Yep, and they’re all totally not what we are looking for. It’s ok, we don’t want them San Diego and Long Beach are plane rides away. She may as well go to a nice school in PA rather than a Cal State. Trust me I know Cal States. Not worth it. She doesn’t want to settle in CA let alone in SoCal, so may as well go where she’s interested in settling anyway which is back east (we have strong ties there and CA is not “home.”) and in SoCal she’d be so far away from anyone she knows it would be like being alone, which this particular kid adamantly does not want to be. We also have problems as private homeschoolers with CalStates as they basically do not admit us under regular admissions but under “exceptions” and it’s very complicated. UC’s are very homeschool-friendly but not CalStates .
So anyway, thanks for looking it up, but I’d rather stick to the topic which is NOT CA schools. (She has one she is applying to here, don’t worry in case she changes her mind and wants to be near mom and dad.)
Have you considered Bryn Mawhr, Haverford, and Swarthmore? All are expensive but offer good FA for eligible recipients, all are academically solid, and all are easy commute to Philadelphia.
Yeah I checked into BM, Swarthemore and Haverton and all are out for one reason or another. Also, we will not qualify for any FA, only maybe merit aid but her SAT scores and portfolio is not amazing enough to get her Merit at elite or semi-elite schools. Those campuses are sooo beautiful though, puffy heart love them.
Leigh- Thanks for the thoughts- PSU Abington has a dorm but it’s basically an apartment, no RAs, no traditional dining halls. There is security for entry, laundry rooms, and lounges. They take a shuttle or walk 2 mi to the campus. It’s a nice neighborhood, and super safe so I’d be fine with the walk etc. But it sounds like a pretty boring college experience. As a commuter school it’s one of the best though!
Also they don’t offer 2plus2 for GD- she’d have to stay at Abington in an Art degree with some kind of concentration for GD, which isn’t super ideal anyway. Plus, like others have mentioned, it doesn’t make sense to fly across the country for a subpar college (which Abington is not supbar) OR a subpar college experience (which sadly I think would be the effect at Abington) Her academics are good enough that she should have a few good choices for both experience and academics at the college. (Not amazing but good.)
FYI, Albright in Reading got some honking big donation a while back and offers HUGE merit aid. My friend’s daughter, who was in top 5-10% of her high school class, got offered essentially free tuition there (but not a full ride).
If you find Temple’s neighborhood undesirable, I definitely wouldn’t recommend La Salle (as someone who attended). I see much more crime alerts now than I did attending in 2016.
Arcadia can be reached via the Glenside Septa train station which is a mile away and there are taxis there. The septa train can be picked up at the airport without even really going outside so she can get there on her own. It’s a great little school with a lot to offer.
PSU Abington has built dorms but it does not offer the typical college dorm experience.
You might want to contact Cabrini and see what percent commute. I’m sure it has fewer commuters than Rosemont.
It’s a shame you can’t make Kutztown work - it is well known for art and art type majors.
Thanks everyone! I really liked a lot about Cabrini so I’ll make a phone call …
Surfgirl- thanks so much on the Septa info! Does that go through North Philly or to the west and then south and east to Center City? I really don’t want her commuting via public transit through Tioga/strawberry etc. But again I’ll have to speak with my mom about pickups. It’s only a few times per year and she may enjoy having the reason to connect and feed her grandkid
I did NOT know that Allentown has its own airport. Will check into that asap.
I love Kutztown…I just can’t figure out how to make it work though.
PennState is awesome. But it’s not the only great college on earth
I was thinking of putting Drexel back on her list and rolling the dice. Their portfolio review is open-ended with no stipulations so she could just upload what she’s doing for West Chester and it wouldnt’ be any extra work. Her SAT is close to 1300 so she may get some merit aid, and we are URM so that might help too for merit… Who knows maybe it’s worth it. If they throw 20K at her we’d be in the ballpark.
My daughter went to a school about an hour from Orlando airport. There is an international airport in her town, but almost every trip went through Atlanta unless she went to Orlando (many direct flights every day out of MCO. There was a shuttle available for $45-80 bucks depending on how many were on the shuttle. She never once paid for it, as she had friends who would drive her if she paid for the tolls (about $5 ) and gas.
How often does your son who is at Penn State have an issue with transportation? I just don’t think it is as big a deal for the college kids as we make it.
My other daughter was about 2.5 hours away and often she could find rides to our town or at least half way with a friend. I think she came home 2-4 times per semester, less as time went on.
If looking at PA state schools how about Millersville? Uber to Lancaster train station then Amtrak to Philly . SEPTA trains serve the airport so an easy connection there. Or consider schools near NJT lines (bus or train) where she can either commute back to Philly as needed (Rowan) or to EWR for a flight home (Drew). I’m thinking of Drew, Rowan, TCNJ, etc.
Franklin and Marshall is even closer to the Lancaster train station. Not sure if her stats would work there (or if any of these mentioned schools have the desired major).
I’m not sure what you’re asking? Yes we are looking at lots of schools within a shuttle ride from Phila airport. Some of the schools mentioned (aka Kutztown) are over an hour and a half from Philadelphia way out through almost a hundred of miles (sometimes nothing but country) to get there, and there are no shuttle services or limos from Kutztown or Muhlenberg or Millersville to Center City or the airport. I’ve checked limo services, Super shuttle, the airport website, etc. etc. and generally speaking all services stop about 45 minutes to an hour from the airport sometimes less depending on the location
But yes sure within 45 minutes there are a few, that we are looking at
I won’t put my daughter in the position to have to find rides, when she’s already across the entire country from me, and in a freezing cold winter climate. If she was here, 2.5 hours away would be no big deal because if she did NOT find a ride, then I could go get her but I don’t want her stuck there unable to find a ride, and also I am not there to go get her. Also my girl is not gregarious. The chance of her just “finding friends” to catch a ride with especially her freshman year is just about zero. THere are plenty of colleges out there that would not be a major undertaking to get from A to B, so we will stick with those (you asked about pSU that one’s easy because both MEgabus and Starr serve PSU directly and bring them to Philly or quite a few other locations, and then from there he can visit with uncle/grandma or come straight home OR he can come straight from the state college airport.) …so that’s why we want Phila area besides she wants to be near the city for internship opportunities, and to visit etc.
Not asking anything, just posing Millersville as an option. It’s not a quick trip, but uber/Amtrak/SEPTA will get her to PHL in about 2 hours (probably a bit over).
If 45 minutes is the limit then drop my suggestions and add Widener and Rutgers-Camden. Other posters have suggested the other options that I’m aware of.
I guess I’m not seeing those. You seem to have a problem with a lot of the suggestions as they either don’t have the right major or are in a bad neighborhood or are a ‘commuter’ campus and your daughter will be the only one left on campus every weekend (which I don’t think is true either). I think it is easier to get a ride or take a train to the Philly airport than to take a commuter flight from a school (even PSU) and change planes and then fly across the county.
I was just suggesting that what we think of as problems aren’t really problems. You are looking at your 16 year old as a shy, quiet kid who won’t make many friends immediately but the reality is that as an 18 year old she may be able to handle any issues. A graphic design internship may be online so she could do it from anywhere.
Uber and Lyft have changed the need for car/shuttle services.
@CalmingTea To get to Glenside from the airport/center city, you take the regional rail line. All the regional rail lines at some point go through areas you seem to find questionable. (It’s inevitable in economic geography)
I would not hesitate for a minute to have my daughter ride the Glenside line to town, in fact we have done it for years. It will be filled with commuters both ways. http://www.septa.org/welcome/airport.html
Drexel is a great place for graphic design, I know a recent grad who attended there. I am not familiar with how their aid is or what you can expect to pay, but the NPC should give you a good idea.
San Diego and Long Beach are plane rides away. She may as well go to a nice school in PA rather than a Cal State. Trust me I know Cal States. Not worth it. She doesn’t want to settle in CA let alone in SoCal, so may as well go where she’s interested in settling anyway which is back east (we have strong ties there and CA is not “home.”) and in SoCal she’d be so far away from anyone she knows it would be like being alone, which this particular kid adamantly does not want to be. We also have problems as private homeschoolers with CalStates as they basically do not admit us under regular admissions but under “exceptions” and it’s very complicated. UC’s are very homeschool-friendly but not CalStates .
But again I’ll have to speak with my mom about pickups. It’s only a few times per year and she may enjoy having the reason to connect and feed her grandkid 
THere are plenty of colleges out there that would not be a major undertaking to get from A to B, so we will stick with those