Another vote for both Saint Mary’s College of Maryland and Washington College.
You could spend a couple of weeks in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, where there are many, many small to midsized colleges (and large universities) in rural, suburban and city settings.
URichmond on the way north, perhaps Lafayette and Muhlenberg (they are close by each other in PA), Skidmore (upstate NY)
If you visit Denison, Kenyon is 40 minutes away and Wooster an hour and a half (with Kenyon being sort of on the way to Wooster). Oberlin is another hour or so from Wooster. Kenyon and Oberlin are pretty selective though, Denison a tad less so and Wooster a tad below that. I am a huge Wooster fan.
No one has mentioned Davidson yet. It’s the closest thing you can find to a northeastern-style academically elite Lac south of the Mason-Dixon line and east of pretty far west. You may also want to take a look at Emory University’s Oxford College, a separate rural LAC within Emory’s aegis. (Or, indeed, Emory itself if you are feeling more ambitious.)
Also (like Davidson) in North Carolina, I want to emphasize others’ recommendations to look at Warren Wilson (because it really is different, not just the same-old, same-old) and Elon (because it’s a popular destination for smart kids from up north who aren’t tooth-and-claw academic competitors, and it’s a little larger than LACs so admits a lot of kids).
If you get as far north as southeastern Pennsylvania, it’s really worth looking at Franklin and Marshall and Ursinus, two excellent mid-list LACs.
You mentioned merit aid in one of your posts (that it was nice when your D1 was offered some). Be aware that Franklin & Marshall does not offer merit aid.
I would recommend: URichmond, American U, Catholic U, Villanova, Wash & Lee, Franklin and Marshall, Dickinson, Muhlenberg and Scranton.
intparent, are you sure that Franklin and Marshall doesn’t offer merit aid? I know someone who was offered a full ride there (she was a top student who went to Harvard). This was about 6 years ago.
My only thought is not to overload her, otherwise the impressions can turn into a blur, later. After the first few, some kids develop a god sense and know what they like or not, what they want to hone in on. (Some will just not like some schools before getting out of the car. That’s ok, unless you have a strong reason to explore the campus) Don’t try to do every tour and info session. But give her a chance to set some memories. And make some fun along the way.
Once your list is somewhat set, you can also see if some have videos online (or youtubes.) Neither of mine would have watched, but it can give you a sense.
If you are doing OAC schools, and just doing on the surface driveby sorts of tours, then one of the Denison, Kenyon, Oberlin, Wooster, Baldwin-Wallace, Mount Union collection would probably suffice (yes, they are all very different in their own lovely ways. I graduated from one). Don’t overschedule yourself or they will all blur together. Take notes (pictures are even better).
If you are crossing through western PA, try Allegheny or Westminster. Central PA: Susquehanna, Juniata, or even Penn State. Eastern Pa/Delaware, you might try UDel or any of the Philly area schools (subject to setting up a nice variety – anything from Penn to Villanova). I myself would not bother with Lehigh, ymmv, but that is a school with some real problems.
It is, imho, sometimes worthwhile to show them a school significantly BELOW their ability and/or radar-- teens often have no frame of reference for “small” or “basic” or “too big” so don’t be shy about having a totally open agenda just to establish a frame of reference for her. We found this kind of baseline touring to be our favorite part – no agenda, no requirements, no stress, just sightseeing. We saw some schools that sounded so good on paper but were so ugly in person that you couldn’t imagine being there, and vice versa. Have fun!
One more to consider - Albright in Reading. D really liked it and they offered her a significant merit scholarship.
@greenbutton what are the issues with Lehigh? It’s on my D18’s long list, so just curious.
Another recommendation for Warren Wilson College (Asheville, NC). I like the atmospherics of this place as well as the academics. High student and faculty engagement. Strong sense of community. Service orientation. I donate money to very few colleges; this is the only one I give to where we have no direct family history. https://www.warren-wilson.edu/
@NYMomof2 Franklin & Marshall switched its aid model a few years ago, from merit aid to only financial aid and no merit. This may have been within the last 2-3 years. That is the reason it came off my kid’s list – we need merit aid and are not eligible for financial aid.
The impression I get is that they have a systemic discipline, alcohol, criminal mischief problem that is exacerbated by a bunch of diversity issues, all of which are going unchecked and unaddressed by admins. That, of course, is certainly not a ground-level observation, so I wouldn’t take it as gospel. But with so many choices, I just would give Lehigh a thorough researching before bothering to visit.
@DoDEAMom18. Ah. I remember my own college road trip with my parents. It was so incredibly EXCITING and fun, and a truly amazing way to experience different campuses and start to figure out what I truly wanted (and hated). And we always recommend our students/families do this exact thing when they can. While college websites have gotten so much better (virtual tours, etc.) there’s nothing like actually being on campus, sitting in classes, talking to students, etc.
It looks like you’ve gotten a LOT of solid feedback and ideas on more schools to visit. (This community is insanely supportive!) I’m just curious if you’ve started thinking about what you’re going to do while at these schools. Are you going to sign up for official tours? Peruse campus/town on your own? I know you’ve done this before with your older daughter so you may know exactly how to maximize these visits, but if you need some help putting together a plan for what to do/look for/ask/etc. while you’re on these campuses, let me know!
I agree that we could spend a week or two simply visiting schools in VA, DC, Maryland and around. Agree wholeheartedly about just checking it all out… we want her to get the vibe of “wow, U of Alabama is huuuge” (voice of DD1 when we just happened by on the way elsewhere) and also “hmmmm, I thought UNC Ashville would be prettier”, go to some but not not not all the info sessions and most certainly not all the tours. I have a soft spot for Wilmington and have a dear friend there as a freshman so we will scoot over on the way back south. Marymount in Arlington, Roanoke, Wm & Mary (we have freshmen friends there), maybe George Mason but we know it is “bigger” all caught our eye after mentioned here. I need to figure out the timing to get over to Denison and Wittenburg and the others in the area. Nothing that a car and a full tank of gas can’t take care of. Keep the suggestions coming - I will post the final route in a few weeks. Merit aid is always great but we are not expecting much - but I do run the Net Calc on each school just to get an idea before it goes on the list. I learned last time around, some schools (like Eckerd) threw money at DD1 much faster than others.
OP, if you are overseas, perhaps you might try to get your hands on a copy of Fiske’s Guide to Colleges and The Insider’s Guide to the Colleges, if you haven’t already. There are many good suggestions on this thread; and since you can’t do them all, those two guides may help with your culling.
Loyola Maryland could be a good option and perhaps Elon
You have done this before, but we have found that the tours are a lot more useful than the info sessions. They rarely say anything in an info session that you can’t find on the Internet, and so many questions asked are either really basic or specific to one kid. Also, pick up the campus paper when you can (and some are online) – a great way to get a look beyond the admissions marketing message.
I have some guides but am not so tied up to deciding this year on the school…just getting a good road trip so daughter can peek around and get a feel of different types of campuses. Other daughter was 180% sure she would absolutely love Auburn. She loved the town, she loved the spirit, but she just did not love the vibe she picked up and quickly realized that it was not the school from her and too far from the water to be studying Coastal Environmental Science. That’s why we hit the road and see where the wind blow us (with a plan, of course!).