I recently visited The University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, 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 the middle of Missouri, halfway between Kansas City and St. Louis, The University of Missouri (“Mizzou” for short) is Missouri’s flagship public university. With over 20,000 undergraduates and a local Columbia population of nearly 130,000, Mizzou is a bustling, dynamic campus with a range of attractive programs.

· Mizzou is one of only 35 public universities elected to membership in the prestigious AAU for the quality of its research activity.

· Journalism is Mizzou’s greatest claim to fame: theirs was the first journalism school in the world, founded in 1908. They are the only college to own and operate a commercial TV station (NBC), providing students extensive opportunities for hands-on production experience. Mizzou students also operate a professional daily newspaper serving all of central Missouri, as well as their local NPR station (student stories are sometimes picked up for national distribution), in addition to a weekly magazine and two advertising agencies.

· Pre-med and pre-vet students benefit from the presence of Missouri’s medical and vet schools right on campus, including two on-campus university hospitals.

· As part of the “Missouri Method,” every degree program incorporates hands-on, experiential learning early on.

· The campus and adjacent downtown Columbia area are highly walkable, and there are a range of interesting restaurants, shops and bars downtown that students frequent. Housing is required for freshman, after which point many students move into off-campus housing near campus. Although not the frigid north, there can still be some snow and ice in the winter.

· Mizzou is a member of the SEC, and sports are popular. Greek life is available for students who want it (around 30% participate), but less of a presence than at some other SEC universities. There are over 600 student clubs and organizations.

· The only SEC school with an LGBTQ center, Mizzou celebrates Pride in April (rather than June) while students are still on campus. There are also a range of other cultural student centers, including a women’s center, black cultural center and multicultural center, as well as a relationship and sexual violence prevention center.

· Missouri, along with Utah, is unique in the relative ease with which out-of-state students can acquire in-state residency for tuition purposes. 24% of out-of-state students acquire in-state residency, which can be done after residing in the state for 12 months and meeting some additional requirements.

· The campus gym was voted as the best in the US by Sports Illustrated, and includes a sauna, steam room, rock wall modeled after real Missouri limestone, hot tubs and a “Tiger Grotto” (worth Googling).

I recently visited Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, 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 small town (population 25,000) nestled halfway between St. Louis and Nashville and connected to Chicago via Amtrak, Southern Illinois University is an undergraduate-focused university of around 11,000 undergrads and only 2,000 graduate students. Given the undergraduate focus, students can get involved in research as early as freshman year.

· SIU is known for its strengths in the arts, including music, theater, dance, architecture, interior design and fashion studies, and it counts famed actor-comedian Bob Odenkirk among its alumni.

· Aviation is another standout program that draws students to SIU. A bus takes students 6.8 miles from campus to the neighboring airport, where students earn flight hours after flying in a simulator their first year. Students can join the Flying Salukis flight club, and Delta and United are university partners.

· The campus fuses strikingly modernist architecture with profuse natural beauty: it hosts a large lake, as well as literal woods students can walk through on their way to class. Outdoor enthusiasts will also appreciate SIU’s location next to Shawnee National Forest.

· The maximum class size is around 250 students. The university offers a range of academic supports for students, from free peer tutoring to the paid Achieve Program that offers additional support for students with learning differences.

· SIU is a Div I school, and football and basketball are popular. Students have access to an Olympic size swimming pool, rock climbing walls, and a four-flour student center that includes a radio station, farmers market, bowling, billiards, dining and an esports arena.

· Freshman are not allowed to bring cars to campus freshman year, but the campus is very walkable and bike friendly.

I recently visited Belmont 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:

· Famous for its music programs and strategic location atop Music Row in Nashville, Belmont University has undergone rapid growth, nearly quadrupling in size over the past twenty years. Although music business is still the most popular major among Belmont’s 9,000 undergraduates, the university hosts a range of undergrad degree programs in nursing, the liberal arts, business, physical therapy, architecture, interior design, fashion design and more.

· Originally a Southern Baptist institution, Belmont is now an ecumenical, “Christ-centered” university. Although a majority of students are Christian, there is no chapel requirement (although no classes are scheduled during weekly services, which are well attended), there are a variety of identity-based clubs (Belmont just hired its first rabbi), and students who are not religious report feeling comfortable on campus.

· Belmont emphasizes experiential learning and real-world experience. 72% of students intern or complete a field experience, and Belmont offers immersive semesters in LA, NYC and Atlanta that combine internships (often with Belmont alums) with Belmont coursework and housing. An innovation lab on campus supports entrepreneurship, and there have been 800 businesses started by Belmont alums.

· Belmont offers a supply chain management track for business majors, capitalizing on Amazon’s Nashville headquarters.

· Given the relatively small number of graduate students at Belmont, there are many research opportunities for undergrads. Premeds will also stand to benefit from Belmont’s new medical school.

· Most classes are under 20 students, and the maximum class size is 35.

· Thanks in part to its extensive growth over the past two decades, many of Belmont’s facilities are new and have a modern, upscale feel.

· Belmont students are frequently described as kind, collaborative, involved, creative, entrepreneurial and very service oriented. 13% participate in Greek life, which has a strong emphasis on philanthropy and leadership development. 75% come from out-of-state (all 50 states are represented).

· One way Belmont encourages students to get involved is through its Well Core, which requires students to attend 50 hours-worth of various events across campus divided into 10 categories (cultural, environmental, social, service, spiritual, occupational, financial, emotional, physical, intellectual).

I recently visited Fisk 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:

· Fisk is one of America’s premier Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), having graduated illustrious alumni like W.E.B. DuBois, John Lewis, Ida B. Wells, Diane Nash and Nikki Giovanni. It is located in North Nashville, the city’s historic black cultural hub.

· With 900 undergrads and only 30-50 graduate students, Fisk is a de facto liberal arts colleges where faculty are deeply invested in students and the “Fisk Family” provides a tight-knit, welcoming and inclusive environment. The average class size is 15 (there are no large lectures) and students come from across the country. 90% are African American, while a small percentage are not of African descent, including some international and white students (3%). Two-thirds of students live on campus, and a new co-ed, suite-style dorm is opening soon. 70% of students are female.

· Given its location in Music City (a moniker given to Nashville by the Queen of England after hearing Fisk’s famed, Grammy-winning Jubilee Singers perform), music is the most popular major on campus, which is dotted with over 20 baby grand pianos. Students can also pursue a concentration in Music Business offered through a partnership with neighboring Belmont University.

· Biology is also popular, and Fisk offers a BS/MD program with Meharry Medical College next door. Many students also major in business and computer science, with over half of students interning at elite corporations.

· A new career center building helps connect students to internships at organizations like Cravath, Swaine & Moore (which has a historical partnership with Fisk), Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Google, Apple, Deloitte, Microsoft and Warner Music.

· Additional partnerships include a 3+2 engineering program with Vanderbilt and Case Western, as well as a BA/MBA program with Vanderbilt. Top students can also join Fisk’s W.E.B. DuBois Honor Program to special perks.

· One of Fisk’s unofficial mottos is “good trouble,” taken from alumnus John Lewis, and Fisk is defined by its ongoing commitment to service and activism. There is a day of service built into freshman orientation and a full-ride scholarship available to students who have demonstrated an extensive commitment to service.

· Student life is rich and varied. Around 50% of students participate in Greek life (Fisk hosts 8 of the 9 “Divine Nine”), and while there is no football team, basketball, volleyball, golf, gymnastic, cheer and dance provide athletic teams for students to rally around. There are many active student clubs and organizations, including the popular Out:Loud LGBTQ+ club.

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.