We're looking at it too, and the sports-vibe and declining enrollment and mixed reviews give us pause, too. That said, apparently the biggest club on campus is the DnD club, and I spoke with a mom with a decidedly non-sporty kid there who said her kid was very happy and quickly found his people and made friends. I also know a fairly recent alum who loved his time there. The sense I get is that there is an athlete majority but the non-athlete population is warm and they find each other easily and have no problem belonging. The new APEX program for career readiness looks promising, and the school seems like a place where a student would receive a ton of personal attention. A great place for someone who really needs small and personalized. I'm not sure it's right for my student, but I think it does have a lot to offer.

I have added so many schools to the list from this thread! I'm now working my through websites and data to see which might be best to suggest to my son.

To the Jesuit poster--Jesuit schools were not in my sight at all, but I've just added Fordham and Loyola MD. Thanks!

As for size, my son says he is fine with both small and medium schools, just doesn't want huge.

Thanks again to everyone for these replies. All very helpful and appreciated.

Ideally it would be 40K or less, but we could stretch to about 50K for something special. Beyond that would be fiscally irresponsible for us, as we don't stand to inherit anything from our families, have few assets, and need to save for retirement. On paper our salary looks great, but we live in a very high-cost area, we're renters, and we have another kid just a few years behind this one who will also need to go to college, not to mention grad school looming in the future.

OP here, just replying to say thanks for all the replies and I am reading everything and adding schools to the list for him to look into. Bear in mind we really do need merit aid, so if a school is known to be stingy, it's probably better not to get his hopes up. But I welcome recommendations for generous schools, even lesser known ones, as long as they offer a decent standard of education and grad outcomes. He's not an academic powerhouse, but he is bright and would be bored in a sea of non-serious kids. Please keep the suggestions coming. Appreciated!

Please recommend some small/medium private colleges (under 10,000) in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic for a student with this profile:
-male
-public high school with IB program (will be IB diploma candidate)
-high-rigor course load
-A-/B+ grades (bright but a little disorganized)
-predicted best SAT score around 1350
-needs significant merit aid (can't afford full tuition but not eligible for much/any need-based aid)
-interested in biological/environmental sciences, not sure exactly what major
-wants low-key environment, not interested in "rah-rah" vibe or joining a frat
-doesn't want a super competitive atmosphere but does want to feel appropriately challenged academically

He has a couple of decent public options but would like to explore private colleges as well.

Thanks!