Anyone with knowledge of this school? Appears to be somewhat popular at Ds HS the past few years.
What is the draw of this school?
Do they offer generous merit aid? COA is close to $67k.
Dickinson is a wonderful small liberal arts college, increasingly competitive admissions, and it does give merit awards up to around $20k. It is known for its strong programs in, and emphasis on, environmental sustainability and international. Has an international business major, which straddles business/global awareness and is a popular major for students looking at careers in business. Lovely campus, nice kids, about 2 hours from Philly and from Pittsburgh. We loved it, and it was my kid’s first choice school for quite a while.
@intparent had a student at Dickinson, and is very positive about that experience and the opportunities available.
Weighing in – yes, my D got merit aid and had a great experience there. She was a poli sci & public policy double major. She studied abroad 1st semester of jr year, and had a great D.C. internship 2nd semester. Their D.C. program is somewhat unique and better than those offered by many other schools, IMHO. She graduated a few years ago, but still goes back occasionally for alumni panels and keeps in touch with some of her profs. She got a very good job upon graduation through a connection with an older D’son student. She did not participate in Greek life, but had a ton of friends and was happy socially. She is now engaged to a D’son classmate. 
@intparent , would you mind sharing what type of job your daughter got after graduation? My DD is very interested in the same majors (adding in an international component as well), studying abroad and spending a semester in DC. Dickinson is near the top of her list, so I’d love to hear about the types of jobs students with those majors are getting after graduation. Thanks!
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She works for a company that does higher education consulting. She could have worked in politics, but her interest waned a bit after her internships. Her fiancé (Econ major) works for Deloitte. She has friends who work as staffers for Senators, for non-profits in DC, and one who is a teacher. A few have gone on to grad school. I’d say in general D’son is a bit more pre-professional/practical than a lot of LACs. PM me if you want more info on her internships, etc.
My daughter is in her first year at Dickinson. She really loves it!
Academically, she feels very challenged but not stressed like she was in her competitive high school. She has really liked each one of her professors and the very small class sizes. She feels very engaged and interested in each one of her classes, probably the most important thing when choosing a college in my opinion.
Socially, she has a great group of friends and although Dickinson is far from a party school and the town is very cute but small, she feels she has made some very strong connections and friendships. She’s had lots of opportunities to get involved on campus and has taken advantages of several of them.
She definitely feels like she is a part of a community and is getting an excellent education. She’s already setting up a summer internship for herself and is focused on both college and career.
So I think the biggest draw for her to Dickinson was: small class sizes, great professors, beautiful campus, walkable downtown, the international programs, internship/career connections, and the general vibe of the college.
We were certainly grateful for their generous financial aid. If not for that, she would not have been able to attend.
Hope that helped
Thank you! You have both been very helpful! Keeping our fingers crossed that she hears something positive soon - and that she gets some merit money to make it financially feasible!
We really liked this one. I was impressed that more than one student approached us as we were considering dining options and offered help.
Our experience was that merit was less generous than at several others, but it may have been that DS wasn’t in their desired demographic as they are known for their merit.
Can also say that Dickinson scooped up a couple of kids from our school who went on to win some pretty awesome awards, which led me to believe they have an interesting student body.
And the town is cute and nicely integrated into the school.
It’s a gem.
My D found the students at D’son friendlier than any other campus she’d been to as a visitor. I’ve had people scoff at that out here, but it is true. She said it was the ONLY college where she sat in on a class (and she sat in on classes at maybe 10 LACs) where other students in the class struck up a friendly conversation with her before the class started.
And as I may have posted on other threads, the coconut cake served in the cafeteria is quite amazing. 
^^the cookies too! (Which we were advised by students not to miss.)
DS also found the students very friendly (although he was fortunate to have had similar experiences at several other schools.) For me, that always makes an impression!
Regarding Dickinson friendliness, I recently attended a sporting event at which athletes from a great many schools were competing. I randomly struck up a conversation with another mother, who I learned had a D currently attending a different school but whose older D had just graduated from Dickinson. She commented that she found it interesting that at these sorts of events she always ends up meeting and chatting with people affiliated with Dickinson–far more than with people from other colleges, including her younger D’s LAC or her own LAC alma mater.
Thanks again for your feedback! My daughter was accepted with a nice scholarship :), but Dickinson’s COA is still the highest of all of her options (by quite a bit). As much as she LOVES the school, I just don’t think we can justify paying that much more when she’s got other schools she likes almost as much. She’s very disappointed, but I keep telling her that she’ll be happy and find “her people” wherever she ends up. It sounds like an absolutely wonderful school and we hope all of your students continue to enjoy their time on campus.
@startingsoon My D is in the same boat. It’s her first choice, “dream” school. We both fell in love with it when we visited last spring. She was accepted and offered a nice scholarship, but the COA is still far above her other options, by a minimum of 15k. Like you, we can’t justify spending (i.e., borrowing) $60k or more, above and beyond her other options, which are very good. I’m not sure she’s completely given up the dream, but she’s 90% there.