Hello!
I have a student who is very bright and engaging, is a neurodivergent learner (ADD and executive function challenges) and learns and enjoys best in smaller classes with vibrant discussion but is very social and is concerned that a small school will be socially stifling and not much fun. Student is coming from an urban large performing arts high school (drama department) and is interested in Theater / Drama and social sciences (psychology, political science, anthropology, sociology).
Given this student profile, if anyone can share insights on the following schools, it would be greatly appreciated:
Clark University
Muhlenberg
University of Vermont
DePaul University
SUNY Binghamton
Thank you!!
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The only college on the list that we visited was Muhlenberg. Our tour group was diverse and our guide was in the theater program.
In terms of small schools versus larger schools, I don’t think many colleges are socially stifling and not much fun if you are at a school that is a reasonable fit. Muhlenberg has a strong theater program and I would expect there are plenty of fun people.
My daughter ended up not applying because traveling to Allentown would be difficult from where we live in Texas with no direct flights. She felt she had similar academic options available that would be easier to access. She was also interested in bigger universities due to broader academic options.
At this stage your daughter needs to be ruthless and eliminate at least two of these schools. She should just get rid of the ones she is least interested in.
That said, if she is looking for smaller classes, she’s going to find them at Mberg and Clark. All the other schools are much bigger. Typically, for the first two years, she can mostly expect larger classes at bigger schools. If she is interested in lots of student and professor interaction, a smaller school is going to offer that from the start. That’s the nature of LACS.
Both big and small schools will have active social scenes. Kids know how to party at almost any kind of college. I wouldn’t factor that in, tbh. I can vouch that kids know how to party at every school listed. I’d say that Mberg might be slightly more tame than the others. Then again, they have a lacrosse team, so…
I don’t know anything about De Paul, so I can’t help you there. I’d say of the schools I know, Clark will probably have a pretty fun theater scene. My son attends Bing and has no interest, but I believe theater is quite active. They also have a popular film studies program and my son says he sees kids filming stuff all the time. Bing does have large classes at underclassmen level (not sure if that applies to theater), but the social scene is VERY lively. UVM has a lot of winter sports enthusiasts. It’s helpful if she enjoys snowsports. There is a pretty relaxed vibe there. M’berg will probably have the most typical LAC collegiate feel. It’s a popular college in my area of the Northeast. Clark will have edgier, more quirky kids than all the others, for sure.
Unclear if these are acceptances or schools under consideration for application. If you can add one, I would add Ithaca. It hits the sweet spot for size IMO and is very artsy and social.
Visited both Clark and Muhlenberg with D20, for Econ/History/PoliSci and she liked both enough to apply. I can’t speak to the neurodivergent aspect.
Clark was a fabulous hidden gem. D hit it off with her interviewer who summoned a current student with similar interests to sit and talk with her about a few things. He wasn’t a tour guide or anything, just a student who was in a club she was interested in and he had a few minutes to spare. We found the school as a whole to be engaging on an individual level and D could have seen herself fitting right in.
Muhlenberg felt warm and welcoming with a pretty campus. They have a terrific theater program and D was excited to have the possibility to play in the orchestra for performances. They had just about the best food of any campus we ate at. She said she would feel at home on campus but the student body tended to feel like an extension of high school to her. Not an insult to students there at all but she felt they weren’t quite as serious and studious as she was looking for.