College searches for shy, quirky daughter. Warmer weather a plus!

College Search & Selection
41

Unfortunately, most Texas and southern schools have dominant Greek cultures, so it’s going to be hard to avoid if you’re really set on her being close to home. Smaller schools that I would recommend, Sewannee and Rhodes have very active Greek cultures. Rice doesn’t have Greek organizations, but it is a pretty intense school and a little more science-oriented than a liberal arts college.

We sort of went through the same thinking as the the OP. D2 was dead set on applying to Vanderbilt even though it didn’t really fit with her personality. Without ever visiting, she seemed to be really taken with the prepster life but we as her parents didn’t think she knew what she was getting herself into, especially at a rich Southern school like Vanderbilt with a very Greek-dominant social scene. In the end, D2 got in ED into a northeast school and so these thoughts about Vanderbilt were put aside but I sort of feel like we dodged a bullet because she would have been miserable.

42

Such good suggestions here. I second (or third or fourth) Trinity.

43

~Mild-weather LACs with the highest average merit awards (> $10K), where >= 10% of students get merit money:

$24,648 Hendrix
$20,681 Agnes Scott (women only)
$20,150 Scripps (women only)
$19,384 Davidson
$18,874 Southwestern
$18,624 Centre
$17,749 Willamette
$17,614 Rhodes
$14,514 Puget Sound
$14,246 Eckerd
$13,910 Lewis & Clark

Source:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/apps/g/page/local/college-grants-for-the-affluent/1526/

44

What about Baylor? She would most likely qualify for merit aid or is that too close to home? My friend’s daughter from LA attends Baylor & loves it - good size, friendly kids, great academics.

45

By the way, Trinity, which is not on the above list, is 5th on USNWR’s list of schools with the highest percentage of kids getting merit aid: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/most-merit-aid

They’re also unusually transparent about what scores/gpa’s qualify for different merit levels:
https://new.trinity.edu/admissions-aid/financial-aid/academic-merit-scholarships-first-year-students

46

^Agree that the merit aid list is not comprehensive at all. Furthermore, merit aid is only one part of the cost of attendance equation.

I wish all schools would be like Trinity and be transparent about merit aid levels. Here are a couple more pertinent to this thread.
http://www.rollins.edu/financial-aid/as-cps-financial-aid/scholarships/index.html
http://www.bsc.edu/admission/scholarships.cfm

47

The list in post #42 is not meant to be a comprehensive list of colleges that offer the most merit aid.
It is a selective list of LACs (liberal arts colleges), drawn from a specific source, in states with relatively mild weather, where at least 10% of students get merit aid. Rollins and BSC may well be worth considering, too.

USNWR labels Trinity (TX) a “regional university” (not a LAC). However, if we want to classify it as a LAC (which makes sense to me, based on its Carnegie classification), it would fall near the top that list (with an average grant of $19,506 to freshmen merit aid recipients in 2014-15).

48

The only reason Trinity is designated a University instead of a LAC is because they do have a small graduate program in business, about 200 kids total. There are about 2300 undergraduates, and that is the complete focus of their educational effort. I have been on the campus many times now, and have yet to actually meet a graduate student! (They must all be studying). :slight_smile:

49

@blueskyforever - I believe Baylor requires Chapel for all students. My daughter has ruled that out. Thanks!

50

I second New College of FL. They have (or have had, in past 2 years) an automatic $15k scholarship for out-of-state students, which brings the annual cost of attendance down below $30k. It costs us the same to send my son there as it would to send him to our own state’s public flagship. It sounds as if it might suit your daughter perfectly.

51

Yeah, I’ve gotta presume that the reason Trinity clings to that “Regional University” business is that they’re #1 in the South on USNWR’s regional university list, whereas they’d probably fall somewhere around the 40’s on the LAC list. But it does mean folks hunting for LACs can miss them. They’re basically identical in spirit to schools like Wesleyan and U. of Puget Sound that just have a handful of graduate students and DO characterize themselves as LACs. In essentially all respects, Trinity walks and quacks like a LAC duck.

52

Trinity does offer a limited engineering degree program. But I agree that Trinity is spirit is a LAC. Great school.

53

Trinity University was my first thought when reading your post. I also thought of Austin College, but I see that’s been ruled out. If she doesn’t want a religious school, I don’t think University of Dallas would be a good fit. (A friend of my daughter used to go there and said it was very religious. She wasn’t happy there and transferred out.) You might want to also consider University of Texas at Dallas, in particular the Honors Program. I knew nothing about it until the college counselor at my daughter’s school recommended it, and after some research was quite surprised.

P.S. Baylor does indeed have required chapel as well as several religion classes.

54

@txstella, offering engineering doesn’t disqualify you from being a LAC, though it is relatively rare. Swarthmore, Bucknell, Union, Lafayette and Trinity College are all LACs that, like Trinity U, offer engineering as a major.

55

@txmom11, my son is a fifth-year senior at Southwestern, graduating in May. If you have any specific questions about SU, you can message me. There are a couple each of fraternities and sororities on campus, but also lots of non-Greek students (including my son) and activities. One thing to be aware of is SU requires all students to live on-campus for two years. There are traditional dorms and on-campus apartments (those are generally for upper-classmen), so factor in the housing costs when you are researching. Depending on what type of housing you have, you may also be required to purchase at least the minimum meal plan. It is a small but beautiful campus.

56

@txmom11, I want to add value to this thread, primarily because CC and specifically the thread started by
@dadof1 last year “Southern LACs” was particularly helpful to me in a search to find the best fit schools for my S16 (Son graduating in 2016).

S16 is also in a DFW area public high school. Don’t think we are in the same area as I would never classify our school as preppy! S has a sibling at UT Austin.

You can follow my visits from last year around this time, so I won’t rehash our visits. But, because of the information available on the Southern LACs thread, S was was able to visit schools in our area, and then pretty much eliminate many that were not within driving distance that S (OK “we”) determined would not be a better fit (socially / financially).

Once he found both Trinity U and Hendrix College, he felt he had two gems that he would be happy to attend. Then S was able to eliminate several that appeared too preppy, too Greek, or that did not have a particular strength in his intended major area. Secondarily, he is looking for music and theatre programs that he can participate in and enjoy.

So, with all that - I suggest - if you have not already - sign up for the January 30th Trinity in Focus day - it is on a Saturday. I recommend that date more than the February 13th date - as the Feb one coincides with both Valentine’s Day and the TMEA All State Convention in San Antonio. San Antonio will be mobbed the Feb 13th weekend and hotel rooms, should you need one, will be expensive. If you don’t need to experience the San Antonio Riverwalk area on your visit, then the Feb date would be fine, but steer clear of the Riverwalk and secure a hotel near the airport instead of downtown.

And if Trinity in Focus dates don’t work, I am sure they do a great job with a more individualized visit (which I learned after a few of these group visit days - my S16 prefers the more personalized visits anyway!) It was me - as the parent - that loved the group day visits that attract many families with prospective students.

We did a very individualized visit at Hendrix College - down to a reserved parking space in front of the admissions building, snacks, water and coffee in the lounge area, lunch in the cafeteria, separate tours for S and parents, sample class and a meeting with a professor. We also just last week attended a Winter Reception in Dallas put on by Hendrix. The President is formerly from Dallas. It was well done with a panel of students from the Dallas area that currently attend.

UTD in Richardson is worth a visit - an can be considered a mid-sized public because there are only about 4K students that live on campus. Dorms are amazing with a private bedroom for each student. Their STEM and business majors are strong, not sure about the others. UTD offers generous scholarships.

Definitely keep UT Austin on her apply list if she remains interested, and encourage her to apply early before October 15. She will need to be very clear of her choice of major when she applies. Look at the school of Liberal Arts, Liberals Arts Honors and even the highly competitive Plan II program - which is a major in itself. Plan II puts a tremendous emphasis on writing. It is hard to secure a spot online to sit in on the Plan II session. It is worth looking ahead on your calendar and watching when they open up new dates - even 6 months out for the Plan II or Liberal Arts Honors information sessions.

57

Thank you @lots2do . I have gone back and read all of the Southern LAC thread - it has been one of the most helpful threads I have come across on CC. do you know if Trinity provides more of the Focus dates later in the year? Unfortunately, our D has commitments both of those dates. I considered visiting Trinity and Southwestern over Spring Break, but their Spring Break coincides with ours, and I think it might be better to visit while classes are in session. Would you agree? I had not previously considered UTD as we know very little about the campus and programs, but I have now put it on my list for further research.

58

There’s at least one Trinity in Focus event in the fall. We attended one last September.

59

@rayrick What disqualified Trinity as a LAC is the fact that it grants a sufficient number of masters degrees in Accounting and Education to trip the threshold in the classification system.

The notion of a “Regional University” is a name that USNews uses for schools that grant masters degrees, but not enough Phd degrees to be called a “Research University”.

It has nothing to do with geographic reach or name recognition. It also reflects a bias of ratings by people from academia. Since masters programs typically don’t feed academia, they are not as valued when rated by academics (i.e. the Peer Rank). The Peer Rank is best thought of as a ranking by academics for those who want to go into academia (where there are little to no jobs).

I use the past tense because there is a brand new iteration of the Carnegie Classification System that is out for review that has them classified as a Baccalaureate College. I don’t know if the threshold has changed or the number of masters graduates has changed since the last iteration. It will be interesting to see if they remain in that category after the review period and whether USNews moves them…

In general, there are a number of schools whose ranking suffers due to the fact that their structure does not align well with the classification categories.

http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=trinity+university&s=all&id=229267#programs

60

Interesting, @mastadon. I always thought it was up to the individual institution to decide what category they want to be in. Apologies to the OP for hijacking their thread with minutia!