As promised, I wanted to briefly write about my visit to St. Edward's University, in my new favorite city, Austin! St. Edwards is located just a few miles south of downtown Austin, in a beautiful residential area, on top of a hill with gorgeous 360 degree views of the city. Right near campus is the extremely cool South Congress (SoCo) district with tons of shops and restaurants. Austin has to be one of the best cities in the country for almost any type of person. Austin has a laid-back lifestyle, warm weather with over 300 days of sunshine a year, and a fantastic food and music scene. There are food trucks everywhere, and Austin is considered the "Live Music Capital of the World". If you are someone who wants a change of scenery from the northeast, and you want a fairly small, intimate college, St. Edward's University is a great option to add to your list!

St. Edward's University has just under 3,600 undergraduates, coming from 45 different states, with an average class size of 17. Their acceptance rate is about 63%, with an average ACT score of 22-27 and an average SAT score of 1020-1230. The school was founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross (think Notre Dame), so you know the academics are outstanding and there is a very real commitment to learning and the expansion of knowledge. St. E's is a Catholic liberal arts university with 48 majors from accounting to theatre arts, and 38 minors to choose from. Three of their strongest programs include theatre, graphic design, and environmental science.

For theatre arts majors, students can choose to follow the path of general theatre, acting (audition required), theatre design & technology, and theatre management. Also, while attending St. E's, students can work on their actors guild card, which usually can only be done at conservatories. Finally, if you love to be a part of theatre, either as an actor or behind the scenes, you can still participate in theatre at St. E's without being a theatre major!

Computer science, especially in the gaming field is also huge at St. E's. Students can get their bachelors degree in computer science, interactive games studies, or interactive games management. For all the gamers out there, who want to make a career in the gaming industry, St. E's could be a great landing spot for you, as their program is strong, and they have close relationships with the gaming companies in Austin. Many people will think you have to study in Silicon Valley to get a good job in the tech world, but it may be easier to get your foot in the door at a great company in Austin, where the competition is not as fierce.

Finally, what is awesome about their environmental science and policy major is the ability for students to do research right away with their professors. St. E's owns their own nature preserve, where students have access to do their own research. This is an amazing opportunity for undergraduates!

The student life at St. Edward's is thriving, and the campus is gorgeous and especially big for a small enrollment. The buildings throughout the campus are all very modern and the architecture is some of the best I have seen on a college campus. Students have access to some incredible living situations with state-of-the-art dorms and dining halls. They are in the process of also building a new residence hall on campus, that will house apartment style rooms with 400 beds.There is an endless amount of green space, with the sports fields right on campus, including their rugby field, which is a huge sport at St. E's! While there, I actually ran into a rugby player from St. Joe's Prep in Philly, and he only had the best things to say about his time at St. E's.

I hope some of you will give St. Edward's a chance in the future...I feel very comfortable with this college, and I think it is a fantastic school and community. If you are someone who is interested in a small-medium size liberal arts school, and would prefer warm weather with a hip music and arts scene with amazing food, I would strongly encourage you to check out St. Edward's. For us up here in the northeast, it is definitely a hidden gem that needs to be uncovered.

Enjoy a few pics from my time visiting St. Edward's below, and until next time, take care!

Joseph D. Korfmacher

Hey y'all,

I recently took a trip to Texas to visit eight colleges and universities. I had never been to Texas, and was very excited to see what the environment was like and to learn more about some of their excellent landing spots for higher education. I honestly loved each school I saw, but today I want to briefly talk about my visit to TCU in Fort Worth. On Monday, I will write about my visit to St. Edward's University in Austin. These are two very different schools, but both are places I would feel more than comfortable sending future students.

So I don't like playing favorites, but if I had to do it all over again (sorry Saint Joe's), I think I would enroll at Texas Christian University, most commonly known as TCU. It's important to know that even though the 'C' in TCU stands for Christian, TCU is an independent school and is no longer governed by any Christian denomination. I loved everything about this place...the location, the campus, the size, the majors, the people, the athletics...everything. The campus is absolutely pristine and most students are walking around wearing purple, supporting their Horned Frogs, who participate in the Big 12 Conference (home of the 2011 Rose Bowl Champions).

Before I give you some reasons why TCU is so great, let's talk admissions...and it isn't easy to get in, but not impossible. Last year they had about 20,000 applications with 6,800 admits which is about a 34% acceptance rate. Students who are accepted usually have a 1080-1280 on the SATs or a 24-30 on the ACTs. TCU is also growing in popularity all over the country, more and more each year. Only 5 years ago, TCU was comprised of 72% Texans...now that number is only at 43%!!

Here are a few additional reasons why I think many of you should check out TCU in the future:

Although they have BIG TIME athletics and house one of the nicest and biggest football stadiums I have seen right on their campus, they only have 8,900 undergraduates. So, you get the big time school feel, with a medium size population and a lot of access to faculty, so really the best of both worlds.
TCU is best known for their incredible business program, but they also have great academic programs in nursing, engineering, and fine arts. For fine arts specifically, students can major in art history, graphic design, fashion merchandising and design, theatre, music, and dance.
TCU was recently ranked the #76 best college in the US by U.S. News & World Report.
TCU has an 80% acceptance rate to medical school, which is much higher than the national average
Fort Worth is amazing! This is a city that is booming, and really is the best of both worlds as it is a perfect blend of modern metropolitan culture and Old West charm. Fort Worth has everything you need, and is the ideal college town in my mind. It is also only about 30 minutes from Dallas, which is one of the country's biggest cities and houses some of the top companies in the world.

I know many of you reading this will think that TCU sounds great, but Texas is too far. Well it is true that Texas is further than many schools our students look at in the Northeast, but I want students looking all over the country for the right college. College is a time to try something new and experience a different way of life. It is also very easy to get to Dallas/Fort Worth, and can be very cheap, especially flying SouthWest, which was founded in Texas. I actually flew round trip on Southwest for $180!! So if some of you are thinking about upstate New York and you are OK with a 6 hour drive, you may want to check out TCU, which is a 3 hour plane ride. This is a place I know many young men and women would be happy at, so give it a shot! Enjoy the pictures below, and check back Monday for my blog on St. Edwards.

Joseph D. Korfmacher