Liberal Arts Colleges not in Rural Areas

[Anonymous]

LOl about interest in Barnard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eckerd

Not OP’s geographic target, but for anyone else: we visited and while St Pete’s is great (truly), it’s not accessible from campus without a car. Campus is kind of isolated, and it didn’t sound like there were regular shuttles to/from downtown.

This was a few years ago, maybe there are more shuttles now? Or maybe we got bad info. But if you’re considering Eckerd, this would be a question to ask.

There is a new bus line from campus to Grand Central Station, every fifteen minutes. And the college web page has references to shuttle service to farmers market, museums, shopping, etc. but I don't see specifics. I just happened to be reading up on Eckerd.

[Anonymous]

Brandeis is right outside Boston. My daughter takes the shuttle into the city during the weekends.

[Anonymous]

Brandeis has expressed all kinds of problems-financial, leadership and has an ugly campus.
Brandeis has experienced a 9% enrollment decline in the last few years. Its US News ranking is now 69. School is in decline perhaps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks. Haverford? Swat? These are in rural areas! Reading comprehension please

They are not. They're in the affluent suburbs of Philadelphia, fewer than 15 miles away and on commuter train lines.

The campuses have a rural-ish setting smallish

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Denison is the best of both worlds: cute college town and 30 minutes from the city of Columbus.

Granville was recently selected by USA Today as one of the 10 best small town food scenes.

https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/best-small-town-food-scene

Columbus Ranked #8 in the Top 10 U.S. Big Cities in Condé Nast Traveler’s 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards

https://www.experiencecolumbus.com/articles/post/columbus-named-a-top-10-us-big-city-in-cond-nast-travelers-2025-readers-choice-awards/

Travel to Columbus to do what exactly?
-someone who lived in midwest

Saying I "lived in the Midwest" doesn’t automatically mean you know Columbus. The Midwest is huge. Living in Indiana doesn’t mean you understand Columbus any more than living in DC makes someone an expert on Boston. It's a city; there are literally hundreds of things to do. My DC likes to go into Columbus to shop, eat, attend OSU games, and go to bars.

Denison also has a program called Denison Edge in Columbus. They just hosted an event there for Jeff Selingo, who named Dension a "dream school" in his new book. https://denison.edu/news-events/featured/159972

If anyone thinks their kid might be interested in Columbus but hasn’t been, I’m sure they would take some time to research it and will find tons of info, but here’s a quick link to start:
https://www.experiencecolumbus.com/events/this-weekend/

Having an international airport also makes Columbus easy to get in and out of and it's only a 31 minute drive to Denison.

Jeff S is back

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks. Haverford? Swat? These are in rural areas! Reading comprehension please

They are not. They're in the affluent suburbs of Philadelphia, fewer than 15 miles away and on commuter train lines.

The campuses have a rural-ish setting smallish

Newsweek charactarized Swarthmore, Haverford and Bryn Mawr as suburban:

The 25 Most Desirable Suburban Schools - Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/25-most-desirable-suburban-schools-71867

As schools set along the East Coast megalopolis, such a characterization should not be controversial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Muhlenberg is in Allentown. If you’re good with Lancaster…

I know both well. IMO Lanc has more going on for college students (and their parents) than Allentown, plus Muhlenberg is in a part of Allentown without much nearby - it's residential.

Skidmore has a different feel from F&M but a similar setup in that it's walking distance to a fairly vibrant downtown.

I guess it depends if you're happy to be "near-ish" to infrastructure or if you really want to be able to walk to things.

More of a reach obviously but don't discount Bowdoin because it's in Maine. Brunswick is quite a decent and charming town with multiple hotels, bigger than you might expect, right by campus, and there is lots of strip-mall type infrastructure up the road in Topsham. The Bath ship building works are there, so it's a population center. And Amtrak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brandeis has expressed all kinds of problems-financial, leadership and has an ugly campus.
Brandeis has experienced a 9% enrollment decline in the last few years. Its US News ranking is now 69. School is in decline perhaps.

Brandeis has an interim president who is righting the ship. It has a very strong, loyal alumni group who will keep it running fine, and create an incredible network for jobs. I know a current student there from an elite HS who turned down much better offers to attend (money was not a driving factor in the decision - upper middle class family and financial aid offers did not impact the decision). It definitely has had some challenges recently, but it will be fine.

Personally, I think it should have stuck to its spot as a largely Jewish school. It is now only about 1/3 Jewish and the efforts to diversify have confused its identity. It used to be the go-to place for smart Jewish kids who weren't quite Ivy material who all went to Camp Ramah, Eisner, etc. and would end up marrying each other, having nice upper middle class lives, and living happily ever after. And there were plenty of those to fill the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Folks. Haverford? Swat? These are in rural areas! Reading comprehension please

LOL. Have you even been to these campuses? They are definitely suburban, not rural. The SEPTA commuter train is literally a five minute walk down the walkway from Parrish Hall to the cute station, and less than 30 minutes on the train to 30th St. Station. This is the length of my commute from Bethesda to Metro Center.

[Anonymous]

Rural is Kenyon, Williams or Colby. Haverford/Bryn Mawr/Swarthmore are suburban.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Folks. Haverford? Swat? These are in rural areas! Reading comprehension please

They are not. They're in the affluent suburbs of Philadelphia, fewer than 15 miles away and on commuter train lines.

The campuses have a rural-ish setting smallish

lol no. The campuses are discrete and pretty, but they are in towns that are Philly suburbs, walkable to train stations with 30 min or less commute. Not rural.

[Anonymous]

This thread has gone off on a tangent. OP’s list of Colgate, Holy Cross, Colby, W&L/ -the vibe and athletics scene is completely different from Haverford, Swarthmore, and Bryn Mawr(lol). No overlap between these 2 groupings!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking at small colleges in the northeast and MidAtlantic with good academics. So many are in the middle of nowhere though- Colgate, Bates, Colby, Bucknell, Hamilton, W&L. Visited Holy Cross and liked though Worcester isn’t the best and same for Trinity in Hartford. We did like Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster which is a charming small city. Looking at Amherst which is quite a reach school. Any other suggestions??

OP, if you’re willing to look outside of the NE, consider Colorado College. Walkable to downtown Colorado Springs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you willing to go just slightly further South? Because we really liked Meredith in Raleigh, NC.

It is an all women's college just a mile from NC State. The campus is so pretty and tucked away, but there are busses right off campus to take you to NC State and/or downtown. Students can also take classes through a consortium with NC State.

The south?!?

That defeats the whole purpose.

I said I consider VA mid-Atlantic and first suggested Richmond. Raleigh is just 2 hours south of that and a decent city. I know it is more south than the OP asked, but it does fit other criteria. Totally fine if they say “too far south”. It was just a suggestion.