Colleges of Virginia and North Carolina

Colleges of Virginia and North Carolina

I had a great time this past week traveling in western Virginia and North Carolina, where I had the opportunity to visit six colleges. My tour took me to James Madison University, Virginia Tech, University of North Carolina Asheville, Warren Wilson College, Washington and Lee University, and Virginia Military Academy. Not one of these schools was similar to the other, proving that diversity of education—with programs for many kinds of student—within a small geographic area is quite possible. In coming posts you will see my pictures and read more about each of the schools.

James Madison University is beautiful and the town of Harrisonburg is charming. Though only two hours from Washington, DC, it’s a world away. The school is organized around the traditional quad and blends the historic and the new—a statement of the school’s long tradition and its robust commitment to technology. It was extra special to see the students getting ready for graduation. Check out their incredibly diverse educational offerings for a school of 20,000 students.

My travel companion, a Cornell University graduate, agreed with me that Virginia Tech’s architecture looked a lot like Cornell’s. But Virginia Tech is massive; the scale is huge. Buildings dwarf humans and rise out over the western Virginia landscape in a way of saying that all education can be had here. Of course there is the memorial to the slain students and faculty; it is tremendously moving in its simplicity and remembrance of those who lost their lives.

Warren Wilson embodies Asheville: small in scale, with new, organic architecture; a focus on sustainability, welcoming structures (including a gorgeous library), sculptures on campus integrated with the space and the most friendly students you could meet—just like Asheville itself. Make no mistake: this is not a school for everyone. As a former student of mine attending there says, “It’s a lot of hard work, but I am finding people like me who like to do the same things I like—who believe in the environment and want to make a difference in the world.”

University of North Carolina Asheville is just what you’d expect to see in Asheville. This 3,800-student university boasts expertise in environmental studies, psychology, health and wellness, business and English. UNCA is consistently rated as one of the best public liberal arts universities in the nation. It deserves attention by those of us not from the Southeast.

Washington and Lee was a great surprise for me. I had seen pictures of the university, but until I stood in the quad myself I had no idea of its grandeur. It is stately, even magnificent. The Blue Ridge Mountains make for a dramatic backdrop. The central tenant of the university is its honor system, that dates back over 150 years. The system is student-regulated and is “all-encompassing” in terms of its centrality to university life.
(See a later post about the namesakes of the university.)

Finding an appropriate college is a major life decision students face, and my job as an educational consultant is to help navigate this often-frenzied process. We have a wide variety of plans available to you. Contact us with questions about planning your college path. Call 973-509-0304 or to email us, click here.