<p>What schools may not receive a ton of attention here (or on the street) but provide a top-notch education nonetheless? Whether they have unconventional curricula, are located in Podunk, or refuse to play the US News rankings game, I'm looking for the schools that fly under the radar. If it's discussed ad infinitum here, this is not the thread for that school. You might think of this as an expansion of the CTCL list. Thanks!</p>
<p>PS: I'm being purposefully vague. The door is wide open as long as the school is academically strong in the liberal arts.</p>
<p>i’ll bite… UAB… strong in sciences, health related majors… tier 1 school… great research school. reasonable COA (below 25K including dorm for oos), automatic merit scholarships, strong honors programs</p>
<p>My husband did his undergrad engineering at Clarkson in NY state. When daughter was at one of the engineering days at Cornell, her professor said that his best grad students came from Clarkson, so they must be doing something right.</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO is a fantastic state school in California.</p>
<p>Colorado School of Mines is an excellent engineering school but is not in the college listing of CC.</p>
<p>Earlham College is one of the leaders of the anti-rankings movement; for that alone, I applaud them.</p>
<p>Podunk, check. </p>
<p>Earlham’s Quaker roots are revealed in such things as their custom of eschewing titles; the greenest freshman addresses the President simply as “Doug.” And they “concense” about everything. It’s a very collaborative environment.</p>
<p>Two-thirds of students do a semester abroad. International enrollment is around 15%. </p>
<p>One indicator of Earlham’s academic strength: It is in the 98th percentile among US colleges in the percentage of graduates who go on to receive PhDs.</p>
<p>Bryant University. Excellent business school, stunning campus, great job placement. Former GE CEO and business legend Jack Welch has famously said some of the best executives he’s worked with have attended places like Bryant.</p>
<p>“What schools may not receive a ton of attention here (or on the street) but provide a top-notch education nonetheless?”</p>
<p>Depends on how you define “top-notch.” Pretty much all of the schools on the lesser-known thread are solid, but you’re not going to get the same caliber of academics/educat as at the top schools. </p>
<p>I recall a list of “hidden gem” schools, from several years ago, that included Davidson (a definite gem, but hardly hidden). More recent lists dub Lehigh and the like as “the new Ivies” - - that’s a bit of a stretch, and those schools, while not top tier, are still highly rated.</p>
<p>Earlham, Clark and URoch great schools and fairly well-known - - but all with increasingly competitive admissions (especially Rochester). Ditto for the other CTCL schools (a number of which are seeking high-achieving students through large numbers of merit grants, thought many of the grants are modest-moderate).</p>
<p>Again, one can get a solid education at many of the lesser-know schools w/ less compet admissions standards, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say “top-notch.”</p>
<p>The college website Uni-Go compiled a list recently, titled, “Best Kept Secrets - Top 10 Schools that fly under the academic radar - but shouldn’t”</p>
<p>I’d put Rhodes in the same category as Earlham and Clark, being “lesser known” but not necessarily the same level of non-competitive admissions as a school like UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham).</p>
<p>That isn’t to say that you can’t get a “top-notch” education anywhere–you can, it just may be “easier” (requiring less student initiative) at some places than others.</p>
<p>My daughter looked at (and was accepted by!) several CTCL schools, so she seems to be going for the vibe you’re looking for. Other schools not on the CTCL list that she loved (and seemed similar) were Sarah Lawrence and Pitzer. Sarah Lawrence does not play the ratings game and has a very interesting curriculum based on Oxford. Pitzer seemed quite similar to Hampshire, being in a 5-school consortium and giving students lots of freedom combined with lots of resources. One warning about Sarah Lawrence: no merit aid, only need-based, which has unfortunately knocked it off our list.</p>
<p>Not sure how it is for liberal arts… but I like the co-op emphasis and international opportunities at Northeastern in Boston. It was once more of a commuter school, but in recent years it has really been increasing in the ratings, selectivity, etc.</p>
<p>I had never heard of Mudd or RH until doing research on engineering schools. And wow, both wonderful schools! Franklin Olin College too (new and tiny and competitive, but incredible for the right match students). </p>
<p>My husband and I both graduated from Clarkson. It’s a good choice for students that don’t need cities or warm winters.</p>
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