Not knowing much about your DD - stats, other interests, size preference, budget — but knowing that she is interested in English and creative writing I would certainly try to fit in Susquehanna University. We are from PA and my DD has several friends there all in the English department. I know graduates of SU and also neighbors who have their kids there. They are thriving! I feel like it is a hidden gem in PA. It is a beautiful campus and if your DD has higher stats they are very very generous with merit. Downside - it is pretty rural, although there is a mall and tons of fast food nearby and it is not too far from Harrisburg or State College (Penn State). It is not too far from Lancaster and F&M. If budget isn’t an issue and she would like the preppy vibe I would continue 45 minutes up Rt. 11/15 from Susquehanna to Bucknell.
@toomanykiddos we were actually there for a cheer competition and not colleges! Just happened to realize F&M was next door. She’s only a freshman so we’re not in serious mode yet! Her brother is a college freshman, though, so we always keep an eye out! Seemed like a nice campus, right across the street from a nice, renovated section of Lancaster.
We know a few kids at Susquehanna- good merit and everyone seems to love it. Another friend at St. Joe’s - also got good merit and it very happy there. Swarthmore is definitely way more competitive- our valedictorian was rejected and is currently at U Penn.
Good luck and post back after your trip!
@bamamom2021 she is a great student, but doesn’t test well, so I’m not sure how that will pan out for her. She has a 4.0 uw and about a 4.4 w. But her SATs are 1200. She starts an SAT boot camp next week and I’m hoping that will help her out a little. She has many academic and teacher choice awards (teachers really adore her), She’s involved in clubs and committees at the school, and plays volleyball and cheerleading. She is an URM and does have a major medical condition (although I’m not sure if having a medical condition would be viewed as a positive or negative for admissions purposes).
She likes smaller schools (I’d say under 5000 students), with and enclosed type of campus. As long as the school has a lot to do on campus, she’s not too concerned with it being isolated. She definitely is not a city girl. But I’d love there to be some local things to do off campus (even just some little icream shops and stores would be fine).
I need to do a little more digging in our current list of schools, but ideally a school that is within an hour from a medical center (just Incase she gets sick and needs to get medical attention).
@toomanykiddos if you want to see how close together some of the Philly schools are, just put them in google maps(use the add destination function). You can put all 4 of the ones I mentioned in at once. You probably already know that, but thought I would throw it in anyway :). As an aside, last year we did a PA tour as well and went to Penn State, Bucknell, Gettysburg, Villanova, St Joe’s. My son was a junior and he was trying to decide what school size felt right to him. He really liked them all but ultimately decided a bigger school fits him better. PA has some great schools to choose from, unfortunately, none of them are cheap if you have to pay sticker price. That’s what makes merit aid such a blessing.
Her test scores aren’t bad but if they don’t go up, definitely applying to some test optional schools, many already mentioned here, would be a good way to go.
https://www.fairtest.org/university/optional
@doschicos we have about 20 schools on her ever growing list, and many of them are test optional. Im hoping she can pull her SAT scores up, and I’m thinking of having her try the ACT.
Penn State Medical Center Hershey seems to have a good reputation. It’s about 40 minutes from F&M and Dickinson and more than an hour from Susquehanna.
I’ve also heard of Geisenger which is closer to Susquehanna.
There are probably other good places but those are ones that were recommended to me when my D went to school out that way and we were dealing with some medical issues. Because she was near a train station, she was able to take a train to Philly and I would meet her there for appointments. That worked out for us because it was convenient for seeing the doctors over breaks, too. But it would not have worked had she ever been in a crisis because it would have been too far.
Lancaster General is now affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania system. Penn is excellent but I’ve never heard much about Lancaster General.
Definitely check out Susquehanna as an option with the current SAT.
Elizabethtown is also a nice for those stats. I just don’t know much about their English and writing programs.
She would get merit at both so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep them in mind.
They would be matches, while the other schools mentioned might be reaches…maybe…??
They are about as close as two independent colleges can be. The only comparable arrangements might be the Claremonts, or Barnard/Columbia.
In the Haverford Class of 2019, there were 345 declared majors, of which 302 were at Haverford and 43 at Bryn Mawr. So about one out of every eight declared majors at Haverford was actually at Bryn Mawr. Furthermore, at most liberal arts colleges the number of declared majors is higher than the actual number of students, because some students declare a double-major. So the fraction of Haverford students with a major at Bryn Mawr is probably higher, perhaps more like one in seven.
https://www.haverford.edu/sites/default/files/Office/President/Students-by-Major-2017-18.pdf
BMC students are less likely to major at Haverford, probably because many BMC students do want a women’s college experience. However, BMC students who are flexible have full access to Haverford’s academic courses and majors. So women who apply to Haverford commonly make a strategic decision to apply to BMC as well. The acceptance rate at BMC is higher (not surprisingly, since there are no men to compete with in the applicant pool) and the financial aid is often considered better (since BMC is wealthier, with a significantly larger endowment).
Newark Airport is also large and fairly convenient to the Lehigh Valley area. United runs “flights” between Newark Airport and Allentown Airport that are actually buses. If you check the ABE “Arriving Flights” or “Departing Flights” boards online, you’ll see that some of the United “flights” don’t have a gate number; instead you’ll see the word “BUS”.
https://www.flylvia.com
The bus “flights” from Newark show up as options if you schedule a flight to ABE on the united.com website. They may not show up if you schedule a flight to ABE via third-party websites like expedia.com. If you are flying across the country, it can be quite inexpensive to add a connecting bus “flight” to ABE from Newark. In fact, sometimes it’s actually cheaper when you add the connection to ABE (I realize that this makes no sense).
There is also bus service between Newark Airport and the Lehigh Valley via Transbridge Lines, but the United bus service is an express and is probably faster.
I know I already suggested Susquehanna U. and reading through the thread see that other people have suggested it as well. Reading about her stats - I would strongly suggest that you take a look at least online and check it out. It is really not too far from F&M (maybe 1.5 hours) and I have known them to give very generous merit $ to kids in your daughters stat range. The thing that makes SU such a strong contender is they have a very well regarded English Dept. and writing program.
Another PA liberal Arts school that she might look into is Lycoming College. It is in a small city (very very smal), Williamsport - hospital right there. They have a regional airport as well for transportation. It is another strong writing school and she would be a very strong contender for $$$. It is a beautiful campus and it has great school spirit.
So many amazing schools in the state of PA. If I had a writer who was looking for a small/medium school I would likely do York College, F&M, Susquehanna, Bucknell, and Lycoming as a tour up the middle of the state. I also might then travel across to University of Scranton. (This from someone who lives very close to Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Swathmore, and Villanova – and a quick drive to Lehigh, Lafayette, and Moravian).
@bamamom2021 there definitely seems to be an abundance of wonderful schools in Pennsylvania. I may need to make more than one trip. Susquehanna is absolutely going on the must see list. I’m going to dive into all of these great suggestions that you and others have recommended over the weekend.
I know you’ve heard praise for Susquehanna, but I’m going to pile on a little more. Susquehanna was my daughter’s #2 pick. She had a solid GPA, and great ECs, but not so good SAT or ACT scores. She applied ED to her top choice and EA to Susquehanna, both test optional, where she didn’t supply the test scores. She got into both, so she now attends the ED school, but had I known Susquehanna was going to offer 104K merit for 4 years, test optional, I might have had her only do EA to that first school.
Drive another hour west from Susquenhanna and visit Juniata. It is definitely a gem
Trip has been booked! Driving 7+ hrs to Susquehanna, we will see Dickinson and F&M the next day, then Haverford and Bryn Mawr (she’s not thrilled about that one :)), then on our last day we are seeing Muhlenberg, Lehigh and Lafayette.
Lehigh doesn’t have any tours that day, so we are doing a self guided one. Not thrilled about that, but it’s better than nothing. So I’d love to hear any tidbits about Lehigh that we may not be able to pick up on just walking around the campus on our own.
Looking forward to hear the post trip report!
Has she looked at the creative writing program at Bryn Mawr? It may make her a little more interested. 
Outstanding group of schools. She will see a lot of great schools. Get to Lehigh’s library, it is amazing. The students are VERY friendly there and if you have any questions they will certainly help you out. It is hilly so be prepared. Looking forward to hearing back after the visits.
I’m not familiar with schools that are good for writing, but I think Muhlenberg is better known for the physical sciences and theater. Lehigh is known for engineering. Dickinson and F&M are probably good options. Haverford and BM are excellent as well - even if she wants to attend Haverford, it will be easy to earn a major at BM. They are definitely bigger reaches than any of the others. I would say Susquehanna is probably at the other end but still a good school.
It may have already been mentioned, but Ursinus College might be worth a look, it is one of tbe CTCL.org schools, it is test optional, but 1220SAT/27ACT ,along with meeting some HS curriculum requirements would make your D eligible for their relatively new Gateway Scholarship, more info here:
A family friend’s D attended Ursinus and had a great experience there. My oldest D also applied and was accepted back in 2012. She also liked and applied to F and M, Dickinson, Bucknell, Lafayette, Gettysburg, and Muhlenberg, so Ursinus might appeal to your D also.