Big decisions

The sun beat down on Francis Quadrangle on a hot and sultry Thursday afternoon as a tour group of visitors and prospective students left the air-conditioned comfort of Jesse Hall and was introduced to MU.

Group members listened to their guide, Tyler Foreman, as they strolled along the grassy commons of the quadrangle. Pausing near the College of Engineering’s Lafferre Hall, originally built in 1892, Foreman acknowledged construction that has closed off the quadrangle’s north end; the Reynolds Journalism Institute is being built as part of the MU School of Journalism.

The tour was one of two or three offered daily at MU. Foreman said 150 to 200 such tours are given throughout the year.

They are different than the Summer Welcome tours, ubiquitous this time of year as they introduce incoming freshmen and their parents to campus life.

There was at least one prospective MU freshman in the tour.

Christina McCauley recently graduated from Hazelwood Central High School in St. Louis and is considering attending MU.

The MU tour was the first one for McCauley and her mother, Carol McCauley, in their quest to find the right situation for Christina. They have another tour scheduled for today at Central Missouri State University.

Carol said her daughter has been accepted to three out-of-state universities, but as a family, they are considering having Christina remain in Missouri because of proximity.

Having smaller classrooms and student-to-teacher ratios are important to Carol. She said even though MU is known for its large lecture classes, the school’s offering of smaller classes and labs is a positive.

At this point, options are still open for Christina.

“We’ll make a decision within the next week,” Carol said.