College visit #1: Marywood University

I'm up in PA, and Dad took me to the open house at Marywood University. They're actually a Catholic school, but I'm looking at them because of the variety of majors they have, and pretty much every art major I could want. (Like, they don't have an animation major, but you can combine illustration and digital media, which becomes an animation major.) It's unusual for a school that's not an art school to have so much. They're also close to home here in PA, so I could either live with Dad and commute (which means a license/car) or live on campus and still be able to go home every once in a while if I want. The facilities are nice, and I love the dorms. Everyone seems very friendly, security doesn't seem to be a problem. Nice gym and a climbing wall! The campus is gorgeous. The only thing is the cold, which I was supposed to be avoiding, but most of the schools I'm looking at are in the northeast, so I've kind of accepted it.

Lunch was good; me being the picky person I am, I just had a roll, some salad, and a piece of rosemary chicken. It was good. In my research, one thing everyone's always been pleased with is the food.

So, I'm going to apply, because I was impressed, and I'll see what my financial aid package looks like. I will need any money they can give me, because if I were to live on campus like I'd like to, that alone is $11K. The cost ends up being about $41K, I think, with tuition, fees, books, room and board, all that fun stuff, and I'm not sure how their aid is.

On the religion thing, they didn't make a big deal about it. They just brought it up when going through the alcohol policy (zero tolerance) and the core, which requires six credits/two courses.

Still visiting the other three schools, of course (four if I count the open house at Queens College in Flushing), and I'll see what I like. Definitely applying to Marywood, though. The religion thing won't kill me, haha.

(On Queens College: They're supposed to have a great art program, and CUNY tuition = good thing. Problems: distance; possibly not quitting the job, meaning needing to go part-time and taking that much longer to finish; staying in NYC, which I'm not supposed to do. The plan was to get out of the city and experience life elsewhere. I've spent nearly thirty years in that place, and I'm ready for a change.)

Meanwhile, and totally unrelated, Mom's in Connecticut visiting a relative, and Craig and Oliver are at home. I'm sure Oliver's sleeping most of the time and will be totally beside himself if Mom and I come back at the same time. XD

EDIT: And Pagan girl at orientation! She's wearing a pentacle around her neck. Nice to see that. I asked how mixed the political climate was, and the admissions woman I spoke to said everyone's pretty mixed, with all sorts of religions, but I wasn't believing it until I saw it. XD