<p>High Point University, High Point, NC. Where do I start? This school was unknown until last spring when DDs HS GC mentioned it and suggested that we have a look. Its in High Point, NC, about 40 45 minutes from Winston-Salem and Greensboro. We left Wake Forest and arrived in High Point before noon. We were signed up for the 2 PM session (they allow you to schedule on the hour from 9 to 3 PM). We thought we would find the Admissions office and see if we could change to the 1 PM session and then have lunch. We pulled into the main drive and stopped at the security hut where they found our name on their visitors list. He checked us off, told us where our assigned parking space was and where to go to the Admissions registration office. We easily found our parking space as each space has an electronic reader board sign in front of it with the visiting students name and state blazing in lights. We left the car and walked towards the Admissions reception building. The first thing we noticed was that the buildings were all brick and most had large white columns. Also, the school colors or purple and white were everywhere. The campus was immaculate. On our walk over, I didnt see one piece of litter, one leaf on the grass, any uncut grass, any unedged walks, any cigarette butts, there were no gum stains on the pavement, nothing. Just perfection everywhere. I am in the property management business and I have never seen anything like it. It looked more like a movie set or a showcase for model homes and buildings.</p>
<p>The Admissions reception office is in the student center, next to the bookstore and Starbucks. The staff was very welcoming and accommodating. They got us signed in for the 1 PM session and provided several suggestions for lunch. We returned from lunch which was in an older shopping center we had passed on our way into town. It turns out the University has purchased the center and is in the process of converting it into academic and other facilities.</p>
<p>We reported back at 1 PM for our session. It turns out that HP doesnt have general information sessions. They pair you up with a student tour guide and in our case one other parent and son and we were off on our tour in our own private 6 person golf cart. To say the campus was impressive is an understatement. The first stop was the performing arts center. Red brick façade with tall white columns. Its on their international walk that displays flags from the nations of all students and plays classical music over the outside speakers for 10 12 hours per day. Along the way up the walkway we made a couple of more stops in academic buildings. Again, perfectly maintained and clean as a whistle. The interiors are the same way. The building lobbies are highly decorated with inlaid floors of marble and other stone. The millwork is high end as are the furnishings. As part of the core of the North Carolina furniture industry, any of the common spaces in these buildings could have served as showrooms for the furniture manufactures. The lobbies looked more like Ritz or Waldorf lobbies than college academic buildings.</p>
<p>The library and dining facilities were more of the same. There wasnt a scuff mark, tom piece of furniture, knicked wall or any other blemish anywhere to be seen. The library was fully modern and functional with a large number of computer stations (both Mac and PC). The business school has the latest technology in its classrooms including a live trading room with Bloomberg terminals. The Communications school included fully equipped top shelf TV production studios, classrooms, a gaming programming studio, and a full editing studio. Everything we saw was in pristine condition and was state of the art.</p>
<p>Dining and dorms. Dining is offered at several locations on campus. The most unusual dining option was a group of several small open air kiosks that were scattered across the campus. It turns out that during the academic year they are staffed every morning for breakfast on the go items such as juice, fruit, or a muffin that are there for the taking on your way across campus. The more conventional dining facilities also exist for all meals. The most unusual dining facility on campus is the Prime Steak House. Its a private restaurant located on the 4th floor of the student center. Students may eat there once per week by making a reservation. Its a 4 star restaurant. The purpose, according to our tour guide, is to teach students how to dine and behave in such an environment as they will encounter in the real business world. Guests (parents) may join their kids in the restaurant for $50 a piece fixed price. The kids eat free as part of their meal plan. Hang on, theres more. We havent gotten to the dorms yet. :D</p>
<p>There are three types of dorms at HP. The basic dorm is a two bedroom suite with a connecting shared bathroom. The mid-level dorm ($750 per semester extra) is the basic dorm with a small kitchenette in half of the two room suite. By the way, the mid level dorms offer double beds. And the bathrooms have full framed hotel like mirrors over the twin sink vanity that, by the way, has a granite countertop. It looks more like a Marriott Courtyard or a Ritz bathroom than a college dorm. The downside is that they are only cleaned 3 times per week. :(</p>
<p>The top level dorm is the apartment style where there are two single bed bedrooms, a full bath, kitchen, dining and living room area. Nicer than my first apartment out of college. These are in the $1100 to $1200 extra per semester range. Freshmen are on the main campus and upperclassmen are a few blocks away as the campus is growing. But there is a large fleet of purple and white shuttle busses that run on five minute intervals all during the year. We were not able to see the basic dorms as they were completing their annual renovation and the asphalt parking lot was being seal coated and striped. Laundry machines are in each dorm and included as is cable service and wifi.</p>
<p>Following our tour we were dropped off at the Admissions building which was different from the reception area we started at. There we actually met with the regional Adcon for our students area. They spent about 40 minutes with us reviewing the admissions process and answering any questions related to the campus and school. They avoided FA discussion until asked. The Adcon then talked about their scholarship program which is based on grades, test scores and an interview weekend. These merit scholarships range from $2,000 per year up to about $30,000 for their top students. Their average GPA and test scores for last years class was a 3.3 with a 1000 1050 SAT (out of 1600) and an ACT of 24 not the most stellar numbers.</p>
<p>In summary, there is a lot to see on this campus. They are trying to enhance all of their facilities and academic programs. It appears that they are have put a lot of their resources into the sizzle or the show as the campus is a showplace. I am a little concerned about the overall level of the academic programs although the school has earned some high marks in the ratings and has been noted as one of the most improved and up and coming schools in its region. I think that the academic steak is still a bit rare and the only place to get the good steak is in their dining hall steak house. Two other things that bothered me was when asked who the famous alumni were, our tour guide could only come up with the name of the current university president, who by the way, was the person responsible for most of the recent upgrades and campus enhancements. As an alum herself, I was surprised by her grammar and speech during our post tour meeting. I would not expect a college graduate to use the wrong verb tenses and to be unable to clearly understand and answer my questions regarding the FA programs at their school. Made me take pause and wonder a bit.</p>
<p>While impressed, DDs GPA and test scores are well above the schools averages and she felt that she would be at the upper end of the range and might not be challenged academically. While interested in HP, it will most likely remain as a back-up safety school for us.</p>
He just needs to get busy on honors college app. He also signed up for our in-state honors convocation (info session) that will be next month. In-state has not given out acceptance letters yet even though they’re on rolling admissions.</p>
We all knew I’d have a 36hr window of sympathy however everything went quite well.</p>