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If I was the next Governor of MD, I'd focus on trying to make St Mary's College tuition-free in order to lure the state's top students. It's already an honors college, but I think the location does a big disservice to its desirability. Not a lot of 18 year-olds want to go to school at a state university in the middle of rural farmland on the Chesapeake. If the school was free, I think the school would get a lot of looks from students and families.

That school should be similar in caliber and prestige to William & Mary. It's has the capability to get there.

My DD is a freshman there. I don’t think you need to make tuition free to lure top students. Being generous with merit aid should be enough, and is one reason DD is there.

The location is a plus for her. She didn’t want a big city but it’s not as rural as you think. Pax River Naval Air Station is about 10 minutes away and there are some shopping centers and places to eat within a 10 mile radius. Freshmen can have cars on campus, so that makes getting around easier. Also, it’s on the St. Mary’s River, not the Chesapeake.

Our DD likes it and describes it as a “small STEM school”, and less of a classical liberal arts college, which is fine for her since she’s a biochem major.

I guess that's great for freshmen that have cars...not all families can afford that. Maybe instead of free tuition the governor can give free cars, insurance, and gas to each student there?

Anonymous wrote:If you are willing to stomach Oklahoma (admittedly a huge if), University of Tulsa. Small private school in a decent city that has big time sports.

Anonymous wrote:University of Lynchburg

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Anonymous wrote:I think people are mentioning Alabama because it is attracting top performing students through the Merit Scholar Finalist program, no?...and employers may be attracted to this cohort since they are more likely to be the academically high performers without the UMD entitled-hothoused attitudes since many going to the Alabama Merit programs went full-ride.

No true top performer is actually attending Alabama.

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Anonymous wrote:Ohio State is a great school and Columbus is much better than you might expect. The mid west land grant schools offer fantastic education. Purdue or UIUC for example.

OSU is a meathead school in a redneck town. (And I guarantee I know both better than you do.)

Ha ha! You from Cleveland? I am and am baffled by the OSU excitement on this board. I’m old, so I guess my views are outdated but OSU took everyone. That and Cleveland State where where you went if you could not get in anywhere. I realize it is gotten more competitive but I would not call it a hidden gem.

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Anonymous wrote:I think people are mentioning Alabama because it is attracting top performing students through the Merit Scholar Finalist program, no?...and employers may be attracted to this cohort since they are more likely to be the academically high performers without the UMD entitled-hothoused attitudes since many going to the Alabama Merit programs went full-ride.

No true top performer is actually attending Alabama.

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Anonymous wrote:Claremont McKenna. Super underrated here, but top notch academics, great quality of life, internships/opportunities abound, alumni network + top outcomes.

Not a hidden gem. It’s a very elite college. You people know nothing!

It is not well-known at all. Even in SoCal, it's not known.

I’ve never heard of CMC outride of DCUM. Assuming it’s the great school this thread is implying, it’s a hidden gem. It’s unknown on the east coast.

Just stop. It’s ranked 8th in Us News. It’s extremely selective. It’s not “hidden” in any way, shape or form.

Almost no one pays attention to US News for LAC rankings outside of maybe the top 3 or 5 schools. Other schools are heavily regional in reputation. In DC, CMC is NOT known even by the highly educated. Yes it is a hidden gem. Selectivity numbers don't mean much when you only get ~6000 applicants from an international applicant pool of several million a year.

Yes, we are still laughing at you. Even my lowly little Midwest mind knew of the Claremont colleges back in the 1990s and all of them are well known across the land now with CMC being one of the best knows out of the group. It is just tiny.

This is funny.

I’m highly educated and never had heard of CMC until coming to this board.

What this tells me is that while you may be highly educated, your parents and/or grandparents almost most certainly were not. Or if they did have advanced degrees, they attended state schools or private regional schools and earned practical type degrees like accounting or engineering or nursing.

It's not a judgment on you, but not having heard of these schools is not an indicator of education, but rather of social class. And I can also guarantee that your kids will know these schools by the time they apply to colleges.

CMC wasn’t that important until Kravis and Robert’s started heavily philanthropic work. Without them, the school would be a borderline Bucknell.

Anonymous wrote:St. Olaf is Carleton but better calendar, student life and merit aid.