I know Ohio and PA near Ohio, also Western MD, have bigtime problems...from a drug perspective. Of course many areas do, but these are places where kids from the DMV might be likely to consider. Visit

Ok this is the "issues" poster and all I meant was that there's not a lot to do or eat off-campus if you are used to what we have available to us in this area, and possibly not a lot of off-campus housing. My nature-loving kid is looking at rural schools, but I'm worried what they will do if the food is really bad, because we love to camp and hike but some of the rural places we visit only have restaurants with 100% fried for every meal. Also I was pretty much "over" my school senior year as were a lot of my peers, which is funny because it's a school that everyone assumes has tons of school spirit, so having entertainment and activities off-campus was welcome. I have no problem with depressed areas as they actually offer the students opportunities to serve others. I just want to make sure they are relatively safe and drugs have really decimated so many of our rural areas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ Thanks, that's a good point. Rural areas have their issues, plus now with the meth epidemic, things are just out of hand in so many places.

Thank goodness urban areas have no issues.

Of course they do. But a kid who has grown up in the DMV is in for a culture shock. That’s big time Trump territory and is all about God and Guns. There is not much diversity (or culture, of thought, or skin color of sexuality, etc). It’s economically depressed and it’s insular. And there is nothing there. My DH and SIL got out as soon as they could. My ILs love rural living, owning land, having animals, etc and hate cities, so it works for them. They are among the few liberals, and we still had to put down our foot about the kids not visiting until they got a gun safe. Last time O was downtown, many storefronts were empty. I have spent up to a week at a time there. I’m not making generalizations about the rural South. I’m talking about the specific town of a Rome GA that I regularly visit. Your kid needs to spend the night and drive the surrounding area, not just campus (which is nice from what I have seen of it) so they know what they are signing up for.

Similarly, a kid from a rural area may hate GW or NYU or Chicago. It’s like the weather thread. A very rural campus isn’t for everyone. A very urban campus isn’t for everyone. And despite being not too far from Atlanta, Berry is very rural.

What's it like to hate 1/2 of the country? Or are you only tolerant of other like-minded people who are marginally different from you?

actually, it's only 19.3% of the rest of the country

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2016/cb16-210.html

Oh, well, in that case....

well, if you have to exaggerate by 250% to make your point, it might not have been a good one to begin with.

besides, nothing in that bolded portion is actually incorrect. It is an incredibly homogeneous setting that overwhelmingly voted for Trump. it is actually economically depressed (despite all the government handouts) and it is insular.

maybe they're just not being politically correct, you snowflake.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ Thanks, that's a good point. Rural areas have their issues, plus now with the meth epidemic, things are just out of hand in so many places.

Thank goodness urban areas have no issues.

Of course they do. But a kid who has grown up in the DMV is in for a culture shock. That’s big time Trump territory and is all about God and Guns. There is not much diversity (or culture, of thought, or skin color of sexuality, etc). It’s economically depressed and it’s insular. And there is nothing there. My DH and SIL got out as soon as they could. My ILs love rural living, owning land, having animals, etc and hate cities, so it works for them. They are among the few liberals, and we still had to put down our foot about the kids not visiting until they got a gun safe. Last time O was downtown, many storefronts were empty. I have spent up to a week at a time there. I’m not making generalizations about the rural South. I’m talking about the specific town of a Rome GA that I regularly visit. Your kid needs to spend the night and drive the surrounding area, not just campus (which is nice from what I have seen of it) so they know what they are signing up for.

Similarly, a kid from a rural area may hate GW or NYU or Chicago. It’s like the weather thread. A very rural campus isn’t for everyone. A very urban campus isn’t for everyone. And despite being not too far from Atlanta, Berry is very rural.

What's it like to hate 1/2 of the country? Or are you only tolerant of other like-minded people who are marginally different from you?

actually, it's only 19.3% of the rest of the country

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2016/cb16-210.html

Oh, well, in that case....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ Thanks, that's a good point. Rural areas have their issues, plus now with the meth epidemic, things are just out of hand in so many places.

Thank goodness urban areas have no issues.

Of course they do. But a kid who has grown up in the DMV is in for a culture shock. That’s big time Trump territory and is all about God and Guns. There is not much diversity (or culture, of thought, or skin color of sexuality, etc). It’s economically depressed and it’s insular. And there is nothing there. My DH and SIL got out as soon as they could. My ILs love rural living, owning land, having animals, etc and hate cities, so it works for them. They are among the few liberals, and we still had to put down our foot about the kids not visiting until they got a gun safe. Last time O was downtown, many storefronts were empty. I have spent up to a week at a time there. I’m not making generalizations about the rural South. I’m talking about the specific town of a Rome GA that I regularly visit. Your kid needs to spend the night and drive the surrounding area, not just campus (which is nice from what I have seen of it) so they know what they are signing up for.

Similarly, a kid from a rural area may hate GW or NYU or Chicago. It’s like the weather thread. A very rural campus isn’t for everyone. A very urban campus isn’t for everyone. And despite being not too far from Atlanta, Berry is very rural.

What's it like to hate 1/2 of the country? Or are you only tolerant of other like-minded people who are marginally different from you?

actually, it's only 19.3% of the rest of the country

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2016/cb16-210.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ Thanks, that's a good point. Rural areas have their issues, plus now with the meth epidemic, things are just out of hand in so many places.

Thank goodness urban areas have no issues.

Of course they do. But a kid who has grown up in the DMV is in for a culture shock. That’s big time Trump territory and is all about God and Guns. There is not much diversity (or culture, of thought, or skin color of sexuality, etc). It’s economically depressed and it’s insular. And there is nothing there. My DH and SIL got out as soon as they could. My ILs love rural living, owning land, having animals, etc and hate cities, so it works for them. They are among the few liberals, and we still had to put down our foot about the kids not visiting until they got a gun safe. Last time O was downtown, many storefronts were empty. I have spent up to a week at a time there. I’m not making generalizations about the rural South. I’m talking about the specific town of a Rome GA that I regularly visit. Your kid needs to spend the night and drive the surrounding area, not just campus (which is nice from what I have seen of it) so they know what they are signing up for.

Similarly, a kid from a rural area may hate GW or NYU or Chicago. It’s like the weather thread. A very rural campus isn’t for everyone. A very urban campus isn’t for everyone. And despite being not too far from Atlanta, Berry is very rural.

What's it like to hate 1/2 of the country? Or are you only tolerant of other like-minded people who are marginally different from you?

Anonymous wrote:Franklin & Marshall, Lancaster PA

She is engaged in the classroom, has made Deans List or higher every semester, knows her professors, plays a sport, joined a sorority.

She toured several schools as a recruited athlete and on her overnights thought the teammates at F&M really liked each other and found the students to be engaged in the classroom.

Congrats. Sounds like a great experience!

Mine is at U. Richmond. He’s nerdy/intellectual and I was worried about fit, but he loved the place and he was determined. I never saw the student body as similar to him but all you need is a group of 6-10 friends and he found them. All around an excellent experience (after a wobble the first two semesters) and graduating early. Studied abroad. Did research with a fantastic professor. Had a radio show. Played a club sport. Went to lots of great shows in the city. I wonder if he knows life will never be this good again.

Franklin & Marshall, Lancaster PA

She is engaged in the classroom, has made Deans List or higher every semester, knows her professors, plays a sport, joined a sorority.

She toured several schools as a recruited athlete and on her overnights thought the teammates at F&M really liked each other and found the students to be engaged in the classroom.

Wake Forest

^^ I forgot to address Greek life. You can totally avoid Greek life just not walking over to Greek row. She has to date never stepped into a Greek house. It's all off campus so if not to your DD's liking just don't express interest.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA, daughter in humanities, no greek affiliations, LOVEs IT. And she hated in the first time we toured. Worked out very well.

How did she find her social group there?

Three ways: The first was the use of facebook for the entering class. Usually someone sets up a private page, "UVA Class of 2024" and upcoming entering students sign-on. They introduce themselves and interests and pretty soon there are lots of friendly conversations going on about all sorts of topics. Students talk about their majors, where they are coming from, what excites them about UVA, etc. By the time DD got there, she had a passel of ten to twelve girls and some boys who had "bonded" on the page and had agreed to meet at one of the dining halls that evening. That's how she started. At least four friends were from that online core group.

Second: there are over 600 clubs at UVA. Your DD or DS should go to Club Day and visit all the tables to find out what interests them. DD initially decided to try out rowing, an a capella group (there are Lots of singing groups), a popular debate society and a political group. She dropped rowing after trying out and eventually the singing but made friends along the way. Four years later she is still involved in the debate society and the political group.

Third: dorm life.

Anonymous wrote:Why do some uninformed posters suggest that SLAC's and science strength are mutually exclusive? They absolutely are not.

They are often some of the strongest.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Macalester.

Can you expand? My kid is very interested in MaC. Also St. Olaf.

Both schools are ok for the kids who don't get into Carleton.

I’m a Carleton grad and this just isn’t true, not to mention rude. They each appeal to very different kids - is there that much overlap in the applicants? I rarely hear of kids interested in more than one of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Macalester.

Can you expand? My kid is very interested in MaC. Also St. Olaf.

Both schools are ok for the kids who don't get into Carleton.

Be nice.

MaC is urban. Tons to do, easy access to either down town.

Carleton is a great school without a doubt, but not everyone wants to be in a small town.

Mount Union. Go Purple Raiders!