Tell me about Goucher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Truthfully, I would not be surprised if this school closed during the next several years. Important to check out the school's financials.

Declining enrollment and reduction of majors offered indicate that the school is experiencing serious financial challenges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Truthfully, I would not be surprised if this school closed during the next several years. Important to check out the school's financials.

Declining enrollment and reduction of majors offered indicate that the school is experiencing serious financial challenges.

I’m PP whose DS had great experience at Goucher — yes, the college does have some financial problems. They are underway on some solutions to improve their financial picture. One initiative they have is with a neighboring senior’s community, Edenwald, in which some of the elders attend courses, and other forms of engagement I don’t recall, promoting intergenerational learning. They also have an agreement with Whiting Turner, a construction firm, to build WT headquarters on the campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school itself is beautiful. Other than that, I don’t know much. It’s a small liberal arts school similar to many others.

Yes - liberal arts / literary / poetry / art heavy.

It went from all-girls to co-Ed decades ago, but still skews majority female. It’s an extremely safe-space for lesbian/ bisexual students, if that matters to your child.

My kid is a straight cis boy (he's welcoming to everyone and has friends of all stripes). But potentially then would Goucher not be a good place for him to meet dating prospects or find guy friends outside of the LGBTQ scene?

My cis het white boy had a wonderful experience at Goucher. He had friends who were outside the LGBTQ community, and friends in it -- his circle of friends included both, and he had people to date. Yes, there is a strong LGBTQ presence. There is also a large proportion of Jewish students. Also first-gen students, and BIPOC students. He saw that diversity as a plus. My DC blossomed during his time in college, developed and pursued new interests, became engaged in campus life, etc.

Virtues of Goucher: its a small LAC with a traditional greenspace campus, but instead of being in a rural location like a lot of LACs we visited, it's in the suburbs (of Baltimore) and has easy access to lots of retail, restaurants, etc. For us (in the DC area), it was nice that our DC stayed close to home, it was easy for him to visit for a weekend, or even meet up for dinner. It has other traditional virtues of a small LAC, like small class sizes, access to faculty and them getting to know their students well.

Goucher is a stones throw from the Towson mall and it shares the center of Towson (such as it is) with Towson State; there are also several other universities close by, including Coppin State, Maryland Institute College of Art, and University of Baltimore. And Hopkins, though they tend to be kinda snobby toward all the other excellent universities in Baltimore.

You're showing your age - it hasn't been Towson State since the 90's.

Stevenson (formerly Villa Julie for us olds) is also very close by, and slightly further are Notre Dame of Maryland (forget their actual current name) and Loyola Maryland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Truthfully, I would not be surprised if this school closed during the next several years. Important to check out the school's financials.

Declining enrollment and reduction of majors offered indicate that the school is experiencing serious financial challenges.

I’m PP whose DS had great experience at Goucher — yes, the college does have some financial problems. They are underway on some solutions to improve their financial picture. One initiative they have is with a neighboring senior’s community, Edenwald, in which some of the elders attend courses, and other forms of engagement I don’t recall, promoting intergenerational learning. They also have an agreement with Whiting Turner, a construction firm, to build WT headquarters on the campus.

Yes - this is great point. Also, many Goucher students make extra $$ working at Edenwald in the dining hall and in other ways. It’s a win-win for both Edenwald and Goucher.