@Middleman68 I’m sure you had only good intentions, I just wanted to make sure no one ends up with an unrealistic “safety.” Every year there’s kids on this site who got shut out because their safeties were Tufts and a couple Top 10 LACs.
Regarding safeties (albeit not on the east coast) - you might consider Lawrence (Appleton) and College of Wooster. Dickinson, as already mentioned, and possibly Muhlenberg. Clark is also interesting. And all of these offer good merit-based aid.
Wooster, Kenyon, and Denison are fairly close together.
Yes, there are two airports in relatively close proximity to Whitman.
We could not find commercial flights into an airport near Whitman. We live in a small town and our airline service is through Delta.
As for safety schools (or near safety) I think I am honing in on Dickinson and Lafayette. Any feedback differentiated between those two?
I just saw the above post about Alaska Airlines. That is a good tip. I will pass that on to my daughter.
@WISdad23 Gettysburg College would be ideal. Also offers the prospect of a big merit award. Gettysburg is on par in English and writing with the schools on your list. Superb campus.
Dickinson is more international-minded and a bit less conservative.
Lafayette is more stem-y due to the engineers and a bit more conservative.
If Dickinson is a contender, Skidmore might be worth a look-see as well but there is little merit aid available. Basically the same ranking, same size student body, Skidmore slightly lower acceptance rate.
Air travel aside: If your usual airline is Delta, you can nearly always get Delta SkyMiles from taking Alaska Airlines flights that don’t compete with Delta routes. (That last is an important caveat, though—a couple years ago you could freely get frequent flyer miles from either of them on the other, but then they started fighting over Seattle, and…)
@WISdad23, if Whitman is still in the running and getting there is the biggest issue, I’ll pass on some tidbits I learned while my S was a student there. Once the students arrive on campus and start to make friends the travel issue gets easier and easier. Lots of students come from Seattle and Portland and drive their own cars to campus, so it becomes quite common for students to fly into either of those cities, connect with their buddies and carpool the rest of the way, what was a big boring chore becomes a fun road trip with the gang. Also, flying into Pasco (one hour away, multiple airlines) is really easy once a student gets to know a few people. My S was both the driver and the passenger for rides to and from Pasco at break times. Everybody is coming from somewhere and the kids really help each other out.
We are in the midwest as well (Chicago suburbs). Love what Dickinson has to offer. @WISdad23, would your daughter fly into Harrisburg? I hear you about the distance thing. We don’t mind our son being far from home, but a flight plus a long drive isn’t reasonable. Same for some of the LACs in Ohio. For us, it would make sense to do the long drive instead of a short flight and an hour drive!
X2. Kenyon is pretty much right in between Denison and Wooster. You’d need a car though.
Just for clarification, you can fly into Pasco from many airports besides Seattle. For instance you can fly from Pittsburgh to Pasco, changing planes in Denver.
OP, the Ohio Six Colleges tour takes place August 1-3 this year. We did the tour 2 years ago when D was looking. It is very easy to do 2 a day, and most of the colleges have student/faculty panels, etc on those days. In other words, a more detailed program than you would typically see during a summer visit. It’s a great way to see Denison, Kenyon, Wooster and, say, Oberlin in 2 days.
My D originally planned to go to school in the northeast (considered Union, Skidmore, HWS, and others). But she ended up at Sewanee, which has an outstanding English program. Their Admission 101 program, offered this year on June 10 and July 8, was IMO the best overall presentation of all the schools we visited, though Union’s was a close second. It is such a unique campus, on its Tennessee mountaintop, with so many interesting traditions (such as the academic gowns). My D found her freshman year there to be an outstanding LAC experience. With an admission rate at around 40%, it is not exactly a safety anymore. But definitely worth considering.
We will attend two of those Ohio schools on the tour you mentioned. I have read about Sewanee and its campus sounds fantastic. But my daughter does not (yet) share my aesthetic on all things! We have a two week summer trip to visit empty campuses - not ideal but it is the time we have.