I graduated from St. Mary's and loved it. Lexington Park has actually been built up a lot recently so there are more shops and restaurants nearby. I actually saw the isolation of the school as a positive in that there is a strong campus spirit. I had friends at more urban schools, who regretted not having the on-campus social cohesiveness that we had at St. Mary's.

The size of the school and classes allows you to really get to know your professors. In fact, I am still in contact with some of them to this day on a regular basis. Also, a number of my classmates went on to prestigious schools and careers after graduation. St. Mary's graduates are generally very happy and enthusiastic about their school. If you are interested, go take a look at the school yourself. It is a very special place.

St. Mary's seems like a great school and a great value, but if your kid is interested makes sure he/she visits the school. It is actually in the middle of nowhere, Southern Maryland. There's not even anything that could be considered a town. We used to live near Solomons Island in Calvert County and drove by the school frequently. Southern Maryland is pretty especially right on the water, but there's not much around.

FWIW, I would be very happy if my kid ended up there, but he visited and was turned off by the dorms/buildings.

Thanks to both of you very much. You each raise one or two issues that I had not considered. If anyone else happens upon this discussion who has a child who attended (or currently attends) St. Mary's, please weigh in.

I think it's a great deal, and given that it's half the price of LACs you have to take that into account. I think the downside is probably the social aspect. While we only visited, so I don't know this first hand, I got the impression that a lot of people go home on weekends. The school is also very isolated, and while many LACs are in small rural locations, St Mary's is really rural. The last piece is the geographic diversity - true of any state school to a degree - but with the majority of students coming from MD you aren't getting quite the mix that you get at the private LACs, which tend to tout their geographic diversity. I really wanted my DC to like it, since it's so affordable, but no dice.

St. Mary's is definitely a school on the rise. It probably compares favorably with other LACs in terms of academic preparation, graduate school placement and opportunity to connect with professors. Downside might be lack of a very robust and powerful alum base which can be very useful in terms of internship and employment contacts. Doubt that there's much in terms of on-campus recruiting, but I could be wrong.

St. Mary's is touted as Maryland's honors college - a public alternative to small private LACs, and on other boards has been mentioned favorably in passing on DCUM. Obviously, financially it is a good deal. Statistically, it looks like entry SAT scores are similar to U of Md (maybe slightly lower math/higher CR). But where would it compare to other private LACs in terms of academic preparation, graduate school placement, opportunities to connect with professors who are well regarded in thier fields, and social life? I assume the answer may be different if you are talking about highly selective vs. less selective LACs, but maybe not. In this case, the student isn't going to be playing sports so that a stronger sports program is not a plus factor. Thoughts?