<p>Those of you familiar with both or maybe visited both, what are the similarities and differences between the two? Both seem like quirky, out of the way LACs, both have very good grad school placement, and both seem to be pretty strong in the sciences for smaller LACs. Both have some unique academic facets. Hiram has the Hiram plan of the 12 weeks on 3-4 classes, then a short break and once class crammed into 3 weeks, whereas Juniata has its Point of Emphasis programs in lieu of majors. Juniata has a little higher stats for entry and is a little bigger, but overall the schools seem somewhat similar on paper. </p>
<p>I guess we're looking for the differences that aren't so obvious.</p>
<p>Also, since D will have a fairly low EFC, we're interested in financial aid info that isn't obvious on the websites too.</p>
<p>father05, I'm guessing that your daughter is a junior now and you are making a list for where to apply since you are asking about financial aid, is that right? My friends son is a junior at Juniata and has had a pretty good experience. He has a very good aid package and his Mom has told me that they don't pay much more then the cost of PSU, in-state. The only way to see the real numbers though is to apply. My son got a free application when we visited.</p>
<p>She is actually still a sophomore, but yes, these 2 seem to meet a lot of what she is looking for, at least right now. Certainly at this point the FA is not as important as the fit. Both schools seem similar. She's sent for the DVD and info pack from Hiram, and she has some stuff from a college fair on Juniata to compare it to once it comes in.</p>
<p>I'm looking for impressions from families that have visited both.</p>
<p>My D is interested in both of these schools. We already visited Juniata and will visit Hiram this summer. Any input on these schools would be appreciated. Thanks</p>
<p>Researching small schools on CC was harder than I expected. What I found helpful (and you my have tried already) is using the CC search engine to find all past postings about a school (this saves you, for example, going through the hundreds of pages in the “Brag about your lesser known school” thread) and going to the school’s individual forum and looking at all posts since the beginning. Then I sent PMs to the posters for current thoughts. I found nearly everyone replied and was helpful. </p>
<p>For what it is worth, the parent of a Hiram student I know reports her daughter likes it very much and the Juniata admissions person for my region was a very responsive emailer. </p>
<p>I just wanted to throw in that Hiram is not as remote as it “looks”; the large eastern suburbs of Cleveland are close by if you or one of your friends has a car.</p>
<p>Hiram used to be in the middle of two cornfields - literally. And then a few years ago I was surprised to almost stumble onto the campus while visiting friends. It is very very small, I agree, but the classes are small as well and it seems they have really improved their physical plant, fields, new library. Really lovely campus.</p>
<p>Agree with yabeyabe2 about doing a search for the school names - at least both are fairly uncommon so you should have more success. When we searched CC for U of Dallas, we kept getting comments about the city.</p>
<p>Sorry I have not logged on for a while. I sympathize with your search of small schools we did this the past two years. My son looked at Juniata - Hiram was way too small. Juniata offers great programs in the sciences and is welll known in that area. My son although impressed with their theater production dvd they sent him was disappointed in the facility when we visited because of how it was set up and the emphasis of the department. The staff and every aspect of the college was top-notch. The town is less than we could have imagined, but State College in in driving distance. He ended up at Allegheny, another small school 2,100 in another small town Meadville, more humanities, a bit more to offer those that aren’t 100% settled on a major. Another great place to look at!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the feedback. I am new to CC and am really enjoying reading the posts! allegheny is also on our list to look at. Any other suggestions would be welcome. My D is a great student, but really doesn’t like to be around type a personalities, so we are concentrating on smaller, less known schools (also in the hope she’ll get lots of merit aid). She also doesn’t want to be at a school that, for lack of a better term, is too preppy. (we are looking at schools with no frat/sororities, or where they don’t dominate the social scene).</p>
<p>I’m a student considering Hiram, and from what you’ve said about your daughter, we sound similar (needing merit aid, don’t want a “preppy” school, don’t want to be surrounded by Type A students).
From the research I’ve done online, Juniata seems more focused on the sciences, especially Biology. I’m more humanities-oriented, which is why Juniata isn’t on my list.
A lot of other CTCL schools fit what you seem to be looking for.
I’m not positive about this, but it seems like Hiram’s merit aid is more formulaic, as they post the stats corresponding to each award on their website.</p>
<p>OP, has your daughter considered Earlham, Kalamazoo, Knox, or Wittenberg? I also know some students who have loved Marietta and Washington and Jefferson (less than an hour from each other, and less than 3 hours from Hiram)</p>
<p>Haverford is a great school–my niece is there–but note that the workload there (and at Swarthmore) is quite intense. It is beautiful and has excellent students and faculty.</p>
<p>I know the original post is old, but apparently there is still interest in the subject. Hiram is on my daughter’s list. We visited last Oct. and had a very nice visit. It is a small compact campus, and we received individual attention from the admissions office. They had a small sign welcoming my daughter by name. Nice touch.
The admissions counselor met with my D first, an informal interview. I joined in at the end.
The college president has made many changes in the few years he has been there. New dorms, dining hall and exercise facilities.
The main attraction for my D is the biomedical humanities major. The main attraction for me is tuition is frozen your first year. They guarantee it won’t go up.
Not sure that it will be the final choice for us, but it is on the list. I wish there was more of a town attached to it. It is a major drawback. Yes, Cleveland is not far. But we live in DC, my D is use to having it all just a metro ride away.</p>
<p>gentleharp, now I am really looking forward to our visit to HIram, which unfortunately won’t be until late summer early fall '10. That is our only available time to do the college tour as my dtr is going on a Costa Rica exchange program over spring break and she works at a sleep away camp all summer. right now we plan to visit (on the whirlwind tour) Allegheny, Hiram, Wooster, Kenyon (not sure on that one, will depend on her SAT), Earlham, Beloit and Lawrence. We’ve already looked and ruled out Susquehanna and Muhlenberg. She really liked Juniata alot! Also going to look at Ursinus hopefully on Presidents day. We also looked at the SUNY colleges and she liked Oneonta, New Paltz and Potsdam (surprisingly not Geneseo, I think she thought there would be too many type A students there!)
Yahybeyabe- I think Haverford would be too intense for her.
boysx3- good suggestions. She doesn’t want a city so that rules out K-zoo, I have been thinking about Wittenberg, but I think I kindof ruled it out based on the Princeton review describing the students as preppy. Does anyone have any info on what the students are like? when we are in Ohio we could easily visit it.</p>