Kenyon is an awesome school but I wouldn’t call it a hidden gem that’s never mentioned on CC. It’s on the pinned “Top LAC” list here on CC. Maybe it’s not as well known to the outside world, but it’s well known here.
@france123 My mom was a professor at Cedar Crest before she retired. I still know some of the biology faculty and they are top rate. Back in the day my mom did quite a bit of research with undergraduates. She also had students that she remained friends with for decades.
Kenyon is a great college but I wouldn’t consider it underrated. Same to Davidson as well as the state flagships mentioned here.
With an exception of Texas’s only T20 Rice, other Texas private schools hardly get mentioned here but Baylor, SMU, TCU, Trinity are great schools.
@WayOutWestMom I’m going to have my S22 check out that Explosive Materials program at New Mexico Institute of Mines. I’m guessing he’s really going to end up as a CS major but he’s got a hands-on bent and got really interested in the Colorado School of Mines webpage I showed him a few months ago and was intrigued by their metallurgy major. I think that has more to do with the fact that he’s a 14 year old boy who likes the idea of making cool stuff like swords and less to do with serious long-term career ideas, though, but you never know.
IMO, if the school is listed on CC’s Alphabetic list of colleges and universities, its less likely to be “underrated”. That said thee re some that are unfamiliar, so I’ll read their threads and see what, if anything, is said about them.
- Eta, I looked up Linfield, as was not familiar with it (its in Oregon) and there are no posts since 2015!
I’ve brought this one up a few times (and this falls under ‘heard it from a friend, no personal experience’) on various threads but one school that seems to be popular for Bay Area kids who are looking for schools that are a little easier to get into than the UCs and not too far out of state is University of Nevada at Reno. I’ve known several kids there now and they all seem to be enjoying it, no major complaints, graduating on time, etc. Not sure if it would qualify as ‘really fantastic’ and this is probably not worth traveling from the East Coast to attend, but for a west coast kid looking for more options it might be worth a look.
@washugrad Lol.
@Corinthian Love the picture associated with your username. If it’s not an homage to Rhode Island, it should be. The anchor and “Hope” is the Ocean State!!
@washugrad we visited U of Nevada Reno and found the actual campus/space to be so underwhelming that we couldn’t understand why so many from NorCal applied there. Obviously aesthetics aren’t everything, but there are much prettier colleges in the Bay Area, and Reno itself was a huge bleh for my whole family. We had to go at least 4-5 times a year for competitions and couldn’t wait to leave every time.
Some of those schools have very few posts and haven’t had any in years.
You are correct, these schools are certainly not all invisible here on the forum.
The issue for me wasn’t anonymity, as you correctly state, most may have a thread. If you know to where to look and have a school in mind.
I was thinking more of the names that don’t appear on the usual responses on the main threads. Admissions and college search. Many of these schools I have heard of at some level but have no sense of them.
This helps peruse in an easier manner for all sorts of families.
The similar threads that are really helpful center around gpa levels.
This could be for 2.0 to 4.0 depending on a lot of other factors.
Plus why not let some other schools get a moment in the sun. And it really widens the spectrum of advice we render here when unique situations occur.
Lastly, I really needed a little reprieve from the t 50 drumbeat and stress.
I find this thread relaxing and non controversial. It’s enjoyable, at least for me
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Yes, agree that hearing again about some lesser known “hidden gems” is helpful and is and a breath of fresh air, as is hearing about what special things they offer. But some of the schools mentioned here in this thread are not, as others have said, “underrated”. But it is fun to hear about some lesser known schools with interesting attributes.
Another example of a school that is not, IMO, underrated but got relatively little attention recently is Knox.
@jym626 100 percent. I guess it’s in the eyes of the poster. I wasn’t that familiar with Knox at all. Bryant University is a local powerhouse in my area. Probably outside of NE it goes way down.
But yeah some of the schools mentioned are a bit outside the scope. The University of Massachusetts Amherst was mentioned too. I think it has a National brand and CS/engineering prowess is well known. It’s pretty tough to get into these days.
College of Charleston, Wofford College and Flagler College .
Nephews best friend at prep school just deposited at C of C. This is a great kid. Smart. Star athlete and very well mannered.
Family is over the moon excited.
An acquaintance recently told me how much her daughter was enjoying Washington College in Chestertown Maryland. The daughter was excited to be able to study ethnomusicology there, while majoring in something completely different.
For those of you who like the one class at a time approach of Colorado College but are looking for a school that’s less selective, Cornell College in Iowa might fit the bill.
@inthegarden - S considered Washington College for a time (eventually decided the school was too small for him). He met a lot of very happy students there on a visit, and enjoyed the classes he sat in on. School offers the largest undergrad prize for writing - the Sophie Kerr - over $60,000 to this year’s winner.
Speaking of writing, U of Iowa has a renowned writing program.
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