<p>Does anyone have any info on this school? It is a small liberal arts school in Chestertown, Maryland.</p>
<p>We visited Washington briefly on our way back from a vacation in Virginia a couple of years ago. It was during the summer and we missed the last tour of the day by about 1/2 an hour but ended up talking to a student tour guide as she was leaving the admissions office. She was very friendly and obviously loved her college but unfortunately talked alot about the theatre program and things that were of no interest to my son. </p>
<p>We walked around afterwards and thought, in general, that the upkeep of the buildings was not very good, and the campus seemed small. However, I'm a firm believer that the spirit of the college is much more then buildings and we did not really SEE Washington. I hope someone that visited while the college was in session or has a student there posts with a more favorable view.</p>
<p>thanks for your input. It is probably too far north anyway. I hope we can find a small school. Your daughter found that so maybe we will too.</p>
<p>We also visited it last fall, on our way back from a visit to GWU. I thought it was worth a look, since they offer $10K in merit to NHS members.</p>
<p>My impression of the school was not that good. The town is very provinicial - does not seem like there is a lot to do. The buildings were not in good shape either. Our tour guide, who was a nice kid, showed us his dorm room which was the tiniest room I have ever seen in my life. However, he really liked the school.</p>
<p>Maybe an option from someone who wants a small school and likes a rural environment. It is literally miles from anything, and did not impress either of us much. SUNY Geneseo, a similar sized school in a small town upstate NY, was much, much nicer at a fraction of the cost.</p>
<p>candace, my S's best friend visited Goucher, another smallish school, which he liked very much. It is only 8 miles from Baltimore, and has some great programs. Worth looking into.</p>
<p>thanks, moonmaid, my daughter has Goucher on her maybe list. But it is further up north than she would like. What are the students like at Goucher? Is there a good mix of mainstream preppy along with alternative? My daughter has read college ******* about the school.</p>
<p>Can't answer your question firsthand, but S's BF is an aspiring art major and liked it a great deal. His mom is a finance professional and also liked it, so I think it has a lot of diverse student types. They now have a requirement of study abroad, for which they supply a stipend. They also have decent merit aid. I think it is defintely worth a look.</p>
<p>thanks, moonmaid. I think my daughter got the wrong impression from reading the cannot name on here college book! The school is a good size, so worth a look.</p>
<p>I attended Washington College back in the seventies for two years. BAck then, it was stifle-ingly small, and far from anything. It was very suitcase schoolish. For me, it didn't work academically--I was filling up with upper class English classes as a sophomore and wondering what i would do the next two years. I ended up transfering. that being said, my frosh and soph year roommates, both very bright, loved it and are very successful.</p>
<p>By transfering, I also missed out on possibly winning the world's second biggest writing prize. (It was worth about 35K at the time, much bigger now. I had received the incoming frosh writing scholarship, so was at least in the running for the graduation prize. Oh well.....)</p>
<p>Edit-the biggest was the Nobel.</p>
<p>Is there a good mix of mainstream preppy along with alternative?>></p>
<p>Goucher was a school that my daughter applied to and was admitted to, and I've visited several times for various reasons. I'd edge Goucher's students towards the "quirky/artsy" end of the spectrum. It's not as "alternative" as say a Bard or Sarah Lawrence, but I definitely would not describe it as preppy either. Great school though.</p>
<p>If you're looking for small schools in the south along the lines of the selectivity spectrum between Washington and Goucher (Goucher is much more selective than Washington these days), consider these:
McDaniel (MD), Lenoir Rhyne, Elon, Rhodes, Randolph Macon, Lynchburg, University of the South/Sewannee, Catawba, UNC-Ashville, Guilford (close in student body feel to Goucher), Meredith, St. Andrews Presbyterian, Hollins, Wofford, Millsaps, Hendrix (ditto to what I said about Guilford) More selective, but worth a definite look: Davidson, Furman.</p>
<p>We also visited Washington in the summer, and had the same reaction to those described above - a school that students obviously like, but we felt the campus was a little rough around the edges. The dorms we saw were the absolute worst in 30+ campus visits. But, to be fair, it was summer. :) It was definitely isolated - we were told that the nearest K-Mart was 35-40 minutes away.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, Carolyn. I think my daughter will drop Washington. She really wants to go to school in North Carolina or maybe as far north as Virginia. But Maryland is getting a little too cold for her anyway. She is interested in Elon and UNC Asheville. Is Elon a reach with about 1200 SAT and top 10%? Some of the schools she likes could be considered safeties. We visited College of Charleston for the open house. She really liked the area and the education department but not the dorm situation. She is looking for the option to live on campus for all four years. I think that College of Charleston would be a match, but not sure out of state.</p>
<p>my daughter graduated three years ago, my niece two.
They both loved the college (we are in San Francisco, niece in MD)</p>
<p>I have not seen any dorms/campuses with any of my 5 children that were better than WAC's, or much different...and that was never what my kids thought was the main factor in choosing a college.
If the bare exterior during non-school months is the deciding factor, I think you (the general you) is on the wrong track...depending, of course, on what one's expectations are for college...
WAC has excellent faculty and classes, opportunities for all students to participate in both academic & non academic pursuits, they are one of 266 schools with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, etc., etc., etc.</p>
<p>Probably the temp difference isn't more from NC than from CA...we generally get a little frost a few weeks a year. Neither of my twins found the cold terrible (one was in Chestertown, the other in Gettysburg, PA)</p>
<p>good luck...</p>
<p>I am glad to hear from you tigerboysmom. It sounds like Washington college is a good school. The search is not easy!</p>
<p>I've worked with a number of recent Washington College graduates over the past few year. They absolutely loved their school and were so excited to be going to all of the alumni events! They were a bunch of really great kids.</p>
<p>Is Elon a reach with about 1200 SAT and top 10%?>></p>
<p>I don't have access to her transcripts and would need more information to accurately predict her chances, but I'd say Elon would definitely be within range with those stats. If it is a top choice, she can also consider Early Decision.</p>
<p>Tigerboysmom, Thanks for giving us another, more personal view of Washington. :)</p>
<p>Ditto what Carolyn said, particularly if she applies ED.</p>
<p>My S visited WC & applied. His tour guide was extremely enthusiastic and obviously loved the school & my S had a great interview. I am very impressed with the way they followed up with him - they have called a few times and sent letters. He was accepted & given a nice scholarship but, for him, the location is too remote. Literally in the middle of nowhere, in his opinion, but for some, obviously, just right. Have you looked into Ursinus? Also seems to be a very good small school with lots of personal attention and good merit aid - close to Philly.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for all the responses. My daughter is very interested in Elon. We will visit this summer. My daughter wanted to attend the open house this weekend, but didn't want to miss school today. If she loves Elon, she might consider ED. It sounds like it would give her a better chance. She has two APs this year and two next year. Hopefully four APs is enough. My neighbor's daughter was accepted there last year, but decided to go to U of Florida instead. Most of my daughter's friends want the big state schools. Does being in the top 10% offset lower SAT scores?</p>
<p>We have not started visiting schools yet for my younger son, but Washington College is on our potential list of schools to visit. The dorm situation doesn't sound too great. What exactly are the typical dorms like? Are they large enough to give each student a closet, desk, and a twin bed without needing to bunk the beds? Are the bathrooms acceptable?</p>
<p>I did read that although the school is remote, there is a bus that runs from the school to the mall (weekends I believe). Are students content with this?</p>
<p>Since the school is remote, are the students happy with the food on campus?</p>
<p>Washington College ended up being my second choice by the time all my decisions were in. It's small, but it seemed to have a nice campus community. I also enjoyed the classes I sat in on - an English class and a history class. This was back when I was definitely going to be an English major!</p>
<p>I remember my hosts hating the food when I did an overnight (we ended up getting Chinese food later) and I stayed overnight in a triple with bunked beds. I can't remember what a double looked like when I toured. </p>
<p>I know a recent graduate, and she seemed to enjoy WAC.</p>