Richmond is a typical midwest small town. You have much more diversity of income levels than you will in a suburb. Your parents may be worried about the presence of more poor people than they are used to. This may mean more meth problems and domestic violence issues in those neighborhoods. As far as things like muggings or armed robbery, I don’t think you need to worry.
I got the 16k merit based, 20k need based and 2.3k work study too, but I still require more, so I’ve been waiting for the last two weeks and hope they reconsider!
wow! @evelynne1996 congratulations!
Is anyone else having tons of trouble with financial aid? It’s so irritating.
@MomofM, Earlham is definitely small at roughly 1,200 students, but now that I’m finishing up my freshman year, I wouldn’t have it any other way. There aren’t many of us, but it’s definitely quality over quantity here. I feel blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing people that have only inspired me to grow as a person. Not everyone necessarily gets along with each other, but the small size makes for a very tight-knit community as well. Sometimes I wish I could blend into the crowd more, but generally I’m quite happy to see familiar faces everywhere on campus I go.
The book Colleges That Change Lives (which I highly recommend if you haven’t already read it), also reminded me this: every year at a school of Earlham’s size, 300 students will leave and 300 new ones will show up. So while there are only 1,200 students on campus at a time, you could actually meet up to 2,100 different peers over four years. How does that sound?
I like it! Leaning Earlham here. yea!
@sippingatorade I am! right, exactly!!
Curious to know…any final decisions with deposits paid?!! I have these things hanging to the very last minute. We are VERY NEARLY 100% Earlham and I couldn’t be more pleased. Had phone conversations with several faculty members on campus this week, plus a couple of support services, and feel like the support, campus atmosphere, and academic rigor is right on target.
My daughter finally signed her name to the card and I made the deposit online! Phew! I did not want to be worrying on April 30. Very happy, although I was a little concerned about some negative comments on the Earlham FB page (mostly related to seemingly conservative posters uncomfortable with liberal bias). But those comments - and what college would get 100% positive?- are outweighed by the wonderful comments on this forum - and even some private messages that really touched me - and, more importantly, by my daughter’s excellent experiences when visiting, especially in terms of the student body, which I expect to be a great match and the Quaker ideals (although we’re Jewish). She is still a little concerned about the small theater department but I personally think that will be outweighed by the personal attention. And for Japanese, a major interest of hers, I don’t think the school, at least for the midwest, can be beat.
There is an informal (quite small) facebook group for parents of students if you have any questions. The school would be considered liberal by most standards, but has students who come who are conservative. For some of them it is the first time they have been expected to be empathetic to other ways of thinking. If your daughter looks to take advantage of the opportunities that Earlham offers, she will have a wonderful experience. If she only looks for problems, I’m sure she can find some. From what you post, Earlham seems like a very good fit. Consider the wilderness program if she would be interested. It is a great way to transition to college and meet a group of incoming first year students.
I want to second maffdad’s suggestion to consider August Wilderness. You don’t have to be an experienced hiker/camper or anything. Both of our kids did it and are very glad they did. It was difficult at times (no cell phones, ipods, or computers!) but overall a fantastic way to plunge into life at Earlham. (BTW, there’s financial aid available for Wilderness, but the deadline to apply for that can kind of sneak up on you . . . it’s May 1.) A note to fellow parents: I have to admit that Wilderness was tough for us too, since that “no cell phone” rule cuts both ways! But it also helped us make the break. After you’ve gone a couple of weeks without even talking to your kid, the worst is over! I still think back and smile at a quote from the opening ceremony for our daughter’s wilderness experience: “Ships are safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are built for.”
Indeed.
I went on August Wilderness last summer (mountain, specifically), and I will vouch for it as well. The physical challenge was definitely as excruciating as you might have heard, especially for someone like me who wasn’t an exercise freak back then, but we all managed and supported each other through it. People think I’m crazy for walking three miles off campus nowadays, but there’s nothing like going twice the distance with 50 pounds on your back to teach you not to underestimate the power of your own two feet.
It was quite comforting to meet some of my fellow freshmen before New Student Orientation as well so I wasn’t completely lost in the crowd when we returned to campus to start the school year. August Wilderness also counts as a three-credit course, and I felt more prepared for classes on campus after getting an early introduction to college-level thinking in the mountains of Utah.
The program is quite expensive at $1,850, but if you apply now before May 1, you could get up to 50% off in financial aid! Luckily there aren’t any essays to write, so applying is the easy part.
But if the wilderness still doesn’t strike your fancy, Earlham has just created another pre-orientation program this year called PLACE (http://www.earlham.edu/center-for-integrated-learning/programs/sustainability/place/). This also helps incoming freshmen meet faculty, upperclassmen, and each other early, but instead of hiking or canoeing over a 1000 miles away from campus, students stay in Richmond and get acquainted with the community they’ll spend the next four or so years of their lives in. I don’t know how this new program will turn out, but it seems like a good way to keep students out of the college bubble.
Just wanted to put in my two-bit here 
I’m an international student (from India) and I applied to Earlham VERY late (quite possibly near the regular decision deadline) and out of a whim. I might add that I did it just because I saw that there was no application fee! Haha. But now that I’ve confirmed my attendance and I’m looking back, I’m glad I did. Earlham seems to be the perfect place for a small-town international student to transition into the life of an American college student, especially because we do not have “credits” or “GPAs” here, so that’ll take some time getting used to.
I got a financial aid package of $20,000 Presidential scholarship, $20,000 need-based grant and $2,330 work grant (which I probably won’t use). Still gotta cover the living expenses and a part of the tuition, but after looking at Earlham’s academic and student life, I’m thinking it’ll be worth it in the long run!!
@federalconman14 PLACE sounds amazing! I think I’ll apply there if my father can find an additional $175 somewhere 
This question is not worth a new threat - but does anyone know whether Earlham gives new students an academic planner during NSO or should my daughter buy one from Staples?
Everyone got a free planner in their mailbox at the beginning of last year! I hope to see one in my mail again once I return next week.
I know this thread is long and old but I thought I would update on what happened with my financial aid!
Earlham was my top choice, my dream school since I was a sophomore in high school. However, I ended up not attending Earlham and am now happily attending Linfield College in Oregon.
I was disappointed with the amount of merit aid I got from Earlham but as someone else on the fourm said, wait till you get the full financial aid package. When I got the financial aid package the total aid I received was 27K with no work-study. Though it seems great I received extremely generous offers from other schools with work study. When my parents and I added up the costs it was quite a stretch for me to attend Earlham, We also had to put in the cost of travel which was quite hefty coming from California. Although, my parents said they’d make it work I decided to take advantage of another’s school (Linfield’s) very generous offer. Earlham is an amazing school though and still holds a very special place in my heart but unfortunately it all came down to the numbers.
@ethuilen : Although this is way too late, my aid from Earlham was 44K with work study of 2K but I ended up going to DePauw which is giving me about 39K . I have a few friends who go to Earlham and they tell me that I made the right choice. The point I am getting to is that follow your heart and go where you wanna go. If you have the resources for it then pick Earlham since it’s your dream school.