My name is David Starr and I attend Richwood High School where im apart of the Richwood High School Mighty Ram marching band, under the direction of Joshua Spikes. I live in Monroe, Louisiana. Its in Northeast Louisiana. im currently a Junior in high school and next year I will be a Senior so I need information on those particular colleges. I have questions like
- I want to know hows the campus life, and is the campus so spread out to where I will need a bike or a car or something?
- Hows the out of state fee's? Will the college financial aid hunt me down for their money?
- Hows the scenery? What can I do there when Im bored?
- What does your school rank in academics?
I DONT WANT ANY INFORMATION ON THE BANDS RIGHT NOW. I CAN FIND OUT ABOUT ALL THAT LATER ON.
All I need is information from all Swac schools. I havent taken the ACT and I know thats the main thing that counts but im not worried about that right now. From what I know is, Jackson is about a hour from here, Gsu is 30 minutes or less, Southern is about 2 and a half hours. I want to go far from home but not too far. All I want is college information. I can find out about band life when my senior year starts. My major is in music. I would like to go to a 4 year college to get a bachelor degree inmusic and HOPEFULLY go to grad school and get my Ph.d. Im not settling for anything less. What are the schools majors? I need to know EVERYTHING. Please and thank you.
RJ where you at dude?? Bring yo educated arse in here!!
Replies
TxSU
1) The campus is not too large, I was at Greystone apartments (where the will behaving all freshman stay who want to live on campus and it was about a 15-20 min walk slowly from there across to where the band hall is at (one of the last buildings) from that direction and everything on campus is about 5 minutes from the center (Student Center)
2) I'd say you need to do well enough on your horn and most schools will waive your out of state fees with band scholarships, as far as financial aid people are concerned if you are making payments in the right direction (the meal plan is the main one to get paid off first) then they will not really cancel anything until it's time for you to register for the next semester.
3) President has been cleaning up the campus nicely so the whole campus is very well kept. The school is in 3rd ward, so you'll be wanting to go into downtown to really chill with some people well. It's not that far from downtown but Houston as a whole is a very spread out city.
4) I can say the music department is very strong, the professors very knowledgeable and pending instrument you'll have a different instructor give you some help on it every week for your performance every semester.
any more info PM me and I'll get back to you on it.
I enjoyed just the regular campus life, pv was never ever ever boring. The music department was small and very personal. Teachers were Serious esp Prof Edwards RIP. We would literally run if we saw him coming down the hall.
You can't go wrong with any hbcu tho man. Its all in how u make it. Start fixing your gpa and marketing yourself now then make choices based on on if you want to stay home, on campus, leave the state or go cross country.
I love my alma mater pv and i owe my teachers a debt of gratitude because i use everything i learned there.
1. After you take the shuttle from the dorms to the main part of campus, everything is within a short walking distance. You won't need a car or bike to get around on campus.
2. Obviously you won't have to worry about out-of-state fees for the in-state schools. Please try to qualify for TOPS and the Southern Academic Scholarship, that will pay for your room and board, books, and tuition for 4 years on campus. Qualifying for a Pell Grant would give you extra money for food and other needs.
3. The campus is slowly starting to upgrade its image. The Bluffs is one of the most beautiful areas you will see in Baton Rouge. There is plenty to do on campus with all of the parties, probates, and other events. Also, downtown BR has a nice night life for young and old. Baton Rouge is the ultimate college town with 2 major universities within 10 minutes of each other. Plenty of restaurants and stores in the surrounding areas in the safe areas of Baker and Zachary. As long as you know which areas to avoid in BR(stay away from those nightclubs) you will be fine. Baton Rouge is a hot scene for sports and music. You can attend the Baton Rouge Symphony concerts downtown or even local high school band competitions and festivals. Baton Rouge also has a downtown event on Friday evenings called Live after Five. You have to visit the levee' and the Shaw Center if you are in the Capital City.
4. Majoring in music is an interesting there here with all of the budget cuts being imposed on the campus and the music department. The Band department is flourishing and starting to branch out more, while the music department is in a sort of rebuild and revamp mode trying to make it with much less funding. Due to this, I would say that Jackson State and UAPB have more complete, fully-functional music programs than us right now.
For the Great Jackson State University...here is the information you want.
1. Campus Life is awesome. There are plenty of chill spots all around campus and within a safe environment. Everything is within walking distance. From campus end-to-end it takes roughly 15 minutes. You'll be staying in Alexander which is located in the middle of campus. You'll be walking everywhere since the campus doesn't have that many roads that goes through campus. Only time you'll ever drive on campus is trying to find a parking spot, thats about it. Shuttles do run around campus but nobody ever takes them since 98% of students walk to class.
2. I'll put it like this. Out of state cost is around 13k-14k. We offer plenty of scholarships and financial aid, but you gotta be able get it and maintain it. Gotta maintain a 2.0 to keep financial aid w/o going through the appeal process.
3. Jackson State University is located in the heart of Jackson. Downtown is 5 minutes away. But I'd always recommend going to North Jackson if you want to do things. Of course, its no N.O or ATL. So don't expect too much.
4. Jackson State University actually leads the SWAC in general academia. In fact, last year we were ranked #15 in overall HBCUs academia (#1 in the SWAC). Of course, other schools have specialty areas, but overall JSU is where its at. We have research facilities that rival other schools like UT in Austin. We are the only Tier 1 SWAC School in research. More specifically, the music program is the best in the SWAC IMO. Not only do we have the famous Sonic Boom of the South, but we have: instrument family specific ensembles, JSU Jazz Band I & II, the JSU Orchestra, JSU Choir and 14 other music ensembles available here at JSU. We also offer a master's degree program for Music Education majors so you wouldn't have to even learn another school's system. You will already have a bachelor's in Music Ed and you'll know all the teachers. You'll learn from the great Dowell Taylor (former Director of Bands pre-'93) and from a Julliard Grad, Dr. Bishop.
I also suggest visiting the campuses yourself. Being in Monroe you are in driving distances to a lot of schools. Grambling State University -30minutes away, TSU & PVU-4-5 hours away, JSU 1-1 1/2 hours away, UAPB 2 1/2 hours away. You and a couple of your fellow band mates should take a road trip. That's what I did when I was a senior.
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