If you are planning to layover somewhere near McDaniel Gettysburg is like 30 minutes away and aside from the battlefield a cute town with shops and stuff. Westminster is nice but I didn’t see any hotels. One end of town is typical suburbia with strip malls and applebees LOL. The other end is more mom and pop stores and little cafes and stuff.
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@Billb7581 My LAC kid has graduated but I love to follow these kids’ journeys so I check in – on Wooster, my kid went through athletic recruiting there so we were on campus a number of times and we know several current and graduated students. Campus is larger, spread out, as compared to some “enclosed” LACs, more like Oberlin with town streets bisecting parts of campus than like, say, Conn Coll, which is more enclosed. Many lovely buildings – Science Library is gorgeous with stained glass windows etc, looks like it must have been the original library. Athletic center was renovated/expanded within the last 10 years, good facility. Fun tradition about students packing the main Arch with snow and, if they fill it completely, President has to call a snow day, no classes. Main dining hall and student union are in a centralized building, next to Athletic Center, though there are several smaller grab and go/coffee shop style places on campus as well. I think I’m remembering correctly that on the ground floor of that Student Union building, there are electric fires and clusters of seating, very cozy. Dorms are normal, nice enough, some very charming. College owns a number of small houses adjoining campus which are college housing – students apply to live there as part of a themed group (similar to Kzoo, as I recall) and the idea is it is opportunity for independent living without being subject to whims of landlords etc.
The area right next to campus is more faded industrial feel, with a a 7/11 and gas station as campus buildings taper off. BUT – drive/walk a bit further into “downtown” and you hit a charming, hip (well, for Central Ohio), part of town, complete with brew pubs, farm to table restaurants, shops – all looks like it could be found in Brooklyn instead of Central Ohio.
Since my kid was meeting with coaches and team, he interacted mostly with the “jocks” rather than “NARPs” (an acronym explained to me as "non-athletic regular people). Very nice kids, hard working, earnest. When I spent time on campus, waiting for my kid to finish up meetings etc., I’d say there were plenty of “regular” kids, with quirky sprinkled through. Our interactions with administration were consistently pleasant and professional. A lovely school!
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May I ask which sport? I get a post card from Wooster football staff in my mail box weekly LOL
Sure thing – he played soccer. NCAC is a strong conference, and Wooster’s Scottish Marching Band in kilts is pretty cool. My kid did not go to Wooster – but calling the Wooster coach to say he was not attending was a very tough call for him to make, as he really liked the program and the school.
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I just noticed 3 of the schools he is looking at are on the “Colleges that change lives” list. That was not by design. All of our private options have been coaches pursuing him. I am going to tell him to check out Juniata. That coach was messaging him awhile back.
Finally a FA from Hendrix - just a 1K for early FAFSA submission, but the whole thing is below our EFC - what a great feeling!
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@psblstnr Yay! Happy for you!! Kalamazoo is under our EFC, so I know the feeling!
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Update: Accepted to St John’s College in MD. Merit and F/A bring the total to $35,000 (actually less than Goucher by almost $4,000). Not enough, though. But huge thanks to St John’s for including f/a with the acceptance. 
D’s love for the school diminished as she pondered the thought of not having a major.
My husband and I want to go to St John’s, though. Is it too late? 
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@lisabees - congrats! FYI - Drew’s portal changed this morning for my D - decisions are coming today or tomorrow!
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@psblstnr Ooooh what a pleasant surprise! D loved her visit but didn’t like that it was only an hour and a half away from home lol!!!
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@lisabees - I hear you! My D didn’t apply to Knox since its only 1.5 hours driving 
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I had to promise my daughter I wouldn’t randomly drop in on her when she went to school nearby. Like I dont have a life LOL.
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@Billb7581 Right?! You know I made that promise, too. She’s not buying it. She’s my 5th kid going through this process. The closest any of them went to school was NYC; I only visited a few times just to see him. But that was because he rarely came home for breaks or summers b/c he was always doing research.
I figure if D21 chooses a nearby school, she can bring her car. Seems like a good deal to me.
There is a place about half way with good wings, we usually meet her there. Never visited her unannounced, and she is a senior. In fact we have driven right by her school (stockton) going to the beach and not dropped in.
We were in the camp of not letting her have her car Freshman year, but after Thanksgiving I didnt feel like driving her back, so that went out the window LOL
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@Billb7581 Food is always a good meeting place. 
I couldn’t imagine dropping by unannounced. Yikes. And, yes, we drove through the city plenty of times and never stopped.
My oldest son attended Oberlin, which is 7.5 hours away. After the first year, he found local friends who would drive him home. Same with my SD in Beloit. She doesn’t need plane tickets anymore.
So, I wasn’t sure how anxious D21 has been about this. She just fessed up that she refreshes her email all day long!
Check the Drew Portal! D is in with $20,000. Not enough. Did your D apply for the scholars?
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@lisabees - the same 20K, no FA yet, no additional merit aid that D applied for. is the max merit 25K?
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No idea what the max is - I know D would never get the max lol with her GPA. 
But there is a scholars program that seems wonderful. The application is in the portal (Three 500 word essays). Action Scholars | Drew University
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@lisabees - my D applied to their scholars as part of CA. About max merit/GPA - who knows how they assign their merit, we had some unpredictable outcomes - top merit at private vs no merit at low tier state schools, so many factors like gender/geography.
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Yeah - I find it so fascinating every time I go through this with my kids. Drew (and Goucher) also only meet something like 85% of need. That doesn’t work well when they also don’t give huge merit awards.