Some of these I agree with, but others (like Wheaton IL) are “hidden” because most students would not fit there.
Wellesley College is a gem but in no way is it hidden!
Pitzer and Haverford aren’t hidden either!! But Carroll College is a good one.
Here’s another Hidden Gem: Hope College in Holland, Michigan. Super cute campus, new buildings, great location in a small resort town on Lake Michigan. I’m surprised more students don’t look into it.
Exactly.
And Yeshiva University has a very particular demographic. I live in NY, so I’ve heard of it, but it’s a school for Modern Orthodox Jews and I’d be shocked if there’s a Modern Orthodox community anywhere in the country where it’s not well known.
It doesn’t look like it was a carefully considered list.
Not to quibble, but the metric says fewer than 5000 apps, and Denison in Ohio had over 6000 last year and apparently around 6800 this admissions cycle.
I certainly agree that Denison is a wonderful, under-appreciated gem in OH, and that Kzoo is the hidden gem in MI.
UNCW should be on there, but it receives about 13,000 applications each year. Also I am not sure I would consider Drew University a “gem” at all.
Agree with University of Wyoming, an excellent value since their Oos tuition is lower than in-state tuition with WUE.
^ Really? Wow
Here in MI, Hope is a fairly popular college, but it also appeals to the conservative Christian demographic. Can see why it isn’t more well known because of that consideration.
I would put Earlham over Rose-Hulman in Indiana, half as many applicants and a college that changes lives. Rose Hulman had 5050 applicants.
Not sure how a school that doesn’t fall under criteria is on here.
I am biased though, and Rose is an engineer school while Earlham is a liberal arts college.
Common data set for rose.
https://www.rose-hulman.edu/media/1153164/cds_2013_2014.pdf
@nw2this ehhh…it’s below-average academically. But that is really cool!
It’s sort of unfortunate that Wyoming and North Dakota’s flagship universities are “hidden” gems.
I realize Earlham doesn’t fit criteria, short 13 people of 1000 undergrads. Next year we will fit though, 360 enrolled students as of today. Last year there were 255 enrolled students.
Wyoming and North Dakota flagships are hidden gems on this list because the list includes one college in every state. In the case of Wyoming, the flagship is the only four year college in the state, and that is likely true of North Dakota as well. No competition for the title.
We visited Wyoming with D1. Beautiful campus. Great for affordability.
@SeniorStruggling Where did you get the info about the large Earlham class of entering students?
As a MI native and current ND resident–
- ND has several 4 yr institutions (I can think of 8 off hand), but I don’t know that I would necessarily call any of them gems. UND would probably get the nod just because NDSU (the land grant school) has gotten to be a bitter bigger than UND.
- Kalamazoo is the correct gem for MI, not Hope. Currently at Hope the board of trustees and the college president have been publicly feuding, which doesn’t bode well.
@MomofM They posted it on the facebook group and here is a direct quote from the article about the president retiring.
Increasing effective recruitment strategies has resulted in signs of enrollment growth for the future. With more than 360 new students having confirmed their enrollment on campus this fall, the Class of 2020 is expected to be Earlham’s largest in recent decades.
I predict that Earlham will be the next surge school. I probably shouldn’t be gushing about it here (cut down on the competition) but it really seems to be a great school. From afar (haven’t yet toured) it feels down to earth and yet rigorous, small and supportive. I am looking forward to the tour!
Spelman isn’t a hidden gem, it’s just that most Americans aren’t looking for HBCUs.