Alyssa Puff graduated in December from Hazel Green High School in Huntsville, Alabama. For postsecondary education, she was courted by âHarvard, Vanderbilt and 150 other schools,â her mother, Judy Finley said.
They came to Murfreesboro Monday (Feb. 19) to attend the Honors College Presidents Day Open House at Middle Tennessee State University, where Puff will go to school âbecause MTSU is what felt right,â she said after considering all schools and their offers.
More than 250 fellow high school students and their families joined Puff for the open house.
For prospective students, the Honors College provides the academic excellence and nurturing environment of a small, select, private liberal arts college within the setting of a major university. It also provides expert faculty, unique curricular and extracurricular experiences and âCollage,â an award-winning arts and literary magazine.
Andrew Hendricks, 18, of Lebanon, Tennessee, a Lancaster Christian Academy senior and MTSU Presidential Scholarship ($4,000 per year) recipient planning to major in computer science, said he likes the Honors College because of its âclass size â they arenât that large â and more interactionâ among students.
Accepting the Honors Buchanan Fellowship (highest academic award a student can obtain), Dara Zwemer, 18, of Lascassas, Tennessee, said the scholarship will allow her âto explore different things.â The Oakland High senior and International Baccalaureate student plans to study psychology.
Taylor Ball of Manchester, Tennessee, a Coffee County Central High School senior planning to study speech pathology, has been ready to attend MTSU âsince the second day of her senior year,â Jeanne Ball, her mother, said.
âI heard the undergraduate clinicals are the best here,â said the younger Ball, a Trustee Scholarship ($5,000 per year) recipient. âI have job shadowed with multiple speech pathology facilities (hospitals and schools) and they all have told me that.â
Currently homeschooled, Gabrielle Thornton, 17, of Lyles, Tennessee, just missed out on a Buchanan scholarship, âbut Iâm happy with the Trustee âĤ and Iâm excited because I know there are going to be a lot of new opportunities,â she said. Visiting with father and MTSU alumnus Jeff Thornton and mother Becky, Gabrielle is undecided on a major.
Honors College senior Tatum England provided a student perspective and advice, including âchoosing an environment where you can grow.â She is a senior majoring in community and public health and minoring in chemistry, biology and psychology.
Admissions joined the Honors College in hosting the event. All of the universityâs colleges, Housing and Residential Life and the MTSU Parent and Family Association shared information with the visitors.
The visit included tours (Walker Library, aerospace air traffic control and recording industry), a âmad scienceâ physics demonstration with professor Eric Klumpe and mock trial demonstrations.
It also included an option to attend the spring Honors Lecture Series (âAmerican Values,â with Derek Griffith of Vanderbilt Universityâs Center for Medicine, Health and Society and Gloria Wilson (MTSU Art and Design), who brought âLest We Forget the Heterogeneity of Blackness: The Art of Pursuing Health Equity in Post-Black Americaâ).
Admissions offers two upcoming MTSU Preview Days Saturday, Feb. 24, and Saturday, March 24.
To register for any preview day or other special events, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/schedule-a-visit/special-events.php. Preview day events begin in the Student Union Building, 1768 MTSU Blvd. To find various buildings and parking, visit http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap.
MTSUÂ has more than 240 combined undergraduate and graduate programs.
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