<p>I think the CTCL moniker is what causes all the problems. Call it "Schools That Curmudgeon's Kid Would Like" or "Great Schools You May Have Missed" and folks wouldn't be so concerned who was left off a list that was never intended to be comprehensive but ......."change lives"? Man, everybody wants a school for their kid that changes lives and , do you know what? They ALL can.</p>
<p>Rather than post about specific schools, I recommend viewers (re)take a look at this thread <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/370873-brag-about-your-lesser-known-school-27.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/370873-brag-about-your-lesser-known-school-27.html</a>
Below is a list of some of the schools discussed, but you really need to go back to the postings to see why certain schools were listed. Lots of personal experiences. And yes, CTCL schools are on this list as well.
Albertson College (Caldwell, ID)
Albion College (MI)
Albright College (PA)
Alma College (MI)
Alverno College (Milwaukee, WI)
Augustana College (IL)
Austin College (TX)
Belmont College
Beloit (WI)
Bentley College (Waltham, MA)
Berea
Bradley University (IL)
Brandeis (MA)
BU (Boston, MA)
Butler University (IN)
Cal State Monterey Bay (Monterey, CA)
Centre College (Danville, KY)
Chapman University
Christopher Newport University (Newport News, VA)
Clark (Worcester, MA)
Coe College (IA)
College of the Atlantic
Colorado College
Connecticut College (New London, CT)
Cornell College (IA)
Denison (OH0
Drew Univ.
Eckerd College (St. Pete, FL)
Elon Univ (NC)
Embry Riddle (Daytona Beach, FL)
Fairleigh Dickinson University (Madison, NJ)
FAU (Boca Raton, FL)
Fontbonne College (MO)
Furman Univ. (SC)
Georgetown College (KY)
Georgia State University
Gonzaga (WA)
Goshen College (IN)
Grinnell College (Grinnell, IA)
Grove City College (Grove City, PA)
Guilford College (NC)
Gustavus Adolphus College (MN)
Hampden Sydney College (VA)
Hanover College (IN)
Heidelberg College (OH)
Hendrix College (Conway, Ark)
Hillsdale College (MI)
Hiram College (OH)
Hobart & William Smith College (NY)
Humboldt State (CA)
Illinois College (IL)
James Madison University (VA)
Kallamazoo College (Kallamazoo, MI)
Kansas State University
Keene State College
Kenyon College (OH)
Lake Forest (Lake Forest, IL)
Lawrence U(WI)
Linfield College (OR)
Louisian Tech University (Ruston, LA)
Manhattanville College (NY)
Marlboro College (VT)
Mercer College (Macon, GA.)
Miami U (OH)
Millikin University (Decatur, IL)
Millsaps College (MS)
Muhlenberg College (PA)
NC State University
Nebraska Wesleyan University (NE)
New England College (Henniker, New Hampshire,)
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Northland College (Ashland, WI.)
Oberlin (OH)
Occidental (CA)
Ohio Northern University (Ada, OH)
Otterbein College (Westerville, OH)
Pepperdine (Malibu, CA)
Prescott College (Prescott, AZ)
Principia College (Elsah, IL)
Randolph College
Rensselear Polytechnical Instit. (Troy, NY)
Rhodes Colege (TN)
Ripon College (WI)
Roanoke College (Roanoke, VA)
Santa Clara University (CA)
Sewanee/The University of the South (TN)
Simmons College (Boston, MA)
SMU (Dallas, TX)
Southwestern U (TX)
Spring Arbor University
St. Lawrence University (NY)
St. Marys (MD)
St. Marys College (South Bend, IN)
St. Michael's College (VT)
Stonehill College (Easton MA)
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
TCU (Texas Christian U)
The Evergreen State College (WA)
Trinity U (TX)
Truman State (MO)
U Cincinnati (OH)
Univ of Denver (CO)
Univ of North Dakota
University of Delaware
University of Mary Washington (VA)
University of Maryland
University of Oregon Clark Honors College (OR)
University of Redlands (CA)
University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN.)
University of Tulsa (OK)
University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee
Ursinus College (PA)
Warren Wilson College (NC)
Washington & Jefferson College (PA)
Wayne State
Wells College (NY)
Western Washington Univ
Westminster College (PA)
Whitworth (Spokane, WA)
Wichita State (KS)
Willamette (OR)
Wittenberg University (OH)
Wooster (OH)
Xavier College (OH)
Yeshiva U (NY NY)
York College of Pennsylvania</p>
<p>Our son will be a freshman at Ohio Wesleyan in the fall and is really excited. Two classmates from his high school (east coast, top academics) will also be going (and a few others will attend Ohio schools such as Denison, Wooster and Miami). I'm not thrilled with the distance from home, but I think the school will be great for him.</p>
<p>I will be a freshman at St. Olaf College next fall, and visited Ohio Wesleyan. Whitman was actually on my short list of colleges, along with Kenyon and St. Olaf, but the transportation scared me. I don't mind being far away from my family at St. Olaf because I can go to the Minneapolis airport and grab any flight home. Statistically, I was a shoo-in, but I just fell in love with the school. OWU was great too, but the atmosphere wasn't intellectual enough for me. The people were really nice and laid back, but it just wasn't my scene.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"Great Schools You May Have Missed"
[/quote]
a better way to describe the book!</p>
<p>My son is looking at Architecture schools, mostly BArch, which none of the CTCLs offer. However Wooster has a 3+4 relationship with Washington University in St. Louis. Does anyone have any experience with Wooster, BArchs and/ or CTCLs in this regard?</p>
<p>veryscary-My son just completed his junior year at Ohio Wesleyan. It's been a great experience. He has developed so many new interests there, both academic and recreational. He has a triple major, several activities, many friends, and a part time job. For him, the negatives are the climate and the location. We're from Oregon, so the distance is significant, as well as the lack of an ocean. I strongly encourage others to take a good look at OWU.</p>
<p>I never even glanced at the book till sitting in the Admissions Office of Hampshire College. I skimmed it, read the Hampshire part and to be honest, I didn't really want to like it. But I have to be equally honest and say that I did. D. ended up going to a mid sized well-known university and had a good year, but not a great year. She was accepted to Hampshire last year and again as a transfer and I am very happy for her. The course diversity is incredible and the design your own major appeals to both of us. It should be a very good fit. My nephew went there also. Majored in something like Peace and Human studies....bit of a problem with a job but he has great connections and grad school opportunities. The 5 college consortium in western Mass. is also excellent. I look forward to her having smaller classes, more work, more writing, and an advisor who knows her for herself. She probably should have gone there last year but oh, well. Life is full of experiences and this was just one of them. I think the difference with CTCL schools is their individualized approach to education and the expectation that each student works to develop their own unique educational experience. Having done the state college cookie-cutter education, I am all about that.</p>
<p>D finished Junior year at Muhlenberg. It has been an excellent experience, only down side is perhaps "outgrowing the small school atmosphere" - which could happen at any of the smallish schools. (the study abroad program helps with that issue)
Muhlenberg is known as the "caring" college, and I can testify to that.</p>
<p>any one have any experience with New College of Florida, listed in the book? The concept of no gpa and self directed learning is intriguing to my son... my concern though is with no gpa how does that effect your ability to get into grad courses that are gpa stat dependent.</p>
<p>New College has an excellent track record for grad school placement, but it's not for everyone. Best to visit if he's considering it.</p>
<p>GEH, architecture is a field that requires a graduate degree these days. We looked into architecture at the U where I work, which offers 3 different degrees - BDA, BS, and BSArch - at the bachelors level (as well as graduate degrees). At the information session we went to, it was interesting hearing about the difference between the 3 degrees, and the future of the field. A question was posed as to whether a bachelors degree in architecture gives the student an advantage when applying to a graduate program in architecture. The department head said that no, the converse was true!</p>
<p>My advice - if your offspring is set on an LAC, don't let the lack of an architecture major deter him. A lot of LACs let you design your own major, and you can should be able to craft a DIY pre-architecture major.</p>
<p>I don't know about New College, but St. John's (another CTCL that doesn't give letter grades) keeps a calculated GPA for those interested in heading off to grad school.</p>
<p>DD1 just finished her freshman year at Denison U. She loves it - has met close friends she PMs all the time, is involved in multiple organizations on campus, gets good grades, has a great relationship with her teachers. I can't say enough good things.</p>
<p>audiophile: definitely think you are right, this seems to be a school to visit if interested
unalove: thanks, that would make sense if they did ! ,</p>
<p>I live within a few miles of Goucher and D has several friends there who love it. It is in a nice location and the kids seem to be really happy there. I don't live too far from McDaniel and I get more mixed reports from there. Some of that may have to do with location - it is a nice little campus but not in an otherwise attractive area. It seems to be more of a "love it or hate it" place.</p>
<p>generally good experience in guilford college</p>
<p>DefyingGravity--
Would you be willing to share what made you want to transfer from McDaniel? Just curious.</p>
<p>I probably don't need to add this but for those of you who haven't begun the search yet, the CTCL schools are each wonderful but can be very different from each other. We visited Goucher, McDaniel, Wooster, OWU, Denison, and Wabash from the list and my son had very different reactions to them. The book is a great start but you do really have to spend a bit of time on any campus your child is seriously considering. They really do each have their own feel.</p>
<p>Ingerp- I could not agree more.
Lspf72- I really don't want to go into it here, but you can PM me if you like. It jsut was not a good fit for me socially.</p>