Yes, I think SE and a good bargain are musts. She doesn’t want to go too far from home and we don’t want to spend all our retirement savings or have her go in debt with student loans. Our goal is to fully fund her education with no student loans. We went to college w/o student loans and would like to do the same for her, but would still like to have some money leftover for us!
Thanks for Eckerd. I will look. I think Florida is going to be a little far for her, but worth checking out online at least. I think right now she is really interested in NC and VA, possibly SC, GA, or TN, but I am getting the most traction for NC and VA. She doesn’t really like hot weather (which is another thing that put her off UNC-W, because we saw it in the summer in the heat and humidity), but she also doesn’t really like cold weather. She may change her mind in the next year or two, though.
Auburn University has a great main street next to campus with shops and restaurants and the famous Toomers Drug store with its lemonade.
Others: Elon, UGA, Va Tech, UVA, and James Madison. If your open to more urban, maybe VCU.
What about Loyola University of New Orleans? Can’t get more fun and funky than NOLA. Right on St. Charles Avenue. Magazine Street coffee shops and boutiques just a few block away. Hot and humid, yes, but she probably wouldn’t be there in the heat of summer. Late September into May are great.
Easier admissions than Tulane (but the campuses are literally side-by-side). Jesuit, so wouldn’t have a restrictive religious requirement. No creative writing major per se, but a writing concentration within the English major that includes CR. The website says "At Loyno, you define who you want to be: a free-thinker, an entrepreneur, a risk-taker,a scientist, a creative, and above all yourself- the thing no one else can be. Don’t know about financial aid but the website says that 90% of students get merit aid.
Thanks for all your suggestions. I like VCU a lot, but pretty doubtful of the financial aspect for merit aid. Same with UVA and Va Tech (which would be reach schools anyway). I don’t see the benefit of going there instead of staying in-state in NC. Don’t think my kid would either. She is very conscious of how much college costs.
Elon is not likely to appeal. It’s too close to home and unlikely to offer much merit aid from what I can tell. Frankly, it’s not that fun and funky either. I’ve been there for various school things with my older kid and I don’t see it having much appeal for my D-22. There were some things I liked about it, like their job placement center, but I don’t think it is what we are looking for.
Right now her top schools are App State, Mary Baldwin U and UNC-Greensboro and maybe UNC-Asheville (haven’t visited yet, but she has a friend whose older brother went there).
I am just wondering if I am missing out on any small LACs in VA, NC, SC, maybe east TN or north GA that give the kind of merit aid that MBU does ($22k on $30k tuition). I know the big state schools won’t be able to offer that. She’s a good A/B student, but realistically not the kind of student to get a full ride at a state school. We can get $8-10k tuition (or less) at a state school in NC, so not wanting to spend much more than that. Not interested in $40, $50, $60k schools, so Duke would be out whether she could get in or not.
I think New Orleans is going to be too far from home, but thanks for the suggestion.
East Tennessee has Maryville College near the mountains, but I haven’t seen it in years and have no idea what the vibe, the chance of financial aid or the surrounding area is like. But might be worth checking out.
I see that Maryville has a major in writing communications that includes creative writing. I haven’t been in many years but I do know the college has a pretty campus that includes a sizeable nature preserve. Not far from the Great Smokey Mountains and Knoxville. Year ago (and maybe today) had trimesters of only three classes per term (good if your D likes to focus) and a “fun” interim course for one month in January.
I just came across Maryville before I checked back on this thread. I’m not seeing much of a cool funky street nearby, but it does look like a possibility otherwise. Might check it out. Thanks for the suggestion.
You might reconsider ECU. The city of Greenville, NC has received several multi-million dollar $$$ grants (1 of 2 awarded from the feds) to revitalize and refurb its uptown district and medical district which are all walkable from ECU’s main campus. They have a brand new life sciences building going up (quickly) on the corner with Starbucks, Krispy Kreme and other eateries. A new bridge opened 3 months ago joining the medical district with the main campus. Buses are very plentiful while traffic is not. I have not researched the creative writing major or if there is one however, many undergrads change their majors while in college. So ECU would provide many alternatives if she changes her mind.
I know ECU has a party/fun reputation (not always a bad thing) but with one of the 4 med schools in the state AND 1 of 2 dental schools it does have a a very academic path as well. ECU’s med school has one of the lowest tuitions in the US if not the lowest, and only accepts NC residents. They fought for years to get the 2nd dental school (DDS) which UNC-CH resisted FOREVER. They just completed the new cardiology towers, part of the Vidant Regional Med Center. One of the largest hositals in the southeast, rivaling Grady and Miami.
The university is changing and rapidly. I would not overlook ECU. My niece (nursing) and nephew attend App State and love it. Son (micro, biochem, genetics) and daughter (animal science) graduated from NCSU and both really enjoyed their experiences. Same son attended UNC-CH for his MD and MBA. Another son graduated from NCA&T with a mech engineering degree. So we have toured and seen many of the NC colleges.
I know you mentioned your daughter is an A/B student but at ECU she might be eligible for some merit depending on her scores. Their tuition is beyond reasonable and many of their dorms are new (as in just completed or will be finished in a few months). They resemble many of the new apts going up all around Raleigh.
Washington, NC is extremely close and provides great waterside views and inlets. UNC Wilmington does have a fantastic marine bio program for anyone reading.
Hope this helps and if you have more questions just ask.
I think many of the UNC schools have great OOS tuition with some really great programs. But we avoided that when moving here!!
@Sweetgum, Maryville didn’t have that kind of street near it when I last saw it 30+years ago, but you never know what has happened to a community in the meantime. Since you asked about other LACs in your immediate region for good but not A+ students that might have financial aid and a CR program, I threw it out there.
What your D wants is worth looking for, and I think I understand generally what you mean (I love those Franklin Street vibes… my sister lives in Carrboro and I have lived in New Orleans and other artsy places so I get that) but honestly, your parameters make that combination hard to find. I’m also hoping for a LAC with a cute downtown for my D in another region but it’s not easy to find. Unless it’s in a city or an affluent area, a tourist area (like Gettysburg PA) or a small college near a big university it’s hard to find that kind of funky, arty college neighborhood with cute shops and cafes around a small LAC. there’s just not a critical mass of students/grad students/young adults sticking around these small college towns to make those businesses viable as you’d find in a place like Chapel Hill with a large university (and two more, plus Research Triangle Park nearby).
Asheville definately has that arty vibe, but the UNC-A is not in that immediate neighborhood, though not too far, either. Asheville may have gentrified a lot to the point that there may be more high-end galleries than student coffee shops these days. I wasn’t too impressed with the look of the campus, myself (buildings were kind of stark looking for my taste when I drove by once) but your D might like it.
Sounds like Appalachian State may be her best bet!
Would she go as far as Goucher in Baltimore? It might have the vibe/academics/fin aid you’re looking for too. Might also look into the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA. Pretty, old campus, but the immediate neighborhood seemed residential on one side, and bordered by a commerical strip with big-box stores and chain eateries on the others. Maybe there’s a funky student street nearby in Fredericksburg that I just don’t know about.
I understand completely. Though we liked the area and the school, my son also did not apply there. VCU as an OOS university was not likely to be a good financial option, not when there are educational+type equals in NC for much less money.
If you search runs out of other options, I agree with the suggestions to look deeper into ECU and UNCG. I know several students who have graduated from UNCG over the last decade and every one of them loved it. I visit Greensboro often enough to have seen a lot of it. There is a good vibe around UNCG.
My son and I have visited ECU a couple of times and he likes it a lot. The little downtown strip right off the corner of campus seems like what your daughter is looking for. Overall, I don’t think the city of Greenville is as nice as Greensboro, but it’s a nice enough city. If only ECU was half (or a third) the enrollment, it might be perfect. I wish ECU was the size (enrollment) of ASU.
We have been to Greenville on the way to the beach and I do agree that it is worth a look, but knowing my D I think it will not be what she is looking for. I agree that we might as well check it out and give UNC-W another look too, though. It’s not the old “party school” rep of ECU that I think she won’t like, so much as the flat and piney landscape of eastern NC. I do agree that the health sciences there are very good and a great deal. Have a young cousin who graduated with a Dr of Physical Therapy not too long ago. I’m just not feeling it for my D.
Do any of y’all know much about Brevard? It looks like it has fun and funky potential, but it may be too isolated. I know it’s a good music school, but it does have Creative Writing as a minor, so that might work. The other thing Brevard has going for it is 1/2 tuition for NC high school grads, so that helps quite a bit. But I do like the idea of going somewhere more comprehensive like App or UNC-G or ECU or UNC-W or UNC-A where you could switch your major if you got a completely different idea.
She really loved Mary Baldwin and Staunton is super cute and artsy and not far from Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, and Lexington. I’m just not sure that MBU will have what she needs as far as academics. It’s great for her friend who is getting a Masters in Shakespeare, and is a very good theater school, but writing is really where my D wants to go right now. She loved the artsy vibe of the town, though, so we will probably end up doing an official tour at some point.
She has a friend who is really interested in Guilford and it seems like it could be a fit academically, but there’s not much fun and funky walkable from Guilford and the Greensboro bus system is not that great to get down to Tate Stret from what I have heard. Hopefully by the time college rolls around she will be driving (nervous now, but wants to), but she also just really likes to walk to coffee shops and what not.
I took a quick look online at Sewanee as I have met a couple of people (my age) who went there, but it seems like it will be too expensive probably and maybe a little too preppy now? The friends I know were not the preppy sort, but seems like it may be more like that now. Same for Wofford. She is not into Greek life at all.
It will be interesting to see if any more schools pop up for her over the next couple of years.
Roanoke College in VA has a creative writing major and minor. They do give generous merit and there is a merit estimator you can run. I have not visited but know there is a walkable area of shops and such nearby https://www.roanoke.edu/beyondcampus.
We actually did a quick drive by of Roanoke College a few weekends ago when we were checking out Hollins for summer camp. There are a few things near campus (which is actually in Salem), but more of the fun & funky seemed to be in downtown Roanoke. We didn’t really explore Roanoke College that much, but will have a chance again this summer when we go back up to Hollins for camp. I missed that RC had a creative writing major. I will mention that to my D’22. Roanoke seemed potentially interesting. The rail yard had all kinds of really old train cars.
Agree Staunton is a charming little town. I’m a big believer in women’s colleges, but if your D remains serious about Mary Baldwin, I’d do a deep dive into their endowment, strategic plan, and viability. Their recent focus on programs for students beyond their traditional 18-22 year old undergrad women demographic would make me want to be sure my D wouldn’t find herself in a Sweet Briar situation. And while SBC seems to have stabilized for now (with an endowment over twice the size of MBU), it must have been very disruptive to the students who were on campus at the time of its near-death experience.
Not sure what you mean about “their recent focus on programs for students beyond their traditional 18-22 year old undergrad women demographic”. Can you elaborate? We have not gone for the official tour yet, just had the friend tour.
Roanoke College in Salem, VA. Creative Writing major. Cute, walkable downtown area with shops, restaurants and coffee houses. Good study abroad. Very good merit aid.