About 60 miles from Delaware to Loyola…and not a lot further north latitude to Delaware.
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She has friends who ended up at huge Univ., and they are great schools but just too big for her. I think that is why she was drawn to UDel.
Or the more well known one in the US. Trinity College in Hartford CT which is a highly rated LAC but once you said university, that’s San Antonio.
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I’ve observed her shift in thoughts as we’ve gone through this process…First she had no clue what she wanted and everything seemed overwhelming and so far off she was agitated and didn’t want to discuss colleges. Next, she said she’d be happy anywhere just to move away from the conversation. Then she began to pick small colleges and ones that didn’t seem to be as competitive to get in…ones that didn’t intimidate her or add stress to the process…now that she is getting into schools and she’s hearing from friends acceptances and it is becoming more real, she is getting excited and I see where she is starting to be able to visualize herself at college and what she wants in a college is shifting again. I think she will like either a small college or small university. Our kids are vastly different people in 10th grade when they begin the search (15 years)- compared to who they are when they graduate college. It’s so great your son ended up at the right place in the end. Thank you for sharing because I have been worried about the same thing with her.
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If being a jesuit school is a plus for her, I would definitely pick Loyola MD. The kids I know who have gone there have really loved it and gone on to do great things. It is a nice size, and is in a nice part of Baltimore. It is pretty close to the other colleges in the area which enlarges the social life possibilities while keeping the small school feel. I also know people who have loved U Delaware, but it is definitely more the big, state university vibe. I don’t know anything about the other two.
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I think the process your daughter is going through it is about as normal as sand. Sometimes you end up looking for a unicorn or trying to thread the needle to find the " perfect school". Not to get specific on why but I am biased towards Deleware. I think this school in particular can be a good fit for a variety of different kids. Good luck.
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Delaware.
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I went back and read your initial message and realize your daughter may not be able to visit these schools before making a decision, so I will try to give you my mental picture of Trinity (U). It’s a very pretty campus, mostly brick buildings with a lot of green, harmonious without being boring, very walkable. There are campus cats, in case that would be a pro or a con. The school is very proud of both its dorms and its dining halls, and the athletic facilities are terrific. In general, it is obvious that the school is investing in its infrastructure, and the overall feeling is of a school that is on the move and looking to establish more of a national footprint. I don’t think you mention your daughter’s field of interest, but a highlight of our tour was a new and very impressive STEM facility. The arts facilities were also impressive, and the library is beautiful and well-designed and was a highlight for both of my kids. (Our D21 was along on these visits.) We enjoyed meeting the guides on both of the tours we took. I can’t recall if they were Texans, but they were both very friendly, well-informed and enthusiastic about their experience at the school. One of the two had just returned from study abroad in Europe. One of the things that initially attracted us to Trinity was its proximity to San Antonio. The campus is located in a lovely residential neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, so pleasant and calm but just a few minutes away from all the city activities. We really liked San Antonio, which has its own low-key culture and many interesting neighborhoods. We also visited Rice on one of these trips. It’s about a two-hour drive to Houston, which is also a wonderful city but totally different - as someone above noted, Texas is so big it brings a lot of internal diversity. As to why S19 ultimately chose a different school, it was more a case of his falling for the school he chose - Denison - than anything negative about Trinity. It was weird because the day we were at Trinity for the admitted students event was just gorgeous, warm and sunny and then we flew directly to Ohio, where it was cold, wet and gloomy. I was sure it would be Trinity at that point, but then he surprised us. Maybe it was the fact his reception at Denison was more personal - although he was not a recruited athlete, he got to spend time with the track coach and meet some of the team members and I think he just felt at home. But Trinity was one of his top two and stayed in the running right until the end.
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Looking for a college is hard enough, but it’s particularly difficult when on a different continent with limited opportunity to visit schools. Although I’ve visited Trinity U., my recollections are too dim to be of much assistance.
What I am going to do, however, is perhaps throw a monkey wrench in your plans. It sounds as though your daughter would prefer a smaller school in a warmer climate, that’s faith-based, preferably in an area with a lot of things to do and/or have medically related internships. In case you haven’t looked at these, I thought I’d mention them in case one of them happened to really excite your daughter.
Samford (AL, link): This school of approx. 3600 undergrads is in Birmingham, and the Birmingham-area schools have a consortium agreement where schools can take classes at the other universities, so that is a possible way to expand the circle if the university should start feeling too small. U. of Alabama - Birmingham is well-known for its healthcare focus, but Birmingham generally is a great area for medical-related internships. Samford offers a number of various health majors (with a number of students majoring in those fields) and 75% of its students come from out-of-state. It’s also religiously affiliated.
Harding (AR, link): This religiously-affiliated school of approx. 3700 undergrads also has a number of students in its health majors, leading me to think there are many opportunities to get hours in (and the county medical center is located in the same town). It’s in the foothills of the Ozark mountains and less than an hour from Little Rock and less than two hours from Memphis. 68% of students are from out-of-state.
Lipscomb (TN, pop. 2952, link) and Campbell (NC, pop. 3325, link) are two other religiously-affiliated schools with don’t have as high of percentages of out-of-state students, but I know that @Sweetgum has spoken positively of the academics at Campbell. And if you decide on a non-religiously affiliated institution, then I’d consider Mercer (GA, pop. 4941, link) or Stetson (FL, pop. 2876, link), the latter of which is in close proximity to both the beach and Orlando, so an endless stream of things to do.
All links should go to the school’s College Navigator site.
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Thank you! It really helps hearing people consistently have good things to say about Loyola and UDel.
I agree about the search for colleges. Sometimes I feel like we are truffle hunting for the perfect school. It is good to consistently hear positives about UDel.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your impressions. It is really helpful. I’m so glad your son found his happy match! My DD babysits for a couple that went to Denison and they loved it. My son is at another LAC in OH, he chose it because of sports and I know they play Denison. He says its a beautiful campus. I don’t think I realized how many wonderful colleges are in OH until recently. I’ve thought Denison would be a good match for my DD but she does not like the cold and hearing about the weather from her brother hasn’t helped. Thank you again for the great description it really helps.
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Wow! Thank you so much for sharing! I have never heard of Harding and Lipscomb so we will look into those. We are going to check them all and hopefully we haven’t missed the application deadlines.
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Well, Ohio can be cold. My son has generally enjoyed the weather - we live in Tokyo where we hardly ever get snow - but over winter break the pipes in his apartment at Denison burst and he is going to have to move into temporary housing when he gets back to school next week. We almost overlooked Ohio when S19 was looking at colleges - I grew up in New Jersey and also lived in California, but the Midwest was a mystery to me. So discovering how many great LACs there are in Ohio was a shock to me as well. It also makes for a great athletic conference without many long road trips. Now I always feel bad when I read posts about kids who don’t want to consider the Midwest (your DD is excused for having legitimate weather concerns!). I am sure your daughter will find the right place for her.
You’re welcome! I think it was @tsbna44 who first mentioned Lipscomb, though. As he’s from that area, he may be able to share additional insight, if you’re interested.
I don’t know the schools’ application deadlines, but most colleges that are not highly rejective will usually accept applications after their deadline. If your daughter becomes interested in a school whose deadline has passed, I would reach out to the admissions office to see what’s possible.
I’m pretty local to Loyola, so happy to answer questions. Delaware is about 1.5 hours Northeast and I think Baltimore does get hotter and more humid due to geography, but not so much during the school year. I know a lot of Loyola alums and students, and they all seem to enjoy their time there. If she is worried about not having a lot to do besides academics, that would not be a problem at Loyola (nor at Delaware).
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LIpcsomb is in Nashville, a bit South of downtown…religious. Belmont is another that neighbors Vandy.
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Thank you! If it is at all possible can you describe the difference in atmosphere between the two? I imagine UDel is more like a state university with football. And, I imagine it pulls more out of state students than most state university because of Delaware’s size and its location to other states. My nephew who ended up at Delaware but was accepted at Loyola said Loyola has a relationship with other universities and students can take classes between the other universities and there is a shuttle between them? But, he applied 2020 so things may have changed.
Thank you! We will look into Lipcsomb. We looked at Vandy but she wasn’t interested, I think because of the size but she didn’t like Nashville either which surprised me. I think she wanted a more defined campus. It isn’t that she wants particularly a faith affiliated college, it just isn’t a negative and may be a slight positive. We’ve lived all over and she has friends with a huge variety of beliefs. So, the slight concern with some faith based uni’s is a more narrow view of the world which she would find dull and frustrating.
There’s still a relationship with cross-registration opportunities. You can read about it here: https://baltimorecollegetown.org/colleges/
Based on this additional information, if she should be attracted to any of the religiously-affiliated schools I mentioned upthread, I would have her look more carefully into those aspects of life at each school. I honestly don’t know how open-minded they are to variations in religious belief, but it’s something I would investigate if my kid was interested in attending.
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