Does a college like this exist?

[Anonymous]

Drexel?

[Anonymous]

This literally sounds like my daughter, except she is Asian and Iranian. Many of these are on her list as well. Keep the ideas coming folks. I feel like her list is quite random but it makes sense to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD has a list of college preferences that are hard to match up in my opinion. She wants:
A diverse community(she's African American, but our family we white and Hispanic relatives)
In or near an urban area. she doesn't want to deal with a car in college(her words)
Not full of a lot of "preppy kids"(her words). She likes the theatre and artsy types. Also would prefer a decent amount of smart girls who don't party so she can make friends.
She doesn't like large schools. DH is a UMD alum, so we've been to the campus often and she says she feels intimidated.

She is interested in Howard, Spelman, Emerson, Arcadia, UMBC, Marymount Manhattan, Point Park, Seton Hall, and Manhattan College

VCU, Temple, etc would be on the list if the student body was smaller.

What about Towson? It's not preppy at all and I know several grads who have done very well in art-adjacent jobs with Towson degrees (working in video production and museum studies). And it's definitely walkable enough, with a lot of effort in the last few years to make the community less car dependent. Student body looks diverse and the area is very diverse as well.

It's big though (I think around 20k undergrad). But since it's close, it might be worth checking out. I personally find the UMD campus really overwhelming, especially for college freshman. I've only been to Towson a handful of times, but I didn't get that same feeling there.

[Anonymous]

Chatham in Pittsburgh (Murial Bowser went there).

[Anonymous]

Are any of the CTCL schools diverse?

[Anonymous]

Has she looked at Marymount University in Arlington? It fits her criteria: truly diverse student body, not preppy, small campus, no need for a car, good graphic design and marketing program.

[Anonymous]

Vassar as a reach?

I know it "sounds" preppy, but the kids are quite artsy. Yet is is strong for science.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't rule out UMD. Once she picks a major or activities its a much smaller group of kids as it is broken up into smaller schools within a large school. They have a great arts program. Some of the smaller schools will only have very small arts program, if any. My parents really encouraged me to go to a smaller school. I ended up transferring to a larger one and loving it. It didn't feel large once I got into my major Junior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vassar as a reach?

I know it "sounds" preppy, but the kids are quite artsy. Yet is is strong for science.

This is why I’m skeptical of test-optional. Think hard about whether a possibly lovely teen with a 24 ACT would thrive at Vassar or Fordham.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't rule out UMD. Once she picks a major or activities its a much smaller group of kids as it is broken up into smaller schools within a large school. They have a great arts program. Some of the smaller schools will only have very small arts program, if any. My parents really encouraged me to go to a smaller school. I ended up transferring to a larger one and loving it. It didn't feel large once I got into my major Junior year.

The OP said, "She does not want a large school," so why would you say send her to a large state university?

Trust that the kids knows herself.

In your story, it sounded like you followed your parents' lead. This student sounds like she has some clear preferences. They should not be ignored!

[Anonymous]

Savannah College of Art and Design

Very diverse. Very international. Very artsy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Savannah College of Art and Design

Very diverse. Very international. Very artsy.

Seconded.

[Anonymous]

SCAD has an odd schedule though, partly because their kids work for part of the school year in companies.

You might embrace this sort of vocational approach to education. It is very practical and might help kids get jobs upon graduation. If your kid is the very liberal arts type though, it might not be a good match.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vassar as a reach?

I know it "sounds" preppy, but the kids are quite artsy. Yet is is strong for science.

This is why I’m skeptical of test-optional. Think hard about whether a possibly lovely teen with a 24 ACT would thrive at Vassar or Fordham.

My artsy kid with a super high ACT, GPA, etc. go waitlisted. But, you never know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Howard sounds like a match.

She said she wants a diverse school. How is a school in which 90% of students are one race “diverse”?

You actually think because people share the same skin color, they share the same heritage? I want to see you say this to a White southerner with his confederate flag and the New York Italian Americanm LOL.

Howard is very diverse.