<p>Gettysburg has a small but excellent conservatory.</p>
<p>I’m not that familiar with their science or music offerings, but location-wise, Haverford or Bryn Mawr seem to fit the bill. They’re great schools, walking distance to food and shops in both Haverford and Bryn Mawr, and a very easy train ride to Philadelphia or other Main Line towns.</p>
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<p>The coffee house closed this past summer. I think that another business has opened there, but it’s the end of an era from what I hear.</p>
<p>Oberlin may deserve a look as well. It’s in OH, has a great music program, and there’s a bit of shopping in the little town surrounding it.</p>
<p>It’s been mentioned before, but she might want to consider Denison. It has a beautiful camopus and is very generous with merit aid. I am not sure how big a factor frats are there, but others may be able to comment on that.</p>
<p>Since frats moved off campus years ago the greek factor is considerably lessened.</p>
<p>Sad to hear about the Kenyon coffee shop, Anniezz! It is on D2’s list for applications, so this is news she will want to hear.</p>
<p>In regard to Lawrence’s NPC, DS ended up with more merit money than the NPC, so if a conservatory option is still wanted, it may not hurt to apply. He also ended u getting additional money for community service.</p>
<p>Many great suggestions but many of them don’t offer merit. Skid more has merit scholarships in music that are significant.</p>
<p>Smith and Mt. Holyoke do offer merit but not huge amounts without financial need.</p>
<p>Bard does not have a town , but it does have some full rides for science students.</p>
<p>Denison. Cute as a button town (Granville) walkable from campus, great merit aid and need-based too (large endowment), some Greek but not much and not residential, lively music dept. East/central Ohio. Brand new science building/facilities. Lots of northeast kids and growing number of internationals. I’d guess it and Oberlin and Kenyon probably pull the most non-Ohio kids of all the Ohio LACs.</p>
<p>College of Wooster. Wooster almost walkable but only sort of, great campus, music dept seemed strong to me (they offer music scholarships to non majors too). Good merit and need aid.</p>
<p>If you check out Colleges that Change Lives you’ll find these and several already mentioned (Allegheny, for instance). One visit can cover Denison, Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan (Delaware, cute town but a close suburb of Columbus) and you can throw in Kenyon too - very small but quaint town (Gambier) not sure on music, very selective. Allegheny is doable too but NE of the others.</p>
<p>Think about Hamilton College in NY. It’s an excellent school with an adorable town. While the walk down the hill to town isn’t bad, the walk back up can be avoided by using the campus jitney service! Plus, there’s always an adventure to go on. NY is beautiful. Greek life at Hamilton merely throws the parties that everyone is invited to. Think about it!</p>
<p>RE: Middle Ground closing this past summer at Kenyon. It did, but in the same space is now Wiggin Street Coffee, which is settling in and finding it’s groove with students, faculty, staff, and parents. I tried it a couple times during first-years move-in weekend and actually preferred the quality of the coffee over that served for so long at Middle Ground.</p>
<p>Out of all the colleges we visited, Kenyon felt the most isolated, and my S ended up at Grinnell! </p>
<p>I concur with the favorable impression of Northfield, MN – it was one of my favorite college towns! And the Twin Cities are fabulous – although I don’t think students head in there that often.</p>
<p>IIRC, Skidmore has some scholarships for students who will major in the sciences, as does Bard. Not sure a student who loves Dickinson and Bucknell would be a candidate for Bard, though. Very different student body and campus cultures.</p>
<p>I like all the suggestions above. Seton Hill is not within a town’s walking distance, however. (I lived in Greensburg for four years). I’m a high school teacher near Gettysburg, and I have found that my brightest female students really loved Dickinson, Gettysburg and Bucknell. Other schools you might want to look at are Susquehanna and Goucher. Scranton is a good school as well. </p>
<p>The Bucknell students I know are all serious students, not partiers, and they have all had great experiences. </p>
<p>However, I want to echo the above comment about Smith. Smith is a truly amazing school, and Northampton is an amazing little town, the exact town you described. Your D’s stats sound very similar to mine, who is Smith '15. And, like most top women’s colleges, there is no greek system. </p>
<p>If you really want her to stay in PA, have you thought about Bryn Mawr?</p>
<p>mommyde–really, we were just at Seton Hill and the town is just down the hill, sure it’s a hike back UP the hill but it is well within walking distance. We saw many students walking into town from campus.</p>
<p>howabouthat - I would still have your daughter apply to Bucknell in spite of the large percentage of greeks on campus. My son is a freshman at Bucknell and I was just there for Parent’s Weekend. The new president (this is his 2nd year) had a Q & A session with the parents. He is really trying to change the campus culture at Bucknell. The administration is aware that much of the social scene is dominated by the fraternities and sororities. They are working hard to change that and are making sure there are a lot of alternative activities offered on campus. They are also working closely with the greeks to try to elicit some change from within. </p>
<p>Also key is that the students can’t rush until Sophomore year. This way they can form close friendships freshman year without dealing with the whole greek thing. I would have your daughter look into the Residential College program that Bucknell offers. My son is in one and is already extremely close with the people in his dorm even though he has only been there one month.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you and your daughter with her decision.</p>
<p>D has looked into many of the schools that you’ve all shared and Denison has risen to the very top – she’s really excited about it. </p>
<p>$ is a definite factor for us, and I have a newbie question. Does the college board net price calculator reflect merit AND need-based aid, or just need-based? </p>
<p>If it is not reflected: For those very familiar with Denison, are her stats in the ballpark to be a scholarship candidate? – 2120 SAT, 3.8 UW at a rigorous HS, ranked in the top 5 for the state. She has a good balance of AP’s and honors, and has a strong resume of strong EC’s, leadership and summer experiences. Not looking for guarantees, of course, just opinions.</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>Yes, she would be a good candidate for merit aid at Denison. The NPC often underestimated the merit portion for us. DS earned a lot more additional scholarships through the schools that were not factored in.</p>
<p>I’d say yes. I know several students who are attending Denison with major scholarships, stats not very different from your D’s.</p>
<p>Granville is as cute and walkable a small town as they get, too…on the weekends there’s a horse and carriage making the rounds, a farmers market all year, lots of restaurants and a couple of bars, cute shops, an Antiques fair…and most Denison faculty and administration live in town.</p>