Bloomingdale High School Counseling Department

Move over, Mickey Mouse. Stand back, Shamu. You’re not the only attractions in central Florida. For students looking to hit the books under the ever-present Florida sunshine, there’s also Rollins College. Located in Winter Park, a quiet suburb of Greater Orlando, Rollins offers students plenty of places to have fun when making the grade gets to be too much. “Situated 10 minutes from Orlando and from Disney World, Rollins is close to hundreds of internships and job opportunities just waiting for the next ambitious student,” says one satisfied senior.

Rollins’s lakefront campus is nationally recognized for its beauty and signature Spanish Mediterranean architecture, featuring stucco buildings, tile roofs, carved woodwork, and decorative balconies. Capitalizing on its location on beautiful Lake Virginia, campus planners have succeeded in combining the natural beauty of the lakeside with consistent architecture. Strong Hall is currently under construction and will accommodate 60 to 80 students in rooms configured as semi-suite residences.

The general education requirements expose Rollins students to various perspectives and areas of knowledge. Students take classes in foreign languages, quantitative reasoning, communication across the curriculum, decision making and valuation, and writing and writing reinforcement. Other requirements include art, Western and non-Western cultures, contemporary American society, and science. For freshmen acclimating to college, the fall-semester Rollins Conference Course eases the transition by placing them into groups of 15 to discuss themes such as imaginary voyages, contemporary ethical issues, and the environment. Each group has a professor-advisor and two upperclassmen peer mentors. Rollins’s living/learning communities allow students to live near each other and enroll together in multiple courses; students also have the opportunity to pursue independent research, travel abroad, and take service-learning classes where they earn credit by volunteering in the community.

Students give the psychology department their highest marks, and also praise English, education, and international business. The chemistry department turned out a Nobel Prize winner and the Annie Russell Theatre hosts productions staged by the active theater department. An Accelerated Management Program allows qualified freshmen to gain guaranteed admission to the Roy E. Crummer Graduate School of Business when they enter Rollins, leading to B.A. and M.B.A. degrees in five rather than six years.

While the workload at Rollins varies by major, academics are important. “It is a laid-back environment without too much pressure. However, there are opportunities for students to pack on more rigorous courseloads depending on personal preferences,” says a music major. Students find there’s always help from the professors, with whom they have close relationships. There are no TAs here; teaching is the responsibility of professors, who are said to be “extremely helpful and who only want to see you succeed and find your passion,” according to one student. Many students take advantage of Rollins’s study abroad program, which offers programs in Australia (a Rollins academic specialty), Germany, and Spain, as well as internships in England, for regular tuition costs. Additional internships and research opportunities are available in Costa Rica, Scotland, Belize, China, Vietnam, and Peru, among others.

“The students at Rollins are either very wealthy and enjoying the campus for the extracurricular activities, Greek Life or entertaining classes,” muses one student, “or they are hardworking, receiving academic scholarship and shaping the campus by leading organizations.” Forty-three percent of Rollins students are from outside Florida. The student body is 4 percent African American, 13 percent Hispanic, and 3 percent Asian American. While many of the students come from affluent families, adequate financial aid is available, with merit scholarships averaging $18,325 for qualified students and 161 athletic scholarships given to male and female standouts. 

Sixty-eight percent of the college’s students live on campus in spacious co-ed dorms. “Dorms are really nice,” a student says, and feature “big rooms and hardwood floors.” For those who prefer to live off campus, “there are plenty of houses and apartments near the campus that can be rented at a reasonable cost,” according to one student. Dining facilities are located in the campus center and food is charged on a credit-card system, so students eat when they want and pay only when they eat. One student says, “The food is a little on the pricey side, but it is delicious.” And what about safety? “Campus security is top of the line and super friendly,” a senior says. Security officers patrol the campus around the clock and call boxes are available throughout the campus.

The high-powered Greek scene claims 29 percent of the men and 35 percent of the women, so there’s always a party somewhere. “Social life is big at Rollins,” says a recent graduate. “It’s a great idea to join fraternity and sorority life: you’ll get that social experience, find your own good group of friends, and become more involved on campus.” There are movies on Mills Lawn or “dive-in” movies at the pool, lip-synch contests, and live bands in the campus center. “Although there are a great deal of fun activities on campus, the sheer fact that the Disney and Universal theme parks as well as the city of Orlando are so close to the campus means that there is also always something going on off campus as well,” says a junior.  Popular road trips include Cocoa Beach, Orlando, Miami, and Tampa.

“Winter Park isn’t a typical college town,” says one student. “It is one of the oldest cities in Florida, has a charming restaurant and shopping street known as Park Avenue, and is family friendly.” Fox Day is “a sacred tradition”—the president cancels classes for the day by placing a fox statue on the front lawn. Students look forward to the tradition every spring and, though they never know exactly which day the president will choose, almost everyone heads for the beach once the day arrives. Many students volunteer with programs such as Habitat for Humanity and tutoring at local schools. Orlando’s offerings include entertainment complexes like Downtown Disney and Universal Citywalk, and theme parks such as Walt Disney World, Epcot Center, and Universal Studios.

Sports are an integral part of the Rollins scene. The Tars teams have claimed more than 20 national championships and a plethora of conference titles. Competitive teams include men’s and women’s soccer, men’s basketball, women’s basketball (2012 conference champs), women’s golf, and softball. Waterski is a perennial powerhouse and men’s rowing participated in post-season play recently. Intramural sports are popular, too, with more than 20 leagues and events during the school year. Teams have been formed for table tennis, bowling, and other sports.

Rollins’s students enjoy sand and sun, as well as a tough academic climate and a strong sense of history. As the oldest recognized college in the state of Florida, Rollins enjoys the warmth of a blazing sun, a rich legacy, and smooth-as-silk Southern character. Says one senior, “Students can expect to find a safe haven, a real college experience, and a good escape from the hustle and bustle” of the real world.

Deadlines & Requirements

Rollins: Early decision: Nov. 15. Regular admissions: Feb. 15. Application fee: $40. Campus interviews: optional, informational. No alumni interviews. SATs or ACTs: optional. Subject Tests: optional. Accepts the Common Application. Essay question.