@Booajo, what if your daughter finds a perfect, flat campus without a big Greek presence but she gets put into a room on the 4th floor of a dorm without an elevator?
My D is at Lafayette and I wouldn’t consider hills to be an issue. The entire campus is on top of a hill, but there is no need to go up and down the hill when going to class, meals etc. If students want to go off campus, there are shuttles. Also in PA you can look at Franklin and Marshall and Dickinson (which has a road running through campus which my D didn’t like so everyone has their own quirks) and maybe Skidmore in NY.
She might qualify for a merit scholarship at St. Lawrence. I don’t think the campus is hilly.
SUNY Buffalo is completely flat and greek life is not anywhere near the north campus dorms.
Muhlenberg is flat and should give her good merit.
Luther is mostly on the top of a hill. Augustana (Rock Island) has a big hill. Juniata is in the mountains, so yes, there are hills.
Absolutely flat: University of North Dakota at Grand Forks.
Drew, in NJ, is flat, also. It’s expensive, but she’d probably qualify for a decent merit package there.
If she doesn’t like Greek, I’d not put Missouri high on the list…Campus is fairly flat, but heavily greek. Austin College in Sherman Texas would be an addition - totally flat small campus with limited Greek life.
Update: she would consider hills if all else is ideal. She states that she thinks she is just lazy (!! Girl works out 3 hours plus daily for her sport.) On top of a hill is ok. Sounds like Juniata and Augustana would be less desirable for her. Mizzou is pretty low already. How much hill climbing goes on at Kansas? I think it is on a hill.
That’s good! Please note, though, that Grinnell and Oberlin offer merit aid. I wouldn’t rule that out. I believe that they award it somewhat holistically, not just based on test scores and class rank, at least just judging from some of the postings here. Nonetheless, how about having your D retake the ACT to see if she can bump it up a point or two?
Fargo-Moorhead is one of the flattest places on earth; it sits on the bottom of a glacial lake bed. It’s also home to North Dakota State University (engineering, plant path, polymers & coatings, nanotech are all areas of strength) and Concordia College (strong in music, languages education, global studies, pre-med, and health care admin).
Booajo, I second the Muhlenberg suggestion as a great LAC, no hills, very little Greek life, very accepting of everyone, not conservative and gives great merit money. The earlier suggestion of Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall, while flat campuses, have a major Greek life component to them. Lafayette sits on top of huge hill with hundreds of steps down into Easton. Bucknell and Lehigh are both hilly. Ursinus is flat, no real Greek dominated social scene and gives good merit aid as well. Best of luck to you!
Has anyone mentioned U of Kansas and U of Tennessee? They are two of the hilliest places in academia. U of South Carolina is flat, but maybe too urban for her.
This discussion has made me interested in seeing a “hilliest campuses” thread.
U of Washington Seattle
U of Tennessee-Knoxville
U of Kansas
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Despite being situated in the mountains, there aren’t really any hills on Juniata’s campus, because it’s so small. One short, gentle grade from the center green of campus down to the building that serves as a student union (Ellis Hall) is about it.
It is so much fun to remember some of the criteria my kids used to look at schools. I do remember when I asked my son if he was interested in looking a UC Santa Cruz that he was not because his teammate told him it was all hills. He was a XC runner in HS and plays college soccer so runs all day long. He laughs at himself now.
@LakeWashington: Thanks. Pepperdine. From a distance at least.
Arizona State, so flat it’s practically level.