<p>Southjersey: “distinct vibe”? maybe you could clarify?..and did you look at Ursinus as well? thanks…</p>
<p>Thanks for the additional thoughts. It is difficult to describe my son. He loves science and history. He’s one of those kids who watches the educational shows for fun. He doesn’t do well with the “drudgery” of some of the classes. For a recent assignment, he had to frame a piece of writing. He created a motorized frame that slowly opened as a smal clay globe spun around. He’s not a jock and I can’t see him at a school with a big jock population. His friends are all intellectuals with a variety of interests. </p>
<p>He opens up very slowly to people so making friends takes him awhile. I think a school with a close knit enviroment, especially one that has freshman activities to bond the students would be good for him. </p>
<p>We visited some schools that aren’t too far away. He didn’t like Boston, hated Salve Regina, and thought Roger Williams campus was OK - that’s excited!!! (Not sure if anyone knows about these schools to compare)</p>
<p>We can visit other PA schools, but I will be in Allentown for 5 days so it is an opportunity to visit local schools.</p>
<p>[LHU</a> Admissions](<a href=“http://www.lhup.edu/admissions.htm]LHU”>http://www.lhup.edu/admissions.htm)</p>
<p>I have been seeing ads on tv for this school. A very reasonable price for a state school, even for oos students</p>
<p>To Warriorboy and Rodney, I will give the PA LACs I mentioned a shot at descriptions. It has been three years since I visited Gettyburg, Dickinson and Ursinus. </p>
<p>Gettysburg appears to have a strong jock, fraternity scene and feels quite isolated. The town is small, and probably a haven for a history buff. </p>
<p>Dickinson tries to position itself as a small school with global focus. Carlisle, is a larger town than Gburg or Collegeville (where is that town never found it). Dickinson seems preppy and a male applicant might have an edge due to their attempt at gender balance.The library is impressive. The student center very dated, although not as bad as Ursinus’s three years ago. The library and student center at Ursinus were depressing, probably due to the leaky roof that happened days before my visit. It was dank and musty, and the much touted art center a disappointment. I didn’t have an official tour, just visited on my own to see if warranted a serious visit. It did not. </p>
<p>Muhlenberg is very different from Gburg and Dickinson because it has a strong Theatre arts program which permeates the campus. There is an artsy vibe, with fewer students in Frats and sororities. My daughter says that everyone gets along at burg, and it is quite tolerant atmosphere- translate that to be gay friendly. </p>
<p>All of these schools pride themselves on nurturing environments with small classes. Muhlenberg promotes itself as the “caring college” vs Dickinson “global college”. </p>
<p>I know a student who wanted small classes and tight knit environment so he selected Washington College in Maryland, and it was just what he didn’t need. He felt more isolated because it was a fishbowl, and he transferred.</p>
<p>I don’t know whether smaller is always better.</p>
<p>SJChessMom, thanks for those thumbnail descriptions! We have been eying M’burg cautiously, but even if we can get past the low black enrollment, my sense was that, with the exception of the theater kids, M’berg was a pretty “straight” school (I mean socially, not sexually). Is that a fair assessment - - caring and tolerant, but basically your typical preppy LAC?</p>
<p>foolish: I don’t think as preppy as some others, by comparison, but others can chime in…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Warriorboy, we also visited this campus a few years ago with S #1. We liked it, but he did not apply. The reason primarily was that it was too isolated without a car. This school would have been more of a safety school, than a match school. One advantage, I believe (you can check on this), for the student who does not want to take a foreign language, one does not need to at Roger Williams.</p>
<p>I did like that gpa seemed to play a role in which dorm one would get after freshman year. I think it was based on credits and gpa. Something else to look into, if that is of interest.</p>
<p>Warriorboy, I think that you mentioned that your son has some science interests. I think that this school, as well as Univ. of Rhode Island, is strong in marine biology. Roger Williams, I think has a good school for architecture as well. This is also one of the smaller universities around that offers a business school.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s probably true b/c of the theater students, but other than the those students . . . . </p>
<p>(In all fairness, I can’t think of a single LAC that enrolls a majority or plurality of private school grads. “Preppy” was more short-hand for wealthy and homogeneous - - no critical mass of oddballs.)</p>
<p>We visited Muhlenberg and loved it. The campus is relatively small (under 100 acres) but compact and definitely feels like a campus. Muhlenberg was founded under the auspices of the Lutheran Church, and there is a gorgeous little church (too big to be a chapel) right on campus that we toured. </p>
<p>The GOOD:</p>
<p>Outstanding exercise facilities–brand new Precor equipment
Nice little basketball gym
Excellent dining facilities and there are three or four of them (lost count) compared to only one at LACs like Swarthmore.
Big on the arts, including music, theatre and other creative arts
Has popular business majors, including accounting (you can get a job after graduation!) in addition to the liberal arts stuff</p>
<p>The INTERESTING:</p>
<p>A Luthern college but 1/3 of the student body is Jewish. The lady in admissions who interviewed my daughter told us (unsolicited) that she was Jewish. Our tour guide showed us her dorm room and the gigantic, six foot Israeli flag on her wall.</p>
<p>Politically, I"d say left of center but not extreme left. Tons of Obama signs in dorm room windows. No McCain-Palin. </p>
<p>Ugg boots everywhere</p>
<p>The BAD:</p>
<p>Low minority enrollment. Okay, VERY low minority enrollment. They care but don’t seem to go out on the road to beat the bushes for minorities like some LACs. They were practically salivating over my Daughter. For a minute, I thought they were going to offer her admission during the interview (they bring in the parents after 30 minutes). </p>
<p>Lousy parking situation for students.</p>
<p>No local “college town.”</p>
<p>foolish pleasure: oh…not how I interpreted; sorry…the kids I know that attend happen to be athletes and mostly middle-upper middle class…some on financial aid; but, yes, no critical mass of oddballs…very normal, average kids who did well in HS (but not over the top amazing), good kids who happened to want a small, nurturing school within a 2 hour drive of home…and FWIW, majority of them are public school kids, although our local private does have a great relationship with the 'Berg.</p>
<p>plainsman: “Ugg boots everywhere”…haven’t seen a school in the last three years that I didn’t see that, including state schools…how does everyone afford them, I wonder? My girls actually waited for accumulated work $$ to purchase…personally, I wouldn’t spend that kind of $$ for something I would look soooo ugly in!!!</p>
<p>Wow, that’s about the same Jewish enrollment as Brandeis.</p>
<p>Plainsman, you say no local college town. Do you mean that the school was isolated: no shopping or services within walking distance of the school or that a student would need a car? Or do you did you mean that there’s a nearby town, but it’s not cute or quaint?</p>
<p>Ugg boots - - I think they’re aggressively ugly, but they are quite comfortable and my girls live in them (though probably more for cache than comfort).</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>What I can’t figure is the attraction of Muhlenberg, a Lutheran college, to Jewish young people. Oh well. Doesn’t matter. </p>
<p>What I mean by no local college town is the school is in a fairly nice residential arrea of Allentown. The city (downtown) of Allentown is NOT where you would want anyone in your family to take a stroll. Nobody shops in downtown Allentown except very poor people who don’t have a choice. It’s inner city. Crime and grime. It’s a mini Newark, NJ (my hometown). Fortunately, the campus is away from the downtown area. I thought it was in a very safe area.</p>
<p>There are nearby strip malls with chain type restaurants (TGI Fridays, etc.) and Target is in a nearby suburb (Whitehall). Just a few miles away is a major enclosed shopping mall, the Lehigh Valley Mall. </p>
<p>In all fairness, there are some music clubs in downtown Allentown that are reasonably safe and attract a lot of teens. But the area is not set up to be a haven for college students. It’s not like Penn State’s main campus where you can walk across the street into State College, PA and every business is set up to cater to students, students and more students.</p>
<p>Nor is it like Oberlin - to name an LAC - where the town is integrated into the campus instead of the other way round. At Dickinson, the campus is integrated into the town. At Oberlin, the town is integrated into the campus, so the campus IS the town, makes the town, keeps the town alive. Without the school, there is no town. That’s not the case at Muhlenberg. There is no local college scene of any kind in the Allentown area. Bring a car.</p>
<p>Plainsman good description of Muhlenberg and area!</p>
<p>Regarding the large Jewish population did you notice two Synagogues at each end of campus? The Lutheran influence is more historic than current. </p>
<p>There is a lack of minority students at the school, so you might want to explore what it is like to be a minority student at 'berg.
But, I don’t find M’berg as “preppy” due to the artsy , quirkier types there, attracted to the Theatre arts program. </p>
<p>Yes, there are tons of Uggs, or flip flops during most of the year.
One particular sorority may be predominantly stylish, pretty, thin, fashionisitas, but overall, I would say mostly middle class kids, with sprinkling of private school mixed in. </p>
<p>'Berg offers van service to the Lehigh Valley Mall, 15 minutes away, but the campus is in a residential area, bordering on the outskirts of Allentown. Remember this is the town Bruce Springsteen wrote about, it does not offer much, and I worried about those downtown clubs.</p>
<p>My D is a junior at Muhlenberg, currently studying abroad in Austalia, and I wanted to address two nitpicky points…
The song about Allentown is by Billy Joel, and many parts of Allentown are depressed, and depressing. That said, the school does several things as outreach to the community beyond the 'berg bubble. At Halloween, they bring in kids from the neighborhood to trick or treat in the dorms. At the hoildays they ahd an adopt a community kid project that my D participated in freshman year, and she was delighted to shop for a couple of kids, meet them and give them gifts.</p>
<p>My D had her car at school Sophomore year, and never had a problem finding parking. They do limit freshman having cars on campus, unless they live pretty far from campus, but I don’t think that is a bad thing at all.</p>
<p>My D likes to walk to some of the small businesses near campus, including the farmer’s market on the weekend. Yes, she also walks to the nearby stripmall, and goes to Panera there, but she also likes having a relationship with small restaurants near the campus.</p>
<p>If your child is a minority student, I would imagine they would be offered a nice package, as I know they would like to attract more minority students.</p>
<p>And Ugg boots? Yes…I agree…Uggggg!</p>
<p>We visited Muhlenberg last summer before my Ds junior year in hs. D plans to major in musical theatre and she was looking for a non-audition school that offered music and theatre that would be a safety school for her (GPA 4.2 and will have 8 APs and 2 college classes by graduation next year).</p>
<p>She loved M’berg although she didn’t expect to. The theatre there was beautiful and the head of the program was very welcoming and she watched a rehearsal for their summer musical “Tommy” and was extremely impressed. </p>
<p>The campus tour was great and the dorm room we saw as well as the gym facility and dining areas were very nice. For my D the fact that she can take a bus to NYC in 90 minutes on the weekends makes this school also a big attraction for her.</p>
<p>^^^^ thanks anothermom- I stand corrected on Billy Joel reference 
Good that you are chiming in here re- 'berg.</p>
<p>^^ showmom" For my D the fact that she can take a bus to NYC in 90 minutes on the weekends makes this school also a big attraction for her."</p>
<p>Perhaps that really sets it apart from Dickinson, Ursinus and Gburg–the proximity to NY and the trips there. Less isolating?</p>
<p>OK, now I’m really confused… What would be the best, most reasonable schools to visit. (Not sure how to narrow the list) We will probably have time to visit 5 or 6. Again, he has a 3.0 (almost 3.1) GPA, a 30 ACT. He is presently taking 3 AP’s, 1 honors and 1 regular. Next year he’ll be taking AP Physics, AP BIO, AP West Civ, AP Stat and regular english. (His lower GPA is the result of a tough sophomore year where he recieved a D and a C in core classes)</p>
<p>So anyway, I have to stay somewhere near Allentown for my daughter’s camp so schools within an 1 - 1 1/2 hours would be best. Any place that might put more weight on his test scores???</p>
<p>As was mentioned by another poster, The University of Scranton is 1 1/4 hours from Allentown according to mapquest. A Jesuit school of about 4000 undergrads, they have excellent science programs with a high percentage of applicants accepted to med. schools. A student with a 30 ACT even with a 3.0 should be in and probably with some merit money</p>
<p>"For my D the fact that she can take a bus to NYC in 90 minutes on the weekends makes this school also a big attraction for her. "</p>
<p>^^^ It’s hard to believe that ‘berg students make that trip frequently enough for proximity to NYC to impact on the campus’ isolation quotient.</p>
<p>“If your child is a minority student, I would imagine they would be offered a nice package, as I know they would like to attract more minority students.”</p>
<p>^^^Not likely; finaid is based on need and even generous schools don’t give more that a family needs (the most one could hope for is replacing the standare $5K subsidized loan w/ a $5K grant). And, a urm student with high EFC and stats qualifying for merit money 'berg (not my D), might decide to take his/her chances at a top tier school. In any event, if 'berg was throwing $ at urm student, word would have gotten around and the numbers would be better.</p>
<p>'Berg is probably not a good school for my D, but OP, who will be in Allentown, should certainly visit.</p>