My daughter has anxiety…my suggestion is to pick a school within an hour or two so you can get there for support easily.
Thanks for getting it! Best wishes for your kiddo as well.
Look into Dickinson College in PA. Great academics, it seemed very student-focused and nurturing when we toured. I didn’t see it as a pressure cooker school. Kenyon might be a nice place for her if it’s not too far. I’ve also heard good things about Clark Univ in MA. Oh, then there’s Lafayette College in PA. Great school that didn’t seem intense. Same with Franklin and Marshall which seemed kind of quiet and smallish when we visited.
@momcinco, thanks for your concern. Her hospitalization was far enough in the past that we have no immediate concerns, and she is actually not on medication right now. I am just looking ahead to make sure that the transition to college does not push her back into the danger zone. My biggest concern is having a workload that will overwhelm her (which is her biggest stressor right now in HS) and/or being in a group where she feels like she can’t keep up (even though she can keep up, she tends to believe that she is not as good as her peers) She is in a very competitive HS now (think ‘Race to Nowhere’) with plenty of overacheiving peers and she has said that she would not like to have the same type of environment/peers in college.
But as @MYOS1634 said, she would not be happy in an environment that is not at least somewhat intellectually challenging, so I think (as many seem to agree) that finding a close-to-home college that is not too academically overwhelming is the “just right” situation we are looking for.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions…many are schools we’ve thought about, which makes me feel we are on the right track, and even if some of the suggestions are not perfect for her, hopefully someone else reading may find the right school from one of your posts.
Thanks for the response, OP. So glad to hear that your daughter has been faring well. I think you are wise to face this proactively. All the best your family on your search!
@iwantalltheinfo, I just wanted to say good luck to you and your D in your search. My D also went to a very competitive HS where she was stressed and miserable so college has been a refreshing change. I know how difficult this search can be but you are smart to be prioritizing your D’s mental health while also finding a school that can meet her academic needs. It really is a balancing act.