Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the suggestions. My DC is a good student for the most part, but he can be easily derailed by cruelty. The frat scene would not be a good place. He is kind, currently working as a volunteer helping those in need. But he has suffered from depression. I like the idea of schools in sunnier locations, but those would be far away, and the four to five hour drive radius is attractive.

My DC graduated from a SLAC with no frats, and she's often mentioned how grateful she is that her college had no frat scene.

Friend's child with issues went to Earlham, and did really well, came out of his shell. Also College of Wooster, another friend's kid with issues went there and did well, very supportive college. Pretty much all of the CTCL colleges. https://ctcl.org/

George Washington is supposed to have happy students. They have a smaller campus that's very nice and quiet, as well as downtown dorms, which I couldn't stand, but I'm a small town person, not that it matters! My DC almost went there for engineering. Kids were very nice. Also UMBC, which is smallish, lots of commuters, laid back atmosphere, but good school if you don't mind the ugly campus!!

University of Mary Washington? We visited twice, and my DD loved it, but went elsewhere because of money. It seemed like a very nice, down to earth college. Also Lafayette seemed that way too, but no FA for our family, so she didn't go there. Gettysburg? Ursinus? Juniata? Muhlenberg? Very small schools. Also McDaniel, SMCM. All seem like very nice places to go to school, not pressure cookers, supportive, friendly, somewhat isolated.

Anonymous wrote:I've always heard that William and Mary is a stress factory full of socially-awkward, high-stress, overly-competitive students who don't know how to have any fun. Doesn't seem like it would be a good fit, OP.

William and Mary is on the Princeton Review top schools list for Great Quality of Life, Happy Students, and Most Loved Colleges. They only have the top 20 or so for each category and base it on student and recent alumni surveys.

Vassar
Chatham University
Macalester
Occidental
Lewis & Clark
Wooster
Allegheny
Muhlenberg
Dickinson
American University
Bard
St. Olaf
Oberlin
Kalamazoo
Coe
Beloit
Goucher
Juniata
Hendrix
McDaniel
Whitman
Earlham

Anonymous wrote:Manhattan College.

Professors are expected to refer any who are struggling within the first 5 weeks of a semester to the Student Success Office. Staff then go knocking on the student’s door. They don’t wait for students to come to them, they seek the students out. I find this policy very unusual and have been very impressed with this level of commitment to students.

We are planning a visit to Manhattan College so thanks for that info. Anything else you'd like to add? Positive or negative. Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not suggesting a particular school, but I think you should consider schools within a four hour driving distance. Freshman year can be hard and if he needs a weekend break it’s so much easier within 4 hours.

Yes to this, even better if they can take Amtrak. My son is at St. Joe’s too (I’m not the poster above) and freshman year he did take Amtrak to metro to home several times.

What does he want to study?

I have a daughter at St. Joe's! We love it!

St. Joe’s has been mentioned several times, so I think it’s worth mentioning that St. Joe’s has recently added University of the Sciences. Because it has its own downtown campus, that shouldn’t affect things much on the main campus, but it does expand the options for choice of majors wit Sciences offering a lot of health care related majors.

Grinnell
St. Olaf

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not suggesting a particular school, but I think you should consider schools within a four hour driving distance. Freshman year can be hard and if he needs a weekend break it’s so much easier within 4 hours.

Yes to this, even better if they can take Amtrak. My son is at St. Joe’s too (I’m not the poster above) and freshman year he did take Amtrak to metro to home several times.

What does he want to study?

I have a daughter at St. Joe's! We love it!

St. Olaf in Northfield, MN

Anonymous wrote:My bias (which people may want to attack): the more the school attracts rich, elite kids...the less likely they are to be kind and gentle.

My DC went to high school with such kids and they were competitive, status conscious and snarky.

+ 1

Anonymous wrote:Not suggesting a particular school, but I think you should consider schools within a four hour driving distance. Freshman year can be hard and if he needs a weekend break it’s so much easier within 4 hours.

Yes to this, even better if they can take Amtrak. My son is at St. Joe’s too (I’m not the poster above) and freshman year he did take Amtrak to metro to home several times.

What does he want to study?

Anonymous wrote:My dd was convinced that a small lac was the best fit for her and that everyone there was so “kind.” Turns out everyone had social skills of 5th graders.

Please name the school, and that will help us understand whether it has a reputation for being kind, or whether your DD just made that assumption based on the size of the place.

Anonymous wrote:I've always heard that William and Mary is a stress factory full of socially-awkward, high-stress, overly-competitive students who don't know how to have any fun. Doesn't seem like it would be a good fit, OP.

And this is not at all accurate.