<p>Trinity is definitely one of those schools that gets overlooked because it’s in Texas. Great programs and fabulous facilities. Another overlooked Texas school is Austin College outside of DFW. Great pre-med program and excellent financial aid.</p>
<p>Wabash college in crawfordsville, indiana. Great academics, great financial aid, great professors. Only 900 students, all of which are male, which provides a unique experience.</p>
<p>OP, Franklin Pierce University is going broke, look around on the internet, it is not a good choice these days…</p>
<p>Juniata College! They send really sketchy recruitment emails, tho.</p>
<p>I’ve heard good things about Springfield College.</p>
<p>Also check out the publics. There are a number of small public colleges that are remaking themselves into LACS - look at the COPLAC schools.</p>
<p>SLUMOM, Franklin Pierce just froze tuition again for the second time in 3 years, done away with parking fees and course/lab fees, have committed to over $18million in University based scholarships and grants for this coming year, are expanding the main campus in Rindge building a new Health Sciences/Sports Medicine building, increasing enrollment, and the list goes on. Maybe the little campus out in Arizona could have trouble, but with new academic achievement awards being offered to outstanding students each semester, and increased majors and minors being offered, I wouldn’t say they are hurting at all. Sure, I have seen some negative stuff online at review sites from students who were obviously unhappy and probably not a good fit with FPU, but there are unhappy students at every school. Also, for a while students thought the school was spending the money wrongly and spread rumors, but the U. had actually had surpluses - immature students who didn’t know what they were talking about caused much confusion until it was straightened out. My D has been to Harvard as part of a trip to see extinct mammals and meet with a prof there through FPU, she is thrilled with the personal interaction she gets with many of her professors, and is loving it.</p>
<p>Also, to the poster who mentioned William and Mary…that school is constantly on lists around here on CC, and has it’s forum page here…I’m trying to build a list of all the other schools that people don’t hear about!</p>
<p>Rollins College, in Winter Park, Florida, which is in the Orlando area. It’s in a very wealthy area and the college is very expensive, but they give out very generous merit aid. My daughter got a $22,000 scholarship, and many of her friends who did a little better than her got $25,000. The campus is BEAUTIFUL!!! It’s small, it’s near Park Avenue in Winter Park, which has many restaurants and shops, all of this walking distance to the campus. It does have a reputation of a rich kid/party school, but, with all the aid it gives out, about half of the kids get this kind of aid, the professors are great, and it is possible to not choose the party life and get a great education at Rollins. I took my 13 year old for a well visit today and has asked about my older daughter, I told him she got in to Rollins, he went on and on for 10 minutes, told me both of his kids went there, his son was pre-med there and is now a doctor, he received a huge scholarship to go there too. Some of the dorms are on a lake that they have made into a beach for the kids to jet ski and sail on. It is nicknamed the “Rolly Country Club”, but like I said, there are so many kids on fa here that there is a pretty good mix of the very well off and the very average to the not so well off, so everyone sort of fits in somewhere.</p>
<p>Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio
Bard College - New York
Clarkson- Potsdam, NY
Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri
Davidson- NC
Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, NH
Holy Cross - Worcester, MA
Juniata College- PA
Roanoke College, VA
Rollins College, in Winter Park, Florida
Siena College- Albany, NY
Springfield College in Springfield, MA
Trinity University in San Antonio, TX
University of Denver- CO
University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA
Wabash college in Crawfordsville, Indiana</p>
<p>Of course there are always the “Colleges That Change Lives”, some of which are listed above. They don’t get quite as much interest/play on CC I think, but did not want to just list all of them here. Wasn’t sure if Goucher (mentioned briefly above and also on CTCL list) was to be on the list. I also see Bard a fair amount on CC so did not know if it met the OP’s original intent- but left it in.</p>
<p>I also hear good things from time to time about Anna Maria College in Paxton, MA, and Marist in NY, but I don’t know much about them. I do know Marist is right on the water and has a lovely campus.</p>
<p>A new, private, 4-year liberal arts college with a core program, lots of faculty interaction, a block program, and innovations like no faculty tenure.
[Quest</a> University Canada - Welcome](<a href=“http://www.questu.ca%5DQuest”>http://www.questu.ca)</p>
<p>Great thread! </p>
<p>Bard College at Simon’s Rock - an outstanding early college with some incredible alumni.</p>
<p>Lake Forest College in Chicago.</p>
<p>Don’t want this to get buried!</p>
<p>teachandmom, I’m so glad you started this thread! I was thinking the same thing as you - tired of reading about the same schools over and over again. It seems that very little gets posted about any of the schools my daughter is interested in (primarily in the western “mountain” states - Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico). </p>
<p>I know of three hidden gems in our region -</p>
<p>UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT COLORADO SPRINGS -
Beautiful campus built on the bluffs with absolutely stunning views of Pikes Peak. Excellent engineering & nursing programs. Very good merit aid for out-of-state students (including allowances for room & board). Participates in W.U.E. </p>
<p>UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO (in Greeley) -
Gorgeous campus with traditional “tree-lined” feel. Lots of activities planned for students. Very good programs for teacher ed, music, drama, nursing, business. Very good merit aid for out-of-state students. Participates in W.U.E. </p>
<p>UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING -
My daughter’s absolute favorite. Stunning campus architecture (rivals UC-Boulder). Well-funded by the state. Excellent automatic merit scholarships for out-of-state students (even better if you’re in-state). Lots and lots of fun activities planned for students. This campus really is a hidden gem. We were shocked to find out that it will be considerably cheaper for my daughter to attend U.W. on a scholarship than for her to attend either of our local flagships, CSU or Boulder (by several thousand dollars per year).</p>
<p>fliqer-
Why Lake Forest College? Haven’t heard of it, but will do some research. We will be going to Chicago this summer, and DS seems to prefer LAC’s.</p>
<p>@coloradogreycat,
Thanks for your school list. We love Colorado. University of Wyoming sounds great also, and I think we’re going to look into it for our son now. Thanks again.</p>
<p>Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. It is beautiful! It used to be the Ponce De Leon hotel. The dining hall looks right out of Harry Potter. St. Augustine is gorgeous. The school is in a very touristy location so there are plenty of jobs for college students. I have several friends whose children have gone there and all agree that it is an undiscovered little gem. The old hotel part was converted into dorms and if you are lucky enough to get in there, they are just gorgeous.</p>
<p>Great thread.</p>
<p>Agree about Trinity U, TX, Puget Sound, WA, Goucher, MD, Wabash, IN and Marist, NY.</p>
<p>I’d like to mention Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts (there is also one in Illinois that is part of CTCL).</p>
<p>I’ve been researching “hidden gems” with under 3500 enrollment and thought about making a web site. Here are a few that admit at least 50% of applicants, have at least an 80% retention rate, get favorable reviews from several admissions experts and are not part of CTCL: University of Redlands, CA, Hobart William Smith Colleges, NY, Alfred University, NY, and Sewanee, The University of the South, TN. </p>
<p>BTW, Goucher, Wabash and Juniata are part of CTCL.</p>
<p>Sorted alphabetically by school:
Alfred University, NY
Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio
Bard College - Simon’s Rock, New York
Clarkson- Potsdam, NY
Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri
Davidson- NC
Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida
Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, NH
Goucher, MD
Hobart William Smith Colleges, NY
Holy Cross - Worcester, MA
Juniata College- PA
Marist, NY
Roanoke College, VA
Rollins College, in Winter Park, Florida
Sewanee, The University of the South, TN
Siena College- Albany, NY
Springfield College in Springfield, MA
Trinity University in San Antonio, TX
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT COLORADO SPRINGS
University of Denver- CO
University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO (in Greeley)
University of Redlands, CA
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana</p>
<p>Sorted by state:
University of Redlands, CA
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT COLORADO SPRINGS
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO (in Greeley)
University of Denver- CO
Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida
Rollins College, in Winter Park, Florida
Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana
Goucher, MD
Holy Cross - Worcester, MA
Springfield College in Springfield, MA
Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri
Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, NH
Davidson- NC
Alfred University, NY
Bard College - Simon’s Rock, New York
Clarkson- Potsdam, NY
Hobart William Smith Colleges, NY
Marist, NY
Siena College- Albany, NY
Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio
Juniata College- PA
Sewanee, The University of the South, TN
Trinity University in San Antonio, TX
Roanoke College, VA
University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING</p>
<p>I won’t list my hidden gems until all my children get accepted to college! ;)</p>
<p>Second 5boys on Puget Sound. Son is finishing his freshman year, loves it, doing very well.</p>