I just got back from visiting U of M-Morris and Concordia College in Moorhead. I had never driven that far north-west in Minnesota, and the fall colors were beautiful!
These were two distinguished schools that I knew I wanted to visit for awhile. I have trouble remembering, though, that I am the consumer, and they are trying to impress me--not the other way around. Of course I have to look respectable and interested, but they have to act like they want me. Hence the snacks and sugary beverages every school I've visited has offered us.
I was thirsty, and you gave me a Pepsi. I was hungry, and you offered me Fritos.
I never had a ditzy tour guide, but coincidentally they were both biology majors who confessed to not possessing a single musical bone in their body. Morris was nice and small, and architecturally it reminded me of the Twin Cities campus. I talked with a member of the music faculty and had a very good conversation with him. Although the town is very very very small to me, it looks like they make a good effort to bring entertainment to campus. All in all, it's making itself a suitable option. My next task is to imagine being at Morris...in the winter.
Concordia was someplace I expected to like, and I'm glad my expectations were realized.
I'm very much into the small, private, Lutheran, liberal arts schools, in case you didn't know already. We were there during homecoming, so there were alums everywhere.
So many blond haired people wearing maroon and yellow...so many corn cobs...
I didn't speak with any music faculty, but I was aware that--in the tradition of many Lutheran schools--that its music program was highly solid in general, and I wasn't too worried about it. (Especially after hearing their orchestra, band, and concert choir perform for the homecoming concert.)
Then I got to have lunch with my friend who is a Cobber, and I was so glad to see her and get a real student's (good) opinion of what it's like there.
So, if I get accepted to the ones I want, it'll be hard to make a decision.
Who has the faculty that's right for me?
What's the financial aid like?
What's the choir like?
Who has the better food?
Which one has carpeted dorm rooms?
Who has an intramural quidditch team?
Important decisions indeed.
