I have a daughter who is a junior in high school. She wants to be a secondary math teacher. She will be a national merit semifinalist...she has 33 on her ACT a 4.0 unweighted GPA and many leadership/service items.
We are looking at a couple of schools that I really cannot find alot of information on...One is Austin College in Sherman, Texas, University of Tulsa, and Saint Thomas University in Houston. Any information on these colleges or other colleges that would be good for secondary ed/math would be really appreciated. Also, she would kind of like to attend a Catholic School.
My daughter looked at several schools and really liked UD and Hillsdale. She spent a summer in Rome with the UD faculty and after examining their core curriculum and considering that Hillsdale's president sends two of his own kids to UD, she decided on UD. Look at their website and read about UD in ISI's guide.
That is very interesting....I did read about UD in the ISI guide; however, a counselor at a school told me that someone had gone there to get a teaching degree and had all sorts of issues with the school and came back up to Oklahoma to get her degree. How long has your daughter been going there and what has your experience been?
My daughter just graduated from University of Dallas, and like thebigdog's daughter, she attended one of the summer programs in Rome during high school. She was attracted by UD's commitment to an extensive core curriculum, to UD's Rome campus experience, and to UD's challenging academics rooted in the traditions of Western civilization. Like your daughter she was also a NM finalist. Under the tutelage of stellar professors such as Drs. Grace Starry West and Dr. Maurer in Classics, Drs. Kinney, Roper, and Dr. Louis Cowan in English, and Dr. West in Politics, UD offered her the chance to develop intellectually and morally throughout her undergraduate years there. The core allowed her to gain an understanding of disciplines she would never have taken voluntarily (Economics) and to find that she enjoyed understanding them. UD is engaged in the pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty, and many students approach their studies not simply as means of selfishly "getting ahead" but with the vision of education as a means of bettering themselves and their society through service to others.
UD is not plagued with grade inflation. The coursework is challenging, and the students must work hard to do well. The well-prepared student who manages his or her time well, however, can thrive there. Grad schools love UD students, and there are a number of Fulbright scholars and winners of other national and international awards who graduate from UD each year. The core curriculum insures that students carry on the Great Conversation both in and out of the classroom. Yet the environment is not stuffy nor rigid nor narrow-minded. All ideas are considered with the confidence that Truth will stand up to scrutiny.
While the majority of the students are Catholic, we are Protestants with a high regard for the historical traditions of Catholic education, and my daughter (and my son, a sophomore at UD) find the environment spiritually and intellectually rich.
Both of my children highly recommend University of Dallas to the diligent student who is serious about getting an education rooted in the classical Western tradition. Their only complaint was the weather. It was in the 90's last December...but if you're in Oklahoma, you knew that. :-)
Thank you so much for the information. We have signed up to go to their "Odyssey Days" in June.
Can you tell me if they were very helpful scholarship wise....we are in that income level where we won't qualify based on need but we definately cannot just write $30,000 checks each year?
