i’d second Ft Lewis in Durango Co, It is a CO State public LAC, about 3500 students and has a real private feel. Small classes, beautiful campus on a bluff overlooking an idylic mountain town with gold rush roots. With Wue, it’s cheaper than a CSU. My son (a CA kid) has had a great experience.
We absolutely value diversity in our family. I agree that leaving the area where you grew up can be extremely beneficial. My dd spent her first five years in the Mid Atlantic region, so she has already experienced a radical change in geographical environment in her life. Also, our small family of four represents four different countries in three continents, as well as three different native languages, so we live diversity daily.
Great to hear about your daughter’s experience. Did those offers include talent scholarships too for music, theater, art or debate?
We vacationed in the NAU area a few years ago and it is gorgeous there.
A surprising twist of events: my daughter applied and was accepted to University of Arizona! Because of her grades, she got a generous merit scholarship, and because she is a National Recognition Program Scholar, she received acceptance into the Honors College automatically as well. She decided to go with it when I pointed out they had rolling admissions. She basically said if she didn’t get in anywhere else, she would go there!
So many people recommending Fort Lewis! I gave it a quick look some time ago. I think I didn’t look further because it was on a list of most conservative colleges. What is your take on that? I should look deeper.
The honors facility is awesome with a dining hall on the bottom and a gym and counseling center adjacent.
When one has a 3.94 GPA, they’re getting at least $30k at Arizona. It’s a heck of a deal…Tucson is liberal, and it will meet her needs. They typically will follow up with an extra $1k for first year.
That’s great to hear. It is a long way until May 1st, so we will see where she ends up at, but I am feeling much better knowing she has a very viable option in her pocket. Being within driving distance is also a plus in my book.
interesting, never seen that list and not sure what conservative means these days.
According to Niche, just 8% self identify as Republicans’ and 1% as conservatives. For some reason it won’t let me post the link, My son has fairly conservative political views and that reflects his experience. That said, the campus seems welcoming to divergent opinions in and out of the classroom.
I really encourage you to visit the campus and surrounding community, and talk to some students. It is a stunningly beautiful place to spend some time.
I’d stay open minded with the Jesuit universities. They draw students from many different religious and other backgrounds including atheists and you rarely hear that the religious aspect of those schools is a problem. I can speak from experience that Gonzaga usually provides excellent merit for students with stats like yours. It doesn’t hurt to apply (other than the app fee). Even though you think you don’t qualify for aid, you should fill out the FAFSA. Unless you’re making well over $300K a year it’s worth filling out. It tells a private school that you’re not in for the full boat and at the very least will provide government loans which are currently at 0% interest and usually at a very nominal interest rate. You don’t have to take the loans but always a nice option. We opted for my son to take one so he has skin in the game. Good luck!
No all of my D18’s offers were purely academic merit.
Now with my current D22 she has no overlap with your D but the Midwestern LACs she’s applied to are all the same tier as those my D18 applied to on the west coast. She only has a 3.5 uw, test optional, and is getting top merit awards across the board so far. I’ve been pleasantly surprised!
Congrats on Arizona and fingers crossed on the merit for her favorites!
Durango is in a more conservative part of Colorado, but the whole western side of the state is in that same congressional district. Aspen is in that district and no one would consider Aspen as conservative. Most colleges lean a little left of their surrounding cities and towns. Boulder is more liberal than the non-college related citizenship.
