<p>I really love Hampshire and Sarah Lawrence and I can't wait to apply to both of them. I like Bennington a lot as well. But there's one problem: they are all RIDICULOUSLY expensive. Are there any cheaper alternatives to these kind of nonconformist LACs?</p>
<p>Hmm, Oberlin is very much like SLC, Bennington, Hampshire, but is still somewhat expensive. About 33k per year. Still, that's much better than SLCs 45k. Remember that Bennington is one of the most expensive schools in the country, perhaps overly and ridiculously so.</p>
<p>Yet, with all that said, remember that top LACs offer very good financial aid programs. Oberlin would, Bennington and Hampshire probably would not, and SLC is middle of the road.</p>
<p>Oberlin costs roughly the same as the others according to Collegeboard, and I doubt I could get in, but I guess it can't hurt to apply there if they give good financial aid packages.</p>
<p>Yeah, Bennington used to hold the distinction of being the MOST expensive school in the country (as my parents got very tired of hearing when I was applying!) but now that title apparently goes to George Washington U. Bennington isn't even in the top 3 anymore!</p>
<p>All of them are around the same price (unless you go public) but it is also worth paying attention to what the total is after room, board, and all the other various fees, these seem to differ from school to school. Tuition is only one factor.</p>
<p>All of these schools will really try to help you if you are qualified. I know that Hampshire gives out a lot of financial aid, scholarships, grants, etc. It is worth applying and seeing what you get.</p>
<p>Question: I'm not familiar with the financial aid process. If I apply to Hampshire Early Action, which I am most likely doing, do I just sign up for FASFA and CSS and wait to see what they give me?</p>
<p>I will leave the financial aid question to someone who can be more cogent on the subject.</p>
<p>SUNY Purchase is a very inexpensive alternative to the colleges listed, as is St. Mary's College of Maryland. You might consider SUNY New Paltz. They are all public colleges with an arty feel. Don't be thrown off by the St. Mary's part -- it's not a religious college -- that's just the name of the town. SUNY Geneseo is another school you could consider.</p>
<p>Drew University gives merit aid if you don't qualify for need based aid and it has an arty contingent due to its fabulous drama program and its music program.</p>
<p>Evergreen State, Washington.</p>
<p>Evergreen State College in WA has the "hippy" feel at the public price. Also, I HIGHLY rec. New College of Florida (State Honors College). VERY VERY Cool place (Gorgeous too!!!). They do the written evals. w/grades only on official stuff & every senior does an integrative thesis. It should be a good fit if you like the Hampshire/SLC vibe. OOS Tution= 18460, but check out their scholarship calculator for a good idea of your ballpark scholarships (I think I got more than estimated): </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncf.edu/financialaid/scholarshipftic2.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.ncf.edu/financialaid/scholarshipftic2.html</a>
(It's GUARENTEED if you apply by Feb. 15)</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Thanks guys, taking a look and considering all colleges mentioned.</p>
<p>New College of Florida seems AWESOME. Tough to get into, though.</p>
<p>"Oberlin is very much like SLC, Bennington, Hampshire"</p>
<p>Hmm, well I guess that's not a very precise categorization anyway, but D1 applied to Oberlin and did not apply to any of these other schools. She didn't find them so "very much like" Oberlin, from her perspective. </p>
<p>Oberlin is quite a bit larger than these other schools I believe, and probably has a lot more social and physical science majors, proportionally. Its academic offerings are structured in a pretty traditional manner, whereas a couple of these others are notably different. </p>
<p>The schools I see most typically mentioned along with Oberlin are: Reed, Grinnell, Macalester, Carleton, Wesleyan, Vassar. And I guess Kenyon, in some respects.</p>
<p>Well, Oberlin is traditionally a very nonconformist school (oxymoron?), as are SLC, Hampshire, and Bennington. The curriculums are vaguely similar, if that, but I'd say the general anti-conventional ethos is shared between Oberlin and those other LACs.</p>
<p>Look at the Mass. college of liberal arts - I think it is in North Adams, MA.</p>
<p>Oberlin is VERY different in many ways from SLC, Hampshire, and Bennington. It shares a socially-progressive politics with those other schools, but its curriculum and academic perspective is much more traditional. Much more like Vassar, Wesleyan, Carleton, and Grinnell.</p>
<p>At Bennington, and at my old high school, there was a lot of overlap in applications to Oberlin, SLC, Bennington, Hampshire, Vassar and Reed. </p>
<p>A lot of people who apply to Vassar apply to Bard, Bard to Bennington, Wesleyan to Vassar, to SLC, etc.</p>
<p>They are all very liberal LAC's that attract pretty much the same kind of student. There are of course differences in the academic structure of each.</p>
<p>Consider Hood College in Maryland. Also, although it is a comprehensive university, U of Tulsa [a private school] reportedly has the atmosphere of a liberal arts college. UT is very good overall. Both UT and Hood are tuition bargains.</p>