Davidson, Vanderbilt, Colgate, Wake Forest? Small to medium sized schools with Greek life. Well rounded kids who are serious about academics but want balanced experience. D21 not big on urban but suburban might be ok. Really likes a separate and beautiful campus. Don’t need to discuss acceptance rates right now. I can figure all of that out. I’m looking for anything from safeties to reaches. We are full pay but would be happy to consider schools that offer merit. Anyone think that Lehigh or Richmond fit this mold? Maybe Clemson’s honors program?
Other schools that she’s considering putting on the list include Miami of Ohio, Denison. They would be safeties for her.
She’d like to stay east of the Mississippi. Warmer weather is a plus but not a necessity. I’ve been through the Fiske Book numerous times but I still feel like I could be missing lots of options.
I’ve spent a fair amount of time at Rhodes, and it’s always seemed very similar to Davidson (I grew up about 10 minutes from the latter). Greek life at Rhodes is nonresidential, which I think is a huge plus. The campus is gorgeous and in the sort of artsy, hip part of Memphis and right across the street from a large park and the Memphis Zoo.
Not to be a pain, but Denison acceptance rate for incoming first year class was 29%, and school has had about a 10% increase in apps every year for past 5 years or so, with over 8000 apps this past year. While high stat kids are probably in good shape, I’d still hesitate to call it a safety anymore, plus fit matters, as with any smaller school.
Trinity – but it’s urban. Seconding Rhodes. Dickinson too. Haverford is filled with nice, smart kids, albeit, no greek life. Conn Coll doesn’t have greek life, but is a self-contained campus separate from, but close to, east coast urban area. Our impression on visiting Conn Coll was that kids were very similar to Dickinson – nice kids, smart kids.
I think Denison will be a safety from our high school. Four kids with much lower stats applied RD from our high school and got in with merit. Chances are different from different high schools. Kenyon and Grinnell would also be safe for her and they have higher stat kids overall. It’s just the history we have with those schools. Kenyon and Grinnell don’t match what she wants though.
What’s the scoop on W&L and conservatism? A school that leans too conservative won’t be a match. She’s not a social justice warrior at all but would fit better at a politically balanced campus or maybe one that leans a little left.
Richmond and Bucknell for sure.
If she doesn’t mind Jesuit, BC and College of the Holy Cross. Both are full of smart, nice, well rounded kids. No Greek life, but kids are social.
I think W&L is less conservative than it gets credit for on CC, but wouldn’t say it leans left.
Hi @wisteria100 !! She has two friends going to BC this fall. I’m sure she will be very curious how it goes for them. One of S19’s best friends will be at HC so we will keep tabs on that as well!
When we visited Emory the tour guide told us that it is not uncommon to stay up until 3:00 am discussing topics such as sexuality in frogs. My daughter actually liked the fact that these types of discussions existed at 3 am and saw this as a positive.
Emory does have a preprofessional reputation, but that might not be the case and maybe I am just comparing it to my daughter’s school, which is not preprofessional at all.
Emory does not have school spirit (sports) like you will see at some other schools. We were told that the students attend games at Georgia Tech. I can’t speak for Greek life as my daughter was not interested.
My husband and daughter thought that the campus was gorgeous. I did not agree, but that doesn’t mean anything. Everybody has different taste when it comes to campus beauty. I loved Lehigh and to this day I think it’s one of the most beautiful schools out there. My friend’s daughter thought the buildings were ugly.
Emory is not urban. It is located close enough to Atlanta, but not in Atlanta. I remember the surrounding area being residential.
I recall seeing a small group of shops directly off campus, but I don’t recall any kind of walkable town (but…you have Atlanta)
On the day of our tour there was a heavy northeast presence. In our part of the country (northeast) Emory is very popular. My friend’s daughter from NJ transferred out of Emory. Why? She said that the NJ presence was too much for her and reminded her of her wealthy HS. Take this with a grain of salt…you will hear good and bad opinions about every school in the country…and this comment came from a 19 year old.
Evidently there are lots of parties…but parties are everywhere. I say this because I sat in Starbucks in my town listening (not on purpose) to a group of 5 Emory students sitting behind me talking about how drunk they were at school. This happens at ALL schools. I am only saying this because my daughter doesn’t party and I finally convinced her that all schools have parties…you can find your people regardless.
Let’s not forget the CDC…located right there adjacent to campus.
My daughter loved Emory and it was up there among her favorites. At the end she chose another school, but it was a difficult decision.
I think you should add Muhlenberg and Emory to your daughter’s list.
Most of the schools on that list have a pretty vibrant party scene. I would add Union as well. So much to like there! If you’re going to look at Colgate, it’s easy to fit into the same trip. Lovely campus (both). I think Dickinson might be too sleepy if that’s the vibe she wants.
Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Gettysburg, maybe Franklin and Marshall have that vibe.
With that said, sounds like she might be looking for a little bigger, though. Richmond, William and Mary, Duke might all be closer to what she’s interested in. Agree that she should check in with her friends at BC. What about Tulane?