<p>I agree with posts about Beloit and Earlham! </p>
<p>Will add St. Olaf, a VERY underrated college, but VERY happy students and parents. </p>
<p>S is at Grinnell and loves it – people out here think it’s a community college in Iowa.</p>
<p>Glad to hear all the responses - this thread will be helpful to those applying this fall.</p>
<p>Agreeing with mspearl - I was going to mention Mount Union, too. I’d call it a hidden gem. It has a pretty campus in a small city (Alliance, Ohio); you can walk off campus and get to stores and restaurants. Small classes are taught by nurturing professors. Some neat academic programs. Huge school spirit. This is a small school with big school football and tailgating fun because they are generally in the finals of the National Championships for football. It’s really close to the Akron airport, and convenient to Cleveland if you need a big city fix. They have a few engineering programs now; this is an area they are building up. I don’t know if they’ve graduated any engineers yet. If they end up having good engineering there on top of all of the other good things about the school, it will not be a “hidden” gem much longer. Son and I visited with my son’s friend (who goes to Denison) along for moral support. The friend and I loved Mount Union. (My son is leaning heavily toward big schools so he was less enthused than we were.)</p>
<p>There is no grad school there but they have a graduate Physician Assistant program, which is nice.</p>
<p>Davidson obscure? Obviously not a basketball fan!</p>
<p>Quick addition about Whitman: “Whitman has been nationally ranked as a “Top Producer” of Fulbright award recipients. In a recent edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education highlighting top-producing colleges and universities in all Carnegie Classifications, Whitman is featured in the list of bachelor’s institutions with a standout number of Fulbright recipients. The rankings are based on the number of successful applicants from each school.”</p>
<p>Consistently highly ranked, known for excellence, beautiful campus, lots of positives. Not sure I’d call it obscure, as anyone doing any research at all on top LACs will stumble upon it. A student there better be ready for – and enjoy – its rural feel though. </p>
<p>My S attended the Duke TIP summer camp series throughout his highschool, and the first year group is there (which is how I first learned of it, when he was in the 8th grade). I enjoyed visiting Davidson and learning about it. It made the list for his apps, he was accepted, but chose Pomona instead (he’s definitely more a Cali guy).</p>
<p>Its definitely a gem.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>these rankings might be illuminating for other schools as well</p>
<p>[Top</a> Producers of U.S. Fulbright Scholars by Type of Institution, 2011-12 - International - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/Top-Producers-of-US/129451/]Top”>http://chronicle.com/article/Top-Producers-of-US/129451/)</p>
<p>Here’s the link that seems most helpful: [Top</a> Producers of U.S. Fulbright Students by Type of Institution, 2011-12 - International - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“Top Producers of U.S. Fulbright Students by Type of Institution, 2011-12”>Top Producers of U.S. Fulbright Students by Type of Institution, 2011-12)</p>
<p>There seems to be several versions of it.</p>
<p>Theres also are pdf files which lists * all* the colleges who had fulbright scholars for the past 6 years
<a href=“https://us.fulbrightonline.org/news_story.php?id=334[/url]”>https://us.fulbrightonline.org/news_story.php?id=334</a></p>
<p>It’s pretty interesting to see that Harvey Mudd had the same number awarded as Wofford College ( and my community college) ;)</p>
<p>St. Olaf had 8 awarded ( & Carleton also in Northfield is generally thought of as more academic had 5 awarded) & Lewis & Clark & Reed ( both in Portland, Or., were tied ( 6)
( from the link for Bachelors institutions.)</p>
<p>I would like to do a shout out for 4 hidden gems in Indiana.</p>
<p>1) Wabash-one of the last all-male schools in the country. They take boys and turn them into men. It has a solid liberal-arts education (less than 25 majors) and turns them into successful men. 1 in 8 graduates is a CEO or President of a company in their lifetime. A CTCL, it is not for everyone, but amazing for those who can handle the no-girl during the week lifestyle. Although the sciences are very popular, they also have a great classics, philosophy and religion departments, and the Rhetoric major is popular for the many future attorneys. Pleanty of Indiana politicians are nurtured here as well.
2) DePauw-Wabash’s dreaded rival is another very solid liberal-arts college that really embraces the live hard/play hard philosophy. Most of the campus is Greek, so it isn’t for everyone. It has great English/journalism, business (management fellows) and sciences. The radio station is one of the best in the country and they bring world-class speakers in each year (Bill Clinton is there this month).
3) As different from DePauw as possible, is Earlham, the Quaker school. It attracts an inquisitive, peaceful student that goes against the grain. It has a great Japanese program, excellent humanities and social studies overall, and a healthy population that embraces backpaking, wilderness-related activities.
4) Finally, a school that is dismissed due to high acceptance rates, is Valparaiso University. It is a self-selecting school, known to take bright kids from the Region, so the local kids with borderline grades don’t bother to apply. It has great music, religion and meteorology classes, and the Honors program is very intense, with annual musicals, group honors projects and special help all along. A true university, they have nursing, engineering, education majors, and the law school is well-respected in the area.</p>
<p>How about College of Wooster. Independent study is tops. Wooster.edu</p>
<p>Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is one of the most incredible hidden gems in the public school category. Amazing town, incredible facilities and a learn by doing philosophy. We had never heard of it until we started to do the research. My son got in and is studying engineering there now. He loves it. This school is especially great for kids who love the outdoors. Mountains on campus, the ocean a few miles away. A photographer’s dream, if you are a foodie Wine Country is right there. Academically? Second to none. In Engineering, business, and STEM it is rated right up there with the top of the top. We had never heard of it until a year before selecting it.</p>
<p>As a Californian who knows kids attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, I can second OsakaDad’s endorsement. My son didn’t even look because he had heard that it was very hard to change a declared major, is that true or can we put that rumor to rest?</p>
<p>From the SLO website:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is the main reason my daughter didn’t apply there, although in fact she has stayed with the major she thought she would choose.</p>
<p>Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA. Small LAC , in Colleges that Change Lives. Particularly strong in pre-med/vet/dental (health professions) and in environmental sciences. [Juniata</a> College, by any measure one of the best liberal arts colleges in the U.S.](<a href=“http://juniata.edu/]Juniata”>http://juniata.edu/)
great merit aid available, also fellowships. Wonderful student support-each has 2 advisors. Four year graduation guarantee.</p>
<p>I agree with a couple of other posters in that geography plays a major role in how “hidden” a hidden gem school is. I live 20 minutes from Muhlenberg. It sure isn’t hidden from anyone in eastern PA. </p>
<p>Frankly, any school that has over 10,000 students is not hidden. Might be a gem, but it’s not a hidden one! Stick around on this forum long enough and colleges all over the country will start to sound familiar.</p>
<p>But okay, I’ll give a plug for my youngest son’s college - [Home</a> | Champlain College](<a href=“http://www.champlain.edu/]Home”>http://www.champlain.edu/) Great small school with a strong techy emphasis in the best college town in the country - Burlington, Vermont. Just made Princeton Review’s top 365 schools.</p>
<p>Sorry I think my post didn’t get through, so a repeat-
Silicon Valley perspective: here’s a large metro area filled with college-bound population of students - I hear of students and parents quite focused on the two coasts, and not the Midwest, South, or Mountain areas - even significant cities like Denver, for example.</p>
<p>About hidden gems: I give a general recommendation to be more imaginative than some and look into regions/cities/schools away from home, perhaps also rural areas or places a bit more difficult to get to - say, famous schools like Amherst and Oberlin, that fit this category. Other threads have brought forth the info that some top schools like the two above are not as well known as they should be in some areas of this country.</p>
<p>Like some previous posters I mention University of Denver - one of my kids was sent info unsolicited a couple of yrs ago and I was quite interested to read about this school which I think may rise to more prominence. At a minimum their graphic arts people and writers (marketing dept?!) should be recognized as the material was informative, positive, and engaging…</p>
<p>Hidden Gems may be smaller or just have smaller budgets for publicity.</p>
<p>Here are the schools that I think are hidden gems in my area, the Midwest:</p>
<p>1) Truman State University, Kirksville, MO
2) St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN
3) Gustavus Aldophus College, St. Peter, MN
4) Lawrence University, Appleton, WI
5) Luther College, Decorah, IA
6) Bradley University, Peoria, IL
7) Lake Forest College, Lake Forest ?? (not sure this is the suburb of Chicago), IL</p>
<p>Lake Forest is indeed the northern suburb of Chicago.</p>
<p>To your list I’d add the University of Evansville and Illinois Wesleyan.</p>
<p>I would second Wabash College in Indiana and also add Wheaton College ( Wheaton, IL )</p>