Southwestern University

• Location: Georgetown, Texas, USA
• Year of foundation: 1873
• Language of instruction: English
• Number of students: more than 1500
• Type of eduaction: mixed.

Southwestern University (SU) is the oldest institution of higher education in the state of Texas, currently a private university.

The present institution was opened in 1873 as the University of Texas on the basis of three colleges and one university. Historically, this educational institution is associated with the Methodist Church. In 1875, the university was named Southwestern University.

SU offers 40 undergraduate degrees in arts, natural sciences, visual arts, and music, as well as interdisciplinary and pre-professional programs. About 95% of the teaching staff have a doctoral or higher degree in the field of their work. Joint research and publications of students and teachers are commonplace in the institution, which proves a serious approach to the educationof specialists in different fields of activity.

All first- and second-year students must live on campus, but most high school students also prefer to be near academic buildings. SU places its students in women's, men's and general residential buildings.

Women's dormitories:

• Clark Hall – 6765$/year

Three floors, which are equipped with double rooms in the style of a suite with bathrooms. Amenities in the lobby include washing machines, dryers, vending machines. On the ground floor of the building there is a spacious living room with a TV and a billiard table.

Men's dormitories:

• Ruter Hall – 5904$/year

Double rooms for 92 male students. Martin Ruter Hall has a laundry room, a lounge with a TV. The building is unique in that it has a connection with public baths, is the traditional format of a hostel.

Cohabitation of freshmen:

• Brown-Cody Hall – 7524$/year

Double suites with en-suite bathrooms for more than 117 students. The Brown-Cody hall has a fully equipped kitchen, a beautiful and spacious living room with a TV, a laundry room on the ground floor, as well as vending machines.  On the second and third floors there are offices, access to the balcony.

• Mabee Hall – 7524$/year

Three-storey building, accommodating about 167 students in double rooms with bathrooms. Mabee is a  popular hostel, in part because of the large closets, extra storage spaces, and separated work and living quarters. Amenities in the lobby include vending machines, washing machines, dryers, and a kitchen on the second floor. The TV is located in the spacious living room on the second floor of the building.

For high school students, seven residential complexes have been prepared, in which double rooms with private bathrooms are equipped. Some room options include shared living rooms. Several dormitories belong to male fraternities and are private apartment buildings. The cost of accommodation per year ranges from 9656 to 12 034 $.

For students living on campus, meal plans are offered with a price for the year:

• Unlimited meals, extra $125 for spending – $6028
• 15 meals per week, 200$ extra – 5400$
• 12 meals per week, $200 extra – $5184
• 165 power supplies per semester, $250 for spending – $5184
• 9 meals a week, 225$ for expenses – 4858$
• A block of 140 courses per semester, $ 225 additionally - $ 4858.

Every year , SU organizes two large-scale academic exhibitions, where students and researchers from all over the country can demonstrate their scientific works:

• The Brown Symposium , held in early spring, is  a scientific conference attended by guest lecturers, panelists. All the speakers at the Brown Symposium present research on a specific topic.
• The Creative Works Symposium , which is held near the end of the spring semester, offers undergraduate students the opportunity to showcase their research in the form of a formal oral presentation, panel discussion, poster presentation, art exhibition, or technology demonstration. These student presentations are often the culmination of high school projects, independent research, faculty collaboration, or a requirement for obtaining research grants.

On campus there are more than 90 student organizations, 16 academic honor societies. Religious groups include national Christian, Muslim, Buddhist brotherhoods, sisterhoods. 

The publishing house of the institution publishes two journals, in the writing of which students participate:

• Founded in 1907, MegaFon magazine is the university's official student newspaper, published bi-weekly in both paper and online copies.
• Spyglass Literary Magazine is the oldest publication on campus. It is published twice a year at the end of each semester. Each issue includes student poems, stories, photographs.

SU students also take part in an online radio station that broadcasts music and news of the institution.

The sports department of the university is engaged in the development of national teams in 20 sports: football, basketball, cross-country running, athletics, golf, swimming and diving, lacrosse, etc. The mascot of the school, accompanying it at each competition, is a pirate.

• Accreditation of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the National Association of Musical Institutions
• Member of annapolis groups, Associated Colleges of the South, Council of Independent Colleges
• Student-teacher ratio – 11:1
• 11% of students come from 23 states, 6 countries
• The college is described in Lauren Pope's book Colleges That Change Lives.

SU is located in Georgetown, about 50 km north of Austin. The campus covers an area of 700 acres. There are eco-laboratories on site where teachers and students conduct research. Training takes place at the Central Academic Center in the academic buildings. Dormitories are located to the east and northwest of the buildings, and sports grounds, auxiliary rooms and parking are located near the main building.

SU is equipped with:

• Administrative offices, student support services
• Audience
• Specialized laboratories
• Sports, gyms
• Outdoor playgrounds
• Chapel
• Library, reading rooms with access to computers
• Canteens, cafeterias, vending machines
• Bookshop
• Ballrooms, meeting rooms and gatherings of student organizations
• Rehearsal rooms.

There are recreation areas throughout the campus. SU is considered one of the most environmentally friendly institutions in the state due to the green area, garbage processing, regular clean-ups.

The school year lasts from August-September to mid-summer. During the training, holidays are provided in winter and summer, as well as weekends on national, public holidays.

Additional annual costs:

• Accommodation – from 6765$
• Meals – from 4220$
• Books, consumables – 1300$
• Transport – from 1500$
• Medical insurance – 1910$
• Tuition insurance – 510$
• Personal expenses.

All applicants, including foreign students, must provide:

• High-performance high school diploma
• Official transcripts
• Report from teachers, letter of recommendation
• Form of confirmation of financial condition
• Coursework including a minimum of four years of English, four years of mathematics, three years of natural sciences, three years of social sciences, two years of a foreign language, and one additional academic elective subject
• TOEFL (from 88) or IELTS (from 6.5) certificates
• Special evaluation interview with an admissions officer
• Personal documents: passport, visa, medical insurance.

The application can be submitted both full-time on campus and through one of the three college applications.

The admissions committee expects the application in the summer from June to the end of July.

The institution provides a variety of scholarship program options for individual student successes. Some options for financial support:

• Grants: Pella, Additional Education Fees, Texas Tuition Grant, Southwestern Grant
• Federal subsidized and unsubsidized loans
• Private loan
• Parental loan
• Hatton Sumners, Harry S. Truman, Barry Goldwater Fellowships
• Benjamin A. Gilman International Fellowship
• Boren Scholarships
• Cambridge Gates Scholarship.

• Guardianship services during the studies
• Student supervision