Have you been able to visit either college yet? That was very helpful for us.
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We visited Juniata twice. First time we came with prejudice that it is small, rural and will not be good fit for DD. We left very surprised. Both of us loved it. Next time we grabbed DH too. He liked it too :). DD is from HS with 2000+ students and never looked at really rural colleges. We liked it much more than Ursinus. DD refused to look at Goucher - said too small and too close to home 
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This has been incredibly helpful. We have been to both campuses. We are going back to Juniata for the admitted students day and she has been on many zoom calls with the faculty Psychology/Music/French. Perhaps you looked into other CTCL schools as well my daughter applied to Ursinus, Juniata, Bard, McDaniel and Goucher. She did get Merit from each school (and some more than others). As we are narrowing down the schools we are down to about 3 contenders. Temple-Honors, Juniata, Ithaca and we are still waiting for Dickinson. My daughter is wanting to go into some kind of Child Psychology (perhaps in an elementary school). She is our first child to go to college and the last 6 months have taught us a lot about this whole process.
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We were at the same admitted students day at Juniata. Funny that we probably passed each other or were in the same group!
We liked the tour a lot, and I came away less concerned about the size. 23 may still be concerned about that. They were engaged the whole day and eager to spend every minute soaking up the experience.
Thank you, all, for sharing your knowledge.
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We were just at Juniata last weekend for scholarship day and my D23 made her final decision to go there. She has really liked it throughout the process and it’s definitely a stand out for her intended major in environmental science and she likes the music performance opportunities. She auditioned for a music scholarship and wants to play in the pep band.
One of her concerns has been diversity (she attends a very diverse HS) but she liked the tour visit to the dorm that houses the Global Village and I think living there is very appealing to her.
It is nice to have the decision done!
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Great thanks for your input. One of the very interesting things about Juniata is either people have never heard of it or the have a relative or good friend who has gone there. The more people we ask the more we get positive feedback about the school. My wife and daughter go next weekend to admitted students day. I am excited on hearing back from their experience.
Yes I really think that the Environmental Studies program seems wonderful. Having the college picked must be a great feeling congratulations!
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Your information is very helpful. Thank you for providing all of this great information about Juniata!
I think Juniata is a fantastic school overall, and my son was very drawn to it, even though ultimately he didn’t choose it. We absolutely loved the people we met when we visited, and the natural surroundings. My daughter came along on the tour with us just for the heck of it and she was also drawn to it, even though it did not have her major. The academics are top notch as well. It’s a great choice, especially if the cost and location are doable for you.
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Agree about the environmental studies program. We attended a virtual info session at one point about that program, and it seems great. The professor engaged my son one-on-one at the end of the session, and we were very impressed with the whole program. They seem to make optimal use of their location and surroundings for that major. My son decided not to pursue environmental science; otherwise, Juniata would have been the best place for pursuing that (of the colleges we looked at).
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Yes for my daughter Juniata was the first to provide an acceptance letter with generous merit (on par with Goucher). I definitely was very cautious thinking they were so desperate to get any students they could to pay tuition. After visiting the school and having numerous calls with professors and students this truly changed our minds. She really liked Goucher as well (as you mentioned the new dorms etc). This next weekend could seal the deal for her. We truly want for her to be happy and go somewhere she will thrive.
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We did also look at McDaniel (and visited) and Ithaca. Seems like our kids are looking for a lot of the same characteristics in a college.
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DD seriously considers Junaita due to some premed options there. She has a lot of options (applied to 20 colleges) and has very high stats (got Dean’s scholarship at UMD, and Eisenhower at Gettysburg). Juniata was safety school, but there is something in Juniatat that makes it attractive. There are also some very bright kids there.
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Oh! I misunderstood and thought you had already attended. Oops!
I hope they have a wonderful time!
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Same here. There is definitely something about the school.
They had a high medical school admission rate at some point.
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This is not at all current, but still worth noting. My high school classmate - the smartest kid in my class (1966) - went to Juniata to major in physics. His sister (also very bright) was a student there and his parents were alums. He got his PhD at MIT and shared the Nobel Prize in physics in 1997. My brother-in-law also graduated from Juniata and went on to get his PhD in geology at Brown. All this to say - Juniata has long been an excellent school, especially in the sciences.
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We met 3 students who were neuroscience majors last weekend. All 3 were excellent. One was their class president, Sam. She was absolutely amazing. We went with her on tour. That girl absolutely could go any place. Her dad was Juniata alumni and wanted her to attend. She obviously has a blast in school. Has 3 majors and will graduate with an extra certificate and master’s?
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I think we had a tour with her back in the Fall, definitely very impressive. My D23 went for an “Eagle for a Day” visit which really sold her on the school. Got to meet with an ESS professor, sit in on a biology class, had lunch with a couple bio and ESS students, one of whom has been doing the field station semester, then the tour and a brief chat with admissions head.
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Great to hear. Your daughter obviously had an outstanding HS career. It sounds like she has a world of choices.
I posted about my DC’s experience at Juniata upstream (in 2022). My DC is now a senior there and gave a tour on the recent admitted students day so you may have been on it!
DC was a high stats kid from a diverse HS is the DC area. (We learned most of the small schools were not very diverse. We also learned that diverse is relative. At one small school, the student tour guide said “X College is diverse!” Ah, not really, but for a kid who came from rural PA, it probably was.)
DC is a psych major (get Dr. Westcott as your advisor!) and has done research and presented at 2 conferences.
We looked into and visited a lot of small school (many CTCL for both of our kids). Dickinson was in the 2 top for DC (and chose Juniata).
The kids who I have seen really enjoying their college experience, no matter what school they attend, are those who get involved. You have to put the effort in and it will pay off.
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