<p>You guys are just full of good ideas! :-) How about suggestions for public universities in the east that are smallish, attentive to students, beautiful campus, nice dorms. Is it easier or harder for out of state students to get in? I would think easier, because the university would benefit from that out of state tuition. I suppose financial aid would first go to state residents, though.</p>
<p>While not in the East the school that always comes to mind for this "feel" is Miami of Ohio......thinks it is private but in fact a public.</p>
<p>William and Mary -- people forget it's public all the time! </p>
<p>Mary Washington, maybe? I confess I don't know that much about it.</p>
<p>I would second William and Mary. When I visited it was hard to believe it was public- it had the feel of many of the privates I visited.</p>
<p>University of Mary Washington, and University of Vermont- but I have not visited either one. Also The College of New Jersey</p>
<p>It can be easier and it can be tougher to get in oos, it depends.</p>
<p>I'd second Miami of Ohio - not really small (14,000-ish?), but lovely, cozy, well-kept campus - doesn't feel like that many students at all.</p>
<p>I hadn't heard of Univ of Mary Washington previously. Princeton Review rates it low in some key areas - long lines and red tape, #3 least happy students (yikes), homogenous student population. College of William and Mary is indeed impressive, don't think DD has quite the GPA to get in. </p>
<p>Univ of Vermont - how is Burlington as a city?</p>
<p>The College of William and Mary and University of Mary Washington. You have to see Mary Washington to believe it...............gorgeous campus, about 4,700 total students, in charming Fredricksburg, VA, public, used to be the "sister school of UVA", so the campus looks like a mini UVA, great repuation, Average GPA 3.6, SAT's 1240. Like William and Mary, lots of people think it's a private school. Very selective too.</p>
<p>The College of New Jersey!</p>
<p>university of virginia.</p>
<p>only 8% of funds are provided by the state of virginia.</p>
<p>rich history, wealthy students........very "private"</p>
<p>Our endowment per student is one of the highest in the country, better than most private schools. the only schools with more endowment per students are ivies and other private elites such as duke....</p>
<p>I think Burlington is a nice little city and a bit of a college town.</p>
<p>I was born in Middlebury, and I can assure you Burlington is a college town, It's really relaxing, a great place to eat!</p>
<p>Miami (OH) and UVA.</p>
<p>Have you heard about St. Mary's College in Maryland? It's not in Princeton Review (I don't think) but it's in the Fiske Guide. I'm thinking about applying. It's a state school but it sounds so much like a liberal arts college and the photos of the campus I've seen are simply amazing... it's right on the river. It's no Harvard but I think academics are solid enough, and it attracts some of Maryland's top students. I REALLY suggest you check it out because it sounds exactly like what you are looking for, and it's academics are better than Mary Washington.</p>
<p>I don't think UVA feels private at all (at least not East Coast private, aka mostly a small student body with not much emphasis on sports), but that's my personal opinion. W&M definitely fits the category, but if it's too much of a reach, I would look at Mary Washington.</p>
<p>ebonyphoenix, </p>
<p>One of my cousins went to St. Mary's College, and after graduating, playing poker, working at a finance firm for like a year, teaching collegeboard prep courses, and playing minor league baseball, he is in grad school at Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>i think Uva feels more private compared to most</p>
<p>St. Mary's College in Maryland is a very small school, about 1800 total students. The average GPA as listed by Princeton Review is 3.47 and the average SAT is around 1240. Mary Washington in Virginia truly fits the public/private school feel. The academics are very strong. I say this because I checked this school out and it was my second choice after William and Mary. I was accepted to UVA, Tech, JMU.............but William and Mary was my first choice. Mary Washington was clearly the second choice because they had a similar "feel". I have several friends at Mary Washington (plenty of guys there too) and they seem to be loving it there. Great Pre-Med and Pre-law programs, I might add.</p>
<p>I also would have said ST. Mary's in Maryland. Also University of Cincinnati. They were private many years ago before they became part of Ohio State System.</p>
<p>Sushi (post #7),
Burlington is a very cool college town. It's surrounded by mountains, Lake Champlain borders one edge of town and it has quite a few restaurants, pubs and quirky little stores. It has a somewhat "crunchy" feel to it, laid back liberal and winters are probably long. All the colleges in the area offer some sort of discounted ski deal at the nearby resorts. I wouldn't say that UVM has a private feel to it though.</p>
<p>My rationale for listing UVM is that it has a very small student body for a state school (and I would add-a price tag that is between some publics and privates for oos students).</p>