<p>DS is a B+ student (11th grade, 5 AP classes this year), 2010 SAT. He has Asperger's and we're looking for a relatively small (but not tiny) school for him within 4 hours' drive of Dallas; probable psychology major. We have an nice list of schools already, but I wondered if anyone had anything good or bad to say about the following:</p>
<p>Okahoma Baptist
Okahoma Wesleyan
University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
East Texas Baptist
St. Mary's (San Antonio)</p>
<p>Missy,
I don't personally know any of these although I'm not too far from ETBU. I would also suggest looking at Stephen F Austin in Nacogdoches - I have a friend whose daughter is in the psych program there and loves it!</p>
<p>Thanks. The price would certainly be right at SFA....</p>
<p>Have you thought about the University of Tulsa? It's about exactly a four hour drive depending on where you are in the metroplex (im from tulsa and go to the northern dallas area frequently and it's never taken more than four hours). It's small and has an undergrad enrollment of almost exactly 3,000. The students are incredibly friendly and it recently made the Princeton Review's list of 10 schools with the "Happiest Students." If you'd love more information, feel free to ask. I'm a high school senior who has no plans of going but as a Tulsa resident and a fan of their sports teams, I know more than most about the school.</p>
<p>Back to your original question about the schools you listed..</p>
<p>I havn't heard the greatest things about Oklahoma Baptist (but those negatives prolly aren't much to worry about...I'll explain below) and I'm embaressed to say that I know absolutely nothing about the other two schools you've listed from my homestate. </p>
<p>OBU is in a mid-sized town that is conveniantly located somewhat near Oklahoma City. Most of the people who go here and feel unhappy, though, are usually students who aren't very religious but who come from religious (mostly Baptist) families who forced them to attend. Those seem to be the only students who end up being unhappy.</p>
<p>I have several friends at TCU and they all absolutely LOVE it there. </p>
<p>That might be too close for him though...</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone. University of Tulsa is actually at the top of our list. I was looking at other schools in Oklahoma that we might want to visit while we're up there. </p>
<p>As a "recovering Southern Baptist" I'd just as soon my kids didn't go to a Baptist school, but I don't want to rule out any great schools just because of my personal feelings.</p>
<p>I know people who love TCU, but I understand that the Greek scene is very big there and that's about the last thing my son would get involved in.</p>
<p>Take a look at Trinity University in San Antonio.</p>
<p>Just to save everyone time, here are the schools that are already on our list:</p>
<p>Austin College
Oklahoma City University
Rice (a reach)
Southwestern
Trinity
University of Tulsa
St. Edwards</p>
<p>We also plan to visit Baylor and Tech so he can see a large campus.</p>
<p>University of Tulsa has got a lot going for it. However, through acquaintances, we have not found that they really lived up to the "supportive, nurturing" environment hype for students who had any emotional or learning type disabilities. They have all kinds of services they tout and when you talk to them, they know how to market those but the school's counseling and learning centers seem poor in follow through on this hype.</p>
<p>Know people who have attended St. Ed's. They have excelled there and from their descriptions, the support services and outreach for students with issues like your son have been very good. Some students there who would like to have attended UT-Austin, wanted to be in the Austin area, who where in top 10% but found a large University daunting so opted for St. Ed's. It worked out for them. </p>
<p>If heavy Greek scene and lots of drinking isn't the best for your son, maybe need to rethink Southwestern. Beautiful campus, good academics but Greek scene is almost inescapable because of the small size and isolation. Most have cars and on non-Greek activity weekends, lots of students leave for home or Austin overnite. </p>
<p>Austin College, one of those undiscovered academic jewels and Psych dept is good. Do a lot to help students get internships for summer. On campus housing not the best and Sherman is well, Sherman. Not bad but definately not a college town. Just kinda Blah. Financial Aid isn't great and frequently on list of undergraduates who graduate with most college debt.</p>
<p>Very valuable information. Thank you. I have driven by the St. Edwards campus numerous times but had not paid a bit of attention to it. However, this fall a friend was telling me about his bright son with learning differences who loves St. Edwards.</p>
<p>Have you considered Southern Nazarene University. It's located in Bethany which is slightly west of OKC. Our oldest son attends college there and loves it.
There is also Southwest Christian University. I know absolutely nothing about it except it's very small and just a few blocks from SNU.
As far as USAO is concerned, I live about ten minutes from there. It has very nice dorms and apartments plus reasonable tuition. But, the general core program is very liberal. Which is fine if that's what you want but if you are looking for a conservative school, I would not recommend USAO.</p>
<p>An excellent small liberal arts college (900 students) that is within a four hour drive of Dallas is Centenary College of Louisiana located in Shreveport. It was listed in Newsweek's College Guide last year as one of the 25 "hottest" colleges and universities in the country. Centenary was listed (paraphrasing) as "the hottest liberal arts college you've never heard of". Check them out.</p>
<p>Another superb liberal arts college that is a tad further than your 4 hour driving distance is Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas - just north of Little Rock.</p>