@CMA22 thank you for taking time to throw out so many possibilities that weren’t anywhere on our list! We will certainly have lots to research during this long weekend!
@me29034 thank you for your transparency. Definitely an aspect of the school that we need to investigate.
Thank you!
SLC is rather limited in science offerings. Arts, some humanities, and psychology appear to be it’s emphases.
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@JAF09 Sounds like you are much further down the research path than we are! I have a D22 who completed all of her applications last month, and I needed a breather after supporting her through that whirlwind of research/visits/applications/essays. I really appreciate you sharing the details of what you’ve learned about RIT - those spaces sound amazing, and the co-op program is definitely encouraging given her concerns about graduating with an art degree and no obvious career path. You summed it up perfectly - we are looking for a STEM school with a whole bunch of art, and ratings/reviews don’t seem to address the interdisciplinary stuff. Love the ease of getting back and forth between BWI and ROC!
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Thanks for these ideas @momrath! Carnegie Mellon did pop on our list. Although price could be an issue, I did see where they gave limited merit for art achievement. Skidmore is an interesting idea - I knew someone whose kid went there years ago, but it didn’t initially pop in our research. Another poster also suggested Wesleyan. Love that their home page has a video that is subtitled “where science and art intersect”! That’s exactly what we are looking for. Will add these thoughts to the research list!
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Putting Lafayette out there. Checks off the boxes academically have an equestrian team also a surprising amount of outdoor activities. They typically don’t give out a lot of merit money but they do offer full and half-tuition scholarships for the very top students which your daughter could be competitive for.
IMO a little bit more of a “well-rounded” student body than Skidmore which would generally be considered an academic peer to Lafayette. One of our son’s best friends is a talented musician studying engineering at Lafayette, definitely an Arts and Science kid.
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In a large enough school (like RIT) there’s going to be the whole gamut of things students like to do. The key is finding your people. They aren’t necessarily in the dorm the student is in. To find them, get into clubs. This means when you’re looking at each school, find members in clubs that are appealing and see what they’re doing - not just the “average” student you come across or even a tour guide.
I’ve had multiple students head off to college and come back feeling they had chosen incorrectly. I tell them to get involved in (appealing to them) clubs. Once they do, their feelings change considerably.
For those not as interested in any particular club, but loving research - hang out in the labs.
Everyone needs friends. They just don’t always know where to look for them.
That said, RIT is a bit away from the Adirondacks so hiking there might not happen too often. Going to places like Watkins Glen or Letchworth is probably common.
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@James_West as a Lehigh grad, it might be difficult for me to write checks to Lafayette, but we will check it out! Thanks for adding to our research list.
@Creekland agree 100% about finding your people. Great advice! She is an outdoorsy girl so I looked up the RIT outdoor club as an obvious opportunity for her (and apparently the Adirondacks are a trip, not a regular outing!). Also love that the equestrian club has a fall season. D19 is a student athlete at his very small LAC, and diving right into practice and competition with like-minded kids during fall of freshman year was key to finding his people.
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Florida State University, FSU
Probably not on your Radar but It checks a lot of your boxes
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Physics
FSU is also home to the National High Magnetic Field Lab and the John D Fox Nuclear Accelerator.
https://nationalmaglab.org
Nuclear Structure and Nuclear Astrophysics at Florida State University
Equestrian club
https://campusrec.fsu.edu/sports/clubs/equestrian
Outdoor Rec. Area
FSU has a campus in Florence as well as London, Valencia and Panama City Panama.
My S21 is currently in Florence, first year abroad and loving it, He will move to Valencia for the summer.
Another plus OOS that complete First Year Abroad with a 3.0 GPA or guaranteed instate tuition for remainder of degree.
FSU also offers OOS tuition waivers and she would be a good candidate for as well as as the the Honors program based on her stats.
FSU is pretty Diverse as well
About 36% minorities and 2500 international students
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I hope your daughter will have a chance to visit as each LAC has its own personality, and what students do in their non-academic time is a defining factor. Among the art + science supportive LACs I’d give Williams and Hamilton highest marks for outdoorsy, nature immersion activities.
There’s also a difference between the focus on “fine” art (painting, sculpture) and tech or digital driven art. I’m not making a judgment on which is purer, but I’d suggest that your daughter look at art departments with an eye to the kind of work that inspires her creativity. Synergy is good, but not if it detracts from the media that your daughter wants to pursue.
(Not meant to be a knock on Wesleyan which offers plenty of fine art opportunities. Just a plug for the concept of studying art and science simultaneously, but separately.)
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I think Wesleyan’s “synergistic” approach to fine arts and science is what the OP was referring to. Specifically, it was to Wesleyan’s well-equipped makerspace. But, it could just as well have been directed at Wesleyan’s historic support of electronic music and perhaps even more so with regard to its brand-new movie soundstage:
But, it still has separate courses in art history and studio art. 
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Not sure about the equestrian team, but Rice is in a beautiful, not-too-urban part of Houston, has excellent science and math, and has been making major commitments to the arts, including a stunning new studio arts building in the works:
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In considered Williams, it’s certainly strong across many fields, but its strength in visual art (often art history, but studio art as well) has long been one of its appeals. Williams’ strength in physics is also a given (consider its notable number of Apker recipients, as awarded by the American Physical Society).
With respect to Hamilton, its studio arts facilities are among the finest nationally. They are exceptionally well-equipped as well as beautiful in their own right. Physics is strong here as well (with a professor and recent graduate recognized in separate awards by the APS).
Regarding the outdoors, these schools connect their physical identities to the Bershires (Williams) and the Adirondacks (Hamilton). Williams resides in a mountain valley with Williamstown; Hamilton offers wooded glens on campus and overlooks Clinton.
Though not definitive and a few years old, this Forbes article suggests that colleges of this type may be worth their expense: 10 Expensive Colleges Worth Every Penny 2017.
If you would like to read about combining arts with technology at Hamilton, this site offers some information: https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/study-what-you-love/digital-hamilton/creative-arts-technology/home.
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I am excited to dig into researching all of these excellent suggestions this weekend, as well as to start planning some visits in the spring. D22 had the disadvantage of only virtual tours last spring, and by the time her list of colleges opened to in-person visits, the students had left for the summer. I’m excited that D23 will be able to experience the vibe of the places she will visit. Clearly she will have lots to think through!
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Rice was definitely not on our list, so thank you for highlighting it!
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@momrath my daughter is definitely a fine art student now, with figure painting and sculpture as her concentrations (all from observation, which means that our entire family has spent hours modeling!). She sees herself as always maintaining a fine art practice, but is also interested in learning more about the intersection of art and it’s application through technology.
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@kevi2900 you are right, FSU was definitely not on our radar! Sounds like they have lots of amazing resources, and would definitely check the box on price! Thanks for highlighting it.
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You all were so helpful in providing your thoughts when we first started this search, so I wanted to share that my daughter committed to UCLA! She will be one of only 50 freshmen in their Art major, so she’ll have the best of both worlds - a small cohort within a large university setting.
Our budget for tuition/room/board was originally $55K, but we were open to a higher max for schools where her AP and dual enrollment credits would reduce the number of classes needed to graduate. UCLA’s OOS tuition/room/board is $64K, and with the UC Tuition Stability Plan, tuition is held flat for up to six academic years. My daughter will be entering UCLA with more than a year’s worth of credits, so we have some wiggle room if she needs a little more than three academic years to finish. Fun fact: OOS students can take UCLA summer classes at the in-state rate! We have lots of frequent flier points so travel expenses are not an issue.
THANK YOU for your insights! We couldn’t be more thrilled! GO BRUINS!!!
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