Best Colleges in Appalachia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Carnegie Mellon is obviously #1, after that?

Pitt
Penn State
University of Tennesse
Penn State
Virginia Tech
West Virginia

Others?

App state u is a pretty good school of late.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is your purpose here? Is there a reason to seek out this region?

Becauseit makes vt look better.

[Anonymous]

I am from the Appalachia region. The map was enlightening. Using the map as a guide, it looks like W&L, Sewanee, Centre, Furman and Carnegie-Mellon would be strong SLAC contenders. A rung or two below would be Wofford, Emory & Henry, Muskingum, Allegheny, Mars Hill, Tusculum, Birmingham Southern and Marietta. For the larger universities, Pitt, Va. Tech, Clemson, UT, Alabama and Auburn would be higher on the list than East Tennessee State, Appalachian State, Ohio University, Western Carolina, Robert Morris, Eastern Kentucky, Marshall and WVU. Obviously, there are others schools in that region, but this is a good list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am from the Appalachia region. The map was enlightening. Using the map as a guide, it looks like W&L, Sewanee, Centre, Furman and Carnegie-Mellon would be strong SLAC contenders. A rung or two below would be Wofford, Emory & Henry, Muskingum, Allegheny, Mars Hill, Tusculum, Birmingham Southern and Marietta. For the larger universities, Pitt, Va. Tech, Clemson, UT, Alabama and Auburn would be higher on the list than East Tennessee State, Appalachian State, Ohio University, Western Carolina, Robert Morris, Eastern Kentucky, Marshall and WVU. Obviously, there are others schools in that region, but this is a good list.

PP - how would you rank these? W&L and Carnegie Mellon are top notch. Pitt, VA tech, Clemson are strong - are Auburn adn Alabama in that same class? Is Sewanee?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am from the Appalachia region. The map was enlightening. Using the map as a guide, it looks like W&L, Sewanee, Centre, Furman and Carnegie-Mellon would be strong SLAC contenders. A rung or two below would be Wofford, Emory & Henry, Muskingum, Allegheny, Mars Hill, Tusculum, Birmingham Southern and Marietta. For the larger universities, Pitt, Va. Tech, Clemson, UT, Alabama and Auburn would be higher on the list than East Tennessee State, Appalachian State, Ohio University, Western Carolina, Robert Morris, Eastern Kentucky, Marshall and WVU. Obviously, there are others schools in that region, but this is a good list.

PP - how would you rank these? W&L and Carnegie Mellon are top notch. Pitt, VA tech, Clemson are strong - are Auburn adn Alabama in that same class? Is Sewanee?

PP here. W&L is a great school with a long tradition of turning out top tier graduates. CMU is more of a tech-driven school in a bigger city. Apples and oranges, really. Sewanee is a real gem and competes with W&L for students. W&L has a deserved higher ranking. Sewanee's remote location is either a plus or a huge negative. Sewanee's grads swear by the place. Centre is a great school and should be considered if looking at W&L and Sewanee.

On the big schools, you have nailed the top ones, but Alabama, in particular, is really competing for students with their honors college. The full ride offered by UA for national merit finalists is a very sweet deal.

[Anonymous]

Here's a list of private colleges in Appalachia:
http://www.acaweb.org/about/member-institutions/

I think PPs above have identified several schools, but there's also UNC-Asheville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am from the Appalachia region. The map was enlightening. Using the map as a guide, it looks like W&L, Sewanee, Centre, Furman and Carnegie-Mellon would be strong SLAC contenders. A rung or two below would be Wofford, Emory & Henry, Muskingum, Allegheny, Mars Hill, Tusculum, Birmingham Southern and Marietta. For the larger universities, Pitt, Va. Tech, Clemson, UT, Alabama and Auburn would be higher on the list than East Tennessee State, Appalachian State, Ohio University, Western Carolina, Robert Morris, Eastern Kentucky, Marshall and WVU. Obviously, there are others schools in that region, but this is a good list.

PP - how would you rank these? W&L and Carnegie Mellon are top notch. Pitt, VA tech, Clemson are strong - are Auburn adn Alabama in that same class? Is Sewanee?

PP here. W&L is a great school with a long tradition of turning out top tier graduates. CMU is more of a tech-driven school in a bigger city. Apples and oranges, really. Sewanee is a real gem and competes with W&L for students. W&L has a deserved higher ranking. Sewanee's remote location is either a plus or a huge negative. Sewanee's grads swear by the place. Centre is a great school and should be considered if looking at W&L and Sewanee.

On the big schools, you have nailed the top ones, but Alabama, in particular, is really competing for students with their honors college. The full ride offered by UA for national merit finalists is a very sweet deal.

Auburn and Alabama are both large state schools, like Pitt, VA Tech and Clemson. In general, they are similar types of schools. Locally, I think it's hardest to get into VA Tech and Clemson, followed by Pitt and Auburn, and easiest to get into Alabama. On the other hand, Alabama gives very generous scholarships to top students.

Sewanee is a much smaller, private school. I'd view it as similar to W&L, but easier to get into with an even more pronounced Southern (vs. Appalachian) culture.

It's really kind of random to focus on "best colleges in Appalachia," when so many of the students at those schools come from other areas. Most students at Tech, for example, will be from the NoVa, Richmond and Hampton Roads areas, and the largest contingent of students at Carnegie Mellon and Pitt will be from suburban Philadelphia. If you really wanted to know about a school that's stayed true to its Appalachian roots, it would probably be Berea in Kentucky.