Best LAC for a Spanish/Hispanic Studies major

College Majors Foreign Language & Culture Majors
21

Maybe Washington & Jefferson College for possible merit and their Magellan project program.

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22

Or Smith or Amherst.

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23

Spanish, Hispanic studies, Latin American studies, and similar majors are often fairly small even at large universities. For example, UNM had 22 Spanish, 9 Hispanic-American studies, 6 Latin American studies, and 0 European studies majors in a recent class.

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24

It doesn’t look like their major has enough advanced classes. I’ll check to see if they have cross registration with area universities or a consortium (I know they’re part of a consortium but the colleges seem far away).
Could be a safety if merit/need-based adds up.

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25

For consortium arrangements, also check things like whether academic calendars are synchronized, commuting issues, and how registration at the other college works.

If merit is needed for affordability, it needs to be automatic for stats that the student has to make it a safety.

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26

W&J doesn’t meet need so any offer would likely be a mix and that mix is unpredictable. :no_mouth:

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27

Hamilton, Middlebury, Grinnell, Smith, Macalester, Holy Cross and Dickinson appear to represent some of the stronger LACs for the study of foreign languages:

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28

Amherst seems like it would be pretty reachy for this student.

And Smith is reachier than MoHo but the ED acceptance rate is over 60% at both. Merit chances probably better at MoHo but that may not matter if the need-based aid is sufficient. Both offer both ED1 and ED2. So, if she felt like attending one of the 5 College Consortium women’s colleges would hit her sweet spot in terms of giving her the intimate experience she wants, but with access to flagship university course offerings, applying ED to one with EDII at the other as backup would be a solid plan.

Scripps (and maybe Pitzer) could be worth a look as well if she’s willing to go that far. Pretty extensive course offerings from the consortium
 but more just undergraduate breadth - not grad-level options like UMass would have.

There’s also Agnes Scott, where she could cross-register at Emory. No idea whether need-based aid plus merit would get her where she needs to be, $-wise, but it might.

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29

Good point, sorry.

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30

Pomona. Carleton. Middlebury. Maxalester

Lesser but great schools skidmore. Augustana. Lewis and Clark

Here’s some help too

https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/best-colleges-with-spanish-language-and-literature/?page=6

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31

If an Hispanic studies department at an LAC offers sufficient breadth and depth to accommodate heritage speakers — as some do — then it would offer sufficient courses for this student as well. In the cases of these top programs, consortium and university options would be superfluous. Colleges that administer their own abroad programs in Spain should be given additional consideration.

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32

No need to b3 sorry- it was a good idea and may work. It also made me think of Hendrix. :hugs::+1: Keep ideas coming.

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33

Note that Niche doesn’t evaluate the quality of Hispanic studies departments. It simply attempts to list schools with Hispanic studies majors by their general Niche ranks.

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34

You are correct. My bad. Some lists they rank the best. But others it’s the best school with
I missed that. But probably a good list to then look at then research individual schools and see how robust their programs are.

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35

Doesn’t Hendrix have a lot of financial & housing issues.

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36

It does but W&J also does. Just an idea worth looking into. I use all suggestions to cross reference with my own list and/or think outside the box.

I don’t think Pomona, Yale, etc, are appropriate for a student without significant ECs.

I agree a large university with small classes could be ok but, as mentioned, she feels 3,000 is large.

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37

I haven’t read the entire thread. These are not guaranteed to meet full need, but I think they are as reasonable options as any other school can be in this case.

Allegheny College, Ursinus College, Flagler, Eckerd, Knox, Southwestern (Georgetown, TX). Also, many of the CTCL and similar LACs across the country. I haven’t vetted any for her intended majors, but know that sufficient aid is offered to some students the colleges really want.

It’s going to depend on which AO/Schools decide she is the student they want. Similar schools might result in wildly different FinAid offers. If the student is adamant about attending school in the US, I would apply to approx 15-20 as soon as the application process opens. Then, as the early decisions are returned, if no suitable option is clear by Dec, plan another volley of 10-20 more for the Jan/Feb application deadlines.

Lastly, if distance is not a problem, definitely apply to UNM and other NM universities. I know she wants <6K, but all are likely fit the family’s budget. And NM has some smaller public unis that should fit her enrollment size preference. A creative plan would be to attend the LAC-sizelike NMTech (1200 students), major in General Studies with a Hispanic Studies minor. Get a LAC-lite experience in a beautiful setting in Socorro, being surrounded by techies and a few other non-techies. Yes, as a smaller tech-focused uni the Latin Studies classes will be limited, but it’s worth a look to see if the potential plusses outweigh the negatives.

Two of the three universities in NC Promise plan should come in under $15K/yr and might fit her. UNC-Pembroke has a sizeable NativeAmerican/Hispanic enrollment and has fewer than 6K undergraduates. They have a Spanish major and a Hispanic Studies minor. Western Carolina should also be affordable and it is in a beautiful setting in a valley near the mountains. However, they have 10K undergrads, so she may have to determine if that is a dealbreaker. WCU has a Spanish major that offers study abroad in Spain.

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