Eating matters - both my kids scored highly and eventually they got around to it but at first, it was low blood sugar. They didn’t like the food - so they didn’t eat, etc.
If JMU is your safety/affordable, then great. Make sure to apply and early.
Did you look at UNCW? Perhaps it would be better for you than JMU? It’d also an affordable safety.
If he likes the LAC, St. Marys of Maryland (has a minor) or UNC Asheville has (as of now) a Creative Writing Concentration. For a bit bigger, how about Salisbury which has a Creative Writing Program.
These are risk free schools - if that makes sense.
I get it - fall in love with who you do - but these are actually more important.
So I hate the “settling” for JMU - because surely there’s someone out there assuredly affordable that he can feel great about in case it’s needed.
Gotta put quality time into visiting the fallbacks to find the true gem for him because other than Susquehanna, it’s a sizable chance of where he’s going to end up.
I honestly have no clue about the quality of food at Susquehanna, but I would just caution you about putting too much faith into the niche reviews without checking out the dining halls for yourself and talking to current students. A lot of schools had difficulties with the food quality during the pandemic and have since made significant improvements. I have a rising senior at William and Mary. The niche reviews for both housing and food are abysmal and don’t reflect the recent change in food vendors or the brand new dorms and dining facilities opening this year. My son actually likes the campus food and has never skipped a meal or suffered from a low blood sugar .
Maybe if someone is concerned about having access to good food they should go to culinary Institute of America, Johnson and Wales, Penn State, Michigan State, etc., where they offer culinary courses. In many cases, it’s more likely that students are going to gain weight in college, the old classic freshman 15, than have trouble finding something that they are willing to eat. JMO
Excuse me, but since I can’t read your tone, I don’t know if your comment is just missing a laughing emoji or your intention is completely the opposite.
Thanks so much for all of the updates! I’ve been following along, though I had to review the thread to refresh on some of the details.
I see that Denison was added to the list, but not Oberlin. Was your family able to visit them when you picked your son up from Kenyon’s writing program? (By the way, I LOVED hearing how meaningful the experience was for him.)
In reviewing the thread, the college search parameters include:
4-6 hours from NOVA
Leaning towards a LAC
Creative writing as the main focus, with a secondary focus in U.S. history from 1860-1945
$50k budget, and potentially might qualify for some need-based aid
Good food available (at the college or in-town)
I’m going to mention a couple of the schools I suggested earlier, as I think they might help find some additional likely schools that I suspect are likely to meet budget:
Ithaca (NY): With about 4400 undergrads it’s a bit larger than most liberal arts colleges, but I think that the vibe of the school might be right up your son’s alley. It has strong academics across an array of subjects, but definitely pulls people who are interested in writing, creativity, and the arts. It seems as though the writing major may be where his current interest lies, but in its Park School of Communications, there is also a creative writing major for media. I don’t know how good the food is on-campus, but the town of Ithaca gets raves as a great college town (which I’m confident includes good food). Additionally, students at Ithaca are able to cross-register for classes at Cornell, which opens up additional possibilities for your son, too. And it’s about 5h38m from Fairfax.
Purchase College (SUNY, NY): About 3200 undergrads at this school that is a magnet for creative folk. The BA in Creative Writing seems ideal, but there is a Playwriting & Screenwriting major as well as separate minors in playwriting and screenwriting if his interests start to lean that way. I don’t know about the food, but I strongly suspect good options are available, and the New York City is a little over an hour away. 4h14m from Fairfax.
SUNY New Paltz: About 6500 undergrads at this school 4h51m away from Fairfax. I’m not a huge fan of the department’s website (or the college’s), but the English major offers both a Writing and Rhetoric track as well as a Creative Writing track. From my understanding, it’s a cute town.
One college I didn’t mention earlier that might be of interest is:
Drew (NJ): About 1600 undergrads at this town less than an hour from NYC. Within the English major one can choose a creative writing emphasis or an emphasis on writing and communications. If of interest, I believe that @onipl decided to attend there.
I’m going to page @beebee3 as I think some of these campuses were visited while on the college search. I’m also seconding the recommendations of Washington College & Goucher (the latter of which allows cross-registration at Loyola Maryland, also good for creative writing, and Johns Hopkins).
Do you have any that assuredly (100%) hit the budget that are safe admissions?
OP has mentioned JMU - so fantastic school but comments like this tell me - this is the part of the list where OP needs to work on, not the Kenyons or others that may (or may not hit).
OP said - “S26 knows we can afford all the in-state schools without merit which is why he acquiesced to UVA and William & Mary, but paused at the 3 true in-state safeties, GMU, JMU, and CNU. sigh…”
I’ve noted a few - but seem to get no response - but to me, OP needs to fall in love with at least one - the SUNYs would work…of course.
But perhaps you have more beyond those I mentioned like Salisbury, UNCW, TCNJ (minor), Marshall has a major, UNCA, St. Marys Md., etc.
OP - I implore you to flip your search - and find a sub for JMU (if one exists that he can love). That’s by far more important than other “maybes”.
The NPC at Ithaca has an area where it estimates the amount of merit aid based upon academic stats, and let’s people say they don’t want to be calculating any need-based aid. The cost of attendance (so not just tuition, room & board) is $71,947, and it’s estimating a $30k award (with a low/high range of $28-32k). That makes this school’s COA $41,947, within budget.
Drew’s NPC doesn’t ask for academic stats, but I wouldn’t be surprised if OP’s son reached out to Drew’s admissions team if he might not be able to receive some kind of merit pre-read, or at least a range that he might reasonably anticipate. Frankly, I’d be shocked if Drew didn’t fall within budget.
As you mentioned, the SUNY schools I mentioned will fall within budget at their sticker prices, and I suspect some merit aid would be forthcoming anyway.
Okay, for the schools I seconded.
Washington College’s NPC asked for academic stats. I indicated an SAI of $100k (i.e. no need-based aid would be forthcoming), though somehow a $1280 need-based grant still came in. But the COA (again, more than just the sticker price) is coming in at a little over $38k, so another I think OP can be confident about falling within budget.
I realize the NPCs may still be for the applicants for Fall 2025 and not Fall 2026, but I don’t see the prices shooting past OP’s budget. So some guaranteed affordable schools that OP’s son can consider are Ithaca, Goucher, Washington College, and SUNY Purchase & New Paltz. And I’d be stunned beyond belief if OP’s kid wasn’t granted admission to these schools.
ETA: I indicated a 3.9UW GPA with a 1420 SAT when completing the NPCs.
In my first post today I thought about mentioning Loyola Maryland, but then decided not to as I thought of it more as a toss-up in terms of whether it would meet the budget, whereas I thought the other schools would be likelies.
I decided to look at the NPC, and the COA (again, not just sticker costs) falls within the budget at a little over $46k. So it’s definitely higher than the others, but still within budget.
One of the interesting things at Loyola Maryland is not only does it have a writing major (12 classes), but it also has an interdisciplinary major (9 writing courses plus 7-9 in a separate major), and history is one of the fields that can be done as an interdisciplinary major. Additionally, not only does the department share the classes for the upcoming semester, but what the planned classes are for the next two years.
Loyola Maryland students can also take classes at Goucher and Johns Hopkins or other Baltimore Collegetown schools. And I don’t know what the campus food is like, but there is certainly good food to be found in Baltimore itself.
We did visit Drew University, SUNY New Paltz, and Ithaca. I am a huge proponent of visiting smaller schools as the vibes either hit right, or they don’t.
I don’t really know all that much about the CW/English programs at any of those schools; my child wasn’t looking at those particular departments.
I can say that Drew has a lovely campus, great little downtown in Madison, NJ and fantastic transportation to access NYC in about 45 mins.
SUNY New Paltz was a bit more ‘brutalist’ in architecture and has a road running through campus…but also has a fabulous downtown area that has cute shops, restaurants, etc.
Ithaca College fell off my kid’s list because they wanted to be closer to NYC/Boston corridor, but we have friends with children there - they love it.
The merit is a “likely” but not an assurance - so I like to have 1-2 in the bag. That said, these schools need these kids so yes, they’re likely aggressive.
I know and appreciate the excitement for Kenyon/Denison, etc. but I know those are less than 50/50 even if they get in - if the budget is firm.
Not sure how the discussion pivoted from creative writing (and one more vote for Iowa, though its sadly geographically undesirable, so perhaps attending one of their summer workshops is an option??) to food. While there are some students with very specific dietary requirements, the overwhelming majority of students will have little or no problem finding food to eat (on or off campus) at most any college. To me, that’s not much of a concern, so would make that a low priority, though certainly tasting it when visiting schools is a good idea. My comment was a bit tongue-in-cheek (mentioning a few schools that offer culinary programs). But, IMO, there are other things to concern an applicant about. When my younger kid attended college, the dining hall food was pretty bad. The students complained, and eventually they built a new dining hall, but AFAIK, it wasn’t a deal breaker for most applicants. JMO.
@AustenNut@tsbna44 - Thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights! I really appreciate it very much! We sat down with S26 last night, and he’s embracing our 2 other in-state options, GMU and JMU as his true safeties plus adding UNC at Wilmington to his list after a deep dive into curriculums & financials, comparing GMU, JMU, & UNCW to other LACs/schools you all suggested. So phew! I think we have a decent list for now. We will see if other schools make the final cut, but for now it’s GMU, JMU, UNCW, Susquehanna, Virginia Tech, Kenyon, William & Mary, UVA, and Univ of Richmond. I honestly am not feeling if for Univ of Richmond, but he loved the campus, so it’s staying on the list.
He admitted that the other schools were at first challenging to consider given his experience and knowledge of Kenyon’s CW program, but he now understands the point of having likelies, likelies, targets, reaches, etc. not just academically, but financially as well!
Thank goodness he’s not in love with any colleges on his list. We will just see how it all unfolds in the next couple of months!
@AustenNut - we were not able to visit Denison on the way up and from Kenyon. They are closed on the weekends during drop off and pick up! So we’re planning to go back up for a tour and interview when S26 does his interview for Kenyon.
@beebee3 Thank you for sharing your insight into Drew U., Ithaca, and New Paltz! We looked at their programs and liked Ithaca’s the best, but their financial situation is very shaky right now so we’re not sure about taking a chance at it? We’re not ruling it out completely though, so we will see!
I was just sharing some of S26’s thoughts about a college’s dining options based on some reviews he read on Niche. We, adults, know to take these reviews with a grain of salt, but to a growing 17yo, food is important, and he has yet to experience that most colleges have not-so-great dining hall food. He’ll survive. Then the discussion veered towards food after that, and well, that’s just how it goes here, discussion is organic, but we’re back to creative writing now. Yes, there are other more important things to be concerned about like financial fit, academic fit, and social fit, but a 17yo’s concerns are valid, just another part of the equation because in the end it is he who will be living there for 4 years.
Maybe, maybe not. Two of my kids moved off campus junior year, two sophomore year, and most campuses have other options like chipotle as options.Niche had rated my kids’ campus dining between A- and B, every parent Facebook page has parents ranting about the food. My kids have always been able to find food they like.
All three of my kids went to schools where lots of parents complained their children couldn’t find any palatable food at the dining halls. All three of my children were always able to find foods they could eat/enjoy at those same dining halls.
None of my children are “they’ll eat anything” people.
If possible, try the dining hall food on school visits. Especially if food is super important to your kid.
My first 2 kids went to schools where the food was meh but they were also able to find food they could eat and made the most of what was available at the dining halls.
I’m no stranger to bad dining hall food, and like I mentioned before, just like his older 2 siblings, S26 will survive as well LOL.
Rutgers, TCNJ, UDel, Clemson. Sushi, paninis, made to order omelets, salads - nothing like when I went to school. All publics. Rutgers did end their king Neptune night after COVID, seafood fest, whole lobsters, crab legs, shrimp, scallops, it was incredible.
Food is an individual thing. When I first joined the CC, people ranted about Georgetown - they spent all this money on food and yet all the kids ate out non stop because the Gtown food wasn’t measuring up. During the first semester meltdowns of both my kids, it was definitely food related. They didn’t like their eats - while my son rarely ate school food 2nd year and on, my daughter, due to time management help, always had a meal plan and she made it work. THey just had to learn to make it work - and eventually find the things they could enjoy.
Some can’t eat anything - others tire of the same or unhealthy or what not.
I know a UMASS person who says it’s better than anywhere she can eat out now.
In the end, good or bad food, zillions of kids are surviving every year.
I think for my kids it was a learning opportunity - they were so low blood sugar, so down/lost on being away from home…and they caught on - and figured it out - as I’m sure most will eventually.
But it’s definitely a concern for many and if it is for your student it should not be discounted. There are definitely kids picking schools based on perceived food quality and I respect that choice if they choose to do so.
