Just looking at the most recent entries. The Florida schools you mentioned. Urisinus in another post. Any schools listed but with little in the way of commentary.
But it’s totally up to everyone else. I just love reading the stories and descriptions. It brings them to life and adds a third dimension to them for me.
Two great Tennessee schools are Sewanee and Rhodes. Not really underated, but maybe underappreciated. Both have relatively large endowments for their size and are generous with merit aid. They reside in the shadow of Vanderbilt and UT Knoxville, and compete with UTK especially for good students. The student body hails from all over the country, and both have a majority of students from out of state. Their collegiate gothic campuses regularly appear on the “most beautiful” lists published on the web.
Sewanee looks like Oxford in the wild, with beautiful stone buildings and a Norman chapel that wouln’t look out of place in the Cotswolds. The “Domain” comprises 13,000 acres on top of a mountain; students can take a weekend backbacking trip and never leave the campus. Teachers wear academic gowns to class, as do the top ranked students, who are inducted into the Order of the Gownsmen. Top notch academics, with 26 Rhodes scholars to date. It’s well known for its English program: the Sewanee Review is the oldest literary journal in the United States. Law and medical school placement is excellent. Chattanooga is 45 minutes away, Nashville a little over an hour distant. Lots of Sewanee students are from the northeast, and alumni job connections are pretty good.
Rhodes is slightly larger, and located near Overton Park in a early 20th century residential neighborhood of Memphis. It’s an excellent school for STEM: premed students do internships with St. Jude Childrens’s Hospital, for example. Business students take advantage of the large number of corporations headquartered there, such as FedEx and numerous medial device firms. Rhodes is popular with students from the South and Southwest. Memphis gets knocks for being unsafe from some, but the campus is fenced and gated and the city has improved a lot over the past 10 years or so. The local music and food scene is amazing and many students stay in the area after graduation.
Well, I can’t say a ton about the Florida schools, I have heard about them and they don’t get much mention on here. I just mentioned them because they may be good schools for kids who don’t have perfect stats and would be affordable, and like I said, you don’t hear much about them on CC.
That said:
My H’s old college friend’s daughters both attended SUNY Geneseo and both of them had wonderful experiences. His younger D studied abroad and had a great time. The family felt the school was a great value for the money. It was affordable in state and both girls had a wonderful time and got a great education! This family isn’t fabulously wealthy but they could’ve sent their daughters out of state…
My H’s co worker who went Appalachian State, still raves about it. He is from North Carolina originally…he and his wife moved out to California when his son was a baby. His son applied to Appalachian State and got in, but decided to attend Cal Poly SLO instead. That said, I’ve heard nothing but good things about App State. My college counselor friend and co worker said she’s had some kids from my school apply recently and they seemed pretty eager about it!
I don’t know my D’s friends who went to Coastal Carolina University and UNC-Asheville. These were friends she met in a Meetup group after she graduated from college. D said that her friend who went to UNC-Asheville is from Orange County, CA like D is. She went to Asheville for college because she got good merit aid and wanted to go somewhere new. She majored in History and got a teaching credential and taught in Asheville for year and then moved back to Orange Co. She still goes back to Asheville and loved her time there.
D’s friend who went to Coastal Carolina grew up in South Carolina and has family there. She and her long term boyfriend moved out to Southern California for work and she joined the meetup to meet people in the area, which is how she and D met. She raves about Coastal Carolina. D said she has a license plate frame for the school on her car and still frequently wears a Coastal Carolina sweatshirt!
Oh and as for St. Martin’s University in Washington State…I only know about them cuz they sent S an email encouraging him to apply. I know nothing else about them and S didn’t apply as he had already finalized his college list. I mentioned the school on another thread and one parent who lived in Wash State said they went there once for their kid’s sports event. Other then that, haven’t really seen it mentioned on CC. I looked it up and it’s a small catholic school and it’s in Lacy, WA. Could be worth looking into for kids who want a small school…
I agree with @bamamom2021 - Susquehanna. I’m still impressed with the school and D is a rising senior. Beautiful campus, engaging professors, and excellent education. D has improved so much in her writing and speaking skills.
I wouldn’t say these schools are underrated but they have become popular at my school with more kids applying recently: University of Alabama, University of Oklahoma, University of Kentucky, University of Mississippi, Miami University in Ohio, University of Georgia. These schools are not underrated, but in my neck of the woods they kind of are…
Westmont College in Santa Barbara is a religious school that again, you don’t hear much about here. My D’s Spanish teacher went there and another teacher from her school went there. It is very religious and conservative…but that may be what some people are looking for.
@privatebanker Family friend’s daughter went to Mary Washington back in the 90’s (she’s about 40 now). She had a great time there and still speaks quite highly of the school. Her maid of honor in her wedding went there as well, that’s were they met and they were roommates for the last two years…
@privatebanker There was a guy in D’s high school class who went to Roger Williams, he was recruited to play basketball. I heard he had a wonderful time there.
Both my sisters went to Western Kentucky Univ.; one in accounting, one in design. Another friend went there for journalism and had a successful career. My youngest niece is likely headed there for speech pathology (she’s a junior now). Good articulation with in-state CCs, good sports, two hours from Louisville.
Niece-in-law went to University of Louisville and loved it. She commuted and worked PT, but still had time for basketball games, etc. HUGE rivalry with Kentucky! IIRC, she got scholarship $ and graduated loan-free.
@natty1988 My cousin’s son got a B.S. from Roger Williams, and was awarded a full ride plus at Oklahoma for graduate school. He graduated this month with a PhD in inorganic chemistry, and is headed to the Air Force Academy next week as a paid researcher. He worked in a research lab at Brown while at RWU, had a lot of support from his professors.
One of my twins just finished her freshman year at Ursinus. It’s one of the Colleges That Change Lives, though I’m not exactly sure that every college doesn’t. It’s an LAC with a small campus outside of Philly, having just 1500 or so undergrads. It’s near a nice town center and just 15 minutes from King of Prussia.
There seems to be a strong pre-med focus, particularly those studying biology and neuroscience. But my daughter has declared majors in English and Media & Communication Studies, as well as a minor in Creative Writing (essentially what brought her there). Nearly every student lives on campus, and I’m guessing it will feel even smaller by the end of four years (a semester of well-supported study abroad might help).
The professors and faculty really care about the students, both personally and academically. It’s not particularly diverse, nor is it inexpensive. However, their Gateway Scholarship is now guaranteed at $35k per year for those with a 27+ ACT or 1220+ SAT, enough to take the sting out and compare favorably to the large state schools (Penn State, Pitt, Temple).
Some more words on Dominican University of California. It’s located in San Rafael, CA which is located in Marin County north of San Francisco. Very pretty area and very affluent. It’s a small catholic school and it known for it’s nursing program. We toured it with D and she really liked it. She came pretty close to attending, but ultimately decided to go elsewhere. S wasn’t interested at all. It is well known and respected locally, but not nationally. It is pretty expensive but they offered D pretty good aid. My step sister and her husband used to live nearby and they said they’ve heard nothing but good things about the school. The cons are that the area is quite expensive and school is pretty small…
While Dominican is nice, it probably isn’t worth coming from the East Coast or really far away for. Unless you’re really made of money. It is a solid choice for kids from California and out west who maybe can’t get into some of the higher ranked schools or who want a small environment.
Awesome info folks!!!
University of the Pacific is another great school that doesn’t get as much mention on CC as some other schools of the same caliber. We toured it with D and she liked it and applied and got in. It is a beautiful campus, kind of reminds me of East Coast schools. Stockton is not really a nice city, but it does have everything you need. There was a guy who graduated the year before D who attended and I heard he really enjoyed there. The University also owns a hotel and conference center in the Graeagle area in the Northern Sierra Nevada mountains…we stayed there once and it is a beautiful place.
Of the ten oldest schools in America, not surprisingly half are from the Ivy League. Number six on the list is little known Moravian College, a small LAC in Bethlehem, PA. It’s across the river from Lehigh University and gets very little attention, probably because it’s not particularly selective and 20% are commuters.
There are a couple thousand undergrads and another few hundred graduate students. Their nursing students have a 97% success rate on the first attempt at the licensing exam, and they have a decent mix of study offerings. One of my twins just finished her freshman year, planning to major in Graphic Design and English. It’s one of the few LACs with a graphic design major, now offering a BFA, as well as a BA.
The college actually has two campuses less than a mile apart, having combined a men’s and women’s college years ago. The smaller South campus is just a short walk to the most charming parts of downtown Bethlehem, and also is home to the art and music programs, as well as the unisex dorms and the newest structure that includes living suites, classrooms, etc.
The school does a terrific job in providing individual attention to their students - my daughter has already been provided with multiple opportunities for practical application of her studies. And they did an amazing job of easing the transition into college life, for anyone who needs that little bit of extra support.
@privatebanker My new avatar is straight off of the Hope College website, so I wasn’t familiar with the similarity to RI! Anyway, Hope College is a liberal arts college with an enrollment of about 3,000 located in southwest Michigan It’s about 35 miles from the Grand Rapids airport. While not a sales point for my D, they also like to talk up the accessibility of Lake Michigan beaches. It was founded in 1851 so it has a long history. Holland, MI is a charming little town with a very walkable downtown just steps from the Hope campus with plenty of shops, bars and restaurants. There is also an Amtrak station on the edge of campus and we were told that lots of students come from the Chicago area and ride the train home for visits (3.5 hours). The student body draws heavily from MI, IL, IN, OH and WI. Prospective students from outside those states can apply for subsidized “fly in” visits.
Hope has a strong reputation for the natural sciences, especially chemistry.They also have nursing, dentistry and pharmacy programs. I was surprised to find out they have an ABET accredited engineering program.
We didn’t qualify for need based aid but got a great merit aid package which, combined with the COA of 46K left us with a net COA that was close to our net COA for our in state public honors colleges. But what really sold my D19 was the opportunity to do a paid 10 week summer research as an incoming freshman. https://sharp.hope.edu/about/projects.asp. They also have a strong study abroad program and encourage every student to do a semester abroad, or if not that, they have May and June terms abroad and also immersive mission trips. https://travel.hope.edu/.
Regarding University of the Pacific - it’s funny, they aren’t that far from the Bay Area but don’t get a lot of mention here overall but I get the sense that they really excel in a couple of niche areas. One acquaintance of mine’s daughter went there for undergrad in pre-dental and then got accepted to their accelerated dental program where they cover a 4 year dental program in 3 years and she was super excited about it, and her younger child had also just gotten into the school to start the same career path.
UOP has good programs in dentistry, law, and pharmacy. The emphasis seems more professional though.
I’ll give a thumbs up to St. Mary’s in Moraga. It’s a school that should be considered by more students. Plus it has been consistently been in the NCAA basketball playoffs and if Gonzaga wasn’t in the WCC, they would win the league every year.
There was a mention of Santa Clara in this thread. I’ll put in my 2 cents and say that even though it’s a nice school and highly regarded among its peers in USNWR, it’s not worth paying close to 70,000 a year if you can get into a nationally known school. This is coming from an alumnus.
My kid is headed to Gettysburg College in the fall so I would like to give them a plug.
We got very solid merit money and they gave the merit students a special reception prior to accepted students’ day. The representatives we talked to were mostly seniors and juniors and all really happy with their experience. They made special effort to have an ambassador from each department that kiddo expressed the slightest interest in come talk to us.
The town of Gettysburg is small and walkable. Many things are close to campus including a 24 hour diner, funky coffeehouses, comic book stores, ghost tours, and a very nice sweet and soda shop. It’s a small town but because it’s a tourist town they have better shopping available locally than you might expect.
Oh, speaking of ghost tours, it’s a great place to invent ghost stories about. Princeton is the only other school I know of that’s part of an actual battlefield although I’m sure there are others.
The battlefield and cemeteries give you a lot of great places to walk or hike in the neighborhood.
We are told that hotel rooms for parent weekend, move in day or graduation are never difficult to find and many offer parent discounts. That makes sense - the town fills up around the battle anniversary on July 4th, so there’s excess hotel capacity other times of the year. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to book time at some gorgeous B&Bs in the area. Also, we can visit for the weekend and the kid doesn’t have to spend the whole time entertaining us - we can have a meal together and then do our own thing touring the historic sites.
They probably have the best Civil War History department in the country. I guess location counts for something. So far their theatre department has impressed us, and we hear that they have a good psychology major.
Distribution requirements don’t seem too onerous though we’ll see how that plays out over the next four years.
The first year seminars all look fun! Kiddo had a very hard time narrowing the list down to 5 favorites when he signed up for classes.
They are good about taking transfer credits and giving credit for AP tests.
Gettysburg was my favorite for one of my sons. Large sweeping campus, wonderful locale. Very good school. My neighbors ended up with both daughters there, possibly a third going. They checked it out because I so like it . My son wanted a large city school, so… In his case, Dickinson was preferable of the two, though moot point as he didn’t want a LAC.
Duquesne ended up my D19’s second choice after Pitt (her choice) for nursing - direct entry, the tour showed a good program and personal attention, access to many hospitals for clinicals, and generous merit offer.