Tag Archives: college

0

Visiting UCM

|

Friday morning kayla and I got out of bed at 5:30 and 5:55 to drive up to Warrensburg to visit University of Central Missouri. I will not lie, I had never even heard of it. Back when Kayla was deciding where to apply I had went to the State Board of Nursing site to see which school had the highest pass rate for nursing boards. At one time it was Missouri State but UCM was at the top with 97% so I said apply there too.

This was an individual visit as we had missed the campus visit day because of work conflict schedules. It was really nice and very individualized. A current student took us on a walking tour of the campus and in and out of the building. I must say the library is huge! The campus is smaller than Missouri State and they don’t have near the amount of stadiums and fields but that was ok. After that we met with a lady who went over what credits would transfer in. All of Kayla’s will except two classes that were like how to survive college. She was very happy to see that Kayla had not taken all of her pre requisites for nursing because that would count against her. She has mostly finished the general education stuff. This was the first school that didn’t give us the you need to have a 3.75 GPA to be even considered for the nursing program so it was nice seeing you. They said they have found that GPA does not really determine who would make the best nurse. Obviously because I had a 3.4 in high school with a 24 on the ACT and I am a rockstar nurse. They base admission on grades, a personal interview, extracurricular activities and volunteer work. I was so happy to hear this as I always thought admission based on GPA alone was unfair. There are many nurses that I have encountered over the years that were rockstar but not straight A students.

The mascot is a mule and his name is Mo. I found this hysterical since my husband is often called Mo by his friends and golf buddies. When we first got information from this place he immedialty yelled “jackass” and every time we mention it he yells “jackass!” Our household is so mature. In his defense, on the way to his brothers house, a guy has two donkeys that can be seen from the street. He never misses his chance to yell “jackass”. So Kayla needs to choose between a bear or a mule within the next week. It’s time to sign up for housing before she ends up living in her car for the year.

Also, food is Kayla’s life and she found out they were moving Chick-fil-A to the basement and getting rid of Burger King and putting in a Steak N Shake were Chick-fil-A was. I thought she might sign the papers right then and there. The campus has three Starbucks and either one or two Einsteins Bagels. Who could go wrong with those food options, not counting the smorgasbord in the university cafeteria.

 

Mole moral ~ If Kayla does indeed choose UCM and becomes a nurse her father will probably always call her the “jackass nurse”!

 

1

Our visit to Missouri State

|

image

Last night Kayla and I headed to Springfield to attend a campus visit at Missouri State. Neither one of us is a morning person so it was best to go down the night before rather than leaving at 5:30 in the morning. When I visited Rockhurst with Emily the entire thing was structured with scheduled activities. This was laid back. It started with me parking in the wrong spot but I didn’t get a ticket. Next up Kayla wasn’t on the expected list even though she received the reminder email. I thought here we go typical Mole craziness. After that things went smoothly. We started by taking a campus tour on a bus. That was a little overwhelming and at first we thought the campus was huge. We quickly discovered its a big square easily walkable. We then went on the dorm tours. The normal freshman dorm rooms with the community showers were way bigger than the Rockhurst rooms. We then visited the six person suite. It has three separate bedrooms each with a door and a lock. It also has a community living room and a small fridge. We visited the four person suites and liked it the best. It had two different rooms with locked doors, a bathroom and a kitchen with a full-sized fridge and microwave. Amazingly we did not pick the most expensive place to live. The four person suites are located by the dining hall and one doesn’t have to even go outside to eat. I told Kayla forget the freshman fifteen she will gain the sophomore seventy! Each dorm has its own laundry room and the laundry is FREE. As in no quarters are needed. I told Kayla there is no reason to bring her laundry home for me to do! You can also check on-line to see which washers are in use and if yours are finished. I would have never imagined such high-tech all those years ago when I went to nursing school.

The school also has buses that not only drive you around campus, but will also take you downtown and back. Kayla liked this feature and said she could save her gas for coming home from time to time. We went to admission, housing and financial aid lecture. When they posted that it was 16,000 a YEAR to attend, I almost fell out of my chair. This included housing and 19 meals a week. After all a girl has to eat!  Rockhurst was 16,000 a SEMESTER.

It was 12:30 and Kayla and I were ready to leave. We weren’t even a mile from school when she realized she forgot to have me take her picture with the bear. So we turned around and went back and snapped a photo. It was a great campus and if she decides to go there I will be thrilled. After all it’s where I wanted to go. She still wants to visit University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg and then decide for sure. However we are going to set up her portal and schedule the time for her classes and apply to the dorm. She has to go get a meningitis shot and finish up her hep a shot series on Monday. She said to me but I had meningitis. I said that was viral meningitis and the shot is for bacterial. As soon as she found out she would receive it in her arm she was fine with it. She has yet to get over the steroid shot in her butt when she had a major asthma attack.

 

Mole moral~One more campus visit and then Kayla is that much closer to going away to college and some freedom from her old Mole parents! We are both excited for her future.