<p>We do have problems in some areas recruiting faculty but it isn't because of the location. There are other issues.</p>
<p>^^Sounds like yummy koolaid but I seriously doubt that Madison has the draw of the 'hot' location colleges. Just been my observation as I listen to my friends moan about losing this or that faculty recruit.</p>
<p>UW-Madison's an excellent university, highly regarded by grad and professional schools. The issues with faculty retention and hiring are due to a serious funding crunch at the university, caused by state legislation and budget redistribution away from higher ed. However, as an undergrad experience, it would be excellent.</p>
<p>I'm not sure why you feel the location is terrible. Madison's a great town, and it's close to Chicago. The people who have considered it are not having issues with the location, but rather the compensation package and difficulties attracting grad students to a program with uncertain funding. This, however, doesn't affect undergrads that much in the area of academics. Funding may be an issue, but you don't know unless you apply.</p>
<p>I have lots of talented friends teaching at colleges and universities all over the US who would eat worms to get a job at Madison!!</p>
<p>Yes, like many public institutions. UW-Madison has had budget woes. But what a great place to live!!</p>
<p>And the previous poster was correct. None of this affects undergrad education. For the right student (you have to like BIG schools), Madison is a paradise!!</p>
<p>And to get back to the original question - Madison has a terrific history department.</p>
<p>thanks for the replys. Every time I hear a school from you, my fellow CCers, we are looking them up on the school website to learn about the school's admit stats, possible merit scholarships, etc. </p>
<p>Narrowing things down a bit more. . . other factors we are considering somewhat are the ability to still do vocal or dance (at least as a hobby), and probably temperate - cold weather (don't know if d2 wants very very cold, snowy weather--although some snow is OK). She's from California and so not ever been in freezing, freezing weather for more than a day.</p>
<p>College location: maybe from the Carolinas up to NY. How is American University, is there an advantage to being a history major near Wash DC?</p>
<p>That really depends - is your D's interest in American history or other history? Or perhaps she does not know yet? I'm a medievalist, and my interest in it built over time. I now wish my undergrad had better European and Asian course offerings, especially pre-modern. The best way to find out if a university offers a good range of history courses is to check the course schedule for a semester or two. Don't go by a course catalog - they tend to list lots of courses that are rarely offered.</p>
<p>Another consideration for history majors is foreign language offerings. If your D decides to go on to grad school in history, she will need anywhere from one to three foreign languages. Make sure the university offers several. US history usually requires at least French or Spanish, Latin American history needs Spanish and/or Portuguese, African and Asian history need one appropriate language, modern European history is generally two modern European languages, medieval is three (French, German, Latin), and ancient is Latin and Greek. All these need not be offered (and obviously there's a lot of overlap), but it's good to make sure there are course offerings at least through the intermediate level in the major ones.</p>
<p>If she is absolutely, positively sure she wants US history and will not change her mind, the advantage to DC for US history is easy access to primary sources. If she's not sure which way she wants to go, Boston is good for quite a few areas (all the Boston unis have strong history depts, and it is easy to take classes at another uni if hers doesn't offer something she needs). Plus, the sheer number of uni libraries in Boston makes research easy. I realize she's not looking forward to cold, but southern unis tend to be not as strong in non-US history.</p>
<p>If you legitimately would have a difficult time covering the extra expense of a school like USC on a half tuition scholarship, then at Ivies you'd almost certainly qualify for Financial Aid. Remember, their pockets are deeper than most and will meet 100% of demonstrated need through FAFSA/CSS Profile. If you have two children in school, don't forget that your EFC is cut in half while both students are in school.</p>
<p>FWIW, though I love Case Western and almost went there, it's not a good choice for a student looking to concentrate outside of science and engineering.</p>
<p>If law is a future interest, and perhaps government/politics, then being near DC has tremendous internship potential advantages, etc.</p>
<p>Modest Melody, </p>
<p>According to the Princeton calculator, we don't qualify for need based aid. </p>
<p>I don't know if legitimitely we couldn't afford USC on half tuition (or $28 -30k/year total cost), but unfortunately, what the calculators say we can afford and what we feel we can truly afford are different. </p>
<p>$22,000 is about the max we are willing to spend for d2 total college cost (tuition, room, board, fees,books), esp since we are also spending about $12k on D1's room, board, fees, books etc.-- and we still have 2 more kids after D2 to fund for college within the next 5 years.</p>
<p>D2 is plannig to apply to USC, is looking into Univ of Pittsburg ( just got something in the mail from them today), and D got invited to apply to Tulane online abrreviated app, so she may do that. </p>
<p>Any NY schools we should consider in the $22 price range (or in the $22k price range after using possible merit scholarships)? </p>
<p>Any others in PA? </p>
<p>I think one of the reasons d is now considering the East coast area is because of being able to experience living in another part of the US that has a lot of "history".</p>
<p>I think you need to take a careful look at the USC course catalog and compare the offerings in History it to other colleges/ universities. My son, who was at USC last year [on a full tuition scholarship], but is now at U of Chicago, found the Humanities program there to be very weak. USC is a great "pre-professional" college, with strong programs in engineering, business, music and other areas, but it is not as strong in the traditional Liberal Arts as most UC's and many other colleges.</p>
<p>If your d can qualify for merit aid, you might try Muhlenberg in Allentown, PA. My d got enough merit there that costs were brought down below your limit. (Of course, she decided to go elsewhere - isn't that always the case?)</p>
<p>History=Yale.</p>
<p>Look into it as a reach, maybe?</p>
<p>No merit aid at Yale, and if they don't qualify for FA at Princeton, unlikely that they would at Yale. Seems silly to apply to an Ivy when there's no chance of going there.</p>
<p>Look at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem NC. Your daughter would probably get a nice merit scholarship.</p>
<p>Thank you for the suggestion, that is one we are considering applying to</p>
<p>In PA - What about Gettysburg College? The tuition listed is way high - but in my experience, LACs with crazy high tuition tend to have a lot of merit aid available. Plus, for a history major...it's Gettysburg.</p>
<p>D2 wants a bigger college than gettysburg's student population of 3500. I think most LACs won't be big enough for her since she is interested in 4000-4500 minumum undergraduates or at least 1000-1200 freshman class.</p>
<p>Does Lehigh give merit aid?</p>
<p>So far, D2 has the following list based on her looking at websites,etc. --and scouting (hopefully reachable) merit aid.</p>
<p>Please remember, we want to keep tuition to about $12,000 after scholarships(plus $10,00 -$12,000 for room and board) -- so total cost about $22-24,000. </p>
<p>STATs: Sat is 760 reading, 740 math =1500, weighted GPA is 4.38, unweighted is 3.88. Subject SATs: Lit 790, Math 710, UsHistory 680. Aps: US Hist 4; Eng Lang 5, Calc ab 5, Euro Hist 4, Chem 2 (took AP chem and US Hist tests studying on her own, without taking AP classes). Ranked 11/432. </p>
<p>ECs; lots of audition-only choral ensemble (she goes to a fine arts magnet public school) and dance at school, does musical theatre, also plays alto sax, mentors freshmen students at her school, tutors at local library, teaches sunday school at our church. She works part-time ushering at a local Performing Arts center.</p>
<p>Her intended major is history with the goal to go to law school (and maybe specializing in international law). She is more interested in schools with 4,000-19,000 undergraduates within 1 hour of a larger city.</p>
<p>Here is her list -- comments are definitely appreciated: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>UCs: UCLA, UCSD, UCI. According to UCSD's point system, d should be admitted to UCSD, and she is automatically admitted to UCI based on her grades and SAT scores and class rank. We realize that the Ucs' undergraduate size is huge, but will apply anyway bc the univ are so well ranked and "inexpensive".</p></li>
<li><p>USC</p></li>
<li><p>George Washington Wash DC</p></li>
<li><p>American, wash DC</p></li>
<li><p>Wake Forest</p></li>
<li><p>Northeastern, Mass</p></li>
<li><p>Rutgers, PA (larger than she would like, but scholarship possilbilities are good according to the college fair rep we just saw tonight)</p></li>
<li><p>Boston University</p></li>
<li><p>possibly Clemson</p></li>
<li><p>Possibly UNC Chapel Hill, N. Carolina</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Pittsburgh still sounds good to me! Has she looked into it at all? It seems as if the merit aid possibilities there would be at least as good as at several of the other schools on your list (BU, GWU, Wake Forest). Pitt's history dept. has exceptional depth and a highly admired faculty. My d is applying there (this week, I hope!) because of the strong history offerings, but also because she really likes the city and the school itself. Lots of opportunities there for a go-getter like your d. Good luck!</p>
<p>Northeastern is a different animal totally than the others, with its co-op program. Look at it very carefully.</p>
<p>Another school I'd recommend with your d's stats and interests (and forgive me if it's already posted) is Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. It starts off cheaper than many of the others. My d got excellent merit aid with stats lower than your daughter's, which brought the cost of attendance down to less than $20,000/year (including tuition, room and board). It also has very strong performing arts programs, including theater and dance, and non-majors can take classes. It has an excellent track record for law school admissions. Seems like it would be a good fit for a kid from a performing arts high school.</p>