Six Mount St. Mary students, along with MSM counseling staff, spent nearly a week in February touring a handful of nearby college campuses. The five-day road trip included stops at eight universities in Texas and a college in Louisiana. The experience gave students the opportunity to explore a variety of campuses, speak with school representatives and learn more about some of the different college options that are available.
“When planning the college trip, I selected a variety of schools so the students could learn what they do and do not like about colleges,” Emily Coffey, MSM college counselor, said. “The colleges we saw varied from small to large, public to private, Catholic to non-Catholic, and rural to urban.”
The trip’s agenda included visits at the following schools: Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, the University of Dallas, the University of Texas at Dallas, Southwestern University, Baylor University, St. Edward’s University, the University of Texas at Austin and Centenary College of Louisiana.
The annual college trip ultimately aims to help Mount St. Mary 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 during a student’s sophomore or junior year helps them narrow their college search, prepare for the application process, and understand the importance of their GPA and extracurricular commitments in high school,” Mrs. Coffey said.
Junior Mimi Palecek, who participated in this year’s trip, agreed that the experience was a worthwhile one. “Having the chance to go on the college trip was a great experience and gave me the opportunity to get a firsthand view of college,” she said. “I learned a lot about the different kinds of colleges and universities, which helped me to discover what I want and don’t want in my future school.”
An exciting part of the experience was getting the opportunity to enjoy campus tours led by MSM alumnae at several of the colleges the group visited. Mount St. Mary Academy thanks Caroline McCormick ’11 at SMU, Valerie Kauffman ’17 and Sarah Rech ’17 at St. Edward’s, and Grace James ’16 at UT Austin for their hospitality. Their warm welcome and VIP treatment helped make the trip a memorable one for the participating students and counseling staff.
“We had a wonderful time visiting nine colleges together, eating TexMex food, catching up with Mount alums, and exploring new towns,” Mrs. Coffey said.
Mount St. Mary Academy, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, develops young women with a moral and intellectual foundation rooted in Catholic tradition. Mercy-minded and college-prepared, our students meet the future with wisdom, compassion and integrity.