Thank you again for your great comments. I talked to son and he is willing to add Dickinson to his list as he feels after thinking about it more, that it offers a great education and Carlisle PA like you guys have stated is more of a suburb of Harrisburg. Thus not as isolated according to son.
I just worry that Dickinson will not offer enough merit aide to fit our budget.
If you can get into top 10% of accepted students, Lafayette offers very good merit aid.
I have another question for the group. What are your feelings about Villanova? Does the group feel that they offer a strong biology/premed ? Do they offer enough merit aide for our budget? Thanks
Well after some more research , I can see why Villanova would be a no go for us.
Villanova gives very little in the way of merit aide and it seems like the Ivy’s is moving to all need based aide.
@d87d87 The Ivys are all need-based aid only. Many of the more select schools are also very stingy with merit aid as merit aid is typically used to entice a high scoring student to a school he may not look at. The school then gets the benefit of the students high scores to improve its ratings.
So an Ivy league school, which has no trouble attracting high stat kids has no reason to offer merit aid. But a school like Ursinus or Elizabethtown may throw money at a high stat kid to get him to attend and raise the average profile of its students.
I do think Villanova is strong in the sciences and pre-med. It has a good nursing program, but I see you have already ruled it out.
Take a look at Lycoming College in Williamsport. - Small classes in a small city - too many great LACs in PA are in suburban or rural locales but Lycoming is in a perfect location. There is plenty to do in Williamsport, a great hospital, and easy to get to from anywhere in the state (or NJ, NY, OH) - Beautiful campus - amazing Science facilities that are new - great faculty/student ratio. They offer great merit aid for strong students. Depending where you live in the state is “away” without being far away. I strongly suggest it for the sciences. Lycoming and Susquehanna are two of PA’s hidden gems. Susquehanna is a gem for literature, writers, English and Humanities majors where Lycoming has the edge for business, economics, and sciences. My own were/are looking for large schools but I have several relatives and friends who have children there or who have graduated (very successful).
My S , who is going to major in biology, was offered a huge merit scholarship to Ursinus. We visited on accepted student day and within 10 minutes it was a strong no. It has a real high school feel. During the opening remarks the president talked a lot about partying - not so much about academics.
Gettysburg on the other hand was very impressive. The professors, the students and the academics. Pretty campus, cute town. They do have a merit scholarship that would put it in your price range.
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Agree with @MYOS1634 re: Allegheny - worth considering.
My D felt Muhlenberg had a very highschool-ish feel. She ended up at Lafayette with merit money. I think they offer to about 150 applicants, and it sounds like your son would be in the running. There is a brand-new bio building opening this fall, and the pre-med support is fantastic.
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^^ One of mine also seriously considered Muhlenberg but felt like it was too much like his suburban HS. He ended up at big state school that was much more diverse.
Dickinson tops out a $20K merit (costs $70K to attend). Lots of FA for those that qualify.
Juniata gives much more merit.
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Did you say you can pay $30,000 to $40,000 a year? Would your son consider one of the SUNY colleges?
The cost of SUNY Geneseo is about $35,000 a year, for example. If he wanted a more city environment, Buffalo might work.