Hofstra Tour: Monkey Puzzles & Other Surprises

One would get the wrong idea if the aging, high-rise residential halls visible from a bordering turnpike were one’s first impression of Hofstra University. This would be doubly problematic if it were raining and 45 degrees on what should be a glorious Spring day. So many students form fast, hard, negative opinions based on such cursory glances, especially when the surrounding area looks a lot like … Hempstead, Long Island.

This is why taking the time to tour colleges is so important. Pass through its gates, and Hofstra’s transformation is remarkable. What appears from the outside to be a gritty, urban neighborhood is in reality a 240-acre campus that is home to an honest-to-goodness National Arboretum and enough exotic greenery to fill perhaps a dozen or more so-called “green campuses.” Venture inside its buildings and you will find an art gallery, state-of-the-art television studio, full-fledged trading floor, a near-scale replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater and a towering library with a top-floor view of the Manhattan skyline, a mere 25 miles away.

Hofstra certainly knows what it has, and is eager to show it off. Dispensing with the usual jam-packed info session, Hofstra limited its dog-and-pony show to just 10 minutes, opting to let the campus itself do the talking. In a rare move, our hosting admissions counselor joined us on the student-led tour. One of the first stops was the Guthart Cultural Center Theater, which you might recall as the site of the 2008, 2012 and 2016 U.S. presidential debates. If not, there’s a shrine commemorating it. Next stop was the Mack Student Center, the hub of student life, with food court, book store, bank, and probably because it is Long Island, a hair and nail salon.

Unlike certain other schools, which are reluctant to let you see what’s inside their buildings and behind their curtains, Hofstra can’t wait to walk you through its empire, in particular the science and brand, spanking new business building. The Zarb Business School is so new that it actually smells new. In addition to a 34-terminal trading floor, it has a really cool entrepreneurial center, with 3D printers, drones, a recording studio and garage door walls that open up to encourage collaboration. A career center sits directly across the way from Zarb.

The science building has all the labs and such like, of course. The stairwells were memorable because one features renderings of icons of science, like Darwin, and the other various sea creatures, such as horseshoe crabs. The simple, black and white, stencil-style images are courtesy of the school’s art department, a reminder that arts connect with sciences.

Hofstra is fairly young as American universities go, dating back only to 1935. Built on the former estate of lumber mogul William Hofstra, it originally was an outpost of New York University. This changed at its first commencement, when the school’s 83 students were given a choice to have diplomas from Hofstra or NYU. They overwhelmingly chose Hofstra, and “pride” has been the school’s signature value ever since (although the current slogan is “pride & purpose.”) “Pride” doubles as a reference to the lion on the school’s official crest, as well.

The nearly overwhelming greenery on campus is of course rooted in its past as a rich man’s backyard. Most memorable is the thorny Monkey Puzzle tree (google it; it is weird and fascinating).

As we strolled through one building or another, monitors promoted a baseball game versus The College of William & Mary, a reminder that opposites attract. Sports is important at Hofstra; after all, it is located across the street from Nassau Coliseum, and its own Shuart Stadium is the home of the New York Lizards, a professional lacrosse team. Students are treated to two free tickets to all home games. At one time Hofstra’s stadium was the training camp for the New York Jets. It fields 17 teams of its own, including just about everything you can think of except football. Perhaps inspired by U Chicago, it built a medical school where its stadium used to be.

We didn’t see the entire campus, which is split by the Hempstead Turnpike and bridged by overhead, enclosed walkways. Basically, the North side is the residential area, including the athletic fields, and the South is where classes happen. Hofstra likes to refer to nearby New York City as its “satellite campus,” and it does afford students with ample opportunities to enjoy everything the Big Apple has to offer. While touring the campus’ award-winning radio station and tricked-out television studio, our guide noted that the major networks in NYC are a major source of internships for Hofstra undergrads.

Oh, and Jones Beach is just a half-hour down the road.

Don’t Forget to Look at Graduation Rates

MarketWatch: “Too few students … realize the importance of high graduation rates as a factor in selecting a college. Having a high graduation rate is an indication that an institution has supports in place to help students succeed. Support can mean anything from having sufficient financial aid and scholarships to ensure students can afford to finish their degree to offering enough sections of required courses so that students aren’t shut out of classes they need to graduate. Sometimes it means they have robust academic advising and mentorship programs, or provide housing and transportation options, or child care. Often, it’s a combination of these things and more.”

“Students who enroll in schools with lower graduation rates have often opted out of applying to institutions with higher rates of student success and miss out on these support systems. Many assume the most selective institutions are not an option because of the sticker price. Others don’t think to compare graduation rates when looking into colleges or universities with higher acceptance rates.”

“There have been attempts to make information like graduation rates more readily available to students by the federal government, including College Navigator and the Obama administration’s College ScoreCard, which was just expanded to include, among other things, more transparency around graduation rates … It’s this kind of data that can empower students to select institutions that have the best track record for ensuring that students receive a college degree with limited debt.”

Financial Aid: What Goes On, Really?

Of all the most frequently asked questions about college admissions, financial aid probably comes up most often. Inquiries typically start with the basics, such as “what is the difference between merit and need-based aid?” The quick answer is that merit aid, or scholarships, are dollars donated by people who are either very wealthy or very dead and are designed to entice students from the top tier of the applicant pool, regardless of financial need. Need-based aid generally refers to the government grants and loans allocated through FAFSA, as well as other sources, that are determined by the student’s ability to pay.

Financial-aid questions quickly escalate to murkier turf where definitive answers are scarce. One question we hear on almost a daily basis is whether applying early decision effectively closes the door on getting any merit aid. The answer would seem obvious, since why would a school throw money at a student who is legally bound to attend, scholarship or not? However, the real answer depends on which school you ask. We heard an unexpected perspective at a roundtable discussion among four vice presidents of enrollment during the recent IECA conference in Chicago.

Without naming names, some schools say that, contrary to popular belief, early-decision students are indeed sometimes awarded scholarships. The reasoning is that if a school were to gain a reputation for denying early-decision students merit aid, it would depress the number of quality applicants and the school would miss out on some really great kids. This does make some sense, although a healthy dose of skepticism is also understandable. It’s not so much that these schools are making false claims as it is that the policy almost certainly varies from school to school. So, if merit aid is a consideration, it would be worth researching a school’s position on merit aid before submitting an early-decision application.

A somewhat related question is whether students who are not declaring an intention to apply for need-based financial aid are unlikely to be awarded merit scholarships. Why give money to students who don’t need it? Once again, the intuitive answer may not be correct. One of the enrollment VPs said that providing scholarships to wealthy students actually makes more need-based money available to those less well-off.

Part of the reason is that tuition increases each year, but the scholarship award does not, and overall revenues rise accordingly. So, in a way, these students help support revenue growth. In addition, similar to the early-decision scenario, schools may view the potential scholarship as an incentive to apply even to students who don’t need the money. After all, scholarships are an honor, and not necessarily just about the money. Awarding merit aid makes a student feel wanted, which is a big deal. Once again, some schools are also wary of doing anything that might discourage high-quality applicants.

All of this is to say that navigating the financial aspects of a college application is complicated, and it is best to research, ask questions, and never assume anything. That much you can take to the bank.