+1 for Fordham (Rose Hill). They have an Environmental Studies major.
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We know she’s an introvert, what else can you share with us re the vibe she’s looking for? Is she more preppy or more hippie or alternative? What are her interests outside school?
Women’s colleges might be a good fit if she’s open to that. No Greek life. Elon and Wake Forest are very Greek.
Maybe peruse this list of “Great College Cities”? https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings?rankings=great-college-city
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It’s been awhile since we visited Furman, but if I recall correctly, it’s nowhere near a city - and not really in walking distance to a town unless they’ve built something more recently or my memory is mixing places up.
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Furman is walking/biking distance to Travellers Rest, which is a small community with a few good cafes, coffee houses, etc. It is 8-10 miles (if memory serves) to Greenville. I believe there is a regular shuttle service. We love Greenville, for what that’s worth!
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Yeah we stayed in Greenville - definitely a nice little town - but compared to many colleges where a town or city is “right there” in a roll out of your bunk and you’re there scenario, Furman seemed quite remote to us. If a student wants a city, it really doesn’t fit well.
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Correct. I was agreeing with you. 
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I’ll add to this that Smith is perfect for a woman in STEM, especially if she is an introvert. My D at Smith loves the supportive classroom culture of learning and participation. Smith has a recognized engineering program. There is no Greek life but the “house” culture is similar in the context of being very supportive socially. My D was skeptical about Northampton but she’s finding that is a bigger college town and Amherst is an easy trip. She has also found it easy to get to Boston.
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I was just going to suggest UVM. Burlington is a great city, and the college is good too.
Thank you for this idea! Her high school advisor just suggested this too. How dangerous would it be? Looks like it could be a fit.
Thanks for this idea! It sounds like a great place! Wonder if it’s hard to meet boys since it’s all female.
You could check their Clery Act statistics — all colleges required to collect them. Look on Niche, ask student ambassadors. I believe the campus is gated and they run shuttles to the city. It is a big city though and that is part of the urban campus equation.
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Thank you for all of these ideas! We will have to supplement for sure but could support most options. Planning to follow up on Richmond and Southwestern.
Fordham’s Rose Hill campus is beautiful. It’s not open to the surrounding neighborhoods like NYU or the New School.
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Tulane, Clemson, NC State
If meeting boys is part of the equation, I would take a serious look at Bryn Mawr. While Smith is part of a consortium, it takes a bit of an effort to get to Amherst or U Mass Amherst by shuttle. If I remember correctly, it takes 25 minutes or so?
Bryn Mawr seems to fit most of her criteria. Near a city (easy 30 minute train ride into central Philadelphia) but located in an upscale established suburb. Lots of kind, studious introverts. While it doesn’t offer engineering, it does have 4+1 programs with U Penn - basically an accelerated path to a MS in engineering with a Bryn Mawr degree in year 4 and the MS in year 5. Haverford College is co-ed and 5-10 minutes by shuttle or a 20 minute walk. The consortium between Bryn Mawr and Haverford is pretty seamless - students can eat, take class, join clubs at both campuses. Villanova is also just a couple of miles away. Bryn Mawr has a beautiful campus, great food, no Greek life, and not much party culture from what I can tell. If she decides that engineering is not her thing, there’s an Environmental Studies major with various tracks that can make it more or less STEM-oriented. One of my kids just started there and she loves it so I am biased.
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My D has been there 4-5 weeks and hasn’t complained about the absence of boys in class or on campus. The supportive culture of learning and opportunities for women is founded on counteracting the bias in favor of men in other highly competitive academic institutions. I have no data but I would hypothesize that the enrollment and research positions in STEM at the Ivy counterparts are skewed firmly in favor of men. (Personally, I’d love to observe the confidence of man sitting alone in a Smith engineering class versus the opposite at an MIT STEM class.)
The Five College consortium with Amherst, UMass, Mt. Holyoke and Hampshire is available. My understanding is that most students don’t pursue those options until their upper class years as needed to fulfill specialized concentrations. The course selection at Smith is robust such that the Consortium isn’t needed to complete a degree.
I don’t believe that Smith goes out of its way to introduce boys socially. My understanding is that students from all of the colleges travel between cities for college-oriented entertainment, concerts, parties, lectures, etc. My D gets around the valley quite easily.
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What did your daughter decide?
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