Mr. K's Big Trip to Texas

Hey y'all,

I recently took a trip to Texas to visit 8 colleges and universities. I have never been to Texas, and was very excited to see what the environment was like there, and to learn more about some of their excellent landing spots for higher education. I honestly loved each school I saw, but today I want to briefly talk about my visit to TCU in Fort Worth. On Monday, I will write about my visit to St. Edward's University in Austin. These are two very different schools, but both are places I would feel more than comfortable sending future students.

So I don't like playing favorites, but if I had to do it all over again (sorry Saint Joe's), I think I would enroll at Texas Christian University, most commonly known as TCU. It's important to know, that even though the 'C' in TCU stands for Christian, TCU is an independent school and is no longer governed by a Christian denomination. However, TCU does still maintain a strong relationship with the church, and is the "largest of 21 colleges, universities, and theological institutions associated by an ongoing covenant with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)" I loved everything about this place...the location, the campus, the size, the majors, the people, the athletics...everything. The campus is absolutely pristine and most students are walking around wearing purple, supporting their Horned Frogs, who participate in the Big 12 Conference (home of the 2011 Rose Bowl Champions).

Before I give you some reasons why TCU is so great, let's talk admissions...and it isn't easy to get in, but not impossible. This year they had about 20,000 applications with 6,800 admits which is about a 34% acceptance rate. Students who are accepted usually have a 1080-1280 on the SATs or a 24-30 on the ACTs. TCU is also growing in popularity all over the country, more and more each year. Only 5 years ago, TCU was comprised of 72% Texans...now that number is only at 43%!!

Here are a few additional reasons why I think many of you should check out TCU in the future:


  • Although they have BIG TIME athletics, and house one of the nicest and biggest football stadiums I have seen right on their campus, they only have 8,900 undergraduates. So you get the big time school feel, with a medium size population and close engagement with faculty, so really the best of both worlds. 
  • TCU is best known for their incredible business program, but they also have great academic programs in nursing, engineering, and fine arts. For fine arts specifically, students can major in art history, graphic design, fashion merchandising and design, theatre, music, and dance.
  • TCU was recently ranked the #76 best college in the US by U.S. News & World Report.
  • TCU has an 80% acceptance rate to medical school, which is much higher than the national average
  • Fort Worth is amazing! This is a city that is booming, and really is the best of both worlds as it is a perfect blend of modern metropolitan culture and Old West charm. Fort Worth has everything you need, and is the ideal college town in my mind. It is also only about 30 minutes from Dallas, which is one of the country's biggest cities and houses some of the top companies in the world. 


I know many of you reading this will think that TCU sounds great, but Texas is too far. Well it is true that Texas is further than many schools our students look at in the Northeast, but I want students looking all over the country for the right college. College is a time to try something new and experience a different way of life. It is also very easy to get to Dallas/Fort Worth, and can be very cheap, especially flying SouthWest, which was started in Texas. I actually flew round trip on Southwest for $180!! So if some of you are thinking about upstate New York and you are OK with a 6 hour drive, you may want to check out TCU, which is a 3 hour plane ride. This is a place I know many young men and women would be happy out, you will just need to give it a shot! Enjoy the pictures below, and check back Monday for my blog on St. Edwards.

Joseph D. Korfmacher





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