Thoughts on this list? Other suggestions?

[Anonymous]

Elon and JMU would be good for the dance minor - strong programs

Does VT have a dance minor? I don't see it on their site

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Explore Dickinson and Franklin & Marshall, unless she would find them to be too small.

Yes to former but not to latter as they don’t meet OP’s budget. No merit aid at F&M (but rumors of very generous FA so if you do apply, I’d still submit FAFSA).

[Anonymous]

Conn College and Skidmore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Conn College and Skidmore.

Skidmore doesn't offer merit (save for a few specialized scholarships) so wouldn't meet budget criteria--but it's got a great arts program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Conn College and Skidmore.

Skidmore doesn't offer merit (save for a few specialized scholarships) so wouldn't meet budget criteria--but it's got a great arts program.

Wow - just checked the CDS and didn’t realize how limited it was. Two first years!

[Anonymous]

OP again- DD nixed Dickinson as too small and didn’t like the 4 year meal plan requirement with only one cafeteria.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again- DD nixed Dickinson as too small and didn’t like the 4 year meal plan requirement with only one cafeteria.

Ok, then she won't like most of the other SLACs on the list--a few are a touch bigger: Denison at around 2250, Oberlin is a little bigger at 2650, St Olaf 2950. Makes narrowing your choices easier (though plenty don't have a 4 year meal plan requirement, they are all quite small).

Keeping OOS universities down to 50k/yr total COA means she's going to likely going to need to look at costs carefully or bypass schools where she's a target and instead go where she's in the top 25%.

Someone who mentioned Indiana University might be dead on--strong arts program and the total cost of attendance out of state is 55k. She might be able to wrangle 5-10k merit too. IU has a very high OOS acceptance rate (85%). It does have fairly significant Greek life (about 25% of students), but not too dominant. Bloomington is an attractive college town. It's out of the 6 hour driving range though.

[Anonymous]

Pitzer
Loyola of Chicago
Saint Mary's, Notre Dame
Grinnell
Smith College
Carleton
Macalwster
St. Olaf
Fairleigh Dickinson
Bard
Ithaca
Vassar
Kenyon
Lewis and Clark
Reed
Dickinson
Mercyhurst
Seton Hill
Gonzaga
Whitman

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again- DD nixed Dickinson as too small and didn’t like the 4 year meal plan requirement with only one cafeteria.

Thank you for this information. (I will never recommend Dickinson.)

[Anonymous]

UDel is similar to JMU, CNU is similar to Elon (has 2 dining halls)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again- DD nixed Dickinson as too small and didn’t like the 4 year meal plan requirement with only one cafeteria.

Thank you for this information. (I will never recommend Dickinson.)

Good. You'll not recommend a school you have almost no knowledge about nor experience with in the past. So helpful you're making that commitment.

[Anonymous]

SUNY Purchase
Barnard
VCU

[Anonymous]

Butler has a great dance program. It has nice dorms, good dining and is mid-size.

[Anonymous]

Should look at VCU because of the dance and arts interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- thanks for the advice. Which SLACs seem like a good fit? We are full pay but would like to keep COA around $50k/year.

St. Olaf has a great environmental science program and a major in dance (also, music, drama and stuidio art). A 4.1 W GPA plus decent test scores should get your kid enough merit to go below 50k, easily. Full pay is $63k, which is realitively affordable for a SLAC and they are generous with merit.

St. Olaf was my kid’s second choice for a double major in geology and music. He ended up somewhere great, but I think he would have been happy at St. Olaf. He put a lot of thought into going, despite the ranking being lower. When we visited, the kids seemed very nice and it was a very special place.

Another option would be be Wooster. They have theater/dance as a major or minor and a concentration in environmental studies. They gave a 4.1 ish weighted kid I know almost 45k in merit aid.

And, finally, Oberlin is very strong in fine arts (obviously, with the conservatory there), including a dance major and STEM. Getting the cost down to about 50k so possible, but not a given.

These are excellent suggestions. Maybe Sewanee too?