You know what, I take back part of what I said. Even an unranked Liberal Arts School can provide an excellent education, it would just be a gamble. With Uconn, you know what you’re getting.
I reckon it would be easier to get into law school from a smaller school that really focuses on its students. Heck, I even know a very successful doctor who went to Kalamazoo College for undergrad then Johns Hopkins for Med School.
Keep on looking, USNEWS will be helpful; you can look at the regional colleges. Most of them are small.
I guess what I am trying to say is that UConn is an amazing option that you should look at happily. Good advice is to fall in love with 5 schools.
Just want to pop back in and say that a liberal arts college is going to deliver education in a VASTLY different way than a major research university, and I’m not sure you can compare the two. It’s just about how you learn best and what you consider to be a “higher quality” education. Personally I’d rather be taught by people with PhDs in a room of 15 students instead of be talked at by a famous professor I never see because the class has 600 people in it. The former is a quality education TO ME, the latter may be a quality education to someone else.
There’s a reason US News doesn’t rank liberal arts colleges and national universities in the same list. They are two completely different approaches to education, and different kinds of people may find one much more intellectually stimulating/challenging than the other.
My D just finished a similar search. Stats are similar and our budget is a little less. She ended up at Flagler College with its very low tuition. McDaniel had the best financial aid and meri, and not far from D.C. Also has a nice exchange program with American. Trinity in San Antonio might be a stretch, but worth looking at. I’d second Williamette. Fort Lewis isn’t really known for poly sci, but Durango is a great town with access to all kinds of recreation.
Student to faculty ratio of Uconn is 16:1, not 300:1
@blurryface
Besides, these tier liberal arts colleges have similar student to faculty ratio.
Check out the 2017 3.0 - 3.4 thread and the list of where students got in and how much FA and merit aid they got.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1871275-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2017-3-0-to-3-4-gpa-p266.html
@burryface - My thoughts entirely. I admire the approach to education that I see at liberal arts colleges. I prefer the smaller environment, the more discussion-based classes, and the idea of teaching students “how to think” to the research uni approach.
@katliamom - Thanks for the feedback on Ft. Lewis! I’ll keep that in mind, for sure.
@AimingTop50 - It seems like we have different values in terms of college searches 
I’m not overly concerned with prestige (though it’s definitely a bonus), so what I’m looking for is the school that I’d fit best at with the lowest net price. I’m looking at LACs because they offer the quality of education that I’m looking for — which is obviously not the same that you’re looking for. I do appreciate your input regardless!
@acrylicpaint I actually am considering a handful of liberal arts schools, believe it or not 
Eckerd College is one of the CTCL schools that offer great merit aid. If you can raise your GPA a bit, you are in line for a $21,000/per yr. merit award. Both of my children attended Eckerd for less than the cost of UCONN. Both have done well, one on to law school, the other in vet school.
@AimingTop50 I really don’t mean to fight you but that’s just a blatant lie.
Nearly 1 in 6 classes at UConn has over 50 students. I promise that at a liberal arts college like Guilford or Earlham, ALL of your classes will be capped at 30. We won’t even address Marlboro which has 280 undergrads and 100% of its classes with under 20 students.
None of the public lacs are going to be prestigious, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a good education. I recommend Fort Lewis for outdoorsy kids especially skiers/snowboarders and mountain bikers, average stat kids, and Native Americans (free tuition).
I don’t think it would be anything like Bard or have the same level of intellectualism, so probably not a good fit for OP. Although, it does have an honors program and would probably give OP a significant amount of merit.
I’m going to follow @liska21 's lead and recommend that you look over the thread she suggested. You will find MANY examples of students with stats similar to yours who received MERIT aid that would bring an LAC within budget for your family.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1871275-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2017-3-0-to-3-4-gpa.html
IME, getting down to 40K will be a lot easier than getting to 30K. But I think there are a few Colleges that Change Lives schools where that is possible. For example College of Wooster awards up to 30K merit, bringing total cost of attendance to 30K.
If you can get your SAT to 1400+, that will also improve your chances for merit.
Thanks @mamaedefamilia. I should get my SAT score within the next week + I’ll be taking it again in June so I can try to bump it up more.
Thanks to everyone else as well. I understand that this is kind of a shot in the dark since I’m relying on merit aid which I won’t know about until I actually apply and when/if I’m accepted. Really appreciate all the responses!
If you target well, you will get merit. Under 40 will be more difficult but low 40’s likely and lower is probable at a few id you do your homework and focus on matches and safeties.
My S had slightly lower stats and a lower EFC for next year (39) but then it goes up a lot for year 2. He received very little to no aid, and at a 50 EFC I’d assume none and plan for merit only.
I’d skip Evergeen. It’s in state for us, teachers love it, employers not at all and is considered a transfer school and has an older average age. It’s just a little too “color your own parachute”. Our large public HS has very very few kids that matriculate there as freshmen.
My S received merit (and a couple small talent) awards that put COA in the 31-45 range at Allegheny, Ursinus, University of Puget Sound, Goucher, UVM, Ithaca, with Ithaca being his most expensive option. Most, however (magically) were right around our EFC either with or without any FA. With better test scores than he had at some, I’d expect slightly better awards.
And for most that’s including significant OOS travel. I also agree with looking at Western Washington University. It’s in state for us but reasonable for OOS tuition even without much merit.
Agree with Willamette. Some of the CTCL schools are great with merit and others not at all so run the NPC’s. Ones I believe would have come in the same range or on the lower side of it are Lawrence and Beloit but he did not apply.
@AimingTop50 My point was that faculty:student ratio is not as good of an indicator of professor:student contact than class sizes. You seem to be using facutly:student ratio to argue that the academic experience of UConn is similar to that of a small liberal arts college. As someone who has actually been to college, I can promise it’s not.
And no, I won’t take it back. Knox is 12:1, Denison is 10:1, Earlham is 9:1 Marlboro is 5:1. I have no idea why you are so opposed to the concept that a small school would automatically provide more professor-student contact (especially in the first two years) but it’s the truth. There’s nothing wrong with UConn or big research universities. I’m just pointing out what may be a drawback for some.
@blurryface You are correct that these schools have a smaller population, but these schools also have less professors (obviously).
I can’t deny that big schools will have at least a handful of big classes, and you’re right. Class size does not equal student to faculty ratio. Of course classes will be smaller at liberal arts collleges, but when we are looking at liberal arts colleges of lower tier, they classes will be bigger. I argue that when we trek toward nearly unranked liberal art schools, the class sizes may very well be comparable to class sizes at Uconn.
SUNY’s are known for being comparatively well priced for OOS students. How about SUNY Geneseo, their honors LAC? Or one of the others, such as Purchase.
There are plenty of lovely, not remotely “nearly unranked” LAC’s that the OP, I’d she targets well, could offer enough merit to be in budget. Schools with great med and law school track records.
An LAC is an entirely different experience than a research university. It’s apples and oranges. One is not better than the other. Universally the classs will be smaller, from day one. For many students that is a very good thing and critical to engagement, and as a easily, academic success. Others will do fine in some large lectures for the first two years and truly not need smaller classes, ever.
Point being the OP is not remotely limited to public LAC versus UConn.
The goal is to find schools that fit you, and your budget. Rankings are simply one data point of many and it’s a game that some schools play better than others.
Have you looked at Marist? Very pretty college, and has generous merit aide
Find out what your parents can pay each year, and go from there. The advantage of many of the midwest LACs is that their tuition and room and board start out lower than their coastie-peers. So, tuition at Knox and Beloit was $42,000 when it was $50,000 back east. Room and board was $8000, when it was $12,000 elsewhere. So, you start off with a full price cost around $50-52k vs. $62-65k on the coasts. Then, add in merit money – many wonderful midwest LACs will give 1/2 tuition merit awards to students who have good stats and a clear story about who they are and what they bring to campus. With merit money, full pay costs are around $25-30k per year. Is $25-30k per year feasible for your family? If so, you have a wealth of schools which would align with your interests: Kalamazoo, Knox, Beloit, Lawrence, Earlham, maybe Centre in KY, maybe Wooster in Ohio. These are all schools which can be as quirky as a student chooses.
1 Like