Butler is worth researching. I have known several families with Butler students and everyone was very happy with the experience.
Kenyon Colllege (Gambier,OH) is another small LAC that I don’t think anyone has mentioned yet. It has strong academics–known for English Lit (Kenyon Review) and drama programs among others.
One more: Wabash College (Crawfordsville, IN) is a small LAC, with lots of opportunities for merit aid, but and this is a big but, it is all-male. Probably one of the only all-male colleges that still exists. My brother is an alum–he had a great experience, but that was many years ago.
Fwiw my S17 and I toured Ursinus and Allegheny 2 weeks ago. He has been accepted at both.
My urban kid who enjoys the city and didn’t want remote/rural and I both felt that Ursinus was very suburban, not remotely rural or remote whereas Allegheny was the opposite.
It was less than an hours drive to downtown Philly from Ursinus.
Very different schools, both CTCL and I thought both to be gems in their own way.
I could not get him to consider Beloit, Lawrence or Juniata based on the locations though I think they’d have been a good fit and for us, Kalamazoo and Muhlenberg did not appear to be financial options as we were hunting merit so didn’t make it to the application or tour phase.
@jcmom716 My D has a lot of male friends and they all enjoyed Lafayette. The only think I can think of is that Laf is one of the few LACs that have a pretty even male/female ration (maybe 1% or so more males even) probably due to the engineering program – many LACs have a lot more females on campus. Still, if you are visiting Muhlenberg it may be worth trying to tour one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Of course if Lafayette doesn’t strike him for any reason that is perfectly fine.
Lafayette is an excellent choice if he is interested in STEM. What about Lehigh?
^^^Lafayette is also very strong in many non-STEM fields.
Lehigh has a bigger greek life.
Kids from our school/neighborhood in northern VA have gone to: Muhlenberg (theater), Susquehanna (creative writing), Ursinus (econ - transferred to William and Mary), Bucknell (undecided), Lafayette (bioengineering?) Denison (major unknown, recruited for track, very positive experience) and Ohio Wesleyan (major unknown, recruited for field hockey), Marist (fashion merchandising). I indicated the major so you can get an idea of what the schools are known for.
@eandesmom - I believe both Kalamazoo and Muhlenberg offer merit. (Though I think K is more generous than M.) Was it just that the projected numbers didn’t work for your family? Because on the surface, it looks like the range for Kzoo at least is pretty typical.
You might also consider Grinnell College (Iowa). They have good merit for high stats students. It’s a bit out of the way but worth a look.
Another idea, would your S consider a Jesuit college? They are typically mid-size universities, often offer merit aid, many are in urban areas, and typically have no Greek Life. Here is a list you can look for geographic/academic matches. FWIW my S who sounds similar to yours (quiet until he finds his group) had a great experience at Fordham.
http://www.ajcunet.edu/institutions/
@porcupine98 yes, they both offer merit, you are correct. In the case of Kalamazoo, it might have been enough but seemed borderline and the K-plan and location weren’t a great fit.
Muhlenberg on the other hand, didn’t appear that their merit offer would be high enough at my S’s stats and while it did appear they’d meet to our EFC need with a grant, we’d be very short one year with only 1 kid in college versus 2 and based on the potential size of the grant and decided it was too risky to pursue. It also didn’t have as strong of a program in his area (Environmental Studies) as some others on this list and wasn’t focused in the areas within that that he is more interested in.
@eandesmom - Thanks, that makes sense. Just wanted to be sure nobody took either off their lists purely on the basis of (perceived lack of) merit aid.
@porcupine98 agreed, I should have been more clear on the “not enough” merit aspect. LOL!
The reality is, the more remote and rural some of these schools are…the higher the merit can be and often tuition and R&B are lower to start with. So if the student is willing to compromise on location a bit there are some true gems out there.
With the stats provided - Lycoming College would likely give great merit – hidden gem in nice small city (Williamsport, PA). Bucknell is more rural and more in line with stats so high merit not as certain. Susquehanna is beautiful but pretty remote. My dd really liked Scranton (the school not the town) and Lafayette. She also really liked Villanova in PA. In Ohio - she liked Ohio Wesleyan.
Could get decent merit at Miami of Ohio - larger school but another gem.
@jcmom716 Lycoming is one of my son’s top choices (as @novicemom23kids mentioned above). We’re hitting accepted students day there on 4/2. I can vouch for the merit - my son has a very disappointing GPA and got a $19,000 award. It says a minimum 3.0 is required for that, but another boy in our school, who I know doesn’t have a 3.0, got the same award. They have D3 wrestling and football, which is how we found it.
His other top choices are York and Millersville U of PA. Millersville is the biggest, all brand new dorms and we really liked the campus.
We’re in NJ so he also applied and was accepted to Rowan, Ramapo and Stockton - he’s not thrilled with the NJ schools! TCNJ is a great school, but we didn’t bother to apply because it is very tough to get in to, especially in his major (education). I will tell you the TCNJ rep locally is “where fun goes to die”. LOL
You may want to look at Moravian while you’re at Muhlenburg. My son’s best friend is going there and I know he got merit. I don’t think they are very far apart. Marywood is another I’ve heard great things about. Only a few minutes from the U of Scranton, but a much less city vibe. My son wouldn’t even get out of the car for the tour at U of Scranton because of the city. Even though Marywood is right there, it feels much more suburban.
@eandesmom Thanks for the input! I’ve been following your journey from your thread, and I’m sure it has helped many! I’m very interested with how my son will respond to Ursinus as it seems to cause varying reactions. Good luck to you and your son in his final decision!
@momofthreeboys and @taskmstrx thanks for feedback on Butler. My son and a friend are talking about a tour in April! Running the NPC, it seems a bit high (after taking increases into consideration), but my son knows he will be contributing. Interesting to see they have a new dorm building…
@happy1 Thank you for the link. I will show my son and have him look at Fordham. Others have mentioned University of Scranton and will also have him look into. We know someone at Xavier and he has been on John Carroll’s campus. Neither seemed to grab his attention.
FWIW We looked at UScranton and liked it very much-- and similar to Fordham they gave very good merit aid and also have non-binding EA.
My S loved Fordham Rose Hill from our first visit and we got a good merit aid package there as well.
If you are looking in NY Siena was another school we thought was a good fit for him (also with merit aid)-- plus it has a suoer fast acceptance turnaround so he had that acceptance in hand by October which was very nice. Siena was high on his list as well.
@cellomom2 Just so happens that I’m hanging with an Appleton native this weekend, my grad student daughter’s boyfriend, who she met while doing Americorps this past summer in Vermont. He’s a bio grad, going for his doctorate at UVM.
From what they tell me, Appleton is just outside of Green Bay. It’s a beautiful lakeside town (or small city), very similar in lifestyle flavor to Burlington, VT. I know from my prior career that it’s where football teams stay when they’re playing the Packers. I don’t know Lawrence as you do, but the town sounds like a gem.
^ I agree with @happy1 . Both Scranton and Siena are hidden gems and are great schools to add to your list for kids who like Nova, Holy Cross, Fordham as the latter schools are becoming more popular.
@SpacemanEd I agree, Appleton is a surprising town. Bustling fun downtown adjacent to the college. The Fox River flows through Appleton and Lawrence sits just above the river so it has some beautiful views and imo the college has done a great job taking advantage of the views and landscape afforded by the river. Lake Winnebago is a bit farther south, technically not directly adjacent to Appleton but there is the opportunity for water sports in the summer time.
There is a large farmers market that operates on the main drag of the downtown on Saturdays in the warmer months that the students can walk to easily.
Never been to Burlington but it is on my wish list of places to visit.