Yes, but who is Sal?
I was just asking someone here on campus (at Whitman) today about the additional housing and she confirmed that they are breaking ground on schedule. My son is a first year, and the timeline is such that it will be open for juniors and seniors by the time heās a third year student.
My wife and I read this book to our kids for years (complete with sound effects)! And āMake Way for Ducklingsā as well!
My kids both looked at lots of SLACs and had initial preferences similar to your Dās (except for the majors your D is interested in).
One kid was looking at a lot of reach-for-all schools while the other was looking at schools often considered āsafe,ā so we covered a lot of the spectrum. My kids applied, between them, to quite a few of the schools being suggested or already on your Dās list, and we researched the ones they applied to (I think 28 schools between the two of them).
My S21 landed at one of the schools suggested by @AustenNut (Wheaton - the one in MA). Since I know quite a lot about that one at this point, I can confirm that it meets all the criteria youāve listed and, given your D is targeting schools like the ones youāve shared, Iād guess Wheaton would be a safety for her.
While it meets all the criteria, Iād say that with ~1800 students, there may not be as much depth in some departments as there would be at a larger school. My son hasnāt taken any French or CS so I canāt speak specifically to those departments, but I think they offer majors and minors in both and have an open curriculum which my son has really appreciated. Common knocks against it are that it doesnāt have a cute little college town nearby (true - there are things to go to but not a charming āMain Streetā) and that it will be less well-resourced than a school like Williams (also obviously quite true; my D ended up at a very well-resourced school, and the differences are apparent). That said, weāre big fans and consider it a hidden gem. Iād say its worth a look if youāre wanting a school on the list with a 65-70% (?) acceptance rate.
Iām not sure if this link will work, but this tiny mic interview posted on their insta last week is a pretty good representation of the vibe Wheaton College Massachusetts on Instagram: "Itās fall yaāll! We had some very pressing fall questions for this special edition of tiny mic interviews. ššš #WheatonMA #FallVibes Filmed and edited by Katie Pollock ā24 āļø: @charlotte.ged ā25, @citizensato ā26 and @eliasistevens ā25"
Another Iād suggest is Beloit in Wisconsin. Both of my kids applied and were accepted. We loved the vibe (yes, they have Greek life, but this is not a school with an overall vibe that correlates with the Greek life stereotype - its vibe is more in the Vassar/Wesleyan space). Highly recommend checking this one out. @Knowsstuff knows stuff about it. It might be a little smaller than your D is hoping for - not sure what their current enrollment is.
More the happy to talk about Beloit. Itās been a few years since my daughter transfered to and graduated from there but a great school with great kids /families. Every family from Chicago I know has been thrilled with the experience. Itās a needle in the haystack. PM me anytime.
Adding to the Juniata College recommendation, they offer a scholarship for French study, āEagles Abroadā which includes funding for a trip to France/language intensive the summer after freshman year. They also have an exchange relationship with UniversiteĢ Catholique de Lille.
Their computer science page actually features a student who studied in France.
https://www.juniata.edu/academics/computer-science/index.php
Juniata is generally very flexible in their āPrograms of Emphasisā aka major so you can either to a primary emphasis in CS + secondary emphasis in French or create your own combined program.
Whitman.
It reminded us of Williams - full of smart friendly kids in a gorgeous rural setting.
There are few schools that I kind of wish my kids have attended because it felt very special, and this is one of them. Iām from PNW and I donāt know any Whitman grads who didnāt love the school. I think itās really a hidden gem (not really- but acceptance rate is about 50 percent and thatās only because this school is not in New England).
It is not so easy to get to but itās not so far from Columbia gorge natural area which is drop dead gorgeous ā¦it is so worth a visit.
Itās also not so far from the Blue mountains, which are also drop dead gorgeous!
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