Quality Honors Colleges at Medium Sized Schools?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post, so please bear with me (long, long, long). We are at the very beginnings of this process. My daughter is not a big fan of the large flagship state school. We’ve visited several (not official tours) for various sporting events over the years. They are just too large for her to feel comfortable in. She feels more comfortable at medium sized schools - 8-15,000 undergrads.

She’s a super bright kid (but hasn’t taken the SAT/ACT yet; based upon the conversion of PSAT to SAT, she should do really well), great grades with rigorous curriculum, extra curricular activities (not curing cancer, but she works a part time job, is big into band, Math Team and Scholastic Bowl), plus mentoring younger students. Essays and recommendations don’t exist at this time, but her current Math teacher is her Math Team coach and knows her well, so that should help – but, as I said - we’re early in the process.

We make too much money for need based aid in all but the most expensive schools, have some savings for her, but not $40K+ a year for sure. So, we’re on the look out for merit aid to help.

I’m a Tulane alum and that size, location and vibe is something that she likes. The price tag (and I hear the aid is not what it was in the early 90’s) is not something we love. In my search for “schools like Tulane” I came across College of Charleston. Roaming around the website, it seems like a great fit for her (size, location, etc). I love the high acceptance rate and am VERY intrigued by the Honors College. It really seems like something that would be great for her. It almost seems like a safety (general program) and a target (Honors College) rolled into one.

My husband happens to be traveling to the area in June for work, and I think she’s going to tag along for the trip to go visit Charleston and the College and see if she likes it as much as she liked the virtual tour.

Meanwhile, I was hoping that people could help me find more College of Charleston’s out there - Medium sized schools with quality honors programs. We are in Chicagoland; she’d like to be somewhere with milder winters than we have here. I’d like her to stay within one day’s driving distance for worst case scenarios - she does have an autoimmune health condition which she manages really well, but you never know . . . Charleston and New Orleans are 14ish hours away by car - which is far, but doable. I’d maybe go 16 hours away by car as an upper limit (so no California, Arizona, etc).

Can anyone help? Please and thank you!

2

Does she know what she might want to study? That might help narrow down your search. We are from Chicago and my daughter just committed to University of Delaware mainly because of their honors program and the merit money she received there. She was very happy with the size of their Biomedical Engineering program - a smaller program in a larger school where she felt she wouldn’t get lost and would likely stand out as a top student. It’s 12 hours away and a little larger (19,000 undergrad). We found that not all honors programs are the same so do your research. But overall, honors colleges provide a much more intimate setting even in a larger school. So don’t rule out the large universities if there’s a chance of a smaller honors community. Best of luck with your search.

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C of C is a very popular choice for kids here in NC. The campus is beautiful and Charleston is a great city. My daughter has friends that choose Charleston’s Honors College over other schools and have been very happy. I believe that an HC at “safety school” can be a great choice financially and to make your student feel like a big fish in a smaller pond.

Check out this thread http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-charleston/

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She really wants to be a doctor (if you ask her today, a pediatric endocrinologist - because she’s been seeing one for a big chunk of her life and wants to help kids like her), but of course that could change. Regardless, she would like to major in a science - bio or chem or some version of those probably, and would also like to continue with Spanish.

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The University of Delaware and The University of South Carolina both come to mind. Based on my friends’ kids experiences, Tulane is still pretty generous with merit aid BTW.

6

Providence College might give her generous merit depending on her ACT scores. Smaller than her target size though.
James Madison in VA?

7

You should check out Vanderbilt. It would be a reach school for anybody, but it has great academics and also has very good scholarships and financial aid. They give out a good number of full-ride scholarships each year.

Boston University also has a very selective honors college that may interest her.

8

Rice is a good size, great for pre-Meds and offers good aid and some merit. In a school like that, you don’t need to hide in honors colleges like you do in big state schools.

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What year in school? And ballpark SAT estimate and/or psat? GPA?

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@Riversider Rice isn’t going to be affordable for this family. I don’t get why people ignore the OP’s criteria and suggest schools that fit their own personal criteria. Also no one is “hiding” in an honors college. What a condescending thing to say.

What about Clemson? You’re going to find that the better honors colleges in warmer climates within your budget are at schools larger than your stated criteria.

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Thanks - @2kidstocollege18 @newyorkmom2girl @Riversider @itsgettingreal17 for the suggestions. As itsgettingreal17 said - Rice is likely too expensive, and it’s pushing the driving limits as well. I’ll look into the others - thanks! Once you hit a certain undergraduate student population, you get to the “Alabama Factor” where (so long as things continue on this trajectory), she could go to school for the cost of room and board or less. She’ll almost certainly get a graduate degree, even if it doesn’t end up being med school and the less she pays for undergrad, the more money there will be to help her with graduate school.

@OhiBro She is finishing her sophomore year. Scores: she took PSAT 10 in March, but no scores yet. If you compare her 2018 PSAT 8/9 score (650 Reading, 680 Math) percentages (Reading = first 99% and Math = 4th 99%) to SAT taker percentages, that would be roughly a 750 Reading and a 790 (?) Math. I don’t know, they don’t really compare directly, but she should do well on the test, I would think.

GPA is 4.4 weighted; 3.8 unweighted through three semesters.

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Wow, she will undoubtedly open some good doors for herself!

Sounds like you are already aware of the generous Alabama merit. If she makes NMF, I think it is even good for fifth year (first year of grad school).

Another school, larger than your daughter’s preference but smaller than Alabama, is the University of Kentucky. All new dorms, including 2-room suites where 2 kids share a bathroom and have their own private bedroom, which can be good for kids with special medical needs. Lots of Chicagoland people attend. Better climate, 6 hour drive, but maybe not as unique as some other options. Certainly a safety for your D’s stats.

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@itsgettingreal17

OP mentioned details about affluent family, good student, rigorous curriculum, small undergrad school, up to 16 hr drive, milder weather, undecided major, inclination for math & pre-Med hence Rice was suggested.

As kid has interest in medicine and some health issues of her own so being next door to a medical district can be helpful. There is high aid and some merit there so no harm in suggesting it. Fortunately, looking at a school is not as binding as ED nor does it costs anything.

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@riversider I knew Rice was expensive, but did the net cost calculator and, if there were any merit aid, it actually wouldn’t be too bad. But the kids who go there are all high stats kids, so you couldn’t count on it. I don’t know how my daughter would feel about the school - it’s so unique; definitely takes a specific kind of kid to love it there.

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If you are really concerned about health issues, consider limiting potential distance to college at a maximum of 4-5 hour drive.

If she finds it too limiting then cities with major airports and easily available 2-3 hr direct flights are going to have 4-5 hr door to door travel time as well.

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Vanderbilt is more than a reach now, and merit is going to be even tougher. It’s a scholarship competition. Otherwise, there is only merit aid. If she likes it, she should apply, but definitely not expect much. BU has gotten super competitive now too. My kid with a 3.9 uw gpa and 1560 SAT (not superscored) heavy APs was only offered maybe about 4-5 thousand in merit aid. You’re still looking at about 70k a year after that level of aid. That’s not to say OPs daughter couldn’t get more if BU finds her an attractive candidate, but I doubt it’s going to amount to enough to get below 40K. That’s just not realistic.

@3kids2dogs = distance would be an issue, but you should take a look at the different SUNY schools. Some have honors programs and offer merit aid for out of state students. I can’t find the offer letter, but I think Binghamton offered about $13,000 a year in merit aid? (I could be wrong, though - apologies as our spreadsheet shows COA and doesn’t break down awards) I know SUNY Albany also has an honors program and offers merit aid. I’m sure others do too.

Also, given your daughter’s excellent standardized test scores so far, make sure she prepares for the PSAT. My kid missed NMF by 1 point because he really didn’t care too much about the PSAT. Ugh. He wishes he had tried a little bit more. Anyway, that point could be the difference between full ride or not full ride, or an extra $2,000/year vs not $2,000 a year. Lol.

17

College of Charleston is a great idea, and I love that she gets to visit with her dad on a business trip. We found that kind of thing a great way to explore new places and an opportunity for her to think about her own interests and what’s important to her. I think William and Mary would be perfect but likely too expensive for an OOS student (it’s a public university). Wake Forest too. But if good, run the NPC, I never want to definitively say a school is too expensive when all of that is so complicated, and often individual to families.

Here are some ideas. All are above your target price but run the NPC for any you think might work. Aid would be available at some of these, though.

Case Western Reserve University (CWRU, “Crew”) is a STEM fit. About 5k undergrads. Excellent for sciences. Case has a med school and a research hospital immediately adjacent to campus. It’s in a nice area of Cleveland with all of the major cultural institutions walkable from campus. Weather is cold and gray, so does not meet that criteria. It does give generous merit aid.

Santa Clara University: Weather! Similar size to Case. Suburban campus in Silicon Valley. Close to SF, although I think it is not that easy to get there and back from campus. Strong in sciences. I’m not sure about aid here.

University of Denver: almost 6k undergrads, great city. I’m not sure about aid.

Creighton in Omaha has almost 5k undergrads. Nice campus near downtown. Also has the University of Nebraska med school in town.

Furman, also in SC; University of Richmond in VA; Lafayette College in Easton, PA; Holy Cross in MA. These are bulked up LACs/small national universities, all about 50-60% of the undergrad population of above, but a little larger than the typical LAC. All have excellent academics and are nice places to live and learn. I know Furman less well but my best friend’s kid is accepted. Friend is in academia and is excited about the school and thinks Greenville a very nice place. Richmond has a stunning campus in a nice suburban area near downtown. Richmond (RVA) has become a great city for students/young professionals. VCU Med School is in town. If CoC looks good, definitely check out Richmond. Lafayette is a terrific school. Campus is sort of alone on a hilltop, town not as primo. Holy Cross has tip-top academics; U Mass med school is very close to campus.

Good Luck!

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@carolinamom2boys has a son at College of Charleston in the honors college. They seem to love it. She could probably answer all your questions.

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Thanks @Trixy34 and @TTG! Very helpful!

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“Generous” merit aid is one thing, getting the price meaningfully below $40K per year without need based aid is another, especially when considering private schools with a list price of $70K or so. So for example University of Denver won’t work, SCU is unlikely to work and CWRU would require one of the named scholarships not the standard merit.

So being a bit more specific about budget would help, there are many more options at the $40K-$45K pa level than at $30K or below (where you need to start targeting full tuition scholarships).

A bit beyond your driving range but with a good airport is the University of Utah, which has an excellent Honors College and is less than $30K pa (potentially much less, with full tuition merit scholarships at 34-35 ACT) for a strong student.