<p>Lately there has been a flurry of talk in my community from students who went to small, almost unheard of college here in New England. These kids are <em>loving</em> these schools -- severa of these colleges have have never, ever made the U.S. News list...</p>
<p>In every case, students were bright but chose to go to a "lesser" New England school than a "better" college elsewhere in the country.</p>
<p>Has this been your experience? If so, what are the <em>truly</em> hidden gems you or others have discovered?</p>
<p>Fit is always more important than prestige. If you go to a prestigious university but you hate it (for non-academic reasons let's say), then that will you do no good. If you go to a school you love, then you will find motivation and success is easy to find.</p>
<p>I have a couple of friends at Hollins (in Virginia) that absolutely love it; it's one of the best places to go if you want to study the arts. I've always been fond of the College of the Atlantic, although it was a bit too small for me.</p>
<p>Oddly enough, I have a friend of the olden days who attends Hollins. I believe she is studying art history, among other things, and she has told me that she very much loves the school.</p>
<p>St. Olaf College has excellent Classics and Math departments, some of the best in the country for colleges. Not for me, as I didn't like the ambience of the school... but I was considering the school, as I am very interested in those areas.</p>
<p>St. Lawrence!! I live sooo close to St. Lawrence and it drives me nuts because people here think it is about half a notch below harvard. I mean, it's not a horrible school, but, jeez!
I think no matter where you live, unintelligent people will overrate the local colleges.</p>
<p>I have heard of students thriving at: Goddard, Franklin Pierce, Green Mountain College, and Marlboro (the latter well-known due to CTCL). Does anyone here know more about these colleges?</p>
<p>Add Sienna to the list - freind's son is thriving there, it's in NY State, but just over the MA border, I think...I see a real need to this kind of school for those kids who need a break from the rat race, or who never want to be a part of it but love the liberal arts!</p>
<p>I would not say they are unremarkable....hidden gems, maybe.</p>
<p>College of Wooster, Hobart, Centre, Rhodes, URichmond, Earlham, Knox, Lewis & Clark, Goucher, Linfield, The Evergreen State College, New College, Hampshire, Hendrix, St. Olaf, Beloit, Lawrence U, Furman, Eckerd, Agnes Scott, Elon, Millsaps, Southwestern U, Ohio Wesleyan, Marietta, UVermont, UNew Hampshire, SUNY-Geneseo, UPuget Sound, URedlands, UC-Santa Cruz, Pitzer, Mills.</p>
<p>isleboy, that list incidentally alligns well with the list of colleges that have recently produced a lot Peace Corps volunteers and with high PhD creation rates. I wouldn't label Lawrence, Beloit, Ohio Wesleyan, Wooster, Earlham and St. Olaf as unremarkable colleges. In fact, the first sentence could be just one such definition of remarkability...</p>
<p>I think that it is harder to find hidden gems on the East Coast. However, a few come to my mind. One is the University of Maine Farmington -- a public liberal arts college. Supposed to be good fjor developing writers and for close student/professor relationships. Another hidden gem (already mentioned) is the College of the Atlantic. Unique program where the right student could really thrive.</p>
<p>my uncle teaches philosophy at umiane framington... i cna testofy on some level to the close studne tteacher relationships!! at dinner, last tiem we were together- he seemed so enthusistic about the college- even after so many years.. adn we went up with him to help him bring a load of books to class for soemthing, adn every student we passed in the few days before the semester started said hello.....</p>