Congratulations to you and your daughter @Dadof1! I read a few other decisions on other threads here that @ColdinMinny’s S chose Trinity University and @TXMom7007’s D decided on Hendrix. Both contributed to this thread. Congratulations to all! And @4Kids4colleges, we are all still rooting for your D. It sound like any of her colleges will be a good fit for her. How fun for her to visit on her own to get closer to a final decision. And how nerve-wracking for you! Just think what an expert you will be for kids 2, 3 and 4!
@lots2do and others. I think @midwestdad3’s D has decided upon Sewanee too, if I remember correctly.
This process has been eye-opening for sure. We have learned a lot about the selection/admissions/financial aid process in the last six months. D2 will begin searching in earnest soon, and while she would like to attend a larger university than her sister, what we’ve learned will apply in her case.
On the financial side of the decision, we learned that southern LACs came very close to hitting our EFC with just merit and/or grant aid. In general, the net price calculators were accurate, but we have a fairly typical financial situation. A couple of colleges (BSC and Stetson) had a comparatively much lower CoA than others. Some colleges upped the ante a bit after the initial offer all on their own accord, so it pays to wait a bit after receiving the financial aid package. At another LAC, we spoke with the admissions and financial aid staff, and they generously increased the grant package.
Here’s a breakdown of the estimated four year cost of attendance (tuition, room and board, and fees) for each college D1 was accepted to. These amounts only include grant/merit aid and assume 3% inflation/year (maybe a bit low) and D2 entering college in two years.
Birmingham-Southern: 79K
Stetson: 90K
UTampa: 103K
Wofford: 107K
Rollins: 112K
Rhodes: 118K
Centre: 120K
Southwestern: 126K
Hendrix: 127K
Sewanee: 129K
D1 didn’t apply to any high reach schools. The only real reach school was URichmond, where she was waitlisted. She had considered applying to UMiami, Emory, Davidson, and Wake Forest, but we didn’t encourage this because the net price calculator estimates were much higher for these colleges. If our second daughter wants to apply to a clear first choice reach college and the net price calculator shows the cost is reasonable, we will strongly encourage her to apply via early decision. I think there is a significant admissions advantage to applying through this route. For D1, URichmond was never at the top of her list, so being waitlisted there didn’t matter for her situation.
Another thing we learned during the process was the importance of showing interest in a college that your S or D wants to attend. This is important not only for admission but also seems to affect the amount of grant/merit money awarded (at least for some colleges). We know for sure this influenced the admissions decision at Sewanee and Furman. Actually, D never did receive an admissions decision from Furman. At the time letters were mailed, Furman’s letter to D asked for her to call her admission’s counselor before any final decision could be made. This college wasn’t a contender at that time, D didn’t make the call, and Furman didn’t respond again. I have to think D would have been accepted had she contacted Furman. We didn’t visit Furman and D didn’t speak with anyone on their admissions staff during the process.
Of the schools listed above, the final contenders in the mind of D1 were Birmingham, Rhodes, Hendrix, and Rollins. Including Hendrix on her final list of four surprised us a bit because of the location. Even though Hendrix was in a small town, I think she liked the feel of the Hendrix campus and student body based upon our short visit there. It also helped that the food at Hendrix looked very appealing. As I wrote in a previous comment though, Rollins was always her top choice. She (and we) kicked the tires at several other colleges in the past year, but she’s a Tar!
Congratulations dadof1 on your D’s choice of Rollins! I don’t know a lot about Rollins, but from what I’ve read it seems like an amazing school. I’m so happy she’s found her place.
Also congratulations to ColdinMinny on S’s choice of Trinity! I am anxious to hear about his experience next year because I think Trinity may be a great match for my niece.
And congratulations to TXMom7007 on Hendrix and MidwestDad3 on Sewanee (YSR!)!
@4kids4colleges - Glad to hear your D loves Denison. Wishing your D the best with her upcoming decision. All great choices!
It’s nice to see so many wonderful Southern LACs represented on this thread!
Yes @dadof1, D has indeed decided on Sewanee! I met with FA when we were there recently, they needed a bit more info, so once we finally hear back from them we’ll be sending in D’s deposit. (Dealing with FA requires a whole different level of patience, I’ve learned!)
It’s been a busy journey. D’s h.s. took a bus load of kids to two local colleges, right at the end of sophomore year. In the nearly 2 years since then D looked at over a dozen more colleges seriously, and another 4 or 5 drive-bys. She did a special colleges of Ohio tour in August 2013 that enabled prospective students to see 6 LACs in a space of 3 days, spending half a day at each. This was really helpful in giving her experience weighing the pros and cons of each (really liked Denison and Wooster; Oberlin not so much). BTW, Virginia does something similar; their tour will be held July 27 - Aug 1, 2015.
D’s search was oriented toward the midwest and northeast. She really didn’t have any interest in the south, having grown up primarily in NY. She loves snow. But W & I liked what we read about the academics at Centre and Sewanee and convinced her to visit. D, on the other hand, initially focused on some of the negatives that she saw online and in the guidebooks.
What surprised me, in the end, was how important 4 visits to Sewanee were for her. That’s a lot of visits to a school that is 8 hours away. Her first visit was a day-long “Admissions 101” session last summer that included a campus tour, faculty panel, and various sessions on making the most of your application. She liked it enough to go back in early November for an overnight, to meet with the coaches, and to attend a class. She enjoyed this as well, but soon afterwards (around Thanksgiving) some EA decisions started coming from the NE and MW schools, and their formidable wooing started in earnest. D lost some interest in Sewanee.
Sewanee is just off the interstate, so on our way down to Atlanta to see relatives the last week of December, I suggested on the spur of the moment that we stop at Sewanee for lunch. I didn’t have much support for this idea, but W’s laptop was running out of power and she needed a place to charge up! While W was charging her laptop at the restaurant (with permission, of course!), D and I went up for a walk around campus. The weather was beautiful and there were families out and about. The campus was even more lively than many urban college campuses I’ve seen during break. This is, in part, because the professors live on campus. A religion professor was working outside and spent a good bit of time talking to D about successful students he has had, and what they have gone on to do after college.
Three weeks ago she had pretty much narrowed it down to Wooster, perhaps Denison, and Sewanee (would be a legacy at the first two). Her two basic concerns at this point were: Could she fit in culturally at Sewanee? Is she okay with the distance?
She couldn’t attend accepted students day at Sewanee but we took her back down during her spring break 2 weeks ago (post #370 above). W & I took another campus tour. The student tourguide announced “I’m a feminist!” and I immediately thought to myself “YSR!” D attended a couple of upper level classes. One involved an afternoon hike and fieldwork, and she was really impressed by the way all of the other students included her in the class activities. Also, at about this time and continuing up to the present, her close group of friends at high school–the group she doesn’t want to separate from–started sending in deposits to Ithaca College, Rice, and others in various states, so faced with that reality, distance suddenly became much less of a consideration for D.
It has been a long process. While it has been informative and rewarding, I’m glad it’s over. The problem now, of course, is that D wants to start immediately! I keep reminding her that she needs to graduate first. I’m trying hard not to think about how quiet it will be around here when she is down in Tennessee. 
I stumbled on this thread in trying to break free from the USNews lists. Our daughter is a junior. We are out West and not able to easily visit. I’ve been enjoying following your journeys and now hearing the students’ final decisions.
@midwestdad3 Visiting colleges is really important, and your D is lucky to have you and your W for parents. I can see how your D fell in love with Sewanee after visiting. It’s such a unique college in a great outdoor setting. My D’s first visit to Rollins sealed the deal for her, but it’s nothing like Sewanee at all. In the end, it’s great to have choices.
@picapole Good to hear! The USNews lists are a rat race. If you’d any more information from me about the LACs we’ve visited, feel from to PM me.
@MidwestDad3 and @dadof1, I hope you continue to post on life at Rollins and Sewanee – we’re cheering your Ds on from afar! There are certainly many enjoyable parts of the process, but it sure feels good when the decision has been made.
Thanks all. @lots2do, I can’t believe we have 3 more kids to go! Luckily, the next one should be fairly easy. He is a soph. now and wants to go to Colorado State U in Ft. Collins. He is not really the LAC type (we made him go to our small charter HS and he lasted one semester before transferring to large HS). And his grades and scores are not as likely to bring in much merit. The next 2 kids, however, will be more work to find the right college. I agree with @dadof1, if you can swing ED, that is the way to go.
D just got home with not one but two Denison t-shirts! But as I said, she does not have a clear choice. She did say Denison seemed more diverse than Southwestern, Sewanee, and Centre, which she liked (and I like - I think it is an important part of the undergrad experience). She sat in on an anthropology class and really enjoyed the women’s studies class she attended.
She also feels that of these 4 schools, Sewanee and Denison have the biggest party cultures. This is consistent with what I’ve read. Recently, the dad of the kid at D’s HS who is a freshman at Sewanee said he has been disappointed with the amount of partying at Sewanee. Just another bit of info - I realize partying goes on at every school! My D is kind of in the middle on these things - she has done her share of experimenting in HS and I can see her being somewhat involved in that scene, but hopefully she is levelheaded enough to be responsible and smart about it.
On the topic of schools upping the ante on FA, this week D got an interesting offer from Beloit - a $2,000 “Field Experience Grant” for the summer after her first year - basically a stipend to support a summer project or experience she would design with advisors. Unfortunately we never had a chance to visit, so its not really in the running.
I haven’t figured out every COA like @dadof1, but in case it helps, our final merit awards (per year) are below. Yes, D applied to too many schools! We thought the awards would be more different, but they were really quite similar (with the exception of Sewanee) 
If I were to do it over with D, I might encourage more “reachy” schools and fewer super safeties like McDaniel and Whittier. (D had 30 ACT, 3.7 UW)
Stetson U $26k
McDaniel College $25k
Whittier College $25k
Agnes Scott College $23k + 3k “grant”
Beloit College $23k + $2k summer award
Denison U $23k + $2k non-federal work study
Southwestern U $22k
Roanoke College $22k
Centre College $20k
U of Redlands $21k
Trinity University $19k
Hendrix College $19K
Eckerd College $19k
Guilford College $18K
Wofford College $18k
Sewanee $10k
I have just stumbled on this thread. I have LOVED reading this!!
My D is graduating this year and applied to 10 schools !! They ranged in size from 50,000 ( Texas AM to several small LAC with Millsapps being the smallest.) she has decided on a small LAC, her school now is small and she values her relationships with her teachers.
Furman has been her top choice ( DH is an Alum and she spent some time there taking classes last summer). She applied to Sewanee based on a recommendation from a former teacher.
We went on a formal tour of Sewanee last week ( tour guide was a student from her school and older sister of one of her good friends ) and she loved it!
She applied EA to all of her schools. Furman did award her more merit aid, however Sewanee is less to start with and we are from Tennessee ( Memphis ) so we can combine The Hope lottery scholarship. She is still waiting to hear of an alumni merit scholarship from Furman, which would be half tuition but they only award 5 and 80 kids qualified to be considered last year so we are thinking that won’t happen.
I have been in shock that she could feel so strongly about a school that she visited only once and did not spend the night ect. We did visit Woffard this week ( she got a nice award there ) but she did not like the vibe there as much. Much in line with what I read here about the Greek system defining your friend group.
We are stongly leaning towards Sewanee and have been so happy to read the reviews of those who took multiple trips.
I am very familiar with Rhodes and D loves that school but just wanted to leave town for college.
If anyone has questions about what it is like to live in Memphis, happy to help. City is awesome, gets a bad rap. If you stay where you should here, you will be just fine. Rhodes is an amazing school for those considering it and the campus is beyond safe.
This has been the best thread by FAR I have found. I appreciate the time put into all of the reviews.
D is graduating from an all girl episcopal school and many of her friends are attending some of the schools mentioned.
Good lunck to all!!
Welcome @mommamegan! and thanks for posting the information. Sewanee does have that special kind of attraction to people upon visiting. Congrats to your D… many great choices for her!
I’ve learned a lot from reading this board, so want to update on our journey thus far. Hopefully will add some information for next year’s graduates. We’re down to three choices, Hendrix, Rhodes, Tulane. D has visited Hendrix twice, most recently to compete for Hays (which she didn’t get). She enjoyed her visits and they were very generous with merit aid but she is still not certain she’ll “fit”. Both overnight hosts seemed uninvolved on campus, opposite of what D hopes for in the college scene. We will visit Rhodes next weekend, happy to hear the positive reviews, @mommamegan, thanks. I have reservations about Greek life, and they have not been so generous with aid, but am anxious for D’s feel for “fit”. D applied to 4 LACs and Tulane. Tulane seems to be first choice so far, but financials may prevent attendance. Don’t see the added value in paying additional $ over the 4 years, especially as Med School is the plan right now. Here’s a breakdown in merit aid receipts. She applied Early Action to all schools:
Austin College, $25,000+? I think she got art scholarship here but she wasn’t interested in the school so I didn’t keep everything. It’s a great school for science majors–top of the line facilities–I think she wanted out of Texas.
Eckerd, $19,000, invitation to Honors program
Hendrix, $26,000+ additional $2000 art scholarship (for non-majors)
Rhodes, $23, 500
Tulane, $27,000
Thank you to all who have contributed to the conversation, really helped to have some (anonymous) comrades out there in the trenches!
@Mil97mom My D didn’t go on overnight visits for the potential outcome your D had. We wondered how representative the student host would be of the entire student body. Academically, I think Hendrix and Rhodes are very similar in opportunities and student body. There is a large difference in campus life though (greek life and city size come to mind immediately). Eckerd has a superb marine biology department but didn’t make an impression otherwise. For a person wanting a larger university in a city, Tulane seems superb (hoping D2 applies when the time comes).
So glad you posted @mommamegan. I’m especially glad to have someone here who can speak to the safety of Memphis, as S is finishing his first year at Rhodes and absolutely loves it. He feels perfectly safe, as I have on my five visits there since he started his process, but neither of us are experts by any means. I’m of the belief that Rhodes’s urban location offers more advantages than concerns, so I’d hate to see potential students discount it because of a fear of the city.
In retrospect, I kind of wish S would have looked at Furman, too – even though I think he landed in exactly the right spot. The more I read this thread the more I also like Sewanee, too, but I don’t think S would have liked the isolation. Being in or near a city was high on his wish list, along with finding a LAC with good weather.
Longtime lurker, first time poster. Great thread! My S is first gen. and this thread has been a valuable resource in our search. Thank you all for the wonderful information!
He still has five schools in play, Sewanee, Rhodes, Centre, DePauw, and Denison.
We just came back from Denison, great visit minus his overnight which was pretty bad (S is interested in PPE program, and was put with a theater major who told him he was only hosting for the money and spoke negatively of the student body) I spoke with admissions and they had a Senior PPE major there in minutes. The student spent over an hour talking to my S, he then had an hour long conversation with a PPE professor. S came away from visit very impressed and laughed off his overnight experience. Side note, I had heard the student body was prep/jock, we didn’t get that impression at all. If anything, it was the most casually dressed of the LAC’s we have visited. COA is the lowest of the five.
S really liked Rhodes, probably the most geographically diverse student body along with Sewanee. The campus is obviously beautiful and Memphis is similar to our hometown Louisville. It felt crowded to me, S didn’t get the same feeling. Rhodes is still on the table, but the COA is very high and the drive is long for a helicopter dad on a beer budget.
We have visited Sewanee twice, most recently a couple weeks ago. I would go here if I could lol, the Domain is beautiful and feels like a fairy tale. S plans on going Greek but isn’t a partier, he loves the school but is apprehensive about the isolation. COA is high but in range.
Centre is less than two hours from home, and has been the plan for a few years. He has friends here and they love it, the study abroad is a huge plus. He’s visiting one more time for accepted students day on the 17th. S didn’t get the FA
we were expecting. COA is high but in range.
S left yesterday for PCB spring break, so we will adjust our “war board” when he returns.Initially he was interested in large schools so we visited FSU, Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Louisville, and Kentucky. We started this journey two years ago, and I have loved every minute of it.
Welcome @villeky
Couldn’t agree more!
Thank you to all of the contributors to this thread. My D is a junior from the northeast, starting to explore southern LACs. We visited Kenyon last fall and since that one was a favorite we’ve decided to look into Sewannee as a comparison. It is difficult to find much information on Sewanee, so we’ve both enjoyed reading the many reviews of Sewanee.
Her interests are pretty varied, but she’s likely to major in English. She likes the Humanities program offered at Sewanee during the first two years, and since we are Episcopalian she appreciates the chapel traditions on campus. The tradition of dressing up for class as a sign of respect appeals to her in theory, but she does hope to visit campus when it is in session at some point to see what it actually looks and feels like.
The reputation as a party school is a turn off, definitely. That is the major disadvantage to small, rural colleges it seems.
Since we have found this thread so helpful, we thought we would put together our thoughts on Agnes Scott College, a school she visited on a road trip to Florida. We both loved the campus. As others have mentioned, it is lovely, compact, and feels very safe. The students we met were all friendly and enthusiastic about their school, and many commented on the traditions that bind the student body together. Beautiful library; all visitors need to sign in and out. Nice dining room, variety of food - we aren’t experienced enough in the food department to really comment. It’s still quite exciting to get to “eat out” that we are easily impressed when we see various food stations. Perhaps it becomes boring, again, really cannot comment.
The small chapel on campus is a little gem, and the thought of taking yoga classes downstairs looking out onto the garden sounds delightful. Unfortunately we did not make it out to the observatory on campus, and we didn’t really see downtown Decatur. Since we were on a road trip and she was only a sophomore at the time we were just in the “let’s have a glance” timeframe and then had to hit the road. My husband had to do some work down in Atlanta this winter, though, and someone brought him to lunch in Decatur so we know that it is a “great” town. Not a college town, but a vibrant downtown.
We recently visited Mount Holyoke and Smith, and Agnes Scott compares favorably for my D. Perhaps the biggest drawback, aside from distance from home (but the MARTA public transportation system from the airport looks easy), is that Agnes Scott is so small. D is willing to consider a women’s college, and is somewhat convinced of the benefits particularly for a quiet young women, but she does have a strong preference for the opportunity to meet boys! Although it is likely very easy to reach Emory or Georgia Tech, I don’t think you could do so safely by bicycle and our daughter won’t have a car. Still on the list for consideration, though, and may take another trip next year to check things out again.
The final comment my daughter made about Agnes Scott was - “It is the type of school where I would learn to be bold.” I think she sensed that it is a nurturing place that helps you become more of who you are, rather than try to mold you into a certain type of person. Smith, I think, felt a little too bold/self confident to be a place where D would feel comfortable blossoming on her own timetable.
On that same road trip we also visited Hollins. As you can see, I was planting seeds early to open her up to the possibility of a women’s college! That is a very beautiful campus, too. The Quad was surrounded by gorgeous red brick buildings with white columns, lots of rocking chairs on the long porches. Beautiful library for studying. This school seemed to be a collection of various types of students; don’t know how much of a blend between personalities exists. For the right young woman, definitely worth checking out - Hollins just acquired the Sweet Briar study abroad programs, so that is a jewel. It didn’t have the right feel for my daughter, and a return visit wouldn’t make a difference. Sometimes you just know what won’t fit.
Finally, on that same road trip, we visited Furman. Another beautiful southern LAC! The facilities we saw were in great shape, wonderful landscaping. We enjoyed spendinga little time at the Buddist temple garden and walking along the lake. That was the reason we stopped, actually. Someone had told me that a good place to get out of the car would be Furman, and she was right. We only spent time walking around to stretch our legs, but we did see quite a few students. Not my Ds style; if the students weren’t sporting Greek letters, they looked a little too business-y to her. Friendly, though, so certainly a school others should look into.
Looking forward to reading other contributions, and making any in the future as the opportunity arises.
Welcome and thanks for the superb review of your trip @letsgoboating. Maybe this thread will continue on after this month!
Thank you, dadof1. Congratulations on your daughter’s decision to enroll at Rollins! My parents now live part time down in Florida, so I’m thinking we may visit Rollins at some point, either for D or S. It looks like a wonderful school. Enjoy these next few months together making plans. Best wishes to you both as she transitions to a southern LAC!
Congrats to all and yes, my daughter chose Hendrix. It is a total fit for her and the money worked out. Southwester U in Texas was her second choice. But we also considered Centre, Knox, Rhodes, Austin College, and Trinity U. She competed in the Hays Scholarship competition and although ultimately she didn’t get one (4 full rides plus 4 full tuition out of 140 kids), there were so many engaged, smart, inspiring kids we met. It confirmed it was the right fit. I recommend an overnight visit if you can manage. We did that at her top 2 schools. I could not visit all schools before applying but applied early action so we could see merit money and then visit some that we hadn’t up until then. Good luck to everyone!
A couple of other things I forgot and read through a few posts that reminded me. Some of you may only get merit aid. Make sure you apply for financial aid (which I’m sure you know). We got money we didn’t expect. Work Study and a small grant from Hendrix and similar from Rhodes. We did not think we would get anything beyond merit. Many others didn’t give us anything at all other than merit. I had realized the financial aid part would vary so much from school to school. One school, Austin College, gave her $25k in merit (Presidential Scholarship), but nothing else so it was no longer at the top as far as money. Now, Hendrix was her first choice and we would have tried to make it work if it was a few thousand off but they gave the most money.