Willamette is a great option and they tend to be quite generous with FinAId.
Because it’s directly across the street from the Oregon state capital, the is easy access to meaningful internships.
Although only 45 minutes drive (or so) from Portland, if it were in any other location, I believe that it would have much higher rankings.
I agree with the above posters who mention Macalester (match) and Goucher (safe).
Meant to add Reed in the mix.
Lucky Charms - Pitzer would be your safety at the Consortium, allowing your son to take classes at any of the five schools including Pomona.
Lots of great suggestions! Maybe add Hobart & William Smith and Colby to the check these out list?? Hobart has lots of $25k merit awards for top students. I do think he’s got a good shot at your original list too.
Thanks for all the great ideas! He does like Pitzer, and it’s on his list, but their acceptance rate has dropped to 13%.
Check out Whitman in Walla Walla, WA
Reed and Bard would be my foremost recommendations…
Wheaton in Massachusetts seems like it might work. It seems that they usually have space available in May, and an on the low side retention rate. Does anyone know why?
Re: #27 - @ LuckyCharms13 - My sister went to Wheaton in the 1960s, when it was still all-female. She was happy there, but always qualified her experience with the following: 1) We lived about 20 minutes away; 2) She had older sisters, and many contacts, in Boston and Cambridge; 3) She spent her junior year abroad, and was already engaged to my brother-in-law as a senior. Other girls came from a distance, with no networks for escaping on weekends, on the misunderstanding that they were “near Boston.” Norton is not terribly convenient to Boston, and so it’s not the best place to go for someone who doesn’t have a lot of kith and kin around southern New England. I do know two young men who are at Wheaton now, from NY and NJ, and who seem to like it, but I suspect that other students arrive expecting to be next door to Harvard Square.
Re: #27 - @ LuckyCharms13 - My sister went to Wheaton in the 1960s, when it was still all-female. She was happy there, but always qualified her experience with the following: 1) We lived about 20 minutes away; 2) She had older sisters, and many contacts, in Boston and Cambridge; 3) She spent her junior year abroad, and was already engaged to my brother-in-law as a senior. Other girls came from a distance, with no networks for escaping on weekends, on the misunderstanding that they were “near Boston.” Norton is not terribly convenient to Boston, and so it’s not the best place to go for someone who doesn’t have a lot of kith and kin around southern New England. I do know two young men who are at Wheaton now, from NY and NJ, and who seem to like it, but I suspect that other students arrive expecting to be next door to Harvard Square.
Is there easy to get to public transportation that goes to Providence and/or Boston?
Oberlin and Kenyon are both great schools, but both quite rural. Gambier, the town Kenyon is in, is basically a street, and the town of Oberlin has 8,000 people. It’s about an hour from Cleveland, but there’s no way to get there without a car. Same with Kenyon and Columbus.
Unless there is some new bus line, the answer is No. Norton is not on a train line, to the best of my knowledge. It is probably at least a half hour from the nearest “T” stop, and further from an Amtrak station. Wheaton might operate its own vans or shuttles. You should probably investigate this if you are interested in the college.
Union College. Very strong academically, excellent reputation, and a bit easier to get into than the ones you list. 30 % +/- admission rate.
Wheaton has a daily shuttle from and to most Boston and Providence trains in a nearby town.
If he were willing to reconsider ruling out a school because of a rural location, in all other ways I think Bard would be a great fit for his interests.