I recently visited Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where I toured campus and spoke with the admissions office about the latest trends in admissions. Here are some takeaways from my visit:

· A mid-sized, private university with just over 7,000 undergrads, Vanderbilt has risen fast in popularity to become one of the most selective colleges in the United States. While Vanderbilt offers rigorous, high-powered academics, it emphasizes balance as well as student collaboration. Nearly all students reside on campus four years, an experience Vanderbilt views as essential to growth and learning.

· Vanderbilt houses four undergraduate schools: Arts & Sciences, Engineering, Music and Education. Once admitted, students have the flexibility to double or triple major across all four schools. Each college has general education requirements, but there are flexible ways to fulfill them.

· 80% of classes have 30 students or less. Undergraduate research is accessible and popular (60% participate), and all undergrads are required to complete a culminating, student-driven project, whether a thesis, internship or civic engagement project. Many majors require internships, which departments often help students secure, and some are available for academic credit. Experiential learning is generally emphasized.

· All freshmen live together in one of ten houses on the Commons portion of campus. Each house has an attached faculty member, and most dorms feature faculty-in-residence. Like Yale, Vanderbilt offers residential colleges that feature classrooms, dining, programming and live-in faculty. 30% of undergrads reside in residential colleges, but Vanderbilt is building more to move toward a full residential college system.

· While there is no business major (there is a minor), many students with an interest in business major in Human and Organizational Development, housed in the Peabody College of Education and Human Development.

· Despite the strength of the Blair School of Music, non-music majors still have access to a wide range of ensembles, which they can audition for the summer before starting at Vanderbilt.

· Vanderbilt fields DI athletic teams that compete in the SEC.

· 25-30% of students participate in Greek life. Only six students live in each Greek house (and usually only for one year), so most Greek students reside in the dorms.

· On-campus dining is relatively high quality, and The Princeton Review rates Vanderbilt as a having some of the best college food in the country. This is generally in keeping with Vanderbilt’s overall focus on balance and quality of life.

I recently visited Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, where I toured campus and spoke with the admissions office about the latest trends in admissions. Here are some takeaways from my visit:

· With an enrollment of around 2,700 undergrads, Lafayette offers all the benefits of a small liberal arts college while providing a larger community than most peer LACs. It also offers something else uncommon at most liberal arts colleges: engineering programs.

· Although not a major metropolitan area, Easton has a decidedly urban, walkable and architecturally handsome historic downtown at the confluence of the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers. The college is perched on a hill above downtown, and steps built into the hill lead right into the city. The school also has a separate arts campus located in the downtown. Restaurants, music venues, art galleries and a theater are some of the Easton amenities students enjoy. There is also nearby hiking, biking, skiing and other outdoor activities. When looking for something bigger, students can hop on a bus to Philadelphia or New York City, both under two hours away.

· Like most liberal arts colleges, class sizes are small, research readily available and nearly all students live on campus. Upperclassmen can choose from a range of Lafayette-owned “off-campus” housing options, although these are conveniently located right along the border of the small campus.

· Lafayette offers an impressive selection of majors for a liberal arts college, including multiple engineering disciplines, art, theater, interdisciplinary programs and the ability to create your own major. A BA in Engineering Studies is available for students who might want to work in project management or other engineering-adjacent roles. Students do not have to commit to a major coming into Lafayette and have time to explore their options once on campus.

· The academic environment is collaborative, and professors intentionally design their courses to encourage collaboration.

· While there is no business major, students can minor in organizational studies as well as to apply to be a Dyer Fellow at Lafayette’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, where students can find support developing their entrepreneurial ideas.

· Lafayette’s Gateway Externship Program pairs students with college alumni and community members for short externships to help them learn more about different careers.

· Students are not very politically vocal, although there are opportunities for students to get involved in local Easton politics. Athletic events are popular on campus, especially basketball, football and soccer games, and there are 23 DI sport teams. Lafayette has a historic football rivalry with neighboring Lehigh, and each year the big game is preceded by a festive rivalry week and enormous tailgate.

· 33% of students participate in Greek life, which is relatively non-exclusive. While available for those who want it, students not interested in Greek life report still finding ample community and activities at Lafayette. There are over 220 clubs, a host of on-campus events (like poetry readings, comedy skits, movie screenings, music ensemble performances), and frequent students outings into Easton.

I recently visited Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where I toured campus and spoke with the admissions office about the latest trends in admissions. Here are some takeaways from my visit:

· Located in a suburb of Nashville 30 miles from downtown, MTSU enrolls just under 16,000 undergraduates and offers over 180 undergraduate programs. The average class size is 25, and many classes are capped at 20 students.

· Given its proximity to Music City, it’s not surprising that MTSU has the top-rated audio engineering program in the US. The school’s College of Media and Entertainment houses many other standout programs, including animation, recording industry music business and video and film production. Many professors come from industry (which helps students land internships and jobs), and students and faculty have racked up numerous accolades, including 39 Grammys since 2001 and a recent Emmy for a student commercial. Animation alumni have worked on a variety of notable productions, including Netflix’s BoJack Horseman show.

· Aviation is also popular at MTSU. Under the umbrella of aerospace engineering, students can concentrate in aviation, unmanned drones, aviation management, flight dispatch or traditional aerospace engineering. MTSU partners with Delta and Southwest to provide students with mentorships and paths to aviation careers at those airlines. MTSU owns a fleet of 45 DA-40 aircraft just five minutes from campus at the school’s airport.

· Other notable programs include concrete construction engineering, mechatronics, engineering technology, insurance and risk management. The nursing program boasts a 97% NCLEX pass rate, and nursing students complete their clinical hours at Vanderbilt.

· Undergraduate research is emphasized and supported by university grants. Students present their research each year at the campus-wide Scholars Week event. An Honors College offers priority registration, additional advising, smaller honors classes and the option to complete a senior thesis.

· Although primarily a commuter campus, there is on-campus housing for 3,000 students, and students who want it are usually able to secure it. Weekends can be quiet, but students on-campus socialize, take part in weekend club events (there are over 300 student organizations) and enjoy the student union, which features a game room, ping pong table, pool table, air hockey, video games and movie theater. More than 200 concerts take place on campus each year, and Murfreesboro offers bowling, ice skating and additional movie theaters. Outdoor trips are also popular with students.

· LGBTQ students report feeling very welcomed on campus. The Center for Non-Traditional Students offers support and resources for the LGBTQ community, and there is an LGBTQ club that holds events on campus. The university also participates in LGBTQ Safe Space training.

· Greek life is not a big part of the campus experience, with only 9% of students participating.

· There are 17 Div I teams on campus and over 50 intramural sports.

I recently visited Sewanee, also known as the University of the South, in Sewanee, Tennessee, where I toured campus and spoke with the admissions office about the latest trends in admissions. Here are some takeaways from my visit:

· Sewanee is a small liberal arts college of just over 1,700 undergraduates. A stunning Gothic campus set atop a mountain in southern Tennessee near the Alabama and Georgia borders, Sewanee boasts a tight-knit, supportive community, small class sizes and accessible faculty, and a range of liberal arts programs along with a finance major and business minor.

· The campus, known as “The Domain,” is the second largest campus in the US at 13,000 acres and marked by forests, meadows, lakes, caves and rock outcroppings. It is also a living laboratory for students, who can major in seven different types of environmental science/studies programs. Students who love nature are often drawn to Sewanee, and there are ample opportunities for outdoor activities like hiking, rock climbing, fishing and hunting.

· Sewanee is famous for being home to the Sewanee Review, the oldest literary quarterly in the US, and hosts the Sewanee Writers’ Conference each year. The creative writing major is among Sewanee’s strongest.

· The Babson Center for Global Commerce at Sewanee hosts the Carey Fellows Business Honors Program, which includes a semester-long, paid internship and trips to major cities to meet with Sewanee alumni in leadership positions at top companies. Students apply to join the program their freshman or sophomore year at Sewanee.

· Although Sewanee has modernized somewhat over the years, it is still marked by a range of celebrated campus traditions. The “Order of the Gown” mandates that all professors wear their academic gowns while teaching, and many students who have been inducted into Sewanee’s honor society wear their gowns to class. Some professors still enforce the “Dress Tradition,” requiring male students to come to class dressed in coat and tie.

· Sewanee is Episcopal, but there are no required religious services. The college library’s first volumes were donated by Oxford and Cambridge.

· 18% of students are students of color, and increasing diversity is an institutional priority. There is a DEI office and multicultural center on campus.

· Greek life is very popular, with 57% of men and 64% of women participating. Students rush spring of freshman year, and Greek events must be registered and publicly shared on a campus app so that all students have access. Since the Greek houses only house 2-4 students each, parties often happen block-party style outside the houses, with campus security overseeing them to ensure student safety.

· Students also enjoy a range of regular on-campus events (there are 100+ student orgs), and Sewanee sports games are popular (especially football, soccer and golf). Around 60% of students participate in either Div III, club or intramural sports. Students tend to be middle-of-the road politically.

· The town of Sewanee is very rural, comprising only 3,500 people, including students. Sewanee’s Vice Chancellor is the town mayor, the fire department is staffed by students, and students are generally very engaged in the local community. There’s a Walmart and Piggly Wiggly 15 minutes from campus, and the Nashville airport is about an 80-minute drive.

· 98% of students live on campus all four years. Themed housing is available, including language-based houses, pre-health housing, the Queer and Allied House and the Global House. Some single dorms are available for students who need them.

I recently visited Columbia University in New York City. Here are some takeaways from my visit:

· For students seeking an Ivy League education in one of the world’s greatest cities, Columbia delivers. Students enjoy a traditional, enclosed 36-acre residential campus located in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood, a neighborhood that feels at once part of Manhattan and like a self-contained college-town.

· There are 6,000 traditional undergraduates at Columbia, with 4,500 attending Columbia College and 1,500 attending the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. The hallmark of a Columbia education is the Core, a humanities-centric curriculum where students explore the great works of the Western tradition (literature, philosophy, music, art) in small, discussion-based classes, while also fulfilling distribution-style requirements in courses like foreign language, non-Western cultures and science. While students in Columbia College are required to complete the full Core, engineers instead complete a condensed version, along with a range of required STEM courses like The Art of Engineering, Principles of Economics and computer science. The Core helps create a shared experience over which all Columbia students can bond.

· Columbia is known for having both an intellectually-oriented and politically active student body. The curriculum is rigorous: the Core takes up around 1/3 to 1/2 of a student’s coursework, and many students take a heavier course load than at many other Ivy League colleges. The library is open (and often utilized) 24 hours.

· The engineering school’s motto is “Engineering for Humanity,” and the school emphasizes engineering for the greater public good. Women comprise nearly 50% of engineering students.

· Columbia is a large research university with 24,000 graduate students, and undergraduates can take advantage of courses and other resources at Columbia’s various graduate schools, including law, journalism, medicine, international affairs and public health. Given the school’s location, many students also take advantage of local internships throughout the school year.

· 96% of students live on campus all four years, and freshmen are housed in one of five halls that surround South Field, adjacent to the library, dining halls and academic buildings. The subway stops right outside the campus gates at 116th Street, so students have quick access to the rest of New York City (Times Square is only 15 minutes away). The campus runs alongside the Hudson River and scenic Riverside Park, and Central Park is also nearby.

· Columbia, like New York, is very diverse: 50% of students identify as students of color, 18% are first gen, and over 100 countries are represented on campus.

· Greek life is available but not widespread, with only 10-11% of students participating.

· Although Columbia is not big on school spirit, the university has 31 Division I athletic teams and over 40 club and intramural teams. The football team plays at Baker Athletic Complex, located uptown from the main campus at the edge of upper Manhattan.