My D23 is interested in equine science or equestrian studies so you won’t be getting a review of visits to Ivies from me but rather schools that probably have not been mentioned on CC!
In May, we were across the pond so we visited Hartpury University in the UK. It’s a small school outside of Gloucester, near the Cotswolds. They seem to be known for their sports and their equestrian programs. I think this one moved down on her list (not sure if that makes me happy or sad). She thought it was “too old”! Hello?! We’re in jolly ol’ England, of course it’s going to be old! To be fair to her, few of the buildings were updated but they were in the midst of building a new library and they had a new student dining center. The equine programs are pretty impressive and her opinion of them did not change. Unfortunately, our tour guide didn’t give us much time at the equestrian center. My daughter was concerned about the housing situation. Most upper classmen live in Gloucester which is about 15 minutes away and the buses only run between 9-5 so if she needed to be at the barn early she would have a hard time getting there. (Why is it so hard for our kids to imagine making friends who would be willing to give them rides? Or living on campus longer?). Anyhow….the admission counselor was very nice and seems like she will be very helpful if we decide to pursue this one. And as of now, D23 says she still wants to apply. (Fun fact….some of the Harry Potter films were filmed in the Gloucester Cathedral!)
Back in the states….we toured University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio and that one is UP. UF (now don’t confuse it with Univ of Florida!), is a small (about 3500 total students) religious school, about 45 miles south of Toledo. They have a well-known equestrian program. My daughter was sold when they told her she would be spending 2-3 hours a day, every day, at the equestrian center, plus Saturdays. She also got to meet the coach of the hunter-jumper team (they practice at 5:45 am!) and that was encouraging. So her major would be equestrian studies-English (they have a Western major too). It is a BS degree. And she could double major in Equine Business. I was impressed that they encourage the equestrian students to double major. The campus was small but had some newer buildings. Seemed like lots of options for housing so upper classmen didn’t immediately jump off campus. But the barn was about a 15 minute drive from campus. They had a shuttle that ran Mon-Fri, 8-5 (plus Saturdays to the barn and WalMart) but again she’s worried about how she’d get their for practice if she made the team and how she would get there on the weekends. But after freshmen year we could see letting her have a car at college. One nice thing about UF (remember, not the Gators!
), is so much is included with tuition—parking, laundry, and BOOKS! Having just dropped my middle kid off at Purdue where everything comes with a charge so they can keep tuition flat, this was a nice selling point. DH is having a hard time with the major (if it were up to him, all our kids would be engineering majors 
) and the cost, but the merit aid was pretty good. Anyhow….as we were driving back D23 asked if she could fill out the application from her phone or if she needed to wait to do it when we got home.
Other schools we plan to visit…Delaware Valley University (I think I learned of that school here on CC! And they have an exchange program with Hartpury!), University of New Hampshire, University of Kentucky, and Colorado State University.