Most NESCACs are selective, however, all meet full demonstrated need.
Check out Lewis and Clark.
The entire Southeast of Ohio is pretty hilly. Both Kenyon and Denison are not that far from the places like Hocking Hills and other hilly areas. Both are in areas of rolling hills as well. Take a look at photos of these campuses to get an idea of the geography of the area.
Some of these have already been mentioned, but these are all schools where I think youāre going to get the small classes youāre looking for along with proximity to mountains (with some being closer than others to the mountains). Also, I placed a CTCL by the schools that are members of the Colleges That Change Lives, an association of some smaller schools that were commended by a NY Times author.
ā¢ St. Lawrence (NY)
ā¢ Union (NY)
ā¢ St. Bonaventure (NY)
ā¢ SUNY Plattsburgh
ā¢ Saint Michaelās (VT)
ā¢ Bennington (VT)
ā¢ SUNY Albany (check honors program offerings)
ā¢ Susquehanna (PA )
ā¢ UNC ā Asheville
ā¢ Hendrix (AR) ā offers a flagship match program, CTCL
ā¢ Whitworth (WA)
ā¢ Whitman (WA), CTCL
ā¢ Reed (OR), CTCL
ā¢ Lewis & Clark (OR)
ā¢ Willamette (OR)
I was going to suggest Whitman and St. Lawrence. Both are a little off the well worn NESCAC path, and the outdoorsy kids Iāve known at both were really happy there.
Union is generous with merit and fits your criteria.
If you had no constraints with respect to cost or gaining admission, Iād recommend Colby, Williams, Hamilton and Colgate as perhaps representing a group sharing many of the characteristics of Middlebury. As with Middlebury, all of these schools offers excellent need-based financial aid. However, with respect to admission, their acceptance rates tend to be somewhat to slightly lower.
Iād recommend the university of Denver over Colorado College. CC may be liberal, but Colorado Springs is definitely not.
DU had a big hockey following as well as lacrosse and gymnastics. No football. It has very strong political science and international relations programs. Skiing, hiking, biking very nearby. Most students do a study abroad junior year (or for a semester).
They do have good merit and financial aid.
If you are struggling to cover the cost of the application fees, please talk to your school counselor. There are application fee waivers they can help you with. If you have ever had a fee waiver for the SAT or ACT it is easy for them to assist with that process.
Run the net price calculators with your family to determine an estimate of what the anticipated costs will be. Think about the additional costs of getting back and forth to college. It can get expensive quickly if you are as far as SLC - which I do love and I like that you have family near by. I thought of Colgate as well.
Many colleges that are within an hour or so will have clubs that arrange buses to get to skiing on the weekends. I know at UNH, I have seen kids meeting to get on a bus with all of their gear.
Look at your instate public options as well for a safety.
The OP is looking like colleges which are similar to Middlebury but have higher acceptance rates, not lower. Of the four, only Colgate fits that category.
Are application fees the issue here? I read it as Middlebury, and other NESCACs, not projecting enough need-based aid to be affordable to attend.
Skiing is expensive too, so comparing the cost of access in that respect could be as important as travel costs, if not more so.
There was a poster here several years ago who chose UNR for skiing. They followed up and were having a good experience. But I would not say it is ālike Middā.
Ok, totally out of the box, but I would consider Carleton and St. Olaf, in Minnesota. Both are in Northfield, about 25 minutes from the Legendary Buck Hill, where Olympians Kristina Koznick and Lindsey Vonn started their careers. Both schools have alpine as well as nordic ski teams and/or clubs. Carleton has a huge arboretum with trails. Lots of outdoorsy kids-- trips to the Boundary Waters, hiking, rock climbing, off road biking. Both would have the academics you want. Carleton is a reach and pretty much need based aid only. St. Olaf gives good merit aid, I know some tippy top students who went there for financial reasons, and had great experiences, and are now at tippy top grad schools. You can cross register for classes at either school. Party scene at Carleton, not so much at St. Olaf tho, so maybe not for youā¦
I donāt see that the OP has said this, other than by suggesting that selectivity has been one of her concerns in forming a full college list. Nonetheless, for information on recent acceptance rates, this site may be helpful:
Agree, that OP has not been clear on what may be affordable for her family.
I was not sure if OP meant not EDing anywhere or did not actually have the funds for the ED application, so I figured I would share there are fee waivers, if needed.
If youāre looking for a school that deemphasizes tests, has lots of parties, no Greek life, is liberal, lots of cool spirit, and is
then Bates is a great option. Yes, hard to get in and you will have to run the NPC.
Look at Dickinson, Clark, Muhlenberg, URochester, and maybe some of those known for being a bit more sporty: Lehigh, Union, Holy Cross.
You may benefit from clarification on this point. Do you mean that you could not afford to apply ED to Middlebury because of the need to compare financial aid offers from various colleges?
Would second the suggestion of Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. Itās smallā1700 studentsābut very outdoorsy. Thereās skiing an hour away, tons of parks and rivers nearby. Itās also very progressive (more so than Middlebury, for sure) and itās in a small, charming town.
I know it because it attracts kids from my D22ās beloved summer camp (located at the base of Tahoe), who grew up going to camp and often return as counselors. If youāre into a small liberal arts scene with an emphasis on outdoor life, itās worth checking out.
They also offer merit scholarships.
So what colleges are on your list? Are you applying RD to Middlebury?
Maybe Hobart and William Smith. They do a financial pre-read and offered good financial aid to my son if he was going to apply ED.
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