A small group of Mount St. Mary Academy students, along with two staff members, spent February 19-22 touring a handful of college campuses in Missouri and Oklahoma during the school’s annual College Trip. The four-day road trip included visits to a total of six universities and provided students with the opportunity to explore a variety of campuses, speak with school admissions representatives, and learn about some of the different postsecondary options that exist in the region.
The school’s annual college trip aims to help MSM students find success during the college search and application process by introducing them to the process before their senior year.
“Visiting different types of colleges and universities prior to a student’s final year at Mount helps her narrow her college search, prepare for the application process, and understand the importance of her GPA and extracurricular commitments in high school,” Whitney Smotherman ’03, MSM college counselor, said.
And though this year’s trip didn’t include as many students as usual, the smaller group size actually proved beneficial.
“The small group dynamic was new this year for the college trip, and I really enjoyed it,” Mrs. Smotherman said. “The smaller group allowed for more meaningful reflections after our tours as well as gave the students more flexibility on how we spent our downtime with meals and fun outings.”
This year’s itinerary included visits to the following schools, most to which MSM students regularly apply and are accepted: Oklahoma State University, Rockhurst University, Saint Louis University, University of Missouri, University of Tulsa, and Webster University. While visiting these schools, the group was able to connect with a handful of MSM alumnae presently enrolled at some of them, including: Haley Draeger ’22 and Rosa Rivera ’22 at Rockhurst; Anne-Marie Elser ’20 and Kaitlin Tarini ’20 at SLU; Arianna Gonzalez ’20 at Mizzou; and Madeline Dalton ’23 at Tulsa. The trip also included stops at St. Louis Union Station, the Gateway Arch, and Country Club Plaza in Kansas City.
Last year students visited seven Texas schools, and on the trip before that they toured campuses in Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
