<p>Anyone out there applying to, current student of, or know about McDaniel College in Westminster Maryland?? Also, why isn't it listed in the Ms of the CC list of schools? Its a beautiful school and is one of the Loren Pope schools that can "change your life"....My D has applied and would like more feedback from others. Thanks.</p>
<p>Send a PM to OrangeBlossom -- I hope she is still checking this site from time to time. Her son is at McDaniel. All I know is what I read in the books and on this forum, but I really liked what I saw. My son applied but pulled his application after he was accepted ED at another school. Before that, the McD adcom sent him a very nice e-mail complimenting him on his essay. Very gracious and nice people all the way around. Wish we could have made an in-person visit but just couldn't fit it in.</p>
<p>A friend of mine's daughter is a freshman there, planning to major in bio-chem.
All I know is she is happy and doing well there, has made a nice circle of friends. Says that there are few women in that major.</p>
<p>I don't have much... but my uncle went there, when it was still "Western Maryland". He graduated, went to a good law school, and is doing very well now (and works ridiculously long hours).</p>
<p>It is supposed to be a very nice school. I know someone who has a student there. I know that she wanted her son to go to a school that was a "perfect fit" for him for the amount of money that she would be paying for his tuition. They looked at many schools and chose McDaniel!</p>
<p>By the way, there are a fair number of wonderful schools that are not on the alphabetical list of schools. I can think of several that I have tried to research that are not listed.</p>
<p>For a new forum make a request to the moderators in the Community and Forum Issues listing (2nd to last heading), and the genie might grant your wish. That gets their attention at least as I recently requested to add a study abroad forum and Roger Dooley got back to me the next day...</p>
<p>I think the mods really like to see significant interst among the CC users before they add schools -- I remember that a number of parents were able to get a forum on Centre Collge added last year. It might make sense, rather than adding an individual school, for there to be a CTCL Forum to include discussion on all of the CTCL schools.</p>
<p>I've visited several times for All-State Jazz & other kinds of community-type performances (German field trip, etc.) and the campus is very pretty. It's small, but quite cute, as is the little town that surrounds it. The music department is pretty involved in outreach to Maryland highschools. My friend's sister attends, and she's a little dissapointed, though. The academics are reportedly ok, but she thinks it's way too small. The fact that the town isn't too exciting probably doesn't help. It does take chances on kids and gives out nice scholarships to people who they think will succeed, even if their HS GPA isn't so hot. My friend got 1/2 tuition with a 3.1, but I'm sure her SAT scores and essays were amazing.</p>
<p>My son is a second semester freshman at McDaniel. It's a really terrific college. The students are all very nice. The professors really want to teach and want every student to be successful. They bend over backwards to understand each child and make it work for them. The college accepts a broad range of students, from the very gifted and accomplished to those who are late bloomers with promise. The staff is professional and helpful. Everyone puts a personal touch into their work. The campus is beautiful and growing. The college is well run and making major enhancements to the curriculum...in recognition of the move toward globalization. The school offers many quirky and study abroad opportunities through its shorter January term courses (trips to Belize, deep sea fishing in the Florida Keys, travel to Egypt or China, courses on Executive Protection, etc.) and its Budapest campus (considered to be "in residence"). The school is a Loren Pope "college that changes lives" and is mentioned in Rugg's recommended schools, among others. The college has a very strong academic support program available to all students and a fee-based program for disability students requiring more specialized assistance. The college has a large number of NCAA DIII athletics and great cultural offerings. It is about 30 minutes to Baltimore and under 60 minutes to Washington, DC. The town of Westminster is beautiful and charming. Financial aid at the school is good too. Academic scholarships are awarded based on high school achievement and there is no special GPA a recipient needs to maintain (other than the basic 2.0 to graduate), so enrollees don't feel so compelled to follow a risk-free curriculum just to hold onto their money. Grant money is available too. And, the financial aid staff will work with families to meet their needs.</p>
<p>In all, McDaniel College is a pretty wonderful place. My son loves it; so do we. Let me know if you have any specific questions we can help you with.</p>
<p>I have heard only good things about McDaniel. It seems the perfect college for in-state kids who are opposed to the gargantuan flagship of UM-College Park and preferred a LAC, but who want in-state tuition.</p>
<p>But McDaniel is private, not public.</p>
<p>As far as adding colleges to the list, Roger McDooley promised me months ago that he would add Roanoke, Champlain and Kutztown to the visit and regular "college" section but has not. There are quite a few colleges that are listed that have no postings and no reviews so I find it quite frustrating when I'm willing to at least have a beginning post and review for each of these colleges.</p>
<p>scarfmadness, I think you may be thinking about St. Mary's College of Maryland, a public LAC that has become quite selective.</p>
<p>McDaniel is private, with the associated $30K + price tag.</p>
<p>I'm most definitely thinking about McDaniel (although St. Mary's clearly is the only public school that fills the LAC niche in MD). I always thought it was public - possibly because the three or so people from my high school that went there talked about how cheap it was. They must have gotten great scholarships! Sorry for the mistake.</p>
<p>McDaniel is very reasonable in its COA when compared with other LACs. Its COA is over 33,000, but 94% receive grants averaging about 11,800.</p>
<p>One word of financial caution...McDaniel uses the Institutional Methodology, not the Federal Methodology, when figuring need-based aid. That can help or hurt, depending. If you have a relatively small income in a high income area, but lots of equity, it hurts because you can't afford to pay the COA outright because you lack the income, and you can't afford to dip into your equity because again you lack the income. It can be even worse if one or both parents is very close to retirement age (65), because you don't have many/any years to pay off a loan. Just a word of caution.</p>
<p>I don't have much to add, but nephew (good student, athlete) was just accepted there. It appealed to him partly because it had two of his "wants" -- fraternities and a football team, but it sounds like the emphasis on them isn't too heavy, which appealed to his mother. She didn't attend college, and was rarely enthused about visits, but was really taken with McDaniel. Think the smaller size will be good for him, no getting lost in the shuffle of a bigger school. And- the FA is generous.</p>
<p>Does anyone know about the education dept? Elementary ed is offered as a minor only, but the school offers lots of fieldwork opportunities. My daughter is looking for a smaller school where she can obtain her teaching credential. She is interested in majoring in psychology. Also how are the dorms? Are there alot of out of state students?</p>
<p>I thought it used to be called Western Maryland State? Maybe it was just called Western Maryland and was private always?</p>
<p>Yes, always private. It was Western Maryland College. The name change was because of the confusion. It wasn't anywhere near western Maryland.</p>