<p>I agree with Whitman… I have heard MANY great things about it and S has applied. Another school that is a hidden gem and isn’t mentioned on CC a lot is Sewanee… University of the South. Rigorous academics, close faculty/student relations, beautiful location with AMAZING outdoor opportunities… on 10,000 acres. We are from CA and S applied EA… if he gets in we will definitely be visiting. It is #33 in USNWR and has a 68% acceptance rate. It is always on the top of lists for best value as well. You just have to want a very rural environment.</p>
<p>5boys…we visited sewanee…one of the most beautiful campuses i have ever seen!!! I fell in love with it</p>
<p>rural may be an understatement though…the town is the university. one small restaurant close to the entrance of the school (good food though)…small town about 15 minutes away with hotel. My son might have considered it but he has really bad allergies and we went in the fall while it was raining…he sneezed through the whole tour as you are surrounded by nature.</p>
<p>I will submit Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin - we visited mostly on a lark to introduce our kids to the idea of college visits and came away favorably impressed with the place.</p>
<p>It’s hard for me to think of WashU as a “hidden gem”, but then again I went to hs in St. Louis. It was always very well thought of; I’m obviously partial to NU over it but I think they are rather similar schools. </p>
<p>On the opposite end of the spectrum, U of Chicago gets tons of CC love but I think it’s incredibly low profile here in the Chicago metropolitan area.</p>
<p>We visited 6 southern schools in June with S - Vanderbilt, Davidson, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, University of Richmond, and University of Virginia (my alma mater). We threw University of Richmond in at the last minute. S started out thinking he’d like Duke the best (LOVES basketball) but his favorite of them all ended up being University of Richmond. He’s applying to UR, Davidson, and UVA, but told me of the three he’d probably pick University of Richmond first.</p>
<p>Since you have to go to the alphabet under colleges (not listed in one of the break-out categories) it might qualify as relatively unknown on CC?</p>
<p>Agree that U of Denver is a hidden gem, but light rail is only free if you don’t buy a ticket(and don’t get caught)…</p>
<p>St. Mary’s College of Maryland. It’s a state “honors” college–basically a public LAC.</p>
<p>My step-son graduated from Kalamazoo College. It’s included in Colleges That Change Lives–so I guess it may not be a “hidden gem” for everyone. However, in my area (outside of Boston), it’s not an LAC that’s on anyone’s radar. That’s unfortunate because it’s a great LAC–a multitude of study abroad options, internships, and a close-knit campus community. Most faculty have PhDs. Students (I’m assuming this is still the case) are required to live on-campus.</p>
<p>Beloit College! Also a Colleges that Change Lives school…and it did for our son. Small school with big bang for the buck opportunities for many kinds of students to learn and grow into very interesting, passionate people.</p>
<p>Davidson a hidden gem? I don’t think you can take a top 15 LAC and call it hidden. My vote is for UNC Ashville.</p>
<p>I’m assuming Davidson must be in the south because of the GT in your name, but I assure you one of the truths about the LACs is they are strongly known on a regional basis but not so much outside the region…so from a “national” perspective like CC, yes they can be called hidden gems which I’m sure Davidson might be to someone not from the region.</p>
<p>University of Denver…I believe all students get free fare on the light rail by showing their student IDs, but maybe that has changed?</p>
<p>S2 had a wonderful four years there, he really enjoyed the campus and the professors with whom he developed relationships. They were so helpful with his grad school applications, and even now that he is across the country in grad school in DC, he still hears from them regularly.</p>
<p>I hadn’t heard of Davidson til my niece went there, fwiw. It seems to be more obscure than a lot of the other top LAC’s.</p>
<p>Trinity University in San Antonio can be considered a hidden gem, in my opinion. It was one of the two least competitive schools on my list, but I ended up giving it a lot of thought because of the great care and attention with which the admissions office conducted its correspondence with me. I also know a couple of people who go there and are really happy with the academic side of things. From my own experiences with the school, and from what I’ve been told by my friends, I conclude Trinity fosters is a very positive and nurturing environment. It is a great small school for someone who wants nice weather, nice classmates and a good education.</p>
<p>Also, their financial aid offer didn’t include any loans.</p>
<p>Knox College - it’s a CTCL school in the middle of nowhere. If it was in the NE it would be very difficult to get into!</p>
<p>I’ll second Muhlenberg, which was one of my D’s top two choices. The thing she liked about it was the dance program, especially the tap program which, as far as we could tell, is the best in the country. Whitman was also on her list, and Colorado College, which has a block program that appealed to her. She ended up at Earlham College in Indiana, another one of those hidden midwestern LAC gems. Rigorous and rewarding academically, collaborative atmosphere, low student-professor ratio, Quaker ethos. It also hits the lefty/quirky sweet spot.</p>
<p>Some of my favorites have already been posted, so I’ll go with:
St. Mary’s College of California.<br>
Their Integral Program is based on the Great Books Program at St. John’s College. (I don’t know why they don’t call it the ‘Great Books Program’.) It’s an excellent education with a tight knit group of kids. I don’t know much about the other majors, but that one is wonderful.
It’s in a great location with easy access (free bus pass) to BART, they have some great travel abroad opportunities for Jan-term, and the Graduation “Picnic on the Lawn” is lovely.</p>
<p>We only learned a few years ago of Claremont Colleges in CA. It is an interesting consortium of 5 schools - Pomona, Harvey Mudd/STEM, Pitzer, Scripps (all women), Claremont McKenna. About 5,000 students total.</p>
<p>If we include Davidson, we can include all the top LACs. Amherst, Swarthmore, and Williams are relatively unknown in the south. Davidson is a “gem” and a great school, but so are all the other top LACs.</p>
<p>Walsh University in North Canton Ohio is a great school. I know many happy kids who go there, graduate and do well in life. </p>
<p>Marietta College in southern Ohio</p>
<p>John Carroll near Cleveland</p>
<p>Baldwin Wallace, I will list this even though many know about it. But it has a good conservatory and is a great little school. I have known kids very happy and intellectually challenged here.</p>
<p>Mt. Union. Very good reputation in Ohio</p>
<p>That is my input.:)</p>
<p>I think the question is more about what makes it a gem than whether it’s hidden, GTAlum.</p>