<p>My DD is a rising senior and wants to attend an interesting school with small class sizes in a warm climate (i.e. below the Mason-Dixon line). Her numbers are 28 ACT and 3.5 UW/4.0 W GPA, and she's taken a rigorous college prep curriculum at her public HS in Michigan. She's not overly involved extracurricularly but has a part time job and has participated in some local volunteer activities. She's considering biology for a major. </p>
<p>With that information, what liberal arts-type college would you recommend. She's visited several including Rhodes, Sewanee, URich, Elon, Stetson, Rollins, and UTampa. She really like Rhodes with the research opportunities in Memphis (St. Jude). Davidson and Emory seem like too much of a reach for her stats, but who knows? </p>
<p>Anyone have opinions on Rhodes or other southern LACs they would like to share?! Thanks much!</p>
<p>People love Rhodes and there is a long-time poster named curmudgeon who has posted a lot about the school. You could search for his threads or others that discuss it. His daughter might have been a biology major (I know she was pre-med). She did very well and ended up at Yale Medical School.</p>
<p>A lot of LACs are strong in the sciences and offer opportunities for hands-on research. Hendrix is particularly good–last year it was only one of four institutions (and the only LAC) to have four students win Goldwater scholarships–more than Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Chicago, to name a few. </p>
<p>Others you might look at (although I am not as familiar with them) are Austin College in Texas and Centre in Kentucky. Also maybe New School of Florida?</p>
<p>There is a lot of great information on this site and a lot of posters willing to share ideas. Good luck!</p>
<p>Take a look at Eckerd and New College of Florida. I’m trying to talk my daughter into applying to Hendrix (Arkansas) - a small liberal arts college outside Little Rock. What about Agnes Scott in Atlanta? </p>
<p>@sally305 I will check more into Hendrix and curmudgeon’s posts. She walked around Centre College in the evening this summer. No students around, but she didn’t cross it off her list. Seems nice to me, but I’m not sure Kentucky is for her.</p>
<p>@slackermomMD She toured Eckerd but didn’t think it was for her. Didn’t really care for the campus, although it is on the water! She’s not considering women’s colleges, so hasn’t put Agnes Scott on her list. </p>
<p>@sakarcar3 CofC is a public school, and the NPC indicates it will cost about $10K more/year for us compared to a private LAC. Doesn’t seem worth it…?</p>
<p>@dadof1 I plugged in my daughter’s stats as well (slightly higher ACT score but similar GPA) and had no merit aid either. When I looked at the scholarships page, I think both girls miss out because of their GPAs. There are departmental scholarships - I assume CofC can’t factor those in. </p>
<p>@slackermomMD Thanks for taking the few minutes to confirm the CofC NPC info. </p>
<p>One thing we found interesting at the Rhodes and Sewanee campus visit was the emphasis placed on showing “interest” in the school in the admission’s process. The admissions counselors at both schools noted they were looking for kids that truly wanted to attend. Maybe this is just a way to increase the school’s percentage of students that accept an offer… or maybe they are looking to admit kids that have thought through their options and are applying for the right reasons. In any case, I found that candor from the counselors refreshing. </p>
<p>New College of Florida is surprisingly affordable for out-of-state students. They offered an automatic $15k award to all accepted out-of-state students who submitted application materials by the deadline, putting its costs very close to in-state rates at many public colleges. </p>
<p>Rhodes offered my D one of the best merit aid packages which made the final decision difficult (she’s at Emory.) When we attended Rhodes Scholars Day, it was clear how nurturing the college was to their students. A colleague at work (grant writer) attended Rhodes and mentioned students form close bonds with their professors. </p>
<p>One of D’s friends is at Elon (education major, sophomore) and seems pretty happy, although she said she wished the curriculum could be more challenging. </p>
<p>Samford University in Birmingham, AL - not a LAC, but small enough to feel like one, having the same environment, and is private.</p>
<p>Birmingham-Southern, also in Birmingham, is a private LAC, generous with merit aid and very tight-knit environment. If your daughter is interested in rushing, this is the place for her, as it’s Greek-heavy.</p>
<p>Montevallo University, about an hour south of Birmingham and an hour east of Tuscaloosa, is public, also good with merit aid, in a more suburban location. Small for a university, I think it’s like 3,000 undergrads. </p>
<p>Agnes Scott, about 30 minutes from downtown Atlanta, a private women’s college, possibly the smallest of them all at like 2000, maybe. Wonderful, small campus, very tight-knit.</p>
<p>Berry College, another great Georgia college, about the same size as Montevallo, private LAC, picturesque campus, great financial aid.</p>
<p>You might want to look into Southwestern University.
I personally can’t say much about the school (which is actually a LAC), but it has an excellent reputation in TX and it’s one of the “Colleges That Change Lives.” </p>