My daughter visited Miami in Oxford, Ohio and fell in love with the idea of perfectly matching buildings on a medium/large contained campus and a bustling college town. She also had a similar feeling about William and Mary.
We are having a hard time identifying schools that might have a similar feel with the types of lists and search engines that are out there. We’re hoping you could help us identify some other possible fits.
Here are some of the criteria:
Of course, quality education - love Miami’s focus on undergraduates but willing to look at other possibilities here. She’s a strong student (4.4 weighted GPA, 8 AP’s, strong extracurriculars, test optional).
Medium to large size - 10,000 - 25,000 students seems to be her sweet spot but willing to go a LITTLE bigger or smaller.
Rural or suburban location - nothing right in a city
Loves a beautiful campus - especially one where the buildings all match
Loves a contained campus - no major highways cutting through or sprawling campuses
Loves a college town attached or within walking distance of campus
Wants to be in - NH, VT, NY, CT, RI, NJ, DE, MD, DC, PA, VA, OH or possibly IN and IL
Public or private
Bonus if it is a school that has an outdoor vibe or strong environmental science, wildlife management, etc. types of programs
Bonus if it is a school that has something other than Greek life and strong athletic vibe
Thanks! Is Boston College outside the city or in the city? She’s hoping to find something rural or suburban. I always thought this was an urban campus?
That was my answer, my daughter was 5th in her HS class, 34 act, and loved her time there in honors, very pretty campus by a great Main Street with shops, bars and restaurants. They took all 9 of her AP credits so she graduated a year early. Lots of clubs and activities, friendly happy students. It’s a large enough campus where they have shuttles, my daughter never used them, it’s walkable.
For more rural…what about Dartmouth or Cornell. Not sure whether these are too reachy for her. But Boston College is also a pretty competitive school for admissions.
University of Vermont is another option.
Can you perhaps share her stats so we make recommendations that are attainable!
The buildings at Cornell don’t “match” if that’s an issue. I think the campus is beautiful but it evolved over time so has different architectural styles
4.44 weighted GPA, mainly honors classes and 8 AP classes, strong mix of athletics, community volunteer, school and paid extracurriculars, test options
Northwestern, Cornell, Dartmouth . . . they are all extremely selective, however. Dartmouth might be a little smaller than you’d like. A lot of selective LACs would meet your daughter’s aesthetic and academic criteria, but are typically on the small side.