<p>I am helping my sister's daughter (junior) identify some colleges and universities. She is a very strong science student currently at a performing arts school so she can dance. She would like a school near or in a city, with a strong science department and good dancing (ballet). She enjoys the nurturing atmosphere of her current school and I suspect would do best in a college or university with a nurturing environment. She is in the CTY program and a strong student. Merit money would be a bonus and something she will be encouraged to pursue. So far I thought - Barnard, Smith, Carelton. Suggestions or comments? Thanks!</p>
<p>Have you checked into Washington University in St. Louis? They have outstanding science and performing arts departments.</p>
<p>Goucher?....</p>
<p>Muhlenberg?</p>
<p>Yes to Barnard! NYU and Fordham.</p>
<p>Absolutely a second to Goucher. I wonder about Hampshire...?</p>
<p>I suggest Duke as a possibility, for the dance program.</p>
<p>Hampshire is definitely not near a city. It's in the middle of cornfields.</p>
<p>Barnard was my first thought just upon reading your title, so that's definitely worth a visit and serious consideration. </p>
<p>It tends to be harder to get a school that's both nurturing and urban. Pay attention to women's colleges and smaller schools.</p>
<p>carnegie mellon</p>
<p>Swarthmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr Colleges</p>
<p>Quantmech---Durham (even Raleigh/Chapel Hill added in) doesn't fit the ticket for "near a city."</p>
<p>Vassar - it has its own train station with a straight shot into NYC.</p>
<p>I couldn't remember about Hampshire's geography--we saw so many schools that week. Sarah Lawrence, I think, would qualify.</p>
<p>Scripps. Very nurturing, LA, benefits of being in a consortium with great science programs</p>
<p>Denison? Nice dance program, good merit money, definitely nurturing, 40 minutes outside Columbus OH, but in a really sweet town.</p>
<p>^^astrophysicsmom, wait . . . Durham (US Census 2000 population 198,376) is not a city, even with Raleigh (316,802) and Chapel Hill (49,301) thrown in?</p>
<p>(<em>brushes hayseeds from hair and adjusts straps on overalls</em>) :)</p>
<p>You know the area, though, I think. Your D is at UNC, Chapel Hill? It's an excellent choice for astrophysics--there is some very exciting work on gamma ray bursters coming from Chapel Hill. Not really hi-jacking the thread, since the OP mentioned science as well as dance. How is the dance program there?</p>
<p>^^OP, how big a city and how close? Were you thinking Carleton in Minnesota, or Carleton in Ottawa? Granville, OH, home of Denison University is my idea of "not a city," as would be Gambier, OH, home of Kenyon (and pop. 1,871 in 2000).</p>
<p>Sorry to offend, QuantMech, but nope. We live in Charlotte, NC's biggest "city". I significantly love living here, and we may stay long after the kids are off to grad school, but having lived near Chicago for many years, SF before that, and Philadelphia for another 4 years after Chicago, I think you need to get into the millions to really have a "city" feel. In our family, "city" applies to a very user-friendly mass transit, significant "other" stuff going on besides just college events, etc., etc. </p>
<p>D only applied to UNC-Chapel Hill because her loving parents kind of "pushed her". She was adamant about "leaving the south"....we've only lived here 3 years and still sees herself as a northerner at heart. Besides, she didn't want to keep running into people she knew from h.s... Even the allure of being able to get grits and sweet tea at every meal wasn't enough to seal the deal for her. </p>
<p>She's at UMD-College Park, and LOVES it. She has said multiple times this semester that she really doesn't think she could have made a school decision that would have been a better fit ...(and she's already applying for an internship at NASA, about 5 miles away from her campus). She instantly investigated the DC metro lines with friends and she goes into the city at least once a week. She's street-smart and travels safe, but she's a kid that absorbs the vitality and excitement of being in an urban environment. And being able to do research for a term paper (and getting extra credit for it) at the Library of Congress is pretty cool, too.</p>
<p>MIT and all the city-trappings of Boston was her first choice, but they obviously had a brain-cramp and dissed her (maybe her app got waterlogged in the Strata Center??!!!!) I was actually quite relieved, for many deep--and some not so deep (aka $$$) reasons.</p>
<p>D2 is a junior and her dream is to go to school in NYC. (Although after going and playing college student for a weekend with her sister, she'll probably also apply to UMD. And of course UNC-CH....we can still dream). She is very interested in dance, but probably won't major in it....A recent thread about good schools for people who want to continue dance, but not major in it, had several suggestions about schools near cities like NYC, SF, etc. There are endless possibilities for dancing classes (as well as performances) when you are in an urban environment.</p>
<p>MiM, I see that Smith is on your list already. Northampton is only about 30,000 but it's a vibrant 30,000 with restaurants, arts, etc., not to mentioned a syncrhonized crosswalk team that would make Manhattanites envious. For top students, there is some merit money. </p>
<p>Either PM me or drop by the Smith forum in the CC's Top Liberal Arts Colleges.
N.B., there's a ballet photo on the front page of Smith's website, fwiw.</p>
<p>No problem, astrophysicsmom. :)</p>
<p>I can still recall the excitment in my hometown when we surpassed the 7,500 mark in population and technically qualified as a "city." No question, very different opportunities are available in really large urban areas! </p>
<p>The OP mentioned Carleton, though, and so I'm not sure how large a city she has in mind. </p>
<p>The NASA internship possibilities near UMD-College Park are a major plus. I don't happen to know UMD's astrophysicists (just a coincidence that I knew some at UNC, Chapel Hill); but in my field, the program at UMD-College Park is excellent.</p>