schools that we kind of wanted to spend a lot of time spotlighting, you know, fun fact, 73% of US college students go to public institutions. So for the audience that's tuning in, there are probably going to be many who are at least applying to a flagship school in their own state, whether or not that is in the South. You know, is hard for us to know. You can see our podcast analytics, but let's spend a little time unpacking, kind of some of the flagship schools in the south. So yeah, take it away and kind of let us know.
Renee Ferrerio 24:00
Yeah, a couple of things to talk about here. First of all, I think southern flagships are experiencing a I don't know what the word is for. They're just becoming popular, and they're being inundated with applications. Now, again, we were supposed to fall off some demographic cliff at some point, but I think we probably have, and we haven't noticed it, just because students are applying to so many more colleges each, and so the colleges are still getting more applications at this point, probably not knowing which way or the wind is blowing us whether these students are actually going to come or not. But this past year, I actually had the University of Alabama the representative for my school. I've been working with her for seven years, and she said, I just want to let want to let you know, no, this year is the first year that we're probably going to start deferring, because Alabama was what I would call a likely school for a student who had a 3.0 and was a decent student, average student. He wasn't going to, you know, be getting a $1,600 essay, T or anything, but he could get in to Alabama. No problem. This year, they actually started deferring University of Tennessee at Knoxville, same thing. And so to some of these schools that we've always considered, you know, even if you're applying out of state, because within our state, here in North Carolina, UNC and NC State, they could be somewhat competitive even for North Carolina applicants to get in. So students will look for other flagships. So that's one thing to point out, but the ad volume is up to everywhere. It's not just in the South. I think you know also for schools that you have to apply by major. You know this goes across the board, but if you're applying to computer science number one, engineering or business, and then also, you can add in psychology and biology, depending on the school nursing these these programs can be competitive, especially if they're direct admit. So that's something else. You need to look at. Couple things to know about some of the Southern flagships. The only one that I'm aware of, and correct me if I'm wrong, that has an early decision, which is the binding application type, is UVA, University of Virginia. So that doesn't mean that others may not adopt that policy coming up here in the fall, in the next cycle, but I haven't heard that. And Georgia Tech is a school that has two different early action type deadlines. They have an early action one for their in state applicants, and then they have an early action two, which is just a couple weeks later. Their early action one is mid October. Early action two is early November. They just split those pools because they are trying to serve more in state applicants, and the admit rate is, there's a quite a difference. So for in state applicants, there's about a 36% admit rate, and for out of state, it's about 12% so there's quite a discrepancy. NC State is a school that, for those who are interested, it's a huge tech school. I mean, they're much into STEM and engineering and into some other things. Like, they're the only school in the United States that has a dedicated College of textiles and design, which is pretty cool. If you ever get a chance to go see if there is some cool stuff going on there, it's very cool. And they admit directly by major or to the college. So you have to very succinctly be able to express why this major, which is one of the supplemental essay questions they are really going to be looking at that in the application process. There are several within the state here in North Carolina, there's a lot of there's a couple of two, two and two engineering programs for students who maybe can't get into NC State directly. They could try UNC Asheville that has a mechatronics and they have another engineering program there as well. But you do two years at Asheville and then two years at NC State, and there's also one at Wilmington as well, UNC Wilmington. So some students might opt for that as a as an alternate path that they couldn't get in right away. And I think I missed talking about Georgia Tech has a transfer pathway. I'm on the fence right now, if it's only for Georgia residents. I've tried to research that, and it was a good question that was brought up. It does say that the region is called the Regis engineering Pathway Program, or our E, P, P, and there are several schools in Georgia that participate. So if a student were to apply to Georgia Tech, and let's say it wasn't admissible right away. They could go to a Georgia Southern or Kennesaw State, or even Mercer or UGA or the other schools, and they could take their first two years, and if they have a certain grade point average, then they can be automatically admitted to tech. It's it's not a guarantee, but you have to meet the criteria and then apply. So it's an alternate path that you would still get your Georgia Tech degree there,
Tom Campbell 28:21
which is huge to know. I mean, just given the competition, I mean, Georgia Tech is a school that kids from all over the US are spotlighting, and will be up special section about stem that we're going to cover in just a few minutes. But that's awesome news for people.
Renee Ferrerio 28:35
Also, something that students need to know is that public colleges in the state of Georgia, so UGA Georgia Tech and Georgia College, which is their public liberal arts school, those three schools require test scores. They are not test optional. Also the state of Florida and Tennessee, none of the publics are test optional. So that's something to keep in mind, because most other states, there are exceptions that are peppered throughout the country that you know just stand alone, Purdue and MIT, I require test scores, but for the most part, statewide publics are still test optional, at least up until right now, at this moment, on June 21 you know, you never know when this it could change. So for students who are considering southern schools, and if they maybe didn't want to take the S, A, T, or maybe they were looking all California, UCs and Cal State, so they're not planning to do it. They and then they still, they wanted to add on, like a UGA, they're gonna have to take the sap in order to get admitted there. So that's something to keep in mind,
Tom Campbell 29:33
the big asterisks for sure, right? And then also
Renee Ferrerio 29:38
just reading the fine print. I think this something that when we're working with students, we're always telling them, make sure you're reading through everything you can find on the website. If you can't find an answer, you need to email your rep, which is a great way to demonstrate interest in the school and find out information. However, for an example, Auburn this past year, and I just checked and they haven't updated the website, so who knows if this will change? English, but they said that they were test optional or test flex, flexible. And then when you read the fine print, it says, but in order to apply that way, you have to have a 3.6 GPA or above, and you have to show that you were unable to take the test for some reason. And then you can apply test free, basically. So in reality, they're really not test optional. You're probably going to need to submit a test for Auburn, even though the state of Alabama has not, is still test optional as far as publics are concerned. And there's also something here at the south called the academic common market. And it could be something similar to like the WUI out west, somewhat academic comic. Common Market includes 15 southern states. The only one excluded is North Carolina, so unfortunately, we can't participate here. But if you are applying to a school in your state, or any of the schools in your state do not have the major that you're looking for, you could go on to the academic common market. If you find that major at another school, and you can get accepted to that school, then you can go there for in state tuition rates. So it's called the academic common market. So that's, that's something that it's nice for students to, know, huge
Tom Campbell 31:08
benefit. Yes, well, actually, speaking of money, be great to talk a little bit about affordability and kind of like, especially for students who are trying to find cost effective options in the south, you know, maybe what if you're looking at your in state option, obviously, that is going to be probably a pretty cost effective option for you. If you are from Georgia, you're looking at Georgia public schools, great. That hopefully will be really financially a good match for you, but maybe for students who are from outside of the south and are kind of looking to attend college. There would you give different advice around thinking about finances, scholarship opportunities, things of that nature,
Renee Ferrerio 31:44
absolutely. So the advice that's given is always going to be based on the family situation, right? So if we have a full pay student, a family that says we can afford to go anywhere, then then you obviously have an open book where you can apply anywhere. And if it all works out financially, that's not it's not a concern for you. Most students do have this concern. Most families do, and there's two ways to look at it. If you're you're looking for an affordable school as Tom you just mentioned your in state, public institutions are probably going to be your best bet, but that doesn't mean that you couldn't find as good of a deal or better out of state, but most likely would be at a private institution. Now there are exceptions to that, but out of state, publics tend to be your worst financial deal if you're looking to get big money. Now there are exceptions to that. For example, UNC Chapel Hill, which happens to be a school, a public school, and UVA, I believe, as well, they both meet 100% demonstrated need. But if you're not somebody who has big need, you just don't want to spend 40, $50,000 out of pocket. You may not be able to fill that, fill the gaps that you may get with let's say your family has a certain amount that they can spend per year. You're probably not going to get $30,000 to go to UNC if it's not need based aid. Now, one thing that I do like to highlight is that there are some really big scholarship programs here in the south. Some of them require nominations. Some of them you can self nominate. Some of them are a combination of the two. So I'll kind of run through some of the ones that I'm aware of. UGA has the Bernard Ramsey foundation fellow, and there's a an honors component. Their honors program is amazing, but one is a full ride, and one of them is almost a full ride, and one of them incorporates the honors program. It's been a few years, about eight years now, since I've had students apply for that. But that is a full ride at UGA, if you could get in there. Georgia Tech has a stamps Presidential Scholarship, also a full ride. This is we're talking tuition, room and board meal plans. They usually throw in stipends, and they have study abroad, and it's almost like a little VIP cohort that goes through the four years where you're treated kind of like red carpet roll out and you get, you get the works right here in the in UNC, in North Carolina, UNC has the Morehead Kane. That is a more it is a nomination scholarship. However, you can self nominate. So you know if your school, if you're out, yeah, if you're if you're an out of state applicant, and your school doesn't is not a nominating school, just go ahead and self nominate if your school is a nominating school. Or if you don't know, you need to ask your school counselor, Hey, what is are we on the list for UNC? And you could always contact them directly or have your counselor do but in the long run, they don't differentiate between nominated students and non nominated in the process. So if you're, if you feel like you meet the criteria, go ahead and do it. Because again, Morehead Kane is spectacular, if you
Tom Campbell 34:39
like that. It sounds, it sounds, it sounds really similar to what you were describing. Is it the Bernard scholars? Bernard Ramsay, yes. Bernard Ramsay, yeah. I mean, I so I had a student that I previously worked with who got the more head cane and went through all the entire nomination process, the different series of interviews, and if you look at even just like the bio of the students who are part of it, I mean, talk about. Inspiring group of kids to be spending your four years with and all the opportunities that you get along with it. Yeah, I cannot emphasize those programs enough, and especially the student I was working with was considering those and then some other more selective, prestigious schools, and that became kind of like a big point of conversation. And I was like, hmm, it's free for four years with these amazing opportunities and amazing students, or a very high cost, for sure. You know, a name that kind of looks really grand a bumper sticker, but like, really, like, I think this is a great grade thing to tap into in once in a lifetime, for sure, absolutely.
Renee Ferrerio 35:34
And, of course, you know, UGA Georgia, tech, Unc, these are name brand schools. I mean, UNC is a public ivy and and that's a that's prestige and on its own, but then you'll, you'll come up to a school like UNC Charlotte, which is one of our regionals here, they have something called the Levine scholarship. And so if I have a student who's really interested in engineering or, you know, and they want to apply to NC State, they may be a good candidate to get in there. And in fact, probably, if they were eligible for Levine, would probably also be getting into NC State. However, it's a lot easier to get into Charlotte than it is to get into NC State. And I've had students get the Levine, which is the full ride, and they've traveled to, I think, four to seven countries over the four years with different programs through that cohort. And again, they're they're out of maybe a lesser known if you want to look at prestige school, but they're getting a rock star education here. And say you're a Levine scholar on your resume when you go to apply for grad school, or you're you know you're looking for a job down the road, people will know that it is a very prestigious scholarship. So we've got that. We've got Davidson here. Davidson is a liberal arts school just outside of Charlotte, and they have the Belk scholar that isn't a completely nomination scholarship. So you can't self nominate there, so you would have to talk to your counselor. There is the University of Virginia, Jefferson Scholar. They are a nomination scholarship as well, and I believe they do have lots of nominating schools across the country, so your counselor would have to check and if they're not, they can, I think, inquire as to if they can become a nominating school Washington and Lee, a small liberal arts school in Virginia, has the Johnson scholarship. That also is we had a student here from O'Neill that got that about seven years ago. Another amazing opportunity for that student, full ride. Wofford has the Wofford scholars Emory has a university scholars Emory in Atlanta, and of course, University of Alabama has some great scholarships. They actually have a very clear cut. If you're out of state, you can go on their website and look at what is your GPA. And now they're test optional. So if you don't have testing, they'll just look at the GPA. But if you meet a certain threshold, you get a certain amount of money. And then there's other higher scholarships from there that are presidential. They also give a lot of money for National Merit Scholars, as well as the you don't see all the time, no, usually it's, usually it's like, what, 1000 $2,000 or something, yeah, like
Tom Campbell 37:58
a little, like, slice of cake, and like, here you go, put a little handling, have a party for yourself.
Renee Ferrerio 38:03
Exactly. University of Kentucky is another one that gives full cost of attendance plus stipends for National Merit. And UT, Dallas in Texas, they have a huge scholarship called the McDermott scholar scholarship program. But I went, I flew out and did a two day program learning about McDermott Scott's amazing what they're doing out there. And they also give a lot of money for National Merit. So these are, you know, especially if you're a National Merit semi finalist, maybe throw in a couple of these schools on your list. Just as I don't want to say, backup. These are amazing schools. But if you want a financial backup plan, and you know that maybe I'm going to get into some of these other schools, but I might not be able to afford it. These might be good ways to look at this. I
Tom Campbell 38:44
mean, I don't know what the data would be now, but the book where you go is not who you'll be. Frank Bruni, there's a whole chapter about kids who academically and in terms of their test scores and GPA, were eligible to attend more selective schools, but chose other pathways. I think the school that he profiles particular not a southern school per se, southwestern School University, Arizona State and their particular Barrett college, but all the research that demonstrates kind of, you know what students who have that academic profile but choose schools that like you mentioned, wouldn't necessarily be on the output or reach schools for them by any means, But in terms of opportunity related to what they were able to do, that big fish in a small pond, yeah, just about to say that reality is like, so, so, and it can be so, like, empowering for students as well to, like, sometimes, for the first time, especially if they're coming from a more competitive high school, being like, yeah, like I'm doing I'm moving mountains over here. I'm making things happen. And I feel like I'm making a name for myself, and that can be just like a really great flipping of the script for students. So I love that tip. Yeah, another area, in addition to finances that's a big concern for students families right now, is program choice. Right increasingly, in the US, there is, I'd say, heightened competition, as you've mentioned. But. For for certain programs and majors, and of course, you know, I think the one that you mentioned first was computer science, which I'm not surprised by. It's become just exponentially more competitive as more and more jobs grow in that field. Well, right now, you know, we're going through a limited round in the tech industry, right? But in the long term, right? Does seem like it's an area that there's going to be a lot of opportunity in and understandably, lots of interest among students and families in these programs. So in fact, actually, at college Jessica, we have been doing a live Community Survey during live sessions, and so far, we've had 899 respondents. I don't know we have a prize for the nine hundreds or something, but the 899 participants in our live sessions, 55% of them are interested in their favorite subjects in high school are math and science. So given that so much of our audience is interested in those areas, do you have any particular tips or programs you know, of course, some that we've you know, talked about a little bit are Georgia Tech, and I know there's big competition, especially for out of state students, to be admitted to Georgia Tech for those competitive STEM programs CES in particular. But yeah, anything that you think students and families should know about when it comes to studying STEM programs fields in the south, just
Renee Ferrerio 41:09
stem in general is popular everywhere. I mean, almost every student that I talk to here at O'Neill is also interested in that. I think one of the keys, as I mentioned with if you're applying directly to a major, you need to have some evidence somewhere that you're interested in, not, not a, you know, if that question is, why do you want to major in engineering? And the answer is, well, because I can make a lot of money, and my dad is an engineer, and he told me it would be a good, good way to go, or, you know, just seems cool. Probably not going to get you in to these competitive schools. And I know, and it is hard. I mean, it's something like here at O'Neill, we don't offer engineering courses, but we do have a high math and science so that's a start. And then I tell students, you know, if you think that you want to be involved in business or engineering or computer science, do something. Do a summer program. Shadow somebody in in the field, do something where you're able to speak on what you learned and why you think this would be a good fit for you. So I think that's one big tip that's in the south, or anywhere, but looking here in the south, I think you know, any of the flagships that offer these engineering programs, they're going to be competitive. I mean, University of Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, as I mentioned earlier, that you know, well, Texas, a and m and UT, Austin, UT, Austin is very competitive. Texas, A and M, maybe not as much. NC, state could be competitive. Duke, very competitive for engineering or just in general to get in. But you could look at a school like UNC Charlotte, or you can look at a school like Elon that might have a smaller engineering program. There's also schools out there that have, you know, that are more liberal arts based, but have an engineering program might not be as extensive as an NC State, but can get you the basics that you need to move on, and then you've got, you know, your Clemson, Alabama and Auburn, those are Clemson and Auburn have been trending upwards in difficulty for getting in but if you're looking at Alabama, you could look at the University of Alabama and Huntsville, which has an amazing engineering program. It is located near NASA, near the Marshall Space Flight Center, University of Alabama, Birmingham has also has engineering, of course, Virginia Tech, that's one, has been getting a little bit harder over the years to get in, specifically for engineering. But you could look at a school like George Mason, which I did a fly in program to them, and I absolutely love to talk about access. George Mason, that one of their missions is to just give access, and then not only get you there, but once you're there, support you to do well, because you hear a lot about, you know, you get into engineering the first year is like a weeding out year. Probably computer science is the same way. You know, they're just going to throw you, throw down these classes that are going to be just very complicated and difficult. If you can't get through it, you're probably going to come out of the program. But a school like George Mason, you know you could go there and get admitted to engineering for the most part, and then be supported while you're there to be successful, so that you can end up finishing up and getting your degree. As we mentioned, Georgia Tech being a pretty difficult school, especially as an out of state student to get in. But there are other schools in Georgia, like Georgia, Southern and Kennesaw. Kennesaw State used to be a standalone school, and then it merged with a school called Southern Polytechnic Institute, or southern Polytechnic University. They merged together. It's a big, big engineering school now. So there are options in every single state. And I mean, I'm not going to talk about the northeast, because this is about the south. But you know, you always hear about the same engineering and STEM schools over and over, and then I always throw on to the list some of these other schools that it's not that you can walk in, but their admit rates are much more reasonable, especially if you're a good student. It feels more like a match, more like it's a possibility, than. Schools that have like, a 9% admit rate, you know, where it feels impossible to get in, and even if you're perfect, so is 85% of the applicant pool. They're all going to look great like you, and then they it's just a matter of whether you're going to get in or not. So I think that's, you know, something that students seem to think about when they're looking at STEM and there's also schools like, for example, in Georgia, Agnes Scott, all girls school, right? And those students, even though I always hear this, I don't want to go to an all girls school as if they're going to be on an island somewhere, there never will be a male within sight. That's usually not the case. But also, at Agnes Scott, when I visited, there's guys everywhere, because Georgia Tech students are taking classes at Agnes Scott, and Agnes Scott students are taking classes at Georgia Tech, so you could technically study engineering by going to an all girls school, which is at a very cool location in Decatur, right outside the city of Atlanta, where you could consider an HBCU like North Carolina A and T, which has, I think we looked up earlier, has the highest rate of African American Engineering grads than any school in the country. So that's pretty impressive. So there's other options out there than just looking at a technical institute or a school that is well known for STEM there's a lot of different possibilities. And again, I think the key to all of this that we've been talking about, not just the South, is keeping an open mind to what opportunities might be out there. Yeah, and
Tom Campbell 46:21
I love that. I love the tip about North Carolina AMT, because, you know, I think one another big question to ask, in particular, if you are interested in STEM programs, is like, Who do I want to be surrounded by? And like, what type of environment is best for me as a stem learner? Because, you know, certain programs like you mentioned do have more of a reputation and and kind of that weed out culture that it's great to be privy of and aware of before you start applying, and before you land somewhere that you're like, Great, I'm here, but am I going to be able to continue on through this course based on the people that are around me, the way that it's being taught, the support that's present for me, right? Something that I thought was really interesting is actually in North Carolina, um, Carolina, Congresswoman Alma Adams has started back in 2015 it's the bipartisan HBCU caucus, and in talking about the caucus, she mentioned HBCUs produced 42% of Black Engineers, 47% of black women engineers, and 40% of the Congressional Black Caucus. So that was really surprising to me, and something that I think was really interesting to note, when it comes to identifying schools that were you feel empowered by looking around you and seeing people who looked like you and driving in a profession that hasn't always been as open and accessible to people from different walks of life, right, right? All right. So talked, you know, talked about, kind of, some of some of those larger flagship schools, which, you know, many students are going to be looking at just based on the numbers. Talked about some of those STEM programs that maybe students who are interested in STEM want to spotlight finances, how to factor that in. But let's do some rapid fire, kind of, just like, you know, let's go through different states in the South, and with your wisdom and knowledge of decades of doing this to run in a little deeper, yeah, let's kind of go through and do some like rapid fire spotlighting of some different schools and programs that students may have heard of before, but also maybe may not have, and particularly some of those maybe smaller private schools that, again, sometimes many of them are going to offer great merits, scholarship opportunities, specialized programs or tradition or opportunities that for that certain kid who's listening to was like, Hey, I can't believe you have a specialty in gold threaded textiles. You know, there might just be a school that looks exactly like that right now. Where do you want to start? In terms of states, there's, I'll just
Renee Ferrerio 48:37
start in Florida. We'll start south and
Tom Campbell 48:38
move up. Okay, let's start. Let's do it. Lynn University, another
Renee Ferrerio 48:43
school that has popped up a lot over the years. It's a school that has a lot of diversity, so that's one thing that you should know about that school. If you're looking for diversity, they have an aviation program, so you can go in and learn to be a pilot. That's not cheap, because there's a little bit extra expenses there, but if you want to learn to fly, and as we know, right now, in the United States, there's a shortage of commercial pilots, so, you know, jump on that and go get your your aviation degree so you can become a united pilot and fly me around, because I need that. So they have a they have a business at a music consort conservatory. It's a small private school. They also have a really good program for students who have any kind of learning disability, which is great. They have an entire program, and it's right there. So if you are somebody that has a different learning style, or maybe an ADHD or something like that, that you've been diagnosed with, and you're hoping that your transition to college will be eased if you get a little help. This might be something to look into. And one thing that I did learn about Lynn is that they give an iPad to every single student who enrolls, and they have these pre loaded apps that they I guess, that they ask students to use that are kind of fun. So that's that's another fun fact about Lynn. Well. And
Tom Campbell 50:00
one thing you know Florida, one thing I think with Florida that you know definitely we should probably spend a little bit of time talking about, given headlines in the news, folks might be hearing about legislation in particular that Florida is proposing related to higher education that may differ from a lot of the other 49 states in the US. So anything you think that students and families should be keeping in mind if they're interested in studying in Florida related to kind of like the political climate reality in 2023 when it comes to education, right?
Renee Ferrerio 50:27
Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. You know, as we all know, with politics, things come and go in four year cycles, so who knows what will happen in the next year or so. But I think the public system in Florida is somewhat under attack. I guess it depends on your point of view. Maybe they think they're being supported, but new College of Florida is one in particular, that dimension that's been in the news a lot, that's always been known as it is the public liberal arts school of Florida, and it is, has always been known as a progressive, very liberal environment, and Governor DeSantis just basically picked a fight with them in many different ways, and he got rid of many of the the people that were on the board of trustees, and replaced them with political type politicians who had already been in the Republican Party and so forth. And they've gone in and dismantled the Diversity Equity inclusion office, and they're, you know, threatening tenure, and a lot of students are fleeing. It's not a very big school. I think the total population there is about 900 and I know that some other schools in the country, like Hampshire has stepped up and said they would take everybody from New College of Florida who wants to come for the in state Florida rate, SUNY Binghamton is recruiting these students as well, so there may be some others, since I've looked into this, but it's a concern, because students are went there knowing that they're fit. This was the type of school that they wanted. They wanted a progressive, they wanted a liberal, they wanted open dialog and social justice and all these things. And the governor has decided that he wants to turn it into, like a hells Dale type of a very conservative institution. And again, this is not a judgment one way or the other on political or, you know, liberal versus conservative, but I think that if a student wants a conservative institution, they're going to go there, versus if you want a liberal one, you're going to go there. And he's trying to turn it on its ear. And I believe that some of the public institutions, and this is not just Florida, other southern states, and actually even out west, you know, Arizona, Texas and others other places there, there's a lot of talk about mimicking some of the Florida actions, some of the laws that have been enacted. I know that Governor DeSantis actually abolished or banned AP, African American history. I think the class is called this was the first year it was going to roll out, and he banned it from secondary. And so there's a lot of political stuff going on there. I think you just need to be aware before you apply to a public institution. I you know it's not that the privates are not touched. They're not under the same laws as the public institutions, however they are in the state, so they're going to be affected by some of these things one way or the other. So it's just something to look at. And that's not again, not just for Florida. You need to look at the political climate, and depending on your values and your your passions for things, some of these things may be a no go for you. I mean, I have students tell me I'll go anywhere in the south, but I'm not going to Florida, where I'm not going to Texas, because they feel very opposed to the politics there. And then I have other students who, you know, they're they want to go to Liberty, and they, you know, they're opposed to what they think is going on in some of the public colleges. So it depends on what camp you're in. But I think just in general, not to pick on Florida or governor DeSantis or anybody else, just to say that you know you have to look at every school that you're applying to, and you need to look read through the organizations and the and the the mission, and you know who they serve and how they're talking before you make a decision if this is a good fit. And I also always encourage student to go visit schools, because they can also get a feel for the students who attend there, and hopefully be able to ask some candid questions while they're eating in the dining hall and find out what it's really like, you know, instead of not necessarily just the tour guides who are working for the admissions office and probably putting their best foot forward. So so that's pretty much what I know. I know it's going on here in North Carolina. We're also awaiting the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, which could change everything everywhere, as far as how people are, you know, looked at in the admissions process. So I think, you know, in general, when you're dealing with a lot of money that's going to be spent, you need to, you know, you always want to be careful about where you spend your money, just like you do with businesses. Sometimes you hear about businesses being boycotted because of values that they will that you don't agree with. I think the same can be said for colleges and institutions, that if you don't agree with what they're selling, don't buy it, right? So pay attention that. That's, I guess that's my last word on that. Just pay attention to what's going on.
Tom Campbell 54:55
Yeah. Awesome. Now, super, super. Great tip for. And for students and families tuning in and counselors too well next day, I guess heading north would be Georgia, but let's go. Let's go to Georgia. Yeah, let's go
Renee Ferrerio 55:08
Georgia. Go to Georgia. So we've talked a bit about EGA and Georgia Tech, of course, being the flagships of the state Georgia College, which used to be called Georgia College and State University. They might still call it that, but Georgia colleges, that is the formal name. Now that is the public liberal arts, and it is the one school in Georgia. And many schools have, many states have the one school that's that's listed as the public liberal arts. It's kept at a smaller size, and they're really dedicated to the liberal arts. So if you're interested in a liberal arts school, but the private schools might be too pricey for you. You could look at a public liberal arts like a Georgia College. It's located in millsville, Georgia, kind of in the center of the state, near Lake Sinclair. There's a lot of Lake activities and things that students could do, and they have really good programs of business, education, nursing and music. For example, Georgia State where I actually went and got my master's degree in school counseling. And I mentioned earlier that used to be a commuter school. Is No Longer. It is a prime school for graduates to go. They have an amazing business school. They have a great nursing program. Well, it's very urban campus, so just so you know, it's located right in downtown Atlanta, as opposed to Georgia Tech, which Georgia Tech is in downtown Atlanta, but you feel like you're on a college campus at Georgia Tech. Georgia State would be more similar to like a George Washington or it's just really a downtown campus. So as you're walking around, you'll see buildings that have a little Georgia State logo on it. It's a very diverse campus, very left leaning, very Atlanta politics type, type of a school. And when they consolidated, as I mentioned earlier, in 2015 with Georgia Perimeter, they have over 54,000 students and a lots and lots of majors, and they've also increased their graduation rate. I believe I read this, and I might be misquoting it, but I think I read that they increased it by 62% or something, because they used to have they struggled when they first merged, and now they're they're really on top of this, and do really well with their graduation right there. There's SCAD, or Savannah College of Art and Design, which is in Savannah, Georgia. There's also a satellite campus in Atlanta, which I toured and was blown away because it was just looks like a brick building on the outside. When you get in, it's like layer after layer after layer of these amazing art studios. It's pretty cool. If you ever get a chance to check it out, that
Tom Campbell 57:27
might be the gold threaded textile school. I don't know if they have that, but I'd say, of all the ones here, maybe there, yeah,
Renee Ferrerio 57:33
maybe they do have a fashion component for sure. Um, the main campus is in Savannah, which is a historical town in in in the state of Georgia, it's very diverse, very diverse, very left leaning politically, and they offer more programs and specializations than any other art and design school in the US. So if you are an art student, you're looking to go to an art school, SCAD should be on your radar. At least check out. And then, of course, I'm sure everyone's heard of Emory, but I just would be remiss if I didn't mention is one of the best schools in the state of Georgia. Lots of diversity there. Very progressive it is. It's a city school. It's not in downtown. It's like it's off in Decatur, kind of close to Agnes Scott, but not right around the corner. And they Emory healthcare is the largest healthcare system in the state of Georgia. They have a medical school there. The CDC is right next door, so lots of medical stuff going on. And then there's also Oxford College, which is this two year program that's affiliated with Emory. It's basically called Emory Oxford, or Oxford Emory, I should say, and students can apply to both or either or but if you get into Oxford, it's slightly easier to get in, but we're talking slightly it's still very difficult. It's a two year program, and it's only for freshmen and sophomores. So some of the benefits of that campus are about 45 minutes out, so a little bit more of in a rural area. And if you're a leader into, you know, wanting to get leadership roles, it's an opportunity, because if you're at the Emory campus, a lot of those leadership roles are going to be going to the upper classmate. So some of those freshmen and sophomores can really get in and and, you know, they're in Chapter their own clubs, because there are no upperclassmen on that campus. After two years, they matriculate to the Emory main campus. So just wanted to mention that so I know that I mentioned we did Florida, we did Georgia. Let's see what's next. We will go to South Carolina. I was gonna say we're sick
Tom Campbell 59:17
and coastal. It'll be South Carolina, which has a decent amount of interesting private schools, I would say, I mean, of course we'll talk about us. USc, the other US city, a non fight on version. I don't know what. If it's, it's not fight on, it's but less. I don't know. Maybe
Renee Ferrerio 59:34
I don't know. I don't know about that, actually. So USC, we didn't talk about much. They have a really good business and a good engineering program. They also have a hospitality and sports management College, which is kind of neat and different. They happen to give great money for national merit, so that's one to throw on your list if you're a semi finalist. Actually, a fun fact is that all four members of Hootie and the Blowfish graduate. From USC, kind of interesting. Yeah, I do too, and I don't even know. You're too young to even know what Hootie and the Blowfish is. Come on.
Tom Campbell 1:00:08
Well, I do. I can even sing a little ditty for you, if you want. So okay, well, let's save
Renee Ferrerio 1:00:13
it to the end. We don't have time for that. That's right, all right. Clemson, I'm sure everybody's heard of Clemson. They are big in engineering and architecture business, they have an ag school. They are somewhat difficult to get in, I would say, on par with like a UGA, as far as admit rates and so forth, so. But if you're looking at some of the other different schools in South Carolina that maybe are not talked about so much, Wofford is one that I think would deserve a look for students, especially if you're an athlete, they are a d1 school. So they are similar to some other very small d1 schools. They actually have a football team as well. It's a liberal arts through and through. They're located in Spartanburg. There's, there's a lot of stuff to do there. In Spartanburg, the campus itself, fun fact, has been designated as a National Arboretum. It's a really pretty campus. So something to check out if you're in Spartanburg, if you happen to be in Greenville, South Carolina, I would definitely check out Furman, if for anything else, the campus is absolutely gorgeous, breathtakingly gorgeous. 750 acres. It's in Greenville, South Carolina, and that's an up and coming town. There's a lot of really cool restaurants and and the arts and so much going on there. Our computer science and sustainability is pretty big at Furman So, and they're, you know, they're also a liberal arts school, but they have something called the Furman advantage, I believe it's called in their core. And they're, they're really working. They're doing some innovative steps. So I would check out their website. College of Charleston happens to be a city or an urban campus located right off the coast. So if you're a beach person, you can get the beach and the city, which is kind of cool College of Charleston is not a super, super selective school, you know, it's, it's moderate, I guess you would say, you know, about, probably about a 50 or 60% admit rate going off memory, which could be faulty. It's a left leaning, left leaning campus historic city. It's got about a 50% out of state population at the school. So that means only about 50% of the students are from South Carolina. So it's a mid sized school. Has an excellent Honors College. They have a great marine biology, meteorology program. Business is strong. And also, another fun fact about this school is that it's been in many films such as The Patriot Cold Mountain and the notebook for for those of you who are movie buffs, you probably have seen that in the background. The campus really cool. Got lots of shopping. So if you go to school there, make sure your parents are sending you lots of extra money for incidental so you could go shopping, because tons of shopping there.
Tom Campbell 1:02:43
Love incidentals with the asterisk. So I love that. Great, exactly. Okay,
Renee Ferrerio 1:02:47
so I think we are now at my street. Yep, are we? We're here in North Carolina, okay, I probably referenced Davidson College at some point, which is right outside of Charlotte, again, an amazing school, truly liberal arts. It's true liberal arts. They have a little downtown. They have a little what they call the beach. It's a little lake that the students go and they go swimming. It's not too far from Charlotte. It's probably about a 30 to 40 minute ride up to Charlotte. They have an honor code, which is very similar to some other small liberal arts schools. They have excellent basketballs and Q Steph Curry. For those of you who are Steph Curry fans, he went to Davidson like Wofford. They're a d1 very small school. So you will have to understand that with Davidson, they are small, but I think about a third of their students who attend are d1 athletes. So some of their admin reads can be a little misleading, because they will admit a lot more in ed in their early decision rounds. However, a lot of those students are division one athlete to get in. So moving on to what I consider to be a one of the hidden gems here in North Carolina is UNC Asheville. If any of you have ever gone to Asheville, I absolutely love that town. To me, it's one of my favorite cities in the US, to be honest, and UNC Asheville is the public liberal arts, as I've referenced before, for the state of North Carolina. So it's about 3000 students. It's about five minutes to downtown Asheville. If you have not been to Asheville, it is amazing. The food is amazing, the music is amazing, the arts are amazing. Walking around the city is amazing. Then you have all the outdoor stuff. You have rock climbing and waterfalls, and you can go to the Biltmore and you know, there's just a lot, a lot going on there in Asheville, it's a very left leaning and progressive town. They don't have football. They're huge into basketball, though, and you've probably seen them somewhat in the in the final four tournaments and so forth. Fun fact, two fun facts about UNC Asheville. Some of the students there discovered a new planet. I don't know the name of that planet. And they also offer classes in the Cherokee language, which is interesting, because there's only 2000 native speakers of that language left alive. So that's very cool. Yeah, so wanted to mention that as. As a hidden gem. App State, I wouldn't say so much a hidden gem, but it is an amazing school. It is located in Boone, which is a, it's kind of a ski town. It's a it's a cool downtown. It's a mountain town, really. So if you go to school at App State, and you know, even if you're from North Carolina, you have to understand that the weather there is a little different than your normal part of North Carolina, because you're in the mountains, you'll get heavy snow, where we won't get anything here, and, you know, the central part of North Carolina, so you'll get a lot of snow, a lot of cold, but there's a lot of skiing and and you know all the snow sports, where there's also the hiking and the white water rafting, rafting and kayaking, huge outdoors. They have a whole Outdoor Center, and you could rent any of the equipment and go off in for either free or close to nothing. There at the school, they have an amazing Honors College. They're huge on environmental studies and sustainability that they're huge on that. They have a great education program, nursing, exercise science is really big there and been in the city itself is about two hours away from any of the major cities in North Carolina for the most part. So it's kind of centrally located there. So I highly recommend checking that school also very affordable, very cheap. They include all of their books as rentals there, so which can save you $1,000 a semester. Yeah. Another what I would consider UNC Greensboro, and is the alma mater of my daughter who just graduated at the beginning of May in the nursing program, is the UNC Greensboro. Greensboro is actually the third largest city in North Carolina. A lot of people don't know that because they think of Charlotte, and then they think of the Raleigh, Durham Chapel Hill area, and then that that's it. But Greensboro is a large city. Greensboro is a gorgeous campus. It's a, kind of a, it's a large, but it's kind of a mid size, large. It's like 15 to 18,000 so it's still doable. Talk about access, it's kind of like, similar to what I mentioned with George Mason. It's it's huge for social mobility. It's huge for access. It's very progressive, left leaning, lots of diversity. There. They have an amazing nursing program. They have great performing arts and fine arts. So I would recommend checking that out if you wanted to come to North Carolina. It's very affordable as well. They just started including book rentals there as well. So something to keep in mind. And then another one that, I mean there's, I could go on and on in North Carolina, but we'll cut it short with Elon being the last one. That is a that's a mid sized private school, about 7000 students, but about 80,000 not 80,080% of the students come from outside of North Carolina, so it's very geographically diverse. And they have something that I think is probably well known to the theater kids, is that they have a great musical theater program, and you do have to audition for that, but that is a well known program. They're big in business and education. They have a little engineering program that they just started up, and also very popular beautiful campus as well. So, you know, I could again, I could go on and on with North Carolina, but those are just some of the gems that I thought I'd highlight. I know
Tom Campbell 1:07:57
the Fellows Program at Elon is one that, you know, I have a few of my college counselor friends frequently encourage their students to look at it, because there's these different divisions in terms of, like, where you can be spending your time on different research projects and kind of thought processes. And the velos program at Elon is one where a financially, you got a little bit of a or not actually a little bit, like, a decent chunk of merit aid. I mean, I think it's like five, five to $13,000 or so, and just routed by a lot of like, like minded people around a certain intellectual topic that you're really curious to chip away at and solve. So,
Renee Ferrerio 1:08:30
yeah, great school, great school. I think I will move over to Tennessee, so we'll just kind of go to the left there. So with Tennessee, we've talked about UT Knoxville a bit. Great school. Shout out to, you know, Pat Summitt and the lady balls, even though she's passed away. But that has always been my, my favorite school to watch for women's basketball, besides Yukon, the rivalry there, but some other schools. This is a fun fact about me. I actually was thinking about going to college for music business way back when, when I was like, you know, 1819, I checked out Middle Tennessee State because they are known for having one of the best music business programs around. So they're about 45 minutes away from Nashville, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. They do have an aviation program. Rolling Stone magazine recognize Middle Tennessee State who has five, 24/7, recording studios as one of the nation's best schools for music industry studies. They also have, I believe it's concrete management, which is another odd one. So you know, if you're interested in either of those things, I would check out that school then Belmont, which is right in Nashville, located right on Music Row, atop Music Row, is also known for their music and performing arts and the entertainment and Music Business Program, and then you've got another school in Tennessee. They also have a lot of gems throughout the state, but I'll mention Swanee, or the University of the South. They called Swanee for the nickname. It's also one of the most beautiful campuses in the country. It's basically on a mountain. It's got some Gothic architect. Sure it's a very southern institution. When I visited while back they I know that the students who maybe had certain GPAs or higher would wear their gowns, like the graduation gown they wear those class, not the cap, but just the gown. And they could decorate those gowns. I guess that signified that they were scholars and so forth. And they have a really big honor code, similar to Davidson. It's a rigorous school when you get there, but it's not too terribly difficult to get in. It's very outdoorsy, but it's also very rural. You're not going to be close to any kind of city or town. So some of one of their top programs there is English and creative writing. So if you're into those majors, or many others, I would check out that school, and then I think maybe moving over to Texas. What do you think? Sure. So we talked about UT, Austin. UT, Austin, just as a recap, really hard to get in for an out of state student, because they have a program that the top. It used to be the top 10% but they had to lower it down to the top 6% of each class at any of the schools in the state of Texas is an automatic admit to UT, Austin, so that leaves very little spots for out of state students. It's still it's still possible, but it's really hard. It's an amazing school. They have a great business program in McCombs. You know, there's also architecture, engineering and nursing and so forth. So great school, hard to get in Texas, A and M, another flagship. And I haven't really talked about them, so I'll just mention it. They're huge. I went and visited them a year or two ago when the US, yeah, they have 75,000 students. So it's like it's city in itself. Of course, they have an ag school. They have architecture, business, engineering, and they happen to be also one of the six military colleges that, I said, six Senior Military Colleges that they have, I think, the biggest corps of cadets of all of them, and they give a ton of money for National Merit again. So you might want to look that up if you are a national merit semifinalist. Some of the others, I think that are gems in Texas, and there are many. It's a huge state, but I will mention Trinity University, which is located right in San Antonio. Really good school. I love that school. It's a liberal arts college through and through, but they do have Business and Computer Science. Fun fact that Charlie's Angels star Jacqueline Smith attended, and the guy who voiced Barney the purple dinosaur, Bob West, he actually graduated from Trinity. I just thought that was kind of cool. I love you. You love me. Okay, yeah, that was Bob west, so he graduated there. Cool people work at Trinity. It's a really nice place. It's right in downtown San Antonio, so there's a lot to do. They have the little river walk and so forth. Cool place to check out. And then I did mention earlier, UT Dallas, it is a for STEM, top ranked STEM programs, tons of research. McDaniel scholar, which is a full ride, amazing program. They have a championship chess team there. So if you're a chess player, check it out. You probably already know about it. And they have a lot of entrepreneurship. And you know, they're really good at like, helping students create businesses. So I really loved UT, Dallas when I visited there, and then for the last state, you've got Virginia. Virginia very difficult to get in as an out of state student. They're popular with business, political, I'm sorry, public policy, architecture, data science and others. They don't call themselves freshmen and sophomores. They go by first, second, third and fourth years, as a throwback to Jefferson, some of his ideals and beautiful campus. They have some really interesting housing for upperclassmen right there on the quad. So if you haven't visited UVA or just place to visit in Charlottesville, Virginia Tech is the tech flagship, and came a little bit harder to get in. I want to mention it because it's also one of the six Senior Military Colleges. They have an ag school, architecture, business, engineering, some others. And one of the fun facts about Virginia Tech, it has the largest dining hall on any US campus, probably because of the quarter cadets, but still pretty neat. I don't know how the food is, but it's a large dining hall. Gotta get those macros exactly right. So for the last state here, I'm going to mention these three, what I consider gems. Mary, Washington University is their public liberal arts. It's a really pretty campus. It's about an hour away from DC. They have they're really into community service there. And I found everybody to be very friendly when I visited. And it's a very, if I remember correctly, very bikeable campus. And then I'd move on to George Mason University, which I mentioned earlier. Love this school. Love this school to in Fairfax, Virginia, which I consider to be kind of a suburb of DC. Extremely diverse, really big into access, as I mentioned earlier, just really big into helping you succeed. They have a huge engineering school and business. They have the Carter school for Peace and Conflict Resolution, public health, lots of Performing Arts. And one of the best facts I learned, why was there that the George Mason Green Machine pep band is rated number one in the nation by the NCAA, and I agree it was amazing. They played for us at one of our receptions, and we. Just, I just like, stood there, watched them. They were just so cool. That is pretty much my, my rapid fire overview of the South. I guess I know I've missed some states and some some schools, but one, one
Tom Campbell 1:15:11
version, is school that I was curious about your thoughts on is University of Richmond, because that's one that I, yeah, I started to encourage more and more my students to consider it and look at it. Because I was like, hey, in terms of, you know, schools that have programs, opportunities that you say you want, this is one that has not appear on your list, but I think may want to take a look at so I don't know if you've sent kids there or that is a difference. Well,
Renee Ferrerio 1:15:34
I actually, we've had a student this past year just graduated, she's going there, and it is hard to get in. It's not the it's not the hardest school in the country, but it's a great private school. You know, it is in Richmond, but it's not in the city, like, like VCU. So it's a really good school. So that I'm sorry that I admitted that one, but I would definitely take a look, and I put that on students lists all the time. It just depends on where what their profile looks like. Totally Yeah. But good one. Any others that you want to ask about? No, I was
Tom Campbell 1:16:02
gonna say no. I think, I think in terms of, like, given the give, we've given the give and then some, so we put some sweetener in that tea.
Renee Ferrerio 1:16:10
I'm a little tired. I'm a little tired.
Tom Campbell 1:16:13
Oh, understandable. You. I mean, you, you gave a Tom Campbell, rapid fire, like you need some, some hydration there.
Renee Ferrerio 1:16:20
I appreciate this has been a great it's been fun. I really enjoyed it.
Tom Campbell 1:16:24
Oh, good. Well, any, any final thoughts for students, families, counselors tuning in, who are considering college in the South? Anything that you think that you've left off, that they should know about? I feel like, you know,
Renee Ferrerio 1:16:36
I mean, I think I've mentioned this before, but I think the most important thing with whether you're a counselor, you're you're a parent, you're a student. You know, be open minded about the South, because we have some amazing schools. And I know there's many that you've heard of, but also some of the ones that you haven't heard of are also pretty amazing. And I could go on and on, this could be a five hour podcast if I wanted to review every school I've ever visited here in the south, and there's been very few that I would say, No, I don't like that. So I would say that every school has a unique program and is a good fit for somebody out there. So you know, if you broaden your your mind, or open your mind and you add schools onto the list, that you think will be a good fit, I think that, in general, your process will go a lot smoother in the end. So that's my, I guess my words of wisdom here at the end.
Tom Campbell 1:17:21
Well, hey, thank you so much, Renee for all your wonderful wisdom, both about the South and otherwise and everyone tuning in, keep saying curious. You.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Show transcript
Tom Campbell 0:08 Tom Howdy, everyone, and welcome back to the College Essay Guy podcast. My name is Tom Campbell, and I'm college essay guy's community manager and a co host of the College Essay Guy podcast, along with Ethan Sawyer, the College Essay Guy. How many times can you say College Essay Guy in one sentence? Because I think I just think I just broke a record. Anyway. My background is in college admissions and college counseling, particularly at Pomona College and College of the Holy Cross. And I've also worked as a college counselor at an independent school in Seattle. Really, really excited today to be kicking off the first installment of a new series that we're developing called regional spotlights, where we're bringing on various college counseling experts who have deep history or knowledge of the exciting college options and the cultural nuances of a particular geographic region. We're kicking things off in a big way with colleges in the south, and our southern specialist who's joining me on the podcast today is a very special guest and college essay guy's very own Renee Ferrario. Renee began her career more than 30 years ago, first as a public school counselor and more recently as the Director of College Counseling at the O'Neill school. She's co chair for the North Carolina State and area initiatives committee, and might be considered by some as a college counselor fly in connoisseur, having participated in dozens of visit programs at various colleges across the country, but definitely with a deep focus in the South. On this episode, you'll hear myself and Renee discuss the myths and realities of going to college in the south, admission trends at Southern public flagship universities, how to make studying in the south more affordable, including special scholarship opportunities as well as hidden gems and unique specialized programs that you may not have heard before. Our hope is that for students and families and counselors, spotlighting some of these little things about studying in the South will help you see that there may be even bigger things in store for you there than you originally anticipated, beyond barbecue. We hope you enjoy. All right, so welcome back everyone to the college as the guy podcast, or if you're tuning in for the first time, you are in for a sweet tea of a treat. If I Tuesday so myself, I'm glad you're here, and I'm also glad that it's not just me rattling along as usual. I'm joined by a very special guest, another CEG staff member, who I would say very much brings Spitfire energy to the to the party. I don't know if you know she would agree with that, but probably I've been told that time or time again, Renee, want to go ahead and introduce yourself. I'm Renee Ferrerio 2:32 glad to be here. My name is Renee Ferrario, and this is actually my third year at CEG as a college counselor, my first school counselor position was in Atlanta, and I worked in the Fulton County School System for over about 20 years. I then decided to pursue something that I knew that I would like the best, which is just working on college counseling. So Tom Campbell 2:59 Renee, the reason that we're here today as folks who work with students and families and helping them put together their college lists and think about how to finagle and approach the behemoth of us, colleges and universities, the 4000 or so that are out there, we figure one of the biggest initial questions that people are going to be asking when putting this list together is where so we queue College is a guy's new podcast series, which is a regional spotlight on different parts of the US and the realities and some of the pros, cons, benefits of attending college in certain different regions of this beautiful nation of ours, Right? Yes. So as a resident expert of the South, I'm very, very thrilled to have your expertise and your insight on so many different schools in the south. So before we kind of dive into some individual school spotlights, I'd love to kind of talk a little bit about how geography can be a can and should be a factor in a student's list, making process in putting together their college list, right? I know, for example, at a school that I used to work at in Washington State, I would always have kids who would say, I want to study. You know, one of the biggest things that they would mention right from the beginning a I want a school that's prestigious. So, you know, let's just get that out of the way and be I'm really interested in schools either on the West Coast, particularly California, maybe still in Washington and the Northeast and basically everything else. I was like, what about all these, like, you know, 45 or so other states that you are just not even touching or considering so in general, you know, I think especially when students are not familiar with the place, and if they've lived most of their lives, there are 17 or so years of life in a certain region, it can be really intimidating to consider going somewhere else. Right? So Renee, in your work as a college counselor, what would you say are some common talking points or considerations that you put out to students and families when they're thinking about what. Air to study and which regions to spotlight, and I guess, how geography can play a role in in your college search? Renee Ferrerio 5:07 That's a really good question. And you know, here at the O'Neill school, I am in the south, so, you know, we'll have students typically looking for schools here in the south. But when I'm working with CG students, a lot of times I'm, oh, I'm getting students from all over the place, and it might even be international. And I find it funny, because the first thing we do is a college list questionnaire, and the students will put down their, you know, the parameters that they're looking for in colleges, and some of the colleges that are already on their list, and some of the absolute no's, or, you know, these are, I don't want this in a college, and I'll see a lot of times I don't want to go anywhere in the south, but then you look at their list, and they'll have Vanderbilt or Duke or UNC study how Tom Campbell 5:48 that works, isn't it? Right? Right? Because I Renee Ferrerio 5:50 somehow they forget this is in the south. And then they'll say, Well, I don't want anything too hot, but I would like UT, Austin or University of Miami. And I, I remind them, well, those are both in the south and very hot, and the others you know are, they're all in the south. So if you're willing to look in the South for this school, maybe I could make some suggestions that are quite nearby that would also fit the bill, that might not be as super selective as we're trying to diversify the list. I mean, the South does have a lot to offer. In fact, one of the reasons that I moved here to North Carolina from the state of Georgia was because of the college options, because I have a daughter who was a high school student at the time, and I was thinking, you know, thinking a few years forward, where would she go? And in Georgia, there are a lot of options, but I didn't know that they were good fits for her specifically. And moving here, she had a lot more options. So I like to definitely throw those on students list to look into and research. And a lot of times they'll be pleasantly surprised. I, you know, I can't get them to necessarily come down here and do a college visit unless they're already heading down here, but if I can get them to at least go online and do like a virtual visit or something like that, a lot of times they'll say, Well, that's I didn't really know about that, or, you know, it even, but it even happens here at O'Neill, where I'll have students, and they're like, I'm only going to apply to UNC or NC State. And then I say things like, Well, what about UNC Asheville, or, you know, have you heard of you know, what about Davidson? Or I'll come up with other schools or Elon or something. And then, and then they say, Oh, I hadn't thought about that. So it can go even for students in the south, Tom Campbell 7:23 totally, yeah, even in your own yard. You may be surprised. What would you say are some of like, the biggest cultural realities or things that students should be keeping in mind as they're putting together a college list with Southern schools, whether those, whether those are those large, flagship public some of those smaller schools, like a roads. What are some things that you think you know by and large, students are going to find at many different college campuses and during their research. And then maybe some of the things that students may think that they know about the region, from the media, from movie portrayals, things like that, that may not necessarily be the whole story about school options in that part of the US, Renee Ferrerio 8:00 right. Okay, so, I mean, I would say as far as misconceptions. I mean, I feel like, and some of these misconceptions even occur here in the south, but thinking like, you know, I University of Alabama is so easy to get in, or I can get into the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, no problem. And you can just kind of walk in. It's all these the schools in the Northeast are the ones that are hard. And just to let you know that, you know, we have super selective schools here in the south, very, very selective. Vanderbilt Duke, I mean, I can go on, and we also have schools that are a little bit easier to get in, and we have schools that have very high admit rates, just like every other state in the in the union. There's also, I think, a misconception that if you're attending school in the South that it's going to be very conservative, and just like any other state in the union, you could ask me as a student, or if you fill out your questionnaire and you say, I'm looking for a very conservative political environment, I can find a school like that here in the south, for sure, as well as I could find numerous very progressive liberal environments. So I think that what the misconceptions that people have about the South, that it's a certain way we're pretty much like any other state in the union. You can find big schools, small schools, liberal schools, conservative schools, party schools, athletic and very sports oriented in Greek schools, versus not having that as much. And so I think it's really in finding the fit, as we always go back to as college counselors, that if you dive deep into what you're looking for, you're going to find gems. You're going to find schools out there that fit what you're looking for in every state. And I think one of the things about the South, at least I can say for North Carolina, and I've heard this once before, and I don't know where I heard the statistics, but for North Carolina itself, I heard that the public colleges here are the best return on investment in the country if you're a North Carolina resident, and the other one is California if you're if you're a California resident. But the flip side of that is if you're an out of state student trying to come to North Carolina, and it's hard to get into some of the schools here for out of state but. The price point is not so bad, because our cost of living is a little bit better. So even if you were going to live in a dorm the first year, then you want to live in an apartment off campus, you know, you're going to be able to find affordable housing, which, if you're in Boston or you're in Chicago, you're New York, maybe not so much. You know, affordable housing may not be very accessible in some of these larger cities in the northeast, or in Portland or Seattle, or any of those other large cities out there somewhere in California. So in as far as misconceptions, I think that some of them, but as some of the realities and exactly some of the things that I ran into, I would say mostly for the large flagship publics. A lot of them, if not all of them, are going to be pretty big in Greek life, some bigger than others, like Alabama and Auburn, I think, win the prize, and maybe hence the Bama rush documentary that I still have to watch. You know, there is a huge football culture here in the south. There is football over the country, but I don't believe the entire town stops like, you know, anywhere else, maybe, maybe Ohio State or or some of these other Michigan State type, types of towns for football. But for the most part, the SEC and the ACC football rules down here in the south, so you attend one of those schools and you're not a big football fan, that doesn't mean you have to go to football games, but literally, the entire school, the entire town, but there's football stadiums that have 120,000 spectators. People come in from outside of town. All the alumni show up. The hotels fill up, the restaurants fill up. So you pretty much just hang out and lay low during that weekend, or you need to participate. And the Greek life kind of melds in with the with the traditions. There's going to be parties, lots of parties that weekend. Tailgating is going to go everywhere. Basketball is not far behind. I think basketball is more kind of nationwide. You know, I think more people get into basketball all over the place. But, you know, there's a lot of rivalries here. Not that they don't have rivalries in other places. But, you know, FSU University of Florida, as we mentioned when I went to the FSU University of Florida, gators versus seminals. Games can get kind of touchy, you know, out the crowd. Probably worse was F issue versus Miami. You know that? I think that's a worse rivalry. I would see fist fights breaking out. It was gonna get a little scary there. But um, and they keep going back. I mean, it's not just the four years you're in school. They'll go for the rest of their life and buy season tickets. So this is a thing. And then, you know, there's a lot of traditions here. I know, just here in North Carolina, at UNC, they have the rushing of Franklin Street. So anytime UNC beats Duke in basketball, probably they beat them in anything, they rush out into the street and basically nuts, go nuts out into the streets. Duke has a tradition. And I'm not sure whether they're going to keep this tradition up or not, but it was a tenting for the game, for the UNC game. So they would set up these tents, and what they call kayville, which was for Coach K who's now retired. So whether this will continue on, or if it is, I don't know, but the people that were in these tents, they had to stay there for weeks at a time, 24 hours. So they would take shifts. And I believe they were only allowed to go back inside if it was like below 26 degrees or something crazy. But if they stayed, then they would get first dibs on the lottery, I believe, to get their ticket. So that's, that's an insane tradition that they have. NC State, this is just here. The triangle area has the Krispy Kreme challenge. And funny story about that, I before I actually moved to North Carolina, I did the NC State fly in, and was there for three days learning all about North Carolina or NC State. And I had a friend that I met at another fly in, and he we were texting back and forth, we were both going to be on the NC State fly and he said, Hey, there they have this thing called the Krispy Kreme challenge. Do you want to run it with me? I think it's about two miles. And I said, Okay, I can do that. I'll train and get ready. Because, you know, I was a little bit younger and in much better shape at the time. I said, Yeah, I can do this. So I would run every day, get get up my stamina for my two miles. And about the about a couple days before, I got an email from Krispy Kreme, because they had right they asked you, do you want to participate? And they registered you. So I get this email that says, Oh, hi, Renee, thank you for registering for the Krispy Kreme challenge. Here's your number. This is how you pick it up, etc. And remember, this is a two and a half mile run to the donuts and two and a half mile run back. And I said, Huh? What? So five miles. So I did participate in the Krispy Kreme challenge. You're supposed to run two and a half miles pick up a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts, eat them as fast as you can, all 12 and then run back. I ran back with my donuts because while I'm gluten free and I'm not going to eat donuts anyway, but I noticed a lot of people getting kind of sick, and you kind of had to kind of navigate that as you're running back. But I did it in 15 minutes. I found my time the other day. I was kind of proud of that. Right now, I probably can't walk to the mailbox, but hey, that was like, you know, eight, nine years ago. So I participated in that. That's a huge fundraiser for the school. I mean, everybody in the town comes out as really fun. They dress up in costumes. And so if you ever get a chance to run the Christopher King challenge here in the Raleigh area, you should do that. Yeah, you're also in the south, you're probably going to see a lot of sweet tea in the dining halls, which, you know, before I moved to Tallahassee, never heard of sweet tea. I just drink on unsweet tea. There's a lot of agricultural departments in the southern schools, yes, all right. And there are some in other states as well. But there are heavy here, very heavy. I mean, UGA has an animal science, dairy science, you know, you know, there's a lot of that. And just in general, I mean, I think, I think I've covered most of what I would say are the common things that I would see, and also some of the misconceptions I might think of a few more as we go along and add them in. But yeah, I mean, I think Tom Campbell 15:36 definitely one of the, you know, so in addition to athletics, right? The ACE athletics, agriculture, I'm trying to think another a they brought up agony, agony with the Krispy Kreme race that I am, yeah, falsely advertised as two miles, who does not equal five. I, you know, I never was a math genius, but I got that far, okay, one of the other, you know, big. And we kind of touched on this a little bit with Bama rush. Is Greek life, right? And I think something that was really interesting for me, you know, I didn't go to a school with Greek life in my work as a college counselor, often I, you know, haven't would have students who would say, like, Oh, I know, I don't want Greek life, you know. And I think there's kind of, you know, an immediate sense of exactly what it entails. And I think something that I became aware of in talking with a few friends of mine is kind of like the variety of what a sorority or a fraternity can look like. You know, for example, in 2023 like, it's not super uncommon. You know, some schools actually have like, even like, co Ed, Greek ways of operating, which is not, I would say, very common, but it does exist. And I know my friend Katie, for example, she went to school. She's from Maryland and but she went to school at Loyola, New Orleans, and she was, like, we were kind of like, you know, in Rudolph, like, the Island of Misfit Toys, like we kind of like all we were the sorority of, like, a lot of queer people, people really into, like, the arts and funky and already, you know, to begin with, we're in New Orleans, which kind of like You were mentioning how South Florida, cultural, culturally feels very different than the surrounding geographic area, right? The same can be said for New Orleans, for a lot of students, right? It does kind of have that distinct culture that does kind of pertain to the city limits. And loyal Orleans in particular, is known to be like a really big art school. A lot of into music and chef. She kind of like, you know, I met some of her sorority sisters who still live in New Orleans, and they all are, you know, one is a doula, you know, one is like, they're all kind of doing, I'd say, more eccentric and kind of outside the norm professions and just personality wise, like, they kind of were that was like, kind of like, what banded them together and Brought them community with each other. So it was basically, kind of like utilizing that model that can have kind of like a very like stereotypical image to it of rushing and whatnot, but doing it in a way that kind of like gave community and space for people who maybe didn't really feel like they wanted to be a part of kind of the traditional, you know, sorority or fraternity, right? So I don't know if you have kind of any additional thoughts or ideas around Greek life that for students who are either excited about it or worry about it, kind of what they might want to know before adding some schools to their lists and and considering it? Renee Ferrerio 18:15 Yeah, absolutely. Tom Well, I mean, what you everything that you said is correct. And I think the thing with Greek life. I mean, I do believe there are a lot of misconceptions about and there are some things that are true. I mean, you know, there are your traditional stereotypical fraternities, mostly fraternities, probably and sororities, but a lot of the high jinks and the things you see on TV happens to mostly be fraternities that I see, you know, the hazings or the drinking, or the things that you hear that are terrible Tom Campbell 18:43 well, but play that on the frontal lobes, exactly, the undeveloped frontal lobe. It's science. Yeah. I Renee Ferrerio 18:50 mean, you know, I think they've done a lot, a lot of things over the years to kind of crack down on some of the things, underage drinking and so forth. I'm sure it still goes on. But there's also a lot of really good things that go on with fraternities and sororities. There's a lot of philanthropy that goes on. In fact, there are a lot of schools that have they'll have your more social 40s sororities and fraternities, and then they'll have more academic or community service based type organizations. You have schools that don't have them at all. You'll have schools that have them where they have houses on campus or just in the outskirts, and people students can live in the houses, they'll have others that have a meeting space, but you can't live so there's a lot of different variety there. There's also some of the pros are connections that you make. I mean, I know people I was not personally in one, but I know a lot of people who were her in either fraternity or sorority, who've made lifelong friends and connections for their future careers and so forth and or they still, you know, I go to the airport and I see a group of girls with their sorority outfits, and they're in their 60s and 70s, and they're like, Oh, we're doing a girls trip, you know, it's they've stayed lifelong friends. So it's really neat. I mean, some of the things that can be expensive, and especially if you were to live in. The in the house, I believe you can add a lot, another $10,000 onto your bill, probably when it comes to housing and food there. But in the south I mentioned earlier, like Alabama and Auburn, I believe actually have the two highest in the south rates of membership in Greek life. And I also believe that even if a school has a low percentage of students participating in Greek life. That doesn't mean that you won't feel it, even though you'll hear that when you go to admission session, they'll say, oh, it's only, you know, 20% but that 20% can be really loud and out there, whereas you'll have a school that might have a little bit more, but they might be more philanthropy based or more academic based, and you may not feel it as much. And then there's schools like, let's say, David said they don't have any Greek life, but they have dining clubs, I believe they're called. And so instead of a rush where you go to try to get selected for a sorority or fraternity, you get selected for your dining club. And I, from my understanding, you can't get turned away, but I'd have to go back and revisit that. And so those kind of act as sororities and fraternities, but it's a place where you go eat your meals together. You don't live in the dining club, so there's some variations, but it does require a commitment of time, too, from what I understand. I mean, if you can't just join the club and you go drink beer on the weekends, that's not what it's all about. I mean, you know, maybe some people think that, but you do have to join and be involved in the activities. And they run, they throw program, they have programming that they do throughout the year, and they have events that they do and fundraisers that they do, and they're involved in a lot of the student life activities that are on campus a lot of times. So all in all, you know, I think, and also here in the south, you'll find a lot of schools that have, you know, one or 2% Greek life. It's just really small. And then you'll have the variation to very large, like, you know, your Alabama, your Georgia, you know, those types of schools. So, Tom Campbell 21:54 yeah, definitely a spectrum. And I think, I think the network piece was something that I also became so much more aware of when so my my friend Carolyn, who was, you know, wedding I went to. I actually also went to her bachelorette in New Orleans, my first time going on one. And it was a whole new world, not just because it was a Bachelorette, but also because the majority of the attendees were her sorority sisters from road. And I learned the first day a little bit about kind of the selection process and what goes into putting together the sorority. And I had no idea how much of it, you know, of course, I was thinking it was just based on, oh, like, she's cool, she's annoying, you know? And this story, I was like, there's actually a lot of thought and kind of like pragmatic thought into, kind of like students with different interests. And if, you know, oh, this person comes from this state, and her family works in this industry, like, you know, it'd be great to have someone who has those types of connections, you know, to be a part of our family, like literally thinking about kind of building up a network that you can tap into far beyond graduation. And the thought that kind of went into that, I was, like, really surprised like that, that that that that is really a piece of just a slice of kind of like, and just one example of ways that students will, kind of like, think about building up, essentially, this kind of enterprise and something that they want to be involved in and be a part of. And yeah, that kind of long term thinking related to it is super, super interesting. And anyway, so Renee, a few of the public schools that you mentioned, you know, you just mentioned Alabama, and how really big, you know, participation in Greek life there, in terms of, you know, schools that we kind of wanted to spend a lot of time spotlighting, you know, fun fact, 73% of US college students go to public institutions. So for the audience that's tuning in, there are probably going to be many who are at least applying to a flagship school in their own state, whether or not that is in the South. You know, is hard for us to know. You can see our podcast analytics, but let's spend a little time unpacking, kind of some of the flagship schools in the south. So yeah, take it away and kind of let us know. Renee Ferrerio 24:00 Yeah, a couple of things to talk about here. First of all, I think southern flagships are experiencing a I don't know what the word is for. They're just becoming popular, and they're being inundated with applications. Now, again, we were supposed to fall off some demographic cliff at some point, but I think we probably have, and we haven't noticed it, just because students are applying to so many more colleges each, and so the colleges are still getting more applications at this point, probably not knowing which way or the wind is blowing us whether these students are actually going to come or not. But this past year, I actually had the University of Alabama the representative for my school. I've been working with her for seven years, and she said, I just want to let want to let you know, no, this year is the first year that we're probably going to start deferring, because Alabama was what I would call a likely school for a student who had a 3.0 and was a decent student, average student. He wasn't going to, you know, be getting a $1,600 essay, T or anything, but he could get in to Alabama. No problem. This year, they actually started deferring University of Tennessee at Knoxville, same thing. And so to some of these schools that we've always considered, you know, even if you're applying out of state, because within our state, here in North Carolina, UNC and NC State, they could be somewhat competitive even for North Carolina applicants to get in. So students will look for other flagships. So that's one thing to point out, but the ad volume is up to everywhere. It's not just in the South. I think you know also for schools that you have to apply by major. You know this goes across the board, but if you're applying to computer science number one, engineering or business, and then also, you can add in psychology and biology, depending on the school nursing these these programs can be competitive, especially if they're direct admit. So that's something else. You need to look at. Couple things to know about some of the Southern flagships. The only one that I'm aware of, and correct me if I'm wrong, that has an early decision, which is the binding application type, is UVA, University of Virginia. So that doesn't mean that others may not adopt that policy coming up here in the fall, in the next cycle, but I haven't heard that. And Georgia Tech is a school that has two different early action type deadlines. They have an early action one for their in state applicants, and then they have an early action two, which is just a couple weeks later. Their early action one is mid October. Early action two is early November. They just split those pools because they are trying to serve more in state applicants, and the admit rate is, there's a quite a difference. So for in state applicants, there's about a 36% admit rate, and for out of state, it's about 12% so there's quite a discrepancy. NC State is a school that, for those who are interested, it's a huge tech school. I mean, they're much into STEM and engineering and into some other things. Like, they're the only school in the United States that has a dedicated College of textiles and design, which is pretty cool. If you ever get a chance to go see if there is some cool stuff going on there, it's very cool. And they admit directly by major or to the college. So you have to very succinctly be able to express why this major, which is one of the supplemental essay questions they are really going to be looking at that in the application process. There are several within the state here in North Carolina, there's a lot of there's a couple of two, two and two engineering programs for students who maybe can't get into NC State directly. They could try UNC Asheville that has a mechatronics and they have another engineering program there as well. But you do two years at Asheville and then two years at NC State, and there's also one at Wilmington as well, UNC Wilmington. So some students might opt for that as a as an alternate path that they couldn't get in right away. And I think I missed talking about Georgia Tech has a transfer pathway. I'm on the fence right now, if it's only for Georgia residents. I've tried to research that, and it was a good question that was brought up. It does say that the region is called the Regis engineering Pathway Program, or our E, P, P, and there are several schools in Georgia that participate. So if a student were to apply to Georgia Tech, and let's say it wasn't admissible right away. They could go to a Georgia Southern or Kennesaw State, or even Mercer or UGA or the other schools, and they could take their first two years, and if they have a certain grade point average, then they can be automatically admitted to tech. It's it's not a guarantee, but you have to meet the criteria and then apply. So it's an alternate path that you would still get your Georgia Tech degree there, Tom Campbell 28:21 which is huge to know. I mean, just given the competition, I mean, Georgia Tech is a school that kids from all over the US are spotlighting, and will be up special section about stem that we're going to cover in just a few minutes. But that's awesome news for people. Renee Ferrerio 28:35 Also, something that students need to know is that public colleges in the state of Georgia, so UGA Georgia Tech and Georgia College, which is their public liberal arts school, those three schools require test scores. They are not test optional. Also the state of Florida and Tennessee, none of the publics are test optional. So that's something to keep in mind, because most other states, there are exceptions that are peppered throughout the country that you know just stand alone, Purdue and MIT, I require test scores, but for the most part, statewide publics are still test optional, at least up until right now, at this moment, on June 21 you know, you never know when this it could change. So for students who are considering southern schools, and if they maybe didn't want to take the S, A, T, or maybe they were looking all California, UCs and Cal State, so they're not planning to do it. They and then they still, they wanted to add on, like a UGA, they're gonna have to take the sap in order to get admitted there. So that's something to keep in mind, Tom Campbell 29:33 the big asterisks for sure, right? And then also Renee Ferrerio 29:38 just reading the fine print. I think this something that when we're working with students, we're always telling them, make sure you're reading through everything you can find on the website. If you can't find an answer, you need to email your rep, which is a great way to demonstrate interest in the school and find out information. However, for an example, Auburn this past year, and I just checked and they haven't updated the website, so who knows if this will change? English, but they said that they were test optional or test flex, flexible. And then when you read the fine print, it says, but in order to apply that way, you have to have a 3.6 GPA or above, and you have to show that you were unable to take the test for some reason. And then you can apply test free, basically. So in reality, they're really not test optional. You're probably going to need to submit a test for Auburn, even though the state of Alabama has not, is still test optional as far as publics are concerned. And there's also something here at the south called the academic common market. And it could be something similar to like the WUI out west, somewhat academic comic. Common Market includes 15 southern states. The only one excluded is North Carolina, so unfortunately, we can't participate here. But if you are applying to a school in your state, or any of the schools in your state do not have the major that you're looking for, you could go on to the academic common market. If you find that major at another school, and you can get accepted to that school, then you can go there for in state tuition rates. So it's called the academic common market. So that's, that's something that it's nice for students to, know, huge Tom Campbell 31:08 benefit. Yes, well, actually, speaking of money, be great to talk a little bit about affordability and kind of like, especially for students who are trying to find cost effective options in the south, you know, maybe what if you're looking at your in state option, obviously, that is going to be probably a pretty cost effective option for you. If you are from Georgia, you're looking at Georgia public schools, great. That hopefully will be really financially a good match for you, but maybe for students who are from outside of the south and are kind of looking to attend college. There would you give different advice around thinking about finances, scholarship opportunities, things of that nature, Renee Ferrerio 31:44 absolutely. So the advice that's given is always going to be based on the family situation, right? So if we have a full pay student, a family that says we can afford to go anywhere, then then you obviously have an open book where you can apply anywhere. And if it all works out financially, that's not it's not a concern for you. Most students do have this concern. Most families do, and there's two ways to look at it. If you're you're looking for an affordable school as Tom you just mentioned your in state, public institutions are probably going to be your best bet, but that doesn't mean that you couldn't find as good of a deal or better out of state, but most likely would be at a private institution. Now there are exceptions to that, but out of state, publics tend to be your worst financial deal if you're looking to get big money. Now there are exceptions to that. For example, UNC Chapel Hill, which happens to be a school, a public school, and UVA, I believe, as well, they both meet 100% demonstrated need. But if you're not somebody who has big need, you just don't want to spend 40, $50,000 out of pocket. You may not be able to fill that, fill the gaps that you may get with let's say your family has a certain amount that they can spend per year. You're probably not going to get $30,000 to go to UNC if it's not need based aid. Now, one thing that I do like to highlight is that there are some really big scholarship programs here in the south. Some of them require nominations. Some of them you can self nominate. Some of them are a combination of the two. So I'll kind of run through some of the ones that I'm aware of. UGA has the Bernard Ramsey foundation fellow, and there's a an honors component. Their honors program is amazing, but one is a full ride, and one of them is almost a full ride, and one of them incorporates the honors program. It's been a few years, about eight years now, since I've had students apply for that. But that is a full ride at UGA, if you could get in there. Georgia Tech has a stamps Presidential Scholarship, also a full ride. This is we're talking tuition, room and board meal plans. They usually throw in stipends, and they have study abroad, and it's almost like a little VIP cohort that goes through the four years where you're treated kind of like red carpet roll out and you get, you get the works right here in the in UNC, in North Carolina, UNC has the Morehead Kane. That is a more it is a nomination scholarship. However, you can self nominate. So you know if your school, if you're out, yeah, if you're if you're an out of state applicant, and your school doesn't is not a nominating school, just go ahead and self nominate if your school is a nominating school. Or if you don't know, you need to ask your school counselor, Hey, what is are we on the list for UNC? And you could always contact them directly or have your counselor do but in the long run, they don't differentiate between nominated students and non nominated in the process. So if you're, if you feel like you meet the criteria, go ahead and do it. Because again, Morehead Kane is spectacular, if you Tom Campbell 34:39 like that. It sounds, it sounds, it sounds really similar to what you were describing. Is it the Bernard scholars? Bernard Ramsay, yes. Bernard Ramsay, yeah. I mean, I so I had a student that I previously worked with who got the more head cane and went through all the entire nomination process, the different series of interviews, and if you look at even just like the bio of the students who are part of it, I mean, talk about. Inspiring group of kids to be spending your four years with and all the opportunities that you get along with it. Yeah, I cannot emphasize those programs enough, and especially the student I was working with was considering those and then some other more selective, prestigious schools, and that became kind of like a big point of conversation. And I was like, hmm, it's free for four years with these amazing opportunities and amazing students, or a very high cost, for sure. You know, a name that kind of looks really grand a bumper sticker, but like, really, like, I think this is a great grade thing to tap into in once in a lifetime, for sure, absolutely. Renee Ferrerio 35:34 And, of course, you know, UGA Georgia, tech, Unc, these are name brand schools. I mean, UNC is a public ivy and and that's a that's prestige and on its own, but then you'll, you'll come up to a school like UNC Charlotte, which is one of our regionals here, they have something called the Levine scholarship. And so if I have a student who's really interested in engineering or, you know, and they want to apply to NC State, they may be a good candidate to get in there. And in fact, probably, if they were eligible for Levine, would probably also be getting into NC State. However, it's a lot easier to get into Charlotte than it is to get into NC State. And I've had students get the Levine, which is the full ride, and they've traveled to, I think, four to seven countries over the four years with different programs through that cohort. And again, they're they're out of maybe a lesser known if you want to look at prestige school, but they're getting a rock star education here. And say you're a Levine scholar on your resume when you go to apply for grad school, or you're you know you're looking for a job down the road, people will know that it is a very prestigious scholarship. So we've got that. We've got Davidson here. Davidson is a liberal arts school just outside of Charlotte, and they have the Belk scholar that isn't a completely nomination scholarship. So you can't self nominate there, so you would have to talk to your counselor. There is the University of Virginia, Jefferson Scholar. They are a nomination scholarship as well, and I believe they do have lots of nominating schools across the country, so your counselor would have to check and if they're not, they can, I think, inquire as to if they can become a nominating school Washington and Lee, a small liberal arts school in Virginia, has the Johnson scholarship. That also is we had a student here from O'Neill that got that about seven years ago. Another amazing opportunity for that student, full ride. Wofford has the Wofford scholars Emory has a university scholars Emory in Atlanta, and of course, University of Alabama has some great scholarships. They actually have a very clear cut. If you're out of state, you can go on their website and look at what is your GPA. And now they're test optional. So if you don't have testing, they'll just look at the GPA. But if you meet a certain threshold, you get a certain amount of money. And then there's other higher scholarships from there that are presidential. They also give a lot of money for National Merit Scholars, as well as the you don't see all the time, no, usually it's, usually it's like, what, 1000 $2,000 or something, yeah, like Tom Campbell 37:58 a little, like, slice of cake, and like, here you go, put a little handling, have a party for yourself. Renee Ferrerio 38:03 Exactly. University of Kentucky is another one that gives full cost of attendance plus stipends for National Merit. And UT, Dallas in Texas, they have a huge scholarship called the McDermott scholar scholarship program. But I went, I flew out and did a two day program learning about McDermott Scott's amazing what they're doing out there. And they also give a lot of money for National Merit. So these are, you know, especially if you're a National Merit semi finalist, maybe throw in a couple of these schools on your list. Just as I don't want to say, backup. These are amazing schools. But if you want a financial backup plan, and you know that maybe I'm going to get into some of these other schools, but I might not be able to afford it. These might be good ways to look at this. I Tom Campbell 38:44 mean, I don't know what the data would be now, but the book where you go is not who you'll be. Frank Bruni, there's a whole chapter about kids who academically and in terms of their test scores and GPA, were eligible to attend more selective schools, but chose other pathways. I think the school that he profiles particular not a southern school per se, southwestern School University, Arizona State and their particular Barrett college, but all the research that demonstrates kind of, you know what students who have that academic profile but choose schools that like you mentioned, wouldn't necessarily be on the output or reach schools for them by any means, But in terms of opportunity related to what they were able to do, that big fish in a small pond, yeah, just about to say that reality is like, so, so, and it can be so, like, empowering for students as well to, like, sometimes, for the first time, especially if they're coming from a more competitive high school, being like, yeah, like I'm doing I'm moving mountains over here. I'm making things happen. And I feel like I'm making a name for myself, and that can be just like a really great flipping of the script for students. So I love that tip. Yeah, another area, in addition to finances that's a big concern for students families right now, is program choice. Right increasingly, in the US, there is, I'd say, heightened competition, as you've mentioned. But. For for certain programs and majors, and of course, you know, I think the one that you mentioned first was computer science, which I'm not surprised by. It's become just exponentially more competitive as more and more jobs grow in that field. Well, right now, you know, we're going through a limited round in the tech industry, right? But in the long term, right? Does seem like it's an area that there's going to be a lot of opportunity in and understandably, lots of interest among students and families in these programs. So in fact, actually, at college Jessica, we have been doing a live Community Survey during live sessions, and so far, we've had 899 respondents. I don't know we have a prize for the nine hundreds or something, but the 899 participants in our live sessions, 55% of them are interested in their favorite subjects in high school are math and science. So given that so much of our audience is interested in those areas, do you have any particular tips or programs you know, of course, some that we've you know, talked about a little bit are Georgia Tech, and I know there's big competition, especially for out of state students, to be admitted to Georgia Tech for those competitive STEM programs CES in particular. But yeah, anything that you think students and families should know about when it comes to studying STEM programs fields in the south, just Renee Ferrerio 41:09 stem in general is popular everywhere. I mean, almost every student that I talk to here at O'Neill is also interested in that. I think one of the keys, as I mentioned with if you're applying directly to a major, you need to have some evidence somewhere that you're interested in, not, not a, you know, if that question is, why do you want to major in engineering? And the answer is, well, because I can make a lot of money, and my dad is an engineer, and he told me it would be a good, good way to go, or, you know, just seems cool. Probably not going to get you in to these competitive schools. And I know, and it is hard. I mean, it's something like here at O'Neill, we don't offer engineering courses, but we do have a high math and science so that's a start. And then I tell students, you know, if you think that you want to be involved in business or engineering or computer science, do something. Do a summer program. Shadow somebody in in the field, do something where you're able to speak on what you learned and why you think this would be a good fit for you. So I think that's one big tip that's in the south, or anywhere, but looking here in the south, I think you know, any of the flagships that offer these engineering programs, they're going to be competitive. I mean, University of Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, as I mentioned earlier, that you know, well, Texas, a and m and UT, Austin, UT, Austin is very competitive. Texas, A and M, maybe not as much. NC, state could be competitive. Duke, very competitive for engineering or just in general to get in. But you could look at a school like UNC Charlotte, or you can look at a school like Elon that might have a smaller engineering program. There's also schools out there that have, you know, that are more liberal arts based, but have an engineering program might not be as extensive as an NC State, but can get you the basics that you need to move on, and then you've got, you know, your Clemson, Alabama and Auburn, those are Clemson and Auburn have been trending upwards in difficulty for getting in but if you're looking at Alabama, you could look at the University of Alabama and Huntsville, which has an amazing engineering program. It is located near NASA, near the Marshall Space Flight Center, University of Alabama, Birmingham has also has engineering, of course, Virginia Tech, that's one, has been getting a little bit harder over the years to get in, specifically for engineering. But you could look at a school like George Mason, which I did a fly in program to them, and I absolutely love to talk about access. George Mason, that one of their missions is to just give access, and then not only get you there, but once you're there, support you to do well, because you hear a lot about, you know, you get into engineering the first year is like a weeding out year. Probably computer science is the same way. You know, they're just going to throw you, throw down these classes that are going to be just very complicated and difficult. If you can't get through it, you're probably going to come out of the program. But a school like George Mason, you know you could go there and get admitted to engineering for the most part, and then be supported while you're there to be successful, so that you can end up finishing up and getting your degree. As we mentioned, Georgia Tech being a pretty difficult school, especially as an out of state student to get in. But there are other schools in Georgia, like Georgia, Southern and Kennesaw. Kennesaw State used to be a standalone school, and then it merged with a school called Southern Polytechnic Institute, or southern Polytechnic University. They merged together. It's a big, big engineering school now. So there are options in every single state. And I mean, I'm not going to talk about the northeast, because this is about the south. But you know, you always hear about the same engineering and STEM schools over and over, and then I always throw on to the list some of these other schools that it's not that you can walk in, but their admit rates are much more reasonable, especially if you're a good student. It feels more like a match, more like it's a possibility, than. Schools that have like, a 9% admit rate, you know, where it feels impossible to get in, and even if you're perfect, so is 85% of the applicant pool. They're all going to look great like you, and then they it's just a matter of whether you're going to get in or not. So I think that's, you know, something that students seem to think about when they're looking at STEM and there's also schools like, for example, in Georgia, Agnes Scott, all girls school, right? And those students, even though I always hear this, I don't want to go to an all girls school as if they're going to be on an island somewhere, there never will be a male within sight. That's usually not the case. But also, at Agnes Scott, when I visited, there's guys everywhere, because Georgia Tech students are taking classes at Agnes Scott, and Agnes Scott students are taking classes at Georgia Tech, so you could technically study engineering by going to an all girls school, which is at a very cool location in Decatur, right outside the city of Atlanta, where you could consider an HBCU like North Carolina A and T, which has, I think we looked up earlier, has the highest rate of African American Engineering grads than any school in the country. So that's pretty impressive. So there's other options out there than just looking at a technical institute or a school that is well known for STEM there's a lot of different possibilities. And again, I think the key to all of this that we've been talking about, not just the South, is keeping an open mind to what opportunities might be out there. Yeah, and Tom Campbell 46:21 I love that. I love the tip about North Carolina AMT, because, you know, I think one another big question to ask, in particular, if you are interested in STEM programs, is like, Who do I want to be surrounded by? And like, what type of environment is best for me as a stem learner? Because, you know, certain programs like you mentioned do have more of a reputation and and kind of that weed out culture that it's great to be privy of and aware of before you start applying, and before you land somewhere that you're like, Great, I'm here, but am I going to be able to continue on through this course based on the people that are around me, the way that it's being taught, the support that's present for me, right? Something that I thought was really interesting is actually in North Carolina, um, Carolina, Congresswoman Alma Adams has started back in 2015 it's the bipartisan HBCU caucus, and in talking about the caucus, she mentioned HBCUs produced 42% of Black Engineers, 47% of black women engineers, and 40% of the Congressional Black Caucus. So that was really surprising to me, and something that I think was really interesting to note, when it comes to identifying schools that were you feel empowered by looking around you and seeing people who looked like you and driving in a profession that hasn't always been as open and accessible to people from different walks of life, right, right? All right. So talked, you know, talked about, kind of, some of some of those larger flagship schools, which, you know, many students are going to be looking at just based on the numbers. Talked about some of those STEM programs that maybe students who are interested in STEM want to spotlight finances, how to factor that in. But let's do some rapid fire, kind of, just like, you know, let's go through different states in the South, and with your wisdom and knowledge of decades of doing this to run in a little deeper, yeah, let's kind of go through and do some like rapid fire spotlighting of some different schools and programs that students may have heard of before, but also maybe may not have, and particularly some of those maybe smaller private schools that, again, sometimes many of them are going to offer great merits, scholarship opportunities, specialized programs or tradition or opportunities that for that certain kid who's listening to was like, Hey, I can't believe you have a specialty in gold threaded textiles. You know, there might just be a school that looks exactly like that right now. Where do you want to start? In terms of states, there's, I'll just Renee Ferrerio 48:37 start in Florida. We'll start south and Tom Campbell 48:38 move up. Okay, let's start. Let's do it. Lynn University, another Renee Ferrerio 48:43 school that has popped up a lot over the years. It's a school that has a lot of diversity, so that's one thing that you should know about that school. If you're looking for diversity, they have an aviation program, so you can go in and learn to be a pilot. That's not cheap, because there's a little bit extra expenses there, but if you want to learn to fly, and as we know, right now, in the United States, there's a shortage of commercial pilots, so, you know, jump on that and go get your your aviation degree so you can become a united pilot and fly me around, because I need that. So they have a they have a business at a music consort conservatory. It's a small private school. They also have a really good program for students who have any kind of learning disability, which is great. They have an entire program, and it's right there. So if you are somebody that has a different learning style, or maybe an ADHD or something like that, that you've been diagnosed with, and you're hoping that your transition to college will be eased if you get a little help. This might be something to look into. And one thing that I did learn about Lynn is that they give an iPad to every single student who enrolls, and they have these pre loaded apps that they I guess, that they ask students to use that are kind of fun. So that's that's another fun fact about Lynn. Well. And Tom Campbell 50:00 one thing you know Florida, one thing I think with Florida that you know definitely we should probably spend a little bit of time talking about, given headlines in the news, folks might be hearing about legislation in particular that Florida is proposing related to higher education that may differ from a lot of the other 49 states in the US. So anything you think that students and families should be keeping in mind if they're interested in studying in Florida related to kind of like the political climate reality in 2023 when it comes to education, right? Renee Ferrerio 50:27 Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. You know, as we all know, with politics, things come and go in four year cycles, so who knows what will happen in the next year or so. But I think the public system in Florida is somewhat under attack. I guess it depends on your point of view. Maybe they think they're being supported, but new College of Florida is one in particular, that dimension that's been in the news a lot, that's always been known as it is the public liberal arts school of Florida, and it is, has always been known as a progressive, very liberal environment, and Governor DeSantis just basically picked a fight with them in many different ways, and he got rid of many of the the people that were on the board of trustees, and replaced them with political type politicians who had already been in the Republican Party and so forth. And they've gone in and dismantled the Diversity Equity inclusion office, and they're, you know, threatening tenure, and a lot of students are fleeing. It's not a very big school. I think the total population there is about 900 and I know that some other schools in the country, like Hampshire has stepped up and said they would take everybody from New College of Florida who wants to come for the in state Florida rate, SUNY Binghamton is recruiting these students as well, so there may be some others, since I've looked into this, but it's a concern, because students are went there knowing that they're fit. This was the type of school that they wanted. They wanted a progressive, they wanted a liberal, they wanted open dialog and social justice and all these things. And the governor has decided that he wants to turn it into, like a hells Dale type of a very conservative institution. And again, this is not a judgment one way or the other on political or, you know, liberal versus conservative, but I think that if a student wants a conservative institution, they're going to go there, versus if you want a liberal one, you're going to go there. And he's trying to turn it on its ear. And I believe that some of the public institutions, and this is not just Florida, other southern states, and actually even out west, you know, Arizona, Texas and others other places there, there's a lot of talk about mimicking some of the Florida actions, some of the laws that have been enacted. I know that Governor DeSantis actually abolished or banned AP, African American history. I think the class is called this was the first year it was going to roll out, and he banned it from secondary. And so there's a lot of political stuff going on there. I think you just need to be aware before you apply to a public institution. I you know it's not that the privates are not touched. They're not under the same laws as the public institutions, however they are in the state, so they're going to be affected by some of these things one way or the other. So it's just something to look at. And that's not again, not just for Florida. You need to look at the political climate, and depending on your values and your your passions for things, some of these things may be a no go for you. I mean, I have students tell me I'll go anywhere in the south, but I'm not going to Florida, where I'm not going to Texas, because they feel very opposed to the politics there. And then I have other students who, you know, they're they want to go to Liberty, and they, you know, they're opposed to what they think is going on in some of the public colleges. So it depends on what camp you're in. But I think just in general, not to pick on Florida or governor DeSantis or anybody else, just to say that you know you have to look at every school that you're applying to, and you need to look read through the organizations and the and the the mission, and you know who they serve and how they're talking before you make a decision if this is a good fit. And I also always encourage student to go visit schools, because they can also get a feel for the students who attend there, and hopefully be able to ask some candid questions while they're eating in the dining hall and find out what it's really like, you know, instead of not necessarily just the tour guides who are working for the admissions office and probably putting their best foot forward. So so that's pretty much what I know. I know it's going on here in North Carolina. We're also awaiting the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, which could change everything everywhere, as far as how people are, you know, looked at in the admissions process. So I think, you know, in general, when you're dealing with a lot of money that's going to be spent, you need to, you know, you always want to be careful about where you spend your money, just like you do with businesses. Sometimes you hear about businesses being boycotted because of values that they will that you don't agree with. I think the same can be said for colleges and institutions, that if you don't agree with what they're selling, don't buy it, right? So pay attention that. That's, I guess that's my last word on that. Just pay attention to what's going on. Tom Campbell 54:55 Yeah. Awesome. Now, super, super. Great tip for. And for students and families tuning in and counselors too well next day, I guess heading north would be Georgia, but let's go. Let's go to Georgia. Yeah, let's go Renee Ferrerio 55:08 Georgia. Go to Georgia. So we've talked a bit about EGA and Georgia Tech, of course, being the flagships of the state Georgia College, which used to be called Georgia College and State University. They might still call it that, but Georgia colleges, that is the formal name. Now that is the public liberal arts, and it is the one school in Georgia. And many schools have, many states have the one school that's that's listed as the public liberal arts. It's kept at a smaller size, and they're really dedicated to the liberal arts. So if you're interested in a liberal arts school, but the private schools might be too pricey for you. You could look at a public liberal arts like a Georgia College. It's located in millsville, Georgia, kind of in the center of the state, near Lake Sinclair. There's a lot of Lake activities and things that students could do, and they have really good programs of business, education, nursing and music. For example, Georgia State where I actually went and got my master's degree in school counseling. And I mentioned earlier that used to be a commuter school. Is No Longer. It is a prime school for graduates to go. They have an amazing business school. They have a great nursing program. Well, it's very urban campus, so just so you know, it's located right in downtown Atlanta, as opposed to Georgia Tech, which Georgia Tech is in downtown Atlanta, but you feel like you're on a college campus at Georgia Tech. Georgia State would be more similar to like a George Washington or it's just really a downtown campus. So as you're walking around, you'll see buildings that have a little Georgia State logo on it. It's a very diverse campus, very left leaning, very Atlanta politics type, type of a school. And when they consolidated, as I mentioned earlier, in 2015 with Georgia Perimeter, they have over 54,000 students and a lots and lots of majors, and they've also increased their graduation rate. I believe I read this, and I might be misquoting it, but I think I read that they increased it by 62% or something, because they used to have they struggled when they first merged, and now they're they're really on top of this, and do really well with their graduation right there. There's SCAD, or Savannah College of Art and Design, which is in Savannah, Georgia. There's also a satellite campus in Atlanta, which I toured and was blown away because it was just looks like a brick building on the outside. When you get in, it's like layer after layer after layer of these amazing art studios. It's pretty cool. If you ever get a chance to check it out, that Tom Campbell 57:27 might be the gold threaded textile school. I don't know if they have that, but I'd say, of all the ones here, maybe there, yeah, Renee Ferrerio 57:33 maybe they do have a fashion component for sure. Um, the main campus is in Savannah, which is a historical town in in in the state of Georgia, it's very diverse, very diverse, very left leaning politically, and they offer more programs and specializations than any other art and design school in the US. So if you are an art student, you're looking to go to an art school, SCAD should be on your radar. At least check out. And then, of course, I'm sure everyone's heard of Emory, but I just would be remiss if I didn't mention is one of the best schools in the state of Georgia. Lots of diversity there. Very progressive it is. It's a city school. It's not in downtown. It's like it's off in Decatur, kind of close to Agnes Scott, but not right around the corner. And they Emory healthcare is the largest healthcare system in the state of Georgia. They have a medical school there. The CDC is right next door, so lots of medical stuff going on. And then there's also Oxford College, which is this two year program that's affiliated with Emory. It's basically called Emory Oxford, or Oxford Emory, I should say, and students can apply to both or either or but if you get into Oxford, it's slightly easier to get in, but we're talking slightly it's still very difficult. It's a two year program, and it's only for freshmen and sophomores. So some of the benefits of that campus are about 45 minutes out, so a little bit more of in a rural area. And if you're a leader into, you know, wanting to get leadership roles, it's an opportunity, because if you're at the Emory campus, a lot of those leadership roles are going to be going to the upper classmate. So some of those freshmen and sophomores can really get in and and, you know, they're in Chapter their own clubs, because there are no upperclassmen on that campus. After two years, they matriculate to the Emory main campus. So just wanted to mention that so I know that I mentioned we did Florida, we did Georgia. Let's see what's next. We will go to South Carolina. I was gonna say we're sick Tom Campbell 59:17 and coastal. It'll be South Carolina, which has a decent amount of interesting private schools, I would say, I mean, of course we'll talk about us. USc, the other US city, a non fight on version. I don't know what. If it's, it's not fight on, it's but less. I don't know. Maybe Renee Ferrerio 59:34 I don't know. I don't know about that, actually. So USC, we didn't talk about much. They have a really good business and a good engineering program. They also have a hospitality and sports management College, which is kind of neat and different. They happen to give great money for national merit, so that's one to throw on your list if you're a semi finalist. Actually, a fun fact is that all four members of Hootie and the Blowfish graduate. From USC, kind of interesting. Yeah, I do too, and I don't even know. You're too young to even know what Hootie and the Blowfish is. Come on. Tom Campbell 1:00:08 Well, I do. I can even sing a little ditty for you, if you want. So okay, well, let's save Renee Ferrerio 1:00:13 it to the end. We don't have time for that. That's right, all right. Clemson, I'm sure everybody's heard of Clemson. They are big in engineering and architecture business, they have an ag school. They are somewhat difficult to get in, I would say, on par with like a UGA, as far as admit rates and so forth, so. But if you're looking at some of the other different schools in South Carolina that maybe are not talked about so much, Wofford is one that I think would deserve a look for students, especially if you're an athlete, they are a d1 school. So they are similar to some other very small d1 schools. They actually have a football team as well. It's a liberal arts through and through. They're located in Spartanburg. There's, there's a lot of stuff to do there. In Spartanburg, the campus itself, fun fact, has been designated as a National Arboretum. It's a really pretty campus. So something to check out if you're in Spartanburg, if you happen to be in Greenville, South Carolina, I would definitely check out Furman, if for anything else, the campus is absolutely gorgeous, breathtakingly gorgeous. 750 acres. It's in Greenville, South Carolina, and that's an up and coming town. There's a lot of really cool restaurants and and the arts and so much going on there. Our computer science and sustainability is pretty big at Furman So, and they're, you know, they're also a liberal arts school, but they have something called the Furman advantage, I believe it's called in their core. And they're, they're really working. They're doing some innovative steps. So I would check out their website. College of Charleston happens to be a city or an urban campus located right off the coast. So if you're a beach person, you can get the beach and the city, which is kind of cool College of Charleston is not a super, super selective school, you know, it's, it's moderate, I guess you would say, you know, about, probably about a 50 or 60% admit rate going off memory, which could be faulty. It's a left leaning, left leaning campus historic city. It's got about a 50% out of state population at the school. So that means only about 50% of the students are from South Carolina. So it's a mid sized school. Has an excellent Honors College. They have a great marine biology, meteorology program. Business is strong. And also, another fun fact about this school is that it's been in many films such as The Patriot Cold Mountain and the notebook for for those of you who are movie buffs, you probably have seen that in the background. The campus really cool. Got lots of shopping. So if you go to school there, make sure your parents are sending you lots of extra money for incidental so you could go shopping, because tons of shopping there. Tom Campbell 1:02:43 Love incidentals with the asterisk. So I love that. Great, exactly. Okay, Renee Ferrerio 1:02:47 so I think we are now at my street. Yep, are we? We're here in North Carolina, okay, I probably referenced Davidson College at some point, which is right outside of Charlotte, again, an amazing school, truly liberal arts. It's true liberal arts. They have a little downtown. They have a little what they call the beach. It's a little lake that the students go and they go swimming. It's not too far from Charlotte. It's probably about a 30 to 40 minute ride up to Charlotte. They have an honor code, which is very similar to some other small liberal arts schools. They have excellent basketballs and Q Steph Curry. For those of you who are Steph Curry fans, he went to Davidson like Wofford. They're a d1 very small school. So you will have to understand that with Davidson, they are small, but I think about a third of their students who attend are d1 athletes. So some of their admin reads can be a little misleading, because they will admit a lot more in ed in their early decision rounds. However, a lot of those students are division one athlete to get in. So moving on to what I consider to be a one of the hidden gems here in North Carolina is UNC Asheville. If any of you have ever gone to Asheville, I absolutely love that town. To me, it's one of my favorite cities in the US, to be honest, and UNC Asheville is the public liberal arts, as I've referenced before, for the state of North Carolina. So it's about 3000 students. It's about five minutes to downtown Asheville. If you have not been to Asheville, it is amazing. The food is amazing, the music is amazing, the arts are amazing. Walking around the city is amazing. Then you have all the outdoor stuff. You have rock climbing and waterfalls, and you can go to the Biltmore and you know, there's just a lot, a lot going on there in Asheville, it's a very left leaning and progressive town. They don't have football. They're huge into basketball, though, and you've probably seen them somewhat in the in the final four tournaments and so forth. Fun fact, two fun facts about UNC Asheville. Some of the students there discovered a new planet. I don't know the name of that planet. And they also offer classes in the Cherokee language, which is interesting, because there's only 2000 native speakers of that language left alive. So that's very cool. Yeah, so wanted to mention that as. As a hidden gem. App State, I wouldn't say so much a hidden gem, but it is an amazing school. It is located in Boone, which is a, it's kind of a ski town. It's a it's a cool downtown. It's a mountain town, really. So if you go to school at App State, and you know, even if you're from North Carolina, you have to understand that the weather there is a little different than your normal part of North Carolina, because you're in the mountains, you'll get heavy snow, where we won't get anything here, and, you know, the central part of North Carolina, so you'll get a lot of snow, a lot of cold, but there's a lot of skiing and and you know all the snow sports, where there's also the hiking and the white water rafting, rafting and kayaking, huge outdoors. They have a whole Outdoor Center, and you could rent any of the equipment and go off in for either free or close to nothing. There at the school, they have an amazing Honors College. They're huge on environmental studies and sustainability that they're huge on that. They have a great education program, nursing, exercise science is really big there and been in the city itself is about two hours away from any of the major cities in North Carolina for the most part. So it's kind of centrally located there. So I highly recommend checking that school also very affordable, very cheap. They include all of their books as rentals there, so which can save you $1,000 a semester. Yeah. Another what I would consider UNC Greensboro, and is the alma mater of my daughter who just graduated at the beginning of May in the nursing program, is the UNC Greensboro. Greensboro is actually the third largest city in North Carolina. A lot of people don't know that because they think of Charlotte, and then they think of the Raleigh, Durham Chapel Hill area, and then that that's it. But Greensboro is a large city. Greensboro is a gorgeous campus. It's a, kind of a, it's a large, but it's kind of a mid size, large. It's like 15 to 18,000 so it's still doable. Talk about access, it's kind of like, similar to what I mentioned with George Mason. It's it's huge for social mobility. It's huge for access. It's very progressive, left leaning, lots of diversity. There. They have an amazing nursing program. They have great performing arts and fine arts. So I would recommend checking that out if you wanted to come to North Carolina. It's very affordable as well. They just started including book rentals there as well. So something to keep in mind. And then another one that, I mean there's, I could go on and on in North Carolina, but we'll cut it short with Elon being the last one. That is a that's a mid sized private school, about 7000 students, but about 80,000 not 80,080% of the students come from outside of North Carolina, so it's very geographically diverse. And they have something that I think is probably well known to the theater kids, is that they have a great musical theater program, and you do have to audition for that, but that is a well known program. They're big in business and education. They have a little engineering program that they just started up, and also very popular beautiful campus as well. So, you know, I could again, I could go on and on with North Carolina, but those are just some of the gems that I thought I'd highlight. I know Tom Campbell 1:07:57 the Fellows Program at Elon is one that, you know, I have a few of my college counselor friends frequently encourage their students to look at it, because there's these different divisions in terms of, like, where you can be spending your time on different research projects and kind of thought processes. And the velos program at Elon is one where a financially, you got a little bit of a or not actually a little bit, like, a decent chunk of merit aid. I mean, I think it's like five, five to $13,000 or so, and just routed by a lot of like, like minded people around a certain intellectual topic that you're really curious to chip away at and solve. So, Renee Ferrerio 1:08:30 yeah, great school, great school. I think I will move over to Tennessee, so we'll just kind of go to the left there. So with Tennessee, we've talked about UT Knoxville a bit. Great school. Shout out to, you know, Pat Summitt and the lady balls, even though she's passed away. But that has always been my, my favorite school to watch for women's basketball, besides Yukon, the rivalry there, but some other schools. This is a fun fact about me. I actually was thinking about going to college for music business way back when, when I was like, you know, 1819, I checked out Middle Tennessee State because they are known for having one of the best music business programs around. So they're about 45 minutes away from Nashville, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. They do have an aviation program. Rolling Stone magazine recognize Middle Tennessee State who has five, 24/7, recording studios as one of the nation's best schools for music industry studies. They also have, I believe it's concrete management, which is another odd one. So you know, if you're interested in either of those things, I would check out that school then Belmont, which is right in Nashville, located right on Music Row, atop Music Row, is also known for their music and performing arts and the entertainment and Music Business Program, and then you've got another school in Tennessee. They also have a lot of gems throughout the state, but I'll mention Swanee, or the University of the South. They called Swanee for the nickname. It's also one of the most beautiful campuses in the country. It's basically on a mountain. It's got some Gothic architect. Sure it's a very southern institution. When I visited while back they I know that the students who maybe had certain GPAs or higher would wear their gowns, like the graduation gown they wear those class, not the cap, but just the gown. And they could decorate those gowns. I guess that signified that they were scholars and so forth. And they have a really big honor code, similar to Davidson. It's a rigorous school when you get there, but it's not too terribly difficult to get in. It's very outdoorsy, but it's also very rural. You're not going to be close to any kind of city or town. So some of one of their top programs there is English and creative writing. So if you're into those majors, or many others, I would check out that school, and then I think maybe moving over to Texas. What do you think? Sure. So we talked about UT, Austin. UT, Austin, just as a recap, really hard to get in for an out of state student, because they have a program that the top. It used to be the top 10% but they had to lower it down to the top 6% of each class at any of the schools in the state of Texas is an automatic admit to UT, Austin, so that leaves very little spots for out of state students. It's still it's still possible, but it's really hard. It's an amazing school. They have a great business program in McCombs. You know, there's also architecture, engineering and nursing and so forth. So great school, hard to get in Texas, A and M, another flagship. And I haven't really talked about them, so I'll just mention it. They're huge. I went and visited them a year or two ago when the US, yeah, they have 75,000 students. So it's like it's city in itself. Of course, they have an ag school. They have architecture, business, engineering, and they happen to be also one of the six military colleges that, I said, six Senior Military Colleges that they have, I think, the biggest corps of cadets of all of them, and they give a ton of money for National Merit again. So you might want to look that up if you are a national merit semifinalist. Some of the others, I think that are gems in Texas, and there are many. It's a huge state, but I will mention Trinity University, which is located right in San Antonio. Really good school. I love that school. It's a liberal arts college through and through, but they do have Business and Computer Science. Fun fact that Charlie's Angels star Jacqueline Smith attended, and the guy who voiced Barney the purple dinosaur, Bob West, he actually graduated from Trinity. I just thought that was kind of cool. I love you. You love me. Okay, yeah, that was Bob west, so he graduated there. Cool people work at Trinity. It's a really nice place. It's right in downtown San Antonio, so there's a lot to do. They have the little river walk and so forth. Cool place to check out. And then I did mention earlier, UT Dallas, it is a for STEM, top ranked STEM programs, tons of research. McDaniel scholar, which is a full ride, amazing program. They have a championship chess team there. So if you're a chess player, check it out. You probably already know about it. And they have a lot of entrepreneurship. And you know, they're really good at like, helping students create businesses. So I really loved UT, Dallas when I visited there, and then for the last state, you've got Virginia. Virginia very difficult to get in as an out of state student. They're popular with business, political, I'm sorry, public policy, architecture, data science and others. They don't call themselves freshmen and sophomores. They go by first, second, third and fourth years, as a throwback to Jefferson, some of his ideals and beautiful campus. They have some really interesting housing for upperclassmen right there on the quad. So if you haven't visited UVA or just place to visit in Charlottesville, Virginia Tech is the tech flagship, and came a little bit harder to get in. I want to mention it because it's also one of the six Senior Military Colleges. They have an ag school, architecture, business, engineering, some others. And one of the fun facts about Virginia Tech, it has the largest dining hall on any US campus, probably because of the quarter cadets, but still pretty neat. I don't know how the food is, but it's a large dining hall. Gotta get those macros exactly right. So for the last state here, I'm going to mention these three, what I consider gems. Mary, Washington University is their public liberal arts. It's a really pretty campus. It's about an hour away from DC. They have they're really into community service there. And I found everybody to be very friendly when I visited. And it's a very, if I remember correctly, very bikeable campus. And then I'd move on to George Mason University, which I mentioned earlier. Love this school. Love this school to in Fairfax, Virginia, which I consider to be kind of a suburb of DC. Extremely diverse, really big into access, as I mentioned earlier, just really big into helping you succeed. They have a huge engineering school and business. They have the Carter school for Peace and Conflict Resolution, public health, lots of Performing Arts. And one of the best facts I learned, why was there that the George Mason Green Machine pep band is rated number one in the nation by the NCAA, and I agree it was amazing. They played for us at one of our receptions, and we. Just, I just like, stood there, watched them. They were just so cool. That is pretty much my, my rapid fire overview of the South. I guess I know I've missed some states and some some schools, but one, one Tom Campbell 1:15:11 version, is school that I was curious about your thoughts on is University of Richmond, because that's one that I, yeah, I started to encourage more and more my students to consider it and look at it. Because I was like, hey, in terms of, you know, schools that have programs, opportunities that you say you want, this is one that has not appear on your list, but I think may want to take a look at so I don't know if you've sent kids there or that is a difference. Well, Renee Ferrerio 1:15:34 I actually, we've had a student this past year just graduated, she's going there, and it is hard to get in. It's not the it's not the hardest school in the country, but it's a great private school. You know, it is in Richmond, but it's not in the city, like, like VCU. So it's a really good school. So that I'm sorry that I admitted that one, but I would definitely take a look, and I put that on students lists all the time. It just depends on where what their profile looks like. Totally Yeah. But good one. Any others that you want to ask about? No, I was Tom Campbell 1:16:02 gonna say no. I think, I think in terms of, like, given the give, we've given the give and then some, so we put some sweetener in that tea. Renee Ferrerio 1:16:10 I'm a little tired. I'm a little tired. Tom Campbell 1:16:13 Oh, understandable. You. I mean, you, you gave a Tom Campbell, rapid fire, like you need some, some hydration there. Renee Ferrerio 1:16:20 I appreciate this has been a great it's been fun. I really enjoyed it. Tom Campbell 1:16:24 Oh, good. Well, any, any final thoughts for students, families, counselors tuning in, who are considering college in the South? Anything that you think that you've left off, that they should know about? I feel like, you know, Renee Ferrerio 1:16:36 I mean, I think I've mentioned this before, but I think the most important thing with whether you're a counselor, you're you're a parent, you're a student. You know, be open minded about the South, because we have some amazing schools. And I know there's many that you've heard of, but also some of the ones that you haven't heard of are also pretty amazing. And I could go on and on, this could be a five hour podcast if I wanted to review every school I've ever visited here in the south, and there's been very few that I would say, No, I don't like that. So I would say that every school has a unique program and is a good fit for somebody out there. So you know, if you broaden your your mind, or open your mind and you add schools onto the list, that you think will be a good fit, I think that, in general, your process will go a lot smoother in the end. So that's my, I guess my words of wisdom here at the end. Tom Campbell 1:17:21 Well, hey, thank you so much, Renee for all your wonderful wisdom, both about the South and otherwise and everyone tuning in, keep saying curious. You. Transcribed by https://otter.ai
