College Visits

by WCA Junior Evie Fordham

Junior and Senior year – the time in a High School student’s life when his or her head is filled with thoughts of test scores, college applications, and tuition, plus room and board costs. As a Junior in High School, I am just beginning the long journey of choosing a college, and a little further on, a career.

Over spring break, I visited Patrick Henry College, an institution located in Purcellville, Virginia. The school has been called “God’s Harvard,” a nickname that sums up its dedication to both spiritual and academic excellence. Founded in 2000, PHC students can major in either government or one of the liberal arts, such as history, journalism, or literature. Distinctively, PHC also approaches education classically, requiring that in addition to taking classes pertaining to their majors, PHC students take core classes, including logic, theology, mathematics, and science.

PHC frequently offers open house opportunities where students can attend classes, tour the campus, and listen to the college’s faculty speak. Along with the other students at the open house, I attended PHC’s student-led chapel service, which is held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. I was even able to speak with a current PHC Junior majoring in journalism, a field that I am considering entering. PHC’s small size of approximately 350 students certainly allows for a friendly, “homey” environment, in stark contrast to many larger universities, where students may feel out of place or even anonymous.

PHC’s academic record really shines, even among other academically-rigorous schools. For example, PHC graduates placed first out of 261 other colleges on the ETS Proficiency Profile, a post-college test featuring categories like Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Mathematics. Dr. Gene Veith, PHC’s provost, states that “the secret to PHC’s academic success” is, above all other things, its “commitment to Christian truth.” The other aspects of PHC that enable its students to excel, are its “broad and rich core curriculum, apprenticeship requirements, and its faculty,” which all flow from PHC’s Christ-centered values, according to Veith. Additionally, PHC alumni have obtained prestigious positions at the likes of National Geographic, Americans for Prosperity, and the Heritage Foundation.

Christian students should definitely consider Patrick Henry College when choosing a college. I have it on my list of schools to apply to, and will continue to write about my college-finding endeavors!

For more information on Patrick Henry College, visit www.phc.edu.