<p>My dd loves all three and is having a difficult time making a choice. Any graduates/parents or anyone with inside scoop out there and willing to weigh in?</p>
<p>All three are great! What a tough decision. Will she have a car while she is at school?</p>
<p>I would say that I might eliminate Hiram if my dd did not have car because it is so rural. She does have 3 nice options! It has been some time since I compared these schools. Does Hiram have a senior capstone project too (whatever the name might be)? That might be something to consider. Thinking about it, I think that they do, but not positive. Also, it seems that Allegheny offers nice options in planning courses (just seems more liberal in terms of options). Do the other 2 schools do the same? Does your DD need to fly home? Allegheny’s weak point for us was the distance from the airports. Last, since Hiram is so rural, you might want to look into the health center to see what medical care is available should your dd need it (I hope not). I would compare that at all 3 schools and look into transportation for outside medical treatment if it is ever needed. Good luck!</p>
<p>Cross posted with MidwestMomof2kids.</p>
<p>She most likely will not have a car her first year. In fact, she is just now learning to drive. Funny enough, she feels and I concur that Hiram is far less rural than it appears to be. It is actually only about a 15 minute drive from the outer suburbs of Cleveland. </p>
<p>I also believe University Hospitals has a facility about 20 minutes away. Actually, when it comes to medical, with it’s proximity to Cleveland, give Hiram a plus in that category. I am ashamed to admit, that I hadn’t given that a lot of though until reading your post, northeastmom, thank you! : )</p>
<p>I know that Hiram is not far from Cleveland, but I thought it was a bit further than a 15 minutes car ride. The immediate area, it seemed to us, was quite rural. I think that Streetsboro is closer. Am I mistaken about that? I recall staying at a hotel in Streetsboro.</p>
<p>Off the top of my head, it seems that Hiram is the smallest of the 3 schools. She might want to consider that (this could be a plus or a minus, depending upon the individual). Hiram also has the Northwoods campus in Michigan. I don’t know much about it, but that might be something your DD would want to consider.</p>
<p>Oh, and don’t feel badly about looking into medical care. You are not the only one. My son needed to go off campus for a specialist twice last semester (I anticipated that), so I looked into it. Also, I needed to investigate my insurance situation if he went out of state.</p>
<p>You are correct that it is about 45 minutes from Cleveland proper. However, it’s only about 15 minutes from the outermost burbs. I grew up just outside Cleveland and still have family there, so she is quite familiar with a huge radius of the area.</p>
<p>You are also correct it is the smallest of the three, and that is also not a deterrent for her. It would make this decision soooo much easier if one of these schools had a huge negative for her, but currently this is not the case.</p>
<p>Well, 3 nice schools, so this is a nice problem to have! Have you looked into majors, classes offered, cost, food, housing, clubs/ECs, religious aspects if it applies, study abroad and internship opportunities?</p>
<p>Our son considered LAC’s Allegheny, Wooster and Oberlin in addition to RPI and CWRU. As a prospective Compsci major CWRU and RPI were just far superior in his major to consider the three fine LAC’s when decision time was upon him. He preferred Oberlin to AC and CoW but would have been happy to attend any one of them. His visit to AC was the best with the exception of RPI, his ultimate choice.</p>
<p>Do you have time to re-visit? That’s what did it for DS#1 when he’d narrowed it down to his top two choices.</p>
<p>Failing that, I’ve read various interesting strategies here on CC. E.g., ask her how she’d feel if she woke up and XYZ College had been wiped off the map and was no longer an option. How sad would she be to lose it? Doing that one at a time might help her clarify her feelings about them.</p>
<p>(And I think bottom line as a parent is that she’ll have great experiences/similar success coming out of any of these. Kind of like having to decide between an Accord and a Camry.)</p>
<p>Thanks, originaloog. Not an issue in our situation, she definitely wants to pursue the liberal arts. </p>
<p>ingerp - yes, ingerp. we are revisiting over the next few days.</p>
<p>Thank you to all for the input. : )</p>
<p>BTW ingerp, as an avid and forever Honda driver, I truly appreciated the Accord/Camry analogy!</p>
<p>That comes to me often–it’s wonderful that your daughter has a choice between great options!</p>
<p>My son is currently a sophomore at Allegheny and looked at Wooster during the process. You have three excellent choices. S didn’t have a car freshmen year and had no problem, his gf has serious health concerns and had wonderful care at Allegheny and with a local doctor. Thankfully we have had no need for more than the student health center. The shuttles to and from the school for breaks have run great. My S has found Allegheny to be very challenging academically, he loves the variety of classes and the flexibility of developing his double major. He is interning in DC this summer. As parents we are very pleased with the education he has received. Good luck with your decision.</p>