Oh and Pepperdine? Lol!!! I obviously am not describing her well. Not a match at all. We aren’t religious and she’s not conservative.
Additionally, based on my impressions from your description of your daughter & her interests, the University of Southern California (USC) might fit even though much larger & on the opposite coast.
Boston College is another.
Not sure about Villanova’s diversity, but certainly a great school with lots of cultural opportunities. The Main Line of Philadelphia is beautiful & upscale. Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus & Georgetown are others to consider.
My impression is that your daughter is sophisticated & upscale. Maybe I am way off target.
Very curious to read you & your daughter’s impressions of Furman University.
@homerdog: I only mention Pepperdine University as a lighter, more liberal & more sophisticated version of Furman University.
You have a good list so far…I look forward to following your D’s journey and can’t wait to hear how the spring break trip goes!
As for the many schools you are researching, you should definitely be reading the student newspapers if you aren’t already. Many allow you to subscribe and receive weekly headlines. For me, they are instrumental in figuring out the vibe of the school and the issues that the students are focused on.
@Publisher she will visit BC. I worry it’s not worth the money. The kids we know there are drinking up a storm. I need to find out more about classes and how those are going. I do think she’d like the location and the size and the rah rah aspect for sure. Right up her alley. We thought of Villanova since I wonder if it’s like BC but seems an easier admit.
We visited GT with S19 and D was with us. Didn’t like it. Too gloomy and buildings just too crowded together. Like S19, she likes some green space. City locations aren’t appealing to her so Fordham is out.
I don’t know how I feel about USC. Still feel like it’s the University of Spoiled Children. Do I think she’d like it? Probably. My sister in law went there. Had a great time back in the 80s. Naviance tells me nothing on USC. There’s a whole bunch of red and green all on top of each other. Green checks down to 29 ACT and 3.3 UW GPA yet some red check marks all the way up to perfect everything. No rhyme or reason. 65 kids applied last year, six got in and three went. I know two were recruited swimmers. Obviously three of these acceptances were not athletes since they got in and didn’t go. I should try to shake down the GCs and see what I can find out.
Hi @Mwfan1921 
Good idea about the newspapers. I’ll check those out. Thx!!
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With BC, you get Boston.
If drinking is a concern, then you may want to reconsider Denison University.
Quite possible that I am overestimating, or placing too much weight upon, sophistication.
With respect to College of Wm. & Mary, I would investigate male versus female admits from your daughter’s school.
Davidson College leans conservative, but is a far better option than Furman University academically, socially & with respect to diversity. In the not too distant past–a decade ago-- Davidson had a lot of “preacher wannabees”. My understanding is that that has changed.
From the Fiske Guide To Colleges 2020:
“Benefiting (befitting ?) its Baptist heritage, Furman is conservative, and the student body is largely regional.”
“Furman University has been called the “Country Club of the South”. And, if you’re Southern, white, and Christian, you’re likely to feel like a member.”
We’ve been to Davidson and know it. For S19, it was one of his final choices and we did a lot of research on it. I think D would like it. Just need to visit other schools to compare.
Everyone at our high school with a 3.5UW and 31 and above got into W&M RD. Of course I can’t see if they are male or female but it’s a decent number of kids - five or six per year. I doubt they are all boys. In fact, I’m pretty sure they are mostly girls.
College of William & Mary is a great school. Really nice students. Excellent academics. Just a lopsided number of females over males (58% female / 42% male.)
@Publisher It’s more the overwhelmingly large percentage of VA students at W&M that’s a little concerning. She’s afraid kids will come with kids they know and cliques already form before they even come to campus. Maybe kids go home a lot. This was a big concern of S19’s as well and the biggest reason it was scratched off the list after he received all of his acceptances. I would have to find out more about what it’s like for the OOS crowd.
So, I was just at Furman last month on a visit. Beautiful campus…grounds, buildings, people…yes, country club-esque. Similar in that vein to U Richmond.
Very impressive President and administrators. A good presentation, increasing diversity is a primary focus…but they trotted out the same bullet points and ‘action plan’ as every predominately white affluent school does. But again, smart, thoughtful people. Got the sense the academics are rigorous, very competitive to get into the business school. Good outcomes (internships, career placement).
Our guide was from my home town, but went to a local private HS rather than the public HS where my kids go. I believe this gal is probably similar to @homerdog’s D in some ways. She is having a good experience…she is in a sorority. It’s hard to know if the Greek Life pervades the social life…I expect for some kids it does, others probably don’t care.
Some students seem to feel that there is a conservatism that sometimes overreaches…like busting kids for drinking as they are walking home from an off-campus party (seems similar to what is going on at Butler). So that’s why I said to read the student newspaper…I’m not sure how prevalent this feeling among the students is. And who knows what else you will learn from the newspaper!
I look forward to hearing what you both think of it if you end up visiting!
Furman University reports that about one-third of males are in frats, while over 60% of females are in sororities ! Very high considering freshmen girls are not in sororities.
@homerdog: Your concerns about Virginia residents seem reasonable, but the kids i
whom I have known at Wm. & Mary never mentioned any such concerns. Your description, however, better illustrates Villanova University. Used to be complaints that students knew each other from Catholic high schools & remained as a group during the first year or two of college. Not sure if still true.
@Mwfan1921 : Was your tour guide at Furman from your hometown a freshman ?
I did read somewhere (can’t remember where!) that a large percentage of the kids go to church on Sundays at Furman. If that’s the case, then it won’t be a match for D. I just don’t know how true that is. I’d like to find out the similarities and differences between Furman, Davidson, and W&L. I think it’s going to take some digging and asking around here locally. And reading the schools’ newspapers!
@Publisher I know two young women at Villanova. One lives three doors away and one just a couple of blocks from us. I will ask them about how they felt they fit there. Thanks for that heads up. I never heard that about Villanova. Even S is getting a little bit of that at Bowdoin. Lots of kids from Boston who either know each other or know of each other and can skip home on the train easily for the weekend if they like.
Furman University students definitely attend church on Sundays . If you don’t, it will probably be noticed.(Not sure if still accurate, but invitations to attend Sunday morning church services with another student were commonplace.)
Again, FWIW, Pepperdine is a lighter, more accepting, more liberal version of Furman.
The Fiske Guide To Colleges 2020: Regarding Furman University: "A political science major says , “Students here tend to be sheltered and ignorant of real-world issues. They are very image conscious.”
@Publisher You know that for sure?
No, she is a senior and I did not know her, or her family. Small world for sure.
I know that Furman is a very religious school populated largely by conservative, religious students.
I know for sure that it is perfectly normal to ask a friend to attend Sunday morning church services with you.
If a student would be uncomfortable at Liberty University in Virginia, then that student probably should not target Furman.
Based on what she likes, Bates is a bit of an odd choice. Boston College and Villanova align much more with Richmond and Wake. Did she look at Trinity (CT)? DS had a classmate who was a dancer and was really happy there. Connecticut College has a very good reputation for dance. Union may also check a lot of boxes. I’m trying to think of ones where the town is nearby. I would suggest Hamilton if not for that.
I will be curious to hear how she likes Denison. There are kids who party but it’s much more "balanced " than it used to be. It actually sounds like it could be a good fit. Everyone in our family was really impressed with what was going on there.
Just as a thought, did Tulane hit her radar? It’ll be helpful to get her reactions to some of these places.
@gardenstategal yeah Bates is an outlier. I’m holding onto it in case she really likes the feel of Bowdoin when she goes out to visit her brother this spring. He may be able to talk her into that Maine LAC experience since he’s loving it. 
Tulane does keep coming up. I just keep going back to how NO one gets in from our high schools except athletes. It is a SEA of waitlists on Naviance. 20+ kids apply each year and it looks like all waitlisted. Need to find out more. Seems like a student from our school would have to go there ED to show enough interest.
If we visit Colgate this summer, we will hit Hamilton since it’s so close. I’ll get back to everyone on Denison. I think we will try to go sometime this winter. Didn’t consider Trinity mostly because we really aren’t looking to make the list much longer and it’s not on the radar out here in Chicago. Guessing it’s full of east coast kids and she wouldn’t feel like it fits.