<p>We are looking for a college/university which provides a very structured and orderly environment - sort of like joining the military - but not one of the military acadamies.</p>
<p>Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Liberty University.</p>
<p>Any Christian college which gives strict rules on what they can wear, eat, and do. If you aren’t religious if might be a little difficult.</p>
<p>This school has both military and traditional students: </p>
<p>[Why</a> Norwich: Traditional Students: Norwich University](<a href=“http://www.norwich.edu/traditional/whynorwich.html]Why”>http://www.norwich.edu/traditional/whynorwich.html)</p>
<p>I don’t know anything else about it, though.</p>
<p>In saying “WE are looking,”, is the WE the parents or the student?</p>
<p>I know a graduate of Norwich. He was already structured and orderly. He chose the school to find like-minded peers. Some were sent there by parents, but were not as successful.</p>
<p>I am also curious, is this the kind of college environment the student wants, or the parents? If you are looking for a structured/orderly environment to correct disciplinary or behavioral issues, perhaps the student is just not ready for college yet? He/she may benefit more from a gap year that will allow additional time to mature before tackling college…</p>
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<p>From the title of this thread, it sounds like the PARENTS need this structured environment.</p>
<p>OP…could you clarify this. Who is looking for the structured environment…you or your college bound kiddo?</p>
<p>Are you looking for academic structure, social structure, living structure??</p>
<p>I will venture an opinion…there is NO residential college (outside of the military academies) that provides total structure for college students. Students are supposed to be gaining increasing independence. There are no schools (that I know of) where a student will be required to do homework, hounded to come to classes, have someone else do their “organization” of time for them, etc. Just not realistic to expect that at the college level.</p>
<p>How about non-academy military colleges, like the Citadel or VMI?</p>
<p>Or someplace really teensy-tiny, intimate, and isolated, like College of the Atlantic?</p>
<p>We know a few students who either attended or are attending the Citadel. If you are a structured sort, you will do fine there. If you are looking for someone ELSE to organize and structure your life, you probably won’t find that “someone” there. The students there, by and large, are already pretty structured themselves.</p>
<p>It’s hard answering the OPs question. Perhaps they have a student who IS structured themselves and WOULD love a place like the Citadel. </p>
<p>BUT perhaps the OP is looking for a place to structure things FOR the students…a completely different question.</p>
<p>AND maybe it IS the parents that want the structure for themselves, though I have no idea why that would be the case since the parents aren’t going to college.</p>
<p>Assuming I understand the question, I’d suggest Valley Forge Military Academy & College. The “college” is actually a junior college. </p>
<p>There are some other options. There are some private junior colleges without the military bent that might also be similar. </p>
<p>Now, assuming that the issues are not behavioral, but just a need for academic structure you might look into the 2 year programs afiliated with some 4 year schools. I believe Emory U has one and I know Boston University does. But neither is appropriate for kids with behavioral issues. </p>
<p>hope this helps.</p>
<p>I have three nephews (brothers) who everyone would agree had a need for structure in their lives (and the police files to prove it).</p>
<p>Little Piggy A managed not to be accepted to college anywhere he applied (not all that surprising given his high school and law enforcement records). He wound up going to Hunter College (not the most structured environment) and doing extremely well. He got his life in order fine.</p>
<p>Little Piggy B was attending a CC in California when he had some more legal problems. His mother insisted that he go to a very small, very conservative LAC near where his grandparents live. He hated it, left whenever he could. He is visiting relatives abroad now, and intends not to return for a long time, if ever.</p>
<p>Little Piggy C never had quite as much drama as his siblings. He is at a small, conservative, urban Catholic university and seems to be doing fine, but is clearly partying a lot.</p>
<p>Anyway, the point being that the least structure seemed to work best, at least for the kid who got smart enough not to hang out primarily with drug dealers.</p>
<p>Yes it is important that the student wants to attend a more structured environment or the whole thing will collapse. You can lead the horse to water…</p>
<p>That being said, I will query the OP regarding the line “but not one of the military acadamies”.</p>
<p>First, let’s separate the Military Academies (West Point, Annapolis, and USAFA) from the Senior Military Colleges (VMI, Citadel, Norwich, etc.). With Military Academies, you are required to serve in the armed forces after you start your 2nd year. With the Senior Military Colleges, you can live the “cadet” lifestyle (i.e. structured living with military type training) and not be required to serve in the armed forces (as long as you do not accept ROTC scholarship). </p>
<p>For example, someone mentioned Norwich earlier. You can attend either as a civilian or as a cadet. The civilian lifestyle there is essentially the same as a normal college experience. They do no impose a structure on civilian students.</p>
<p>However, their cadets are subject to a structured lifestyle. However, after 2 years (not taking ROTC money), you can choose to commit to the military or to not to commit and yet remain in the Corps of Cadets under the same lifestyle (structured).</p>
<p>Having explained this, it is important to note that a “structured” lifestyle will not change the unwilling or unmotivated. A SMC will test the will of any cadet. S/he will wash out quickly (often within a week), if there is any doubt about that commitment.</p>
<p>So if the OP has a child who is looking for an environment where s/he will be around other students who are serious about their commitment to a structured life, an SMC is a legitimate choice, regardless of the desire to enlist in the military.</p>
<p>If on the other hand, the kid needs another year to “grow up” before going off to college, I highly recommend against an SMC. I would look into a post-grad year at a good boarding school instead where they typically have defined study hours, curfew, EC times, etc. along with plenty of supervision and guidance.</p>
<p>Are you looking for order because:</p>
<p>1- your future college student gets into trouble and you need solid disciplary repurcusions if they step out of line-drinking, etc</p>
<p>2- that you have a dingbat of a student who really needs parameters, and hints and lots of pushng</p>
<p>3- that you have a student with “special needs” - asbergers, a learring disability, social issues, other learning issues, where a solid structure and lots of support academically and socially would make for a better experience</p>
<p>4- Is it for religious reasons, that you want a place that doesn’t put up with too much out of the box stuff</p>
<p>When you ask for college suggestions, the motivation and need for wanting a structured college are very important. Certain structures are very different from other.</p>
<p>A structure could be a solid core curriculam, a freshman seminare, set meetings with staff etc to something like the Citidel where you have to do pushups everyday and your bed has to be perfect to Pensacola Christian College where you can’t hold hands and they tell you what to where to a school that has resoruces for LD kids.</p>
<p>A bit more clarity of the issues involved would bring more helpful suggestions.</p>
<p>The OP seems to have disappeared.</p>
<p>If you’re looking for this “structured enviornment” due to a learning disability, check out the “Learning Differences and ADHD” forum on the main discussion page.</p>
<p>If there’s an Asperger’s student involved, see if Marshall U. in West Virginia meets the needs:
[The</a> West Virginia Autism Training Center](<a href=“http://www.marshall.edu/coe/ATC/modelcollege.htm]The”>http://www.marshall.edu/coe/ATC/modelcollege.htm)</p>
<p>Everyone, thank you for your responses. The structure is needed by the student because they have always thrived in the structure provided by high school and associated activities and they need it to keep on track.</p>
<p>Now imagine if you had put that kid in a military type school!!</p>
<p>I would check out Jesuit colleges. They have a nice balance between structure and freedom.</p>
<p>There are plenty of students who thrive in the structure provided by high school and then go on to thrive in the unstructured life provided by most colleges and universities.</p>
<p>Life is largely unstructured, and unless this student DOES want to join the military in the future and make a career out of it, then going to a regular college where he or she can transition from high school (when everyone is telling you what to do, when to do it, and how you have to do it) to real life (when often that’s not happening) may be the best thing for them. Even the military isn’t quite as structured as high school.</p>
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<p>It sounds like this student needs OTHERS to organize him/her and keep him/her on track. I’m not sure you’d find that at ANY college in total…not the same way you find it in school HS and below. In HS, if a student NEEDS this type of structure, there is usually someone (if special ed, for example…a case manager) who helps manage this and make sure it happens. If the student doesn’t follow through, there are mandated supervised study halls (as an example) and other modifications that can and would be put in place.</p>
<p>In college, a student “can” have these things as part of a plan IF there is sufficient and recent information to support them (this is where you might find better info on the threads for students with learning differences). But the reality is that in most cases, it is up to the STUDENT to access any support services. NO ONE is going to chase after a student to make sure they come to class, do their homework, or get enough sleep. AND they are not going to call the parents for reinforcement at home. </p>
<p>I don’t know how seriously this student NEEDS this kind of help or whether there has been any transition plan to help him/her need LESS of this kind of help (that would be a good thing!!). If it’s serious thing…and the student can’t reliably be depended on to follow through on his own, then perhaps the suggestion for some kind of “transition plan” into college…either a CC while living at home, or something similar should be considered.</p>
<p>In my opinion, it doesn’t matter HOW structured the college is if the student doesn’t avail themselves of the services offered and also get themselves structured enough to meet the college’s expectations.</p>