college - tell me about "the best kept secret" schools - anyone have one?

[Anonymous]

New poster here. Thank you so much to the professors who offered such thoughtful, thought-provoking advice. I will be sure to urge my daughter to carefully consider small liberal arts colleges. Her cousin is at Hamilton, where she is having a wonderful time.

[Anonymous]

But I had small classes, a terrific honors program, and never had a grad assistant for an instructor. (Ivies use GA instructors too, of course.)

FWIW I went to a large state university and had a similar experience. I was in the Honors program and had amazing instructors with a passion for teaching. I had only a couple large lectures (Psych 101) and even then was able to get a personal experience by taking the time to talk to profs in their office hours. (I did test out of some of the large lecture type classes with AP credit.) I remember having TAs for a couple French classes, but thye were good and the main point was conversation and they were fluent. I did have TAs for lab sections. Once I got into my upper division major classes I had small classes all taught by mostly wonderful profs. A couple duds, but do small l/a colleges have NO duds? I doubt it. And those were the profs who wrote my grad school recommendations, not TAs.

There are definitely profs at large universities who are only interested in research and not teaching. But IME, they did not teach much, and in general the vast majority of profs were kind and patient teachers who loved their subject matter.

Anyway, my only point is that for a certain type of student, who is self-confident and willing to put themselves out there and take advantage of the resources available at a large school, you can get an excellent education at relatively low cost.

[Anonymous]

college is more fun at a large school. big-time football and basketball is awesome. easier to keep in touch with alumni and larger alumni network. good social life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:college is more fun at a large school. big-time football and basketball is awesome. easier to keep in touch with alumni and larger alumni network. good social life.

I think that depends a lot on the personality of the student. One of my kids would not enjoy this kind of environment at all. The other would.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:college is more fun at a large school. big-time football and basketball is awesome. easier to keep in touch with alumni and larger alumni network. good social life.

I guess it depends, though, on what you consider fun. I'm not much of a sports fan, so football and basketball wouldn't be that important to my having fun.

Also, my small liberal arts college has an amazing alumni network--it's how I landed my first job, got into my graduate program, and gave me a great network after I got my PhD.

I think that a good social life will depend on how well you connect with the people you meet at your school, regardless of its size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

She is pretty liberal, very artsy (slightly granola/crunchy) and plans on doing a double major in classical studies and theater.

What about Catholic? They have a very strong theater department and despite it being a Catholic school, the student body is not as conservative as you would think. I know it's not so glamorous to go to school where you grew up, but the students come from everywhere and they have a real campus (as opposed to a city campus) so she would still get a real college experience despite being close to home.

My son is a freshmen at Catholic,loves it though home is Alexandria but he comes maybe once a month.We were in the same boat last year.He did not want to go far.State schools were too big,not for him so Catholic is a good match.Great liberal arts education,with maximum 20 students.It is a hidden secret!Check it out.

[Anonymous]

My small liberal arts college also has an wonderful alum network through which I've landed internships, many informational interviews, one job, a fabulous apartment (overlooking SFO Bay) -- not to mention many wonderful intergenerational friendships. On the other hand, my law school alum network is virtually non-existent.

[Anonymous]

St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY

[Anonymous]

The Honors Program at University of Maryland continues to get some solid reviews from people I've talked to...small college feel, Ivy-quality academics, big-school spirit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Honors Program at University of Maryland continues to get some solid reviews from people I've talked to...small college feel, Ivy-quality academics, big-school spirit.

Plus I know a kid from Whitman, not a poor neighborhood, who was offered a partial academic scholarship to the program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another poster mentioned Catholic U. I went there, made the best friends of my life, got a great education, and met TONS of different people. The music/arts program there is stunning and it is intimate enough where I can say I knew almost my whole class, and a lot more. Great school.

Same here! CUA is a wonderful school.

[Anonymous]

Another positive review for Hamilton College in upstate NY. My brother went there and loved it.

[Anonymous]

I recently heard good things about Ithaca college, especially for aspiring journalists who work on their award-winning student newspaper.

[Anonymous]

Haverford outside of Philadelphia. It is a wonderful small school and it only has undergraduate students, which results in lots of interaction with faculty and excellent chances for undergrads to get to work on research projects, etc. The campus is beautiful. The school belongs to a consortium with Swarthmore, UPenn, and Bryn Mawr that allows students to take classes at the other schools if they wish. It is a Quaker school so the culture and values of the place are very open and accepting of all people. Their honor code is also very important part of campus culture. No greeks. Love it.

Sadly, it is hard to get in and expensive. But not that many people seem to know how excellent it is and they offer good financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Denison is seen as more of a party school in Ohio. Kenyon and Oberlin are definitely more academic. I am a Kenyon alum and give it very high praises!

What about Knox College in Illinois or Grinnell in Iowa?