Yeah none of them come in that low for me. Had hopes for Allegheny because of some threads here on CC but it also comes in too high.
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Look at Flagler in St. Augustine. Beautiful campus, and kid would likely get merit there. Cost of attendance is pretty modest anyway. Not particularly a techie school, but this kid might love it there, and do well.
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York College in PA is another possibility that might meet your price point. @fendergirl hoping you see this and can give the school a shout out. Another relatively inexpensive smaller college.
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Eckerd in Florida?
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Check some of the suggestions in this thread. Ignore the womenās colleges. And this poster was looking with a higher price pointā¦but there are some good small college suggestions.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/t/small-less-competitive-school-suggestions/
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Check out University of Denver even if not LAC. Strong learning support program.
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Community college / trade school most likely a good fit.
Knox hits it financially. Itās not a difficult school? It looks to be not so difficult.
Some disturbing sexual culture problems there, but surely itās better now. Or am I naive?
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Otterbein is another suggestion.
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Look to see if Washington & Jefferson or Elizabethtown would come in within budget.
Otherwise, I agree with Juniata or York College of PA as possibilities within PA.
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Wow, if Knox works financially, then definitely worth exploring more! My LAC kid visited Knox several times and we were both really impressed by how āhigh touchā it was. He met with a music professor bc he was interested in continuing with his instrument, and the professor talked with him for 45-60 min, gave him a tour of facilities, really made him feel welcome and that what he could do there would matter. He also said the Poli Sci class at Knox he attended was hands down the most engaging, stimulating class he attended during college visits, and he had visited multiple NESCAC and similar type schools so that was saying something distinctive about the classroom experience.
My understanding from my research a few years ago was that the school had been in a bit of a trough until maybe 10-15 years ago, with deferred maintenance etc. But a new president really energized the community and the alumni, so that donations are up, facilities are improved and new ones built. Iām not familiar with sexual culture issues ā perhaps they were before my kidās visits a few years ago? If they were more recent, itās not something Iāve heard about. Knox does have modest greek life presence, but like Wooster and Lawrence, it is not really ātraditionalā greek life and not a wild party scene.
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Iām going to push back a little bit on the idea of necessarily looking at an LAC, and back up a bit. I think you (as the parent) and your son should both figure out what you each/both want from both this admission process and also the college experience. Answering those questions may point toward an LAC or it may open the admission search wider.
Ron Lieber just released a book, The Price You Pay for College
that might help you figure out some of the questions I think would be very helpful to the college search and application process. I would also recommend The Truth about College Admission as a book that would probably be very helpful going forward.
Both books help provide an empathetic, non-judgmental framework to help students and families figure out what they value, what they are looking for in a college education and how they can determine which schools will meet their needs.
LACs can be wonderful, my oldest attends one currently and is very happy with her choice. However, I do think there is a misconception that LACs handhold much more than they actually do, and I wouldnāt necessarily focus a college search on the idea of handholding as a LAC strength that will overcome a lack of focus as well as delayed fundamental hard and soft skills. It can be just as easy to get lost on a small campus, especially if one loves (for example) Grand Theft Auto or other pursuits that can help a student create a isolated nest in their dorm room. My daughter know of one such student on her floor this past year who wonāt be returning next year after getting a 0.0 GPA both semesters.
Good luck, lots of other posters have listed many great schools.
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There will be applications to in state and oos large schools, itās just not the question Iām asking.
Thereās not any difference in price, for us (given merit aid and need aid in our bracket), between large public and the best opportunity small LAC, so itās not a question of value.
There are at least as many or more social options in terms of finding your peeps in big schools that have a good student life-- Iām not making any assertion about LACs here just asking a question about LACs
I will read those things though.
Iāve taught at a small expensive LAC and UC Davis so Iāve seen both sides a bit.
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A couple possibilities:
Fort Lewis College
University of Denver (someone mentioned this above.)
And a couple pubic LACs
Southern Oregon University
UNC Asheville
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So, what do the LACs in California look like for your son? Iām thinking Whittier, Redlands, University of the Pacific, St Maryās of California.
Also, some of your fellow UC Davis faculty may well have a better feel for good school matches, donāt underestimate the local expertise you have as a college prof. Contacting old LAC colleagues might also give you helpful insight on the ground as it were.
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I cannot recommend any school because I do not understand the issue beyond seeking a low cost LAC with easy grading.
I can suggest that the student & family consider Cornell College in Iowa since its offers one course at a time calendar similar to that of Colorado College.
Maybe Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania.
How will your son react to a rural or semi-rural environment ?
If I recall correctly, the University of the Redlands does not use a letter or numerical grading system; Redlands grades by narrative.
P.S. As an educator / professor can you define your sonās lackluster performance in a way that does not focus all of the blame on his current inner-city school ? Or are you convinced that the inner-city school environment is the primary culprit ? If so, then would a more serious school be the better path than just seeking a low cost, easy grading school ?
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or it could be phrased LAC low cost (meaning with merit and need aid readily available) with not a lot of grade pressure and not hard grading.
Yes keeping it simple is good because that gives me the leads which I can look into more carefully. There are a multitude of factors to consider.
Any location is fine at this stage.
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I think an issue you are going to run into (even/especially with less stressful LACs) is that lots of strong student go to those LACs specifically to do science/mathy work (big fish small pond mentality), and lots of those LACs tout their great numbers to get STEM students into grad and medical school for science.
There may not be good STEM options at many of those schools for someone who is looking for easy grading, as well as STEM focus.
Even though admission to schools may be test optional, some merit awards still require an ACT or SAT score. They may also require a killer essay. A weight 4.0 from a school that isnāt academically challenging might not be enough to get the big bucks.
California doesnāt have a lot of smaller public schools (even most of the CCs are pretty big), but other western states have public schools that are a little smaller. Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Utah. Check the WUE schools where you might find a tuition break and a smaller, more inclusive community. Look at Western Washington which is beautiful.
All LACs are going to require a lot of reading, writing and discussion classes - thatās what LACs are all about. I canāt see a student who isnāt interested in English courses or discussing liberal vs. conservative views happy at any LAC. My DD#1 was a liberal arts major and would have loved an LAC but we couldnāt afford one, so she went to Wyoming and loved it. She created her own LAC feel to college by getting to know her professors and classmates in those arts and sciences classes. DD#2 is an engineer, was recruited by a lot of LACs for her sport, and had the grades and the test scores, but after looking at a few she knew sheād hate it at that type of campus. Sports wise, those LACs were a really good fit but academically, for her interests, they werenāt what she wanted. She just wasnāt interested in reading a lot of books - or discussing them and writing about them and discussing them some more! She liked math and physics and talking about screws and fluids and concrete and chemistry. She wanted to do problem sets and lab experiments. She had to take a few English and history classes and she did fine in them, but she didnāt enjoy the liberal arts part of her education. Even at Smith college, where she could have majored in engineering, there were just too many non-science and math classes to take. She picked a tech school and was very happy there with her people.
I also donāt think a lot of LACs are going to provide the support to bring your son up to the level required to get high grades in those writing and discussion classes.
Another option to an LAC might be a smaller tech school. That might allow your son to focus on math and science. My daughter had no AP math and I think just AP chem in high school, but entered without any AP credits or placement beyond the first level. She just plugged along and finished the classes in the order the school recommended. It wasnāt easy. She worked hard. Kind of ironically, she was a little more advanced in the English writing courses and was asked to be a TA - no way! She knew sheād hate that so did what was required and then went back to her āhappyā classes of math and science.
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On any forum, there is going to be a certain genre of reply which is to reject the premise of the question. Thatās just how forums are. You can go though this thread and find the two genres. One tries to answer the question and the other tries to upend the premise.
After my morning coffee, Iāll often engage the latter genre but I guess itās not that time right now.
But to pick up on one point that you bring out which I did not reveal-- yes Iām kind of asking about how a mathy techy student can get by at an LAC which puts so much emphasis on LA. (However the powerful and crude factor of money is hanging over it).
He needs that emphasis but I want it to be as soft of an adjustment as possible.
But again the premise was to ask about LACs and not other things, and I donāt want to debate my premise without morning coffee.
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