I am sort of familiar with Lafayette, it is in PA? We will look into it. My brother lives in PA so it would be nice since we live so far away. Thank you!
Yes Easton PA. About 60 miles north of Philly, 75 miles west of NYC. Really great location for internships etc.
We visited both Berry and Furman last year. Berry is a large campus but the main area (not the “castle” you see in the pictures) we found to be not in the greatest condition. The campus had a local feel to me that might be hard for a kid who’s been living overseas. The AO doing the info session asked everyone where they went to high school, as in which particular high school, and everyone was from Georgia. Our tour guide emphasized that he only went home once or twice a month. We’re from the PNW, so not a fit for our daughter.
Furman, on the other hand, we all quite liked. I did not get a conservative Christian vibe at all from the school, our tour guide was a Black sophomore man and he had quite extravagant earrings on that would not have vibed with an overly conservative campus. And he loved Furman. The campus is beautiful and Greenville is a cool town. My (half-Asian) daughter applied and while I’m not sure it’s her top pick, that’s mostly due to her major and that it’s pretty difficult to get to from Portland, OR.
We also looked at Wofford, which was just too southern for my west coast kid. A nice school though and lovely people in the admissions office.
I’m a W&L alum. It’s a fabulous school, but if your daughter didn’t like Davidson or Sewanee, she might not like W&L. But I’d give it a try if you’re in the area, it really is a wonderful place.
Best of luck!
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Yes - especially during the occasional break, when hopping to Europe isn’t an option. Or even during the first semester, when it can be reassuring to know that there is at least the option to meet up with / unload to a family member, even if never used.
I realize you are ideally trying to “narrow” the list, but maybe your brother has a good suggestion for some gem within an hour from his location? E.g., my daughter’s classmates successfully attended Bucknell, and, across the stateline from Gettysburgh, Mt. St. Mary’s (Emmitsburg, MD) - and she has visited them there (more than once) and they both sounded like good locations for someone who preferred more rural/small-town settings.
Thank you so much for your detailed response. It really helps. What my daughter didn’t like about Davidson was very specific to Davidson…a small LAC with Div. 1 sports so a huge percentage of the students were athletes. Also, she was unsure about the dining clubs vs traditional sororities/fraternities.
MyD graduated from Lafayette and had a fabulous experience. If you and your D look into the college and she is interested in pursuing it as an option feel free to PM me with any questions.
FWIW Lafayette does have D1 sports. My D is not an athlete (she did theater, orchestra, community service there) and it was not a problem (in fact there is a fun rivalry with Lehigh).
Thank you! I will ask him for his thoughts. His sons attend UDelaware because his wife is a professor and they receive a significant tuition reduction. My DD has applied there because it would be nice to have family nearby. I am not sure if he is as familiar with the smaller colleges but I might ask my nephews where some of their classmates and friends ended up.
That is a thing at W and L too - my son loved W and L and that was not a turn off for him (didn’t apply because he wants engineering) but it is a huge percentage! Just checked their website and 32 percent of students are recruited athletes. Also very large Greek percentage. Based on your daughter’s stated preference, doesn’t seem like a great fit.
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Thank you! She likes sports, and she is ok with D1… Sometimes I think she can’t articulate exactly what it is that makes her like one school and not another and she comes up with a “reason” so we can move on. I will look at Lafayette because I’ve received so many glowing recommendations!
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I think this message is important.
The part where you said she liked High Point.
High Point is manicured, polished, and sort of gives the message of hand holding.
What exactly about HPU is attractive to her ?
It’s such a different type of school setting that it might impact the view of many of the names you are looking at and that are provided.
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Yes, that is a good observation. I think after the tour and info session she felt HPU would make sure she had a job when she graduated and she feared it wasn’t a certain thing at other colleges and she became scared of not having a job after college. We had many conversations afterwards about what is the purpose of college, why do we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to go, the development of individuality and self, what is the mission of tour guides, etc. Nearly had an existential crisis myself. Anyway, it wasn’t the manicured lawns and she was able to step back a bit after a few days and view the school from a different angle. It is interesting how she felt at the end of the tour and how differently I felt…not sure if it’s a difference in generations… Things that made me uneasy were the exact same thing that she felt reassured with…for instance the piped in classical music played throughout campus gave me the feeling of making a homogeneous group and she viewed it as them having a scientific and wholistic approach to providing an environment best suited for learning. She left feeling that this may be the only place where she could succeed…and that made me feel like she had been brainwashed. It is an impressive college, and has a unique approach to education and it began to make me thing higher education is due for a shake up.
Are you sure it wasn’t her name written electronically on the parking space? 
I don’t think any college can guarantee a job. I think it’s more the student.
I say that - but I remember this from Colby a few years ago - not sure if it’s still in play. Link below.
My assumption is - that like most schools, they have agreements/contacts to look at some of their students - but in the end, it’s marketing. Even Harvard has some people who don’t have success. In the end, it’s up to the kid - and in part the major - I believe.
My son (an engineer) at a large, unranked public has so many interviews that he’s stressed out and doesn’t know how to handle - which frankly I see as a great problem to have. It’s mostly from jobs found on his own.
My daughter is looking for an internships and she’s just a sophomore - but can’t get a sniff for an internship thus far - something in goverment relations or the government itself - and she’s getting a social science degree.
If she’s a go getter and has drive and is willing to seek help from the career center, she will be fine.
If HPU is perfect for her, then great. But if it’s I want to go solely because I think they’ll deliver employment - I’d say not the reason to attend.
Fascinating chat throughout.
Colby Launches Campaign To Find Jobs For Every Graduating Senior - Colby News
As a Lafayette Alum I can tell you it is not a “fun” rivalry with Lehigh……It is a hated rivalry……lol
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This would be where your college counselor can really add value. If your child really likes WF applying ED there can make a big difference in admissions. William&Mary is a hard admit out of state, particularly for a girl. You haven’t mentioned her grades/scores, but I assume you are considering Richmond as a match and the Rhodes/Berry/Furman/Mercer options as safe bets? If she already likes Rhodes, you might only need one more to consider-most people attending Furman seem happy. College of Charleston may be attractive.
There is also a bit of conflict in what she is seeking-for med school one wants the highest grades possible; for a job after, major becomes more important as do career services. WF is a great school but certainly has a competitive vibe-if that is ok with her.
I believe the Colby initiative was in response to covid. Not only did some kids not get to finish the recruiting process, many who had secured offers in the fall had them rescinded as businesses pulled back in response to the covid uncertainty. Career services stayed engaged with these kids well into the fall of 2020 to try to make their launches successful. While they generally do a great job, that year was nuts for grads.
In 2020, they reached out to parents, alums, parents of alums, etc. I don’t recall seeing the same kind of effort since then. Extraordinary measures for Extraordinary times!
But I agree that no college can guarantee this without forced labor! It seems the poster liked the idea of hand-holding.
I was looking for schools like High Point . Ie where else to apply.
Came across this article or perhaps arti-torial.
But OP might be worth the read for you. Your daughter might be onto something … but it comes at a cost.
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Unfortunately, lots of schools have constructed ridiculous levels of amenities in the last decade. High Point is neither unique nor the first to have a lazy river - google reveals many, including public colleges using taxpayer money for waterparks.
They don’t have a lazy river and the CEO…I mean President said while water features look nice, they are cheap.
It’s LSU that has a lazy river and Mizzou I believe who said the grotto whatever that is was patterned after the playboy mansion.
It’s quite an interesting read and while it appears a sell job for Hpu in some regards, there is some backing to it.
One could also look up alums in the desired field of study on LinkedIn.
I’m simply seeking more info for OP as it seems his student felt a kinship with HPU. My attempt was to find a like school but not sure there is or not one I could find.
Having grown up in a different education system, it remains mind-blowing to the rest of the world, how much “attention” is collectively diverted to non-academic priorities (from excessive Greek-live schemes at some schools, an entire parallel commercial universe of “college” sports and facilities, to these kind of amenities) - when the national priority should be to make higher education an extension to K-12 - based solely on academic entry requirements, not means; a tightly focused system completely unbundled from all the other distractions.
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Agreed. It’s Why in many ways we are behind other countries.
There was a lot about career outcome success for Hpu in the article which seemed to jibe with OPs daughter. Of course a high percentage does not necessarily agree with ‘quality’ of the outcomes. But why I thought a good read for OP.