I think Wooster and Muhlenberg have similar vibes (good academics and heavy on performing arts, low frat presence). But Wooster may offer more merit for average stats because it is harder to attract students to its Ohio location.
I have a friend who is a Wooster alum and is still close with the friends she made there 30 years ago.
If you try another spontaneous road trip west and visit Knox, keep going to Cornell College in Iowa. We toured recently and thought it just right for an arty child just waking up to academics. Middle of nowhere yes, but one can get to two larger cities relatively easily with a car or friends with cars. Edit: I thought it similar enough feel to Wooster though smaller I think.
@lisabees, If your daughter likes Wooster, hereâs another thing to think about/investigate. A few months ago I read on Woosterâs website that there is a scholarship (I think sizeable) for a student or a few student to perform a Scottish dance whenever their drum and pipes corps perform (at football games and other events. I kind of made a metal note about it because my daughter has done a good bit of ballet (but no longer seriously.) There was a video of some of the Scottish dances and they seemed fairly simple to me (unlike some of the Riverdance-type Irish dancing which is a whole other thing and can take years of training in and of itself.) I may be wrong, but think that someone with years of ballet training could learn these Scottish dances fairly easily. It may not be something she is interested in at all, but for scholoarship money, it might be something to consider.
^ thereâs a bagpipe scholarship too 
Scottish dancing and Bagpipes?! Now Iâm REALLY bummed we didnât make time to visit Wooster, while we were in the area!! :-j
We are done w/ S16 and S17 decisions, but I will definitely pass on all the good commentary about Wooster to my friends with slightly younger students, who fit the description of @lisabeesâ D. Knox and Cornell Colleges too!
We were big Wooster fans @morningside95 Almost didnât visit (travel burnout) then loved it. Made a different choice in the end as you know, but encourage others to check it out.
I was sorry we hadnât visited Denison, but it all worked out in the end.
@lisabees Were you able to tour Muhlenberg? My S18 and I toured Muhlenberg, Ursinus, Dickinson, and Juniata last month and toured Wooster this month. I have to agree that Muhlenberg and Wooster are similar. Wooster spoke of cultural diversity and undergraduate research. Muhlenberg spoke of community. They both seem to draw smart, friendly students. My son liked both as well as Dickinson and Juniata. He had previously visited Denison but it didnât click with him for whatever reason. Good luck with all!
Lawrence would be good fit. Appleton has nice small-city âhometownâ atmosphere with busy performing arts center. Contrary to many Midwest LACsâ locations, appletonâs not a depressing rural Rust Belt town. Campus has consciously eclectic student body, music conservatory, lots of student opportunities, no snootiness and no preppies.
Laurence is a very nice school and setting. My Ds wavered between Beloit and Lawrence and ended up at Beloit, which reading the thread, sounds like a good fit in a number of ways.
Regarding Scottish dance, Highland dance has quite formalized movements, ballet like in ways, while Scottish Country Dance is more a couple oriented folk dance, if with some complicated foot work at times.
OP here. We are home! 10 schools (including 2 drive throughs), 8 states and 6 days. Yowza! Did I mention that I will be at an admitted students weekend with my son in two days?
Wooster is number one. Denison and Muhlenberg seemed to have similar feels to each other - preppier, more athletic, greeky, but a mix. The performing arts facilities were awesome at Muhlenberg. Tour guide was friendly.
Unfortunately, all dd does is talk about Bryn Mawr and Mt Holyoke. But, she has come a long way. She is beginning to see that what is good for one person is not necessarily good for her. It is still early. She has time to grow and improve those scores/GPA if she is motivated. It wonât change the schools; it would just give her a better chance at better merit.
Thanks for the Scottish dance suggestion. I really thought the dance options were going to sway her at Muhlenberg. The tour guide was an English major/Gender studies minor and serious Vaganova dancer. Nope. DD saw through that and still didnât see Muhlenberg as the perfect fit.
Many of these schools I visited when my oldest was looking. My impression of them has not changed much - as far as personality.
Lawrence and Beloit sound like good fits.
Her father was wondering about Willamette or Lewis Clark. He had friends who went to those schools. Not sure about culture, merit or whether travel to those places erases any financial benefit we may receive.
Wow, @lisabees - You and your family are amazing!! Glad you all got home safely and your family is not at each otherâs throats after a trip like that!! We had two kids in a row, too, so we really didnât get focused on tours for S17 until the summer. Good for you guys!
S17 and I visited Willamette and Lewis & Clark, but it was over summer, so difficult to fully get a sense of the vibe. Locations and campus feel are very different. S does not have a particular major in mind, (leaning towards Social Studies/History) but was interested in a campus with kids who are in the performing arts, volunteering and outdoor activities.
L & C is one of the prettiest campuses Iâve ever seen. Itâs built on a former large estate and is a little hilly, with tons of trees everywhere. An amazing view of Mt Hood too! But it is in a completely residential area - at least 1 mile to the nearest little business strip and S would only have his bike. All downhill one way, and all uphill the other!
Willamette is right smack dab in the middle of the small city of Salem. The OR State Capital is right there, across the street. While not nearly as picturesque, Willamette felt a lot less pretentious, and we really liked the old Mill Stream that wanders across the campus, with Adirondack chairs positioned here and there, casually, along it, on the grass lawn the lines the stream. They also have a special circle of five 75 yr old Giant Sequioa trees that were planted in to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the school. Some buildings are older, but they also have some very nice new buildings and spaces. Anyway, S much preferred the overall feel at Willamette, and good performing arts programs, so he applied there. Unfortunately, since he is not a high stats kid, he just didnât get enough $$ to make it affordable for him.
If you are thinking of the PNW, take a look at Univ Puget Sound, at least online. That was S17âs #1, but again not enough aid to make it a viable option, although he was accepted.
*I canât recall if you mentioned it, but where is your 2017 considering? Itâs getting down to the wire! Good luc! *
Also, @lisabees, I am putting in my 2 thumbs-up for Lawrence and Beloit.
I found schools in the Midwest have lower COA and offer more aid. Especially since is sounds like youâll have 2 in college at the same time. My sons applied to both Lawrence and Beloit. They fit the overall vibe your D is looking for, the kids that go there are very bright, and the they are both in fairly nice large towns.
Use NPCs and find schools that meet close to 100% of need, per the College Data website. Ex. for Beloit:
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=301
Beloit meets 95% of need.
Now âNeedâ wonât be based on your FAFSA, as no school I know of meets that #, but if you use the EFC calculator on the CollegeBoard.org website: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/paying-your-share/expected-family-contribution-calculator and select âInstitutional Method,â youâll get an idea of what most colleges think your Expected Family (meaning parent) Contribution will be.
Per my quick check:
Lawrence - 97%
Beloit - 95%
Wooster - 95%
Denison - 90%
Lewis & Clark - 90%
Willamette - 84%
Univ Puget Sound - 74%
Not to be a downer, and your probably already know this, as great as Bryn Mawr and Mt Holyoke are, the avg stats for their admitted students is about a 3.8 GPA and 1400 SAT / 30 ACT. It is totally worth it to apply, as they both meet 100% of need, and your D has a well-rounded background, but your D cannot get too attached.
AND - Since your D said sheâs interested in considering a school where their might be a mix of hippies, nerds and more traditional students, I am going to throw St. Olaf into the ring. Thatâs where S17 is going. He had a 3.25 W GPA, and a 28 on the ACT. Lots of good ECs, outside work and is strong with in-person interviews and his essay. He is on the lower end of the stats of St Olaf, but he got in, and the Ad Rep said he is not the only one. They want interesting, well-rounded students. S17 is very smart, but still working on developing his study skills, (hence the GPA), and he is aware St Olaf is somewhat rigorous, so we were glad to hear him ask about academic help from profs and their writing lab, etc, during Accepted Students weekend.
Overall the school definitely leans liberal, but when we were just on campus and liked the diff types of kids we saw there. Most kids looks pretty avg - mostly in sweats etc. with the cool weather. but there were plenty of more artsy looking kids. They have a dance program: https://wp.stolaf.edu/dance/
Also, Carleton College is just 2 miles away, and you can actually request to take a class there. They have a shuttle between the schools, and kids share dining hall privileges. I think St Olaf would be very interested in a student like your daughter, as they are working hard to attract kids who are from other parts of the country and are from diff cultural backgrounds. AND they meet 100% of need, and seem to be generous when a family has 2 in college at the same time (like we are). Their NPC for us was nearly spot on! One last thing. It is a dry campus. There is a lot to do on the weekends, and the 3,000 (larger than some LACs) students do stick around, but Iâve heard that kids that want to âpartyâ go to Carleton on weekend, or to the home of an upperclassman, who lives off campus. But overall, not a partying school, but not stiff either. No Greek.
Just thowinâ it out there!
@lisabees we have also been to Lewis & Clark and Willamette. Agree with what @morningside95 said. My S preferred L&C so we had opposite result though. Couple of other things:
L&C runs a shuttle to the local grocery store and downtown Portland and from what my S could tell kids actually use it. So not having car may not be super big deal. L&C has a fabulous study abroad program, most kids do it, they run a lot of their own programs which is nice, I think it is a signature thing about the school.
Willamette would probably be a great place to go to school if you wanted easy access to state government internships. People from the government offices cross the street to eat in the dining hall, itâs that close! It does feel very unpretentious in a good way. Salem seems okay, is far enough from Portland (1 hour) to make it unlikely that students go very often.
Agree that University of Puget Sound is worth a look. And Beloit! i am still a little in love with that school based solely on their interactions with my S.
L&C has more of a hippie vibe than UPS or Willamette. I hear that Beloit does as well though I may never know firsthand.
Just chiming in as my D has similar stats to yours [1230 SAT, 3.25 UW GPA] and applied to some of the same schools you are looking at. Got money from all but varying amounts:
Wooster 26K
Denison 24K
Muhlenberg 12K
Lewis & Clark no merit but 15K need-based, which nobody else gave usâkinda weird
others mentioned on the thread:
Goucher 22K [she will be attending Goucher]
Knox 20K
I found the NPCs to be mostly pretty accurate, but Denison changed theirs recently and it went from very accurate [had listed her at 23-25K] to totally inaccurate. So be careful on that one and donât assume she will get a low amount.
kt - thank you ever so much for sharing your Dâs stats and results! It is exactly what I needed!
93 and morningside - You are awesome!!! I will share this with D.
Morningside - I donât think I shared my Sâs choices. CMU and Columbia. Unless he miraculously gets off MITâs waitlist! He is almost positive he is choosing CMU - more nerdy; more math; more options for CS; and they just won Putnam Math Competition. All things important to a math kid.
Re: Mt Holyoke and Bryn Mawr. I absolutely know the reality of the situation. Sigh. Thatâs why it is imperative that she find other schools that she loves.
Two notes:
The trip was made only by my stepdaughter and me. The fact that it was only the two of us made it much easier! And special. She and I are super close.
When she enters school, we will have a grand total of 3 in college. I am getting married in June, which really complicates financial matters! Ah, but thatâs an entirely different thread!
I cannot thank you all enough! I am in absolute awe of how much you have been willing to share.
Sheâs liking the idea of womenâs schools? She might like Agnes Scott. Just outside Atlanta, right near Emory.
Also maybe Mills, in Northern California? Having only a son I donât know that much about so please take this with the huge grain of salt it deserves, but I had the impression that it has a social justice vibe, and claims to meet 95% of need.
Glad you had such a great whirlwind trip, @lisabees! I went on trips with each of our sons and really enjoyed the personal time together. I grew up being close to step-family too, so cool that you have such a strong relationship w/ you SD. Getting married too?! That DOES sound complicated!
I would listen to @93pilotsâ info over mine, as she has the best information, having just been there, and with students on the campus. Good to hear there is a shuttle for the L&C kids, since that campus is so suburban. Study Abroad was an important factor for both our sons. There is an Amtrak commuter train right next to the south side of the Willamette campus, so you can get to and from Portland pretty easily.
Congrats to your S17! Those are wonderful choices for a math whiz! My S16âs close HS friend was a top math student, here in MN. Took most of his math classes during HS at the U of MN. He was on tv for being able to recite Pi to the 500th digit or something! Your S might get a kick out of this: http://www.kare11.com/news/more-than-314-edina-teen-recites-509-digits-of-pi/82463714 Most of S16âs friends are super bright but played a sport too. When I asked this boy what sport he played, he paused, and then just said, âMath!â
Good luck to both all 3 of your kids!