Is anyone familiar with Augustana college?

[Jeafl]

We went to visit it over the weekend and my daughter is very interested in going there. It looks great, but I was wondering if anyone else had an opinion they wanted to share.

 

[piglet too]

A friend of mine from HS went there and loved it. He said it was a very good school, that he got an excellent education, and enjoyed the campus life too. I don't know what the enrollment is like now, but 14 years ago it was a nice small school, without being too small.

What is she looking to major in? Also, how close to home does she want to be. If she wants to be a bit further, I can name several good small-sized liberal arts schools that I think are really nice.

 

[Jeafl]

They said the enrollment is about 2400 now.

She is going to major in psychology, minor in pre-med and then go to medical school (hopefully!)

She doesn't want to be TOO far from home, maybe 4 hours or less. We live in the Chicago suburbs.

 

[piglet too]

Well, I am in Mokena, so I will give you the driving time from me.

I went to Culver-Stockton College in Canton, MO which is about a 5 hour drive. It is quite a bit smaller than Augustane, at 900 this year I think.

I also looked at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA. It is about a 4 hour drive and they have about 1,300 students.

I loved both of these schools, and kinda wish I had picked Coe.

Some other schools that are close include; Knox College in Galesburg, IL, Monmouth College in Monmouth, IL, Cornell College in Mount Vernon, IA. Cornell is unique as it does one course at a time. This is another school that I seriously considered.

 

[SleepyMom]

My neighbor works in the library there and from everything I know it is a great school. Several people from our church graduated from there last year and loved it. Let's see, trying to think of anyone else... a bunch of my DD's friends went there, but I haven't seen most of them since HS graduation.

This is a great town, not too big and not too small.

 

[bananiem]

Which Augustana College? I grew up near one in Illinois but around here nobody has heard of it. Here Augustana means South Dakota.

 

[golfgal]

Which Augustana College? I grew up near one in Illinois but around here nobody has heard of it. Here Augustana means South Dakota.

I was thinking the same thing. The Augustana in Sioux Falls, SD is a pretty good school and Sioux Falls is a great town! It's about an 8 hour drive to Chicago from there.

 

[abbs25]

My youngest sister is a Sophomore at Augustana in Rock Island, IL. She loves the school and seems to have found lots of things to do socially and academically. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Jeafl]

I didn't even know there was an Augustana in SD! We went to visit the one in Rock Island, IL.

abbs25, is your sister involved in any athletics or clubs? Which dorm does she live in? Does she feel she is getting a good education? Any help you could give me would be great.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Regardless of whether one is in Illinois or South Dakota or Alberta, Canada Augustana means only one thing -- "Good Lutheran College".

 

[abbs25]

My sister who is a sophomore lives in Ericson Hall and Freshman year in Andreen Hall. She is also involved in a dance group, not as serious as Dance Company, but a lot of fun for her. She took 15 years of dance so it is right up her ally.

Academically she is doing well. She is a speech pathology major and will go on to get her masters when she is done with undergrad. In the spring she is going to go to India on one of their study abroad trips. From what I have read and heard that is a big thing that they encourage their students to look at.

If you have any other questions please let me know. I may not know the answers, but I can ask my sister. I went to Eastern Illinois University and my other sister is at the University of Missouri so we both went to bigger schools and my youngest sister I think has a closer connection to her school since it is smaller.

abbs25

 

[Jeafl]

Thanks so much for the information. They want you to give them your two top choices for dorms after you get accepted. We looked at several of them, and they all looked great so she wasn't sure which to pick.

I will see if she has any specific questions and then PM you. Thanks!

Oh, and RoyalCanadian, I had no clue that Augustana was a Lutheran College! Nobody ever mentioned it to us at all.

 

[lyeag]

It is a very nice school. I had some friends who graduated from there. I grew up just a few towns over from Rock Island. I would say a big downside is the location. It is not in the worst part of town, but the area is questionable. I wouldn't walk at night around there unless I was part of a fairly large group.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Oh, and RoyalCanadian, I had no clue that Augustana was a Lutheran College! Nobody ever mentioned it to us at all.

Here's a little bit of the connection for Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.
http://www.augustana.edu/information/missionhistory/

Here's the info for the Augustana in Camrose, Alberta. http://www.augustana.ab.ca/aboutus/

And Augustana in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
http://www.augie.edu/info/profile.html

And here's a neat connection and a nod to their heritage (whether real or imagined) -- all three of these Augustanas have independently chosen to name their athletic teams "Vikings."

There is also an Augustana College in Nairobi, Kenya -- but a quick browse through their website doesn't reveal any Lutheran connection, nor the nickname of their sports teams.

The name "Augustana" is a reference to the Augsburg Confession, the foundational document of the Evangelical Lutheran faith.

 

[bananiem]

It is a very nice school. I had some friends who graduated from there. I grew up just a few towns over from Rock Island. I would say a big downside is the location. It is not in the worst part of town, but the area is questionable. I wouldn't walk at night around there unless I was part of a fairly large group.

I was going to say the same thing. I grew up in Davenport, just across the river and my sister teaches in the Rock Island school district. I can think of other nice small private colleges that are in much safer cities.

 

[crz4mm2]

I was going to say the same thing. I grew up in Davenport, just across the river and my sister teaches in the Rock Island school district. I can think of other nice small private colleges that are in much safer cities.

Come on down to Monmouth (just about 50 minutes south) and you'll find a very nice small liberal arts college. Safe small town.
Check us out

 

[lyeag]

I was going to say the same thing. I grew up in Davenport, just across the river and my sister teaches in the Rock Island school district. I can think of other nice small private colleges that are in much safer cities.

I grew up in East Moline. I used to go the the library at Augustana ( the old one) when I was in high school for research.

I would agree, there are other nice colleges in safer places.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

The midwest has so many of those smaller Liberal Arts colleges and they are nearly all quite excellent. I had a friend from High School who went to Augustana, he is now a Lawyer in a downtown Chicago Law Office and doing very well.

My husband received his Math and Chemistry degrees from Illinois College in Jacksonville. Great town, close to Springfield. He has remained in close contact with several of the people he attended with, and they are nearly all highly successful in their careers.

 

[chamonix]

I grew up in Rock Island and my high school sweetheart went to Augustana as a freshman (that is, until he left to follow me far away, lol). I visit the area several times a year, and always walk around on campus when in town.

I just wanted to say that it is not in a particularly dangerous or unsafe city. Being from Chicago area, I am sure your dd knows not to walk around late at night alone, keeps her door locked, that kind of thing. Basic safety stuff. The campus is situated on a hillside and as you go on further down the hill the neighborhoods are not the best, but certainly not the worst either. Lots of students live in apts in those areas. Rest assured, the dorms are all on the top of the hill, which is a decent neighborhood--in fact, most of the campus is up there.

I'm sure you saw all of the new construction going on there, there are brand new dorms for upper classmen, the library is newer, new rec center, and lots more I am not thinking of. It's a beautiful campus. My dh now works at a large IL university (sure you can guess which one) and I can tell you that even though our campus is in a much smaller town than Rock Island and in a fine neighborhood area, crime still happens on campus. It's a fact of life. Check out the crime statistics for any and all universities that your kids consider, and be sure to teach them about basic safety issues before they go out on their own no matter where they go to school.

Anyway, back to Augie. It's a good school and because it's small, it offers a really nice experience for students, and they won't fall between the cracks there....and the quality of student is pretty high academically, so that's nice too. Excellent newer facilities and lots of chance to be involved in activities and to meet people. Their study abroad programs are well regarded and recommended. I would not hesitate to send my dd there.

I am sure any of the smaller private colleges mentioned upthread would be a fine choice as well.