Favorite College that changes lives?
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Anonymous
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Okay, last visit report from 16:27/16:37 etc.
University of Puget Sound. Stopped by here before Reed and Whitman. Given that it's right in Tacoma, walkable to several neighborhoods, we were struck by how pretty it was. Very classic college feel, ivy and brick, very well maintained, flat and open. There's a tiny patch of...rainforest? (it felt like PNW rainforest to this east coaster) in the center of campus, too, which felt really special. This was probably the least arty-quirky of the schools we saw. Greek life seemed to take slightly more center stage, but not overwhelming, and the kids were so, so nice, friendly. Lots of patagonia, without being crunchy. Relatively high admit rate, though the education seemed good, and they have an honors program -- residential, I think. My kid hadn't expected to apply, but liked the visit so much she changed her mind as soon as the tour was over. |
Anonymous
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For the millionth time, CTCL is not a marketing organization (though inclusion is used to the school’s marketing advantage). The list was originally drawn up by a New York Times education editor.
If they hold a panel in your community I suggest you attend with your high school sophomore or junior. They espouse very healthy approach to the college search. |
Anonymous
| I know multiple friends with kids at Wooster and consistently hear positive things about the whole college experience there. It’s definitely on our radar! |
Anonymous
| St. Olaf: Have not gotten a chance to visit, but have done a lot of learning about it, and it seems special. Nice kids, a great education, great size for a LAC. Music everywhere, very environmentally friendly, and their enduring questions learning community great for a Great Books/ love-of-learning type of kid. Kid was accepted with nice merit, and we are trying to figure out when/how to visit. (Note: if anyone has been to an admitted students day at St. Olaf, is that something to arrange around?) |
Anonymous
| Hendrix: Have not visited but want to. Here's what we like on paper: it's one of the few co-ed, warm weather, LACs without Greek life. It's apparently progressive, but without the shouting (and fwiw, left-leaning people in Massachusetts and California swear to me that this part of Arkansas is genuinely great: beautiful, progressive, arty, and kind of hipster.). It seems to punch well above its weight academically-- for one thing, it's on that NSF list of top producers of science and engineering Ph.D.s, above a couple of Ivys and schools known for STEM. The food is some of the best in the country, and the dining hall workers apparently go far out of their way to make every kid feel at home. Lots of hands-on learning, with money for independent projects. Small student body, but apparently with a little of everything, and very friendly. Campus cats. Kid is interested, and accepted, with merit that brings coa to low 30s. Guaranteed flagship match to all accepted students right now. If anyone has visited, I'd love to hear more. |
Anonymous
| Lawrence: Haven't been, but kid applied and accepted with very nice merit. Our sense is that a kid who would like St. Olaf or Wooster will like Lawrence a lot. Classic liberal arts with a conservatory. One of the lowest student-faculty ratios there is (I think it's 8:1? Not sure if that's in part because of the conservatory?). We know people who live in Appleton, and they love it: it's apparently safe, accessible, everything you'd possibly want in a small city -- restaurants, bars, nice parks along the river, and Lawrence is right there in the middle of it all. Trying to visit. |
Anonymous
My dd attended Wooster for 3 semesters and then transferred. Granted, she was there during the height of Covid so she did not have a traditional experience. But the reality for her was very different based upon what she expected from several visits. Dorms: Research this. You can’t choose (understandable) as a freshman but some dorms are fairly new with A/C and some are literally falling apart. The dorm sophomore year was so bad that dh was worried about leaving her there. Read articles about the bats, etc. in the dorms. Finances: Check our recent issues of the school newspaper (dd occasionally still reads it and mentioned it). They are making some changes to reduce expenses. I’m not saying they are close to closing but some of the changes may affect the school going forward. The school has a new president since dd was there. The former president is now at Whitman… |
Anonymous
| Re: endowments: it's true that some of these schools are on stronger financial footing than others. But the endowments per student for Whitman and Reed are 4x greater than that of Tulane or Georgetown, 5x greater than Villanova, BU, or NYU. Denison's comes close to that, too. Lawrence's endowment per student, and St. Olaf's, beat out a bunch of DCUM faves. As always, do your research. |
Anonymous
I thought they had one of the healthier endowments. I could be wrong. I know a lot of these kinds of schools are eliminating or consolidating some majors. That's one of my concerns. Don't want to sign up for one kind of experience and have it change. It looks like Allegheny did that recently, and I'm not sure what to think. In general, that's one that confuses me: there are some things I really really like (and I think Meadville sounds okay, I know it has its detractors), and some things I'm uncertain about (social stuff). It's also a little bit of a relief to hear something negative about Wooster. When dcurbanmom gets too glowingly positive it makes me nervous. Not because I think the posts are fake, but because I' don't always share the same opinions about what is valued. |
Anonymous
To be fair, Williams is also making changes to reduce expenses, bc of "financial headwinds." https://williamsrecord.com/464356/news/williams-college-budget-fiscal-year-2024-explained-fy24/ I agree that it's important to consider the impact that finances will have. Just make sure you're looking in context -- is this a specific college thing, or a colleges-in-general thing? That said, I'm very sorry your DD's experience was different than expected, and as my kid considers her offer, I appreciate this feedback. |
Anonymous
PP, I said the first "you" (Just make sure you're looking...) to interested readers in general. Only the second "you" (your daughter) was to you specifically. I think it sounded like I was lecturing you in that second paragraph, and I didn't intend that. Apologies. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
I think we may have exchanged posts back in the fall. I worked on a scholarship program for refugees and Hendrix went well well well over the extra mile as a host school. Even some community members hopped in to help this student with some expenses not covered by their scholarship and more than the school could probably afford. I never had an opportunity to visit but my associate, who grew up on Long Island and pretty urban/suburban, was charmed by the town, the school, everyone she met. Wish I could offer more direct experience - Hendrix will always have a special place for me. |
Anonymous
+1 I think there's a lot of bias here--especially location and size bias. A small school far away sounds like it must be financially threatened, whereas the known school nearby must be in better financial shape. Many schools on this thread (e.g. Whitman, Reed, Denison, Kalamazoo, Wooster, Lawrence, St. Olaf etc.) have per student endowments that are higher than Gettysburg, George Washington, Georgetown, Lehigh, Carnegie Mellon, RPI, Boston University, Sarah Lawrence, Rochester Institute of Technology, Syracuse, American, Northeastern, Elon, Fordham etc. |
Anonymous
Would love to hear more. Beloit made a really nice offer to DC -- merit that brought cost of attendance in line with public. Did your kids make friends right away? Does it feel like the community is cohesive? What kind of kid would be really happy here? |