I beg you to scratch Marist as a CA resident. As stones3 mentions, you have UCLA, UCB, UCSB, etc as better and
more affordable options. No offense to Marist, but there is no reason for a high stat kid from CA to fly 3,000 miles and pay more for less.
Maybe.
Marist is a much smaller campus and far less students than the UCs you listed. I’m not saying it’s the O effect place for the OP’s daughter, but we don’t live all that far from there,mand we know a number of very happy and successful graduates.
If you are going to Boston and want a fun day, I’d recommend going to Cape Ann , which is north of Boston. Visit the quaint town o Rockport and go to Bearskin Neck. Here’s a link; click on art in the menu to the left. http://bearskinneck.net/
I second keeping Vassar on the itinerary . You have to see the newly completed science building at Vassar - it is gorgeous! The art museum on the Vassar campus is excellent also. Sunset Lake on the Vassar campus is beautiful - we just attended graduation and it overlooks the lake. You will find many people with multiple interests at Vassar and Vassar has only a few distribution requirements so it is ‘easy’ to double major. The walkway across the Hudson in Poughkeepsie is a great place to spend an afternoon. Be sure to also stop by Bard - just up the road from Marist - very artsy. I hope you enjoy your trip.
I could have mentioned earlier on this thread that my son was admitted to Williams, sight-unseen. When we visited it afterwards he realized that it was just too far away from the urban setting that he preferred. The town, moreover, is tiny. If you’re into the outdoors and the beautiful Berkshire scenery, it could be a different matter. On our visit we sat in on two classes, one in political science that was excellent, another in astronomy that was all over the place and boring – and the students seemed bored, too.
After my son graduated from college (at UChicago), he visited a friend at Amherst. He told me that he could have enjoyed attending Amherst College and that because there were several small colleges nearby as well as UMass-Amherst, the city/town of Amherst (population 37,800) had a great deal more to offer, and was much more diverse, than tiny Williamstown (population 7,700).
This is such a helpful thread!! You are all so generous with your time and attention! What a beautiful area - our choices for fun seem endless!
Yup. Williamstown is very, very, small and remote. Great summer theatre - big names, new plays, etc. But get tickets in advance since they sell out. If you visit Amherst stay in Northampton, even if you have no interest in Smith. Northampton is a larger town with a fantastic restaurant and music scene, artsy shops, and fun people watching. Amherst is a nice New England college town but not quite as lively. Boston is a great city to visit in the summer. Very walkable to historic sights, the public garden, shopping in back bay, etc. Across the river the walk along the Charles is lovely and Harvard Square is always hopping, although it has become much more commercial these days. The local hipster scene has moved down to Davis Square in Sommerville next to Tufts.
My advice is look at colleges but mix in some sightseeing and summer fun. Have a great trip!
One of my favorite weeks with my SoCal S was our college swing through New England down through Pennsylvania the summer before his junior year (when he still thought he was going to be an art major). Every kid is different, but mine loved walking around in downtown Boston after touring BU (eh) and BC (liked) and a self-tour of Brandeis (eh). While I personally enjoyed the beautiful drives out towards Amherst (ok) / Williams (too isolated), he didn’t really want to stick around at either of them. Vassar ended up being the only college on the entire trip he wanted to hang around at after a tour/info session - actually spent more than an hour just wandering around the lake and a bit into the farm. Two years later - and an interest shift to biology/music, that was where he chose to attend. A couple of random observations: S has had a chance to hang out at both Marist and Bard for artsy things, and seemed to be much more impressed by the latter. The suggestions above of other things to do around Poughkeepsie/Hyde Park are all very good, but we didn’t have time to do any of them until after he started attending. Would also echo the suggestion of Northampton if you’re looking for a central Mass place to stay. Have fun!
Vassar sound wonderful to me! I know if I were picking for her, and I had the ear of the admissions director, I would pick Vassar, Brown, or Williams, but it remains to be seen. Her Christianity is very important to her as well as art and science, so I need to be sure that her environment is going to support that. I don’t recall colleges being so consistently liberal 6 years ago. Having a hard time finding colleges that talk about diversity of thought including conservative viewpoints…
It sounds as if you want to blend vacation & college visits. If this trip is more of a vacation, suggest you stay in a pleasant town from which you drive to see the colleges and the surrounding countryside… With that and flying into Albany in mind, I suggest you first start with colleges near Vassar, stay in/near Rhinebeck, which is nicer than Poughkeepsie, & skip Williamstown.
If you stayed in a lovely small town near Poughkeepsie, you could then easily catch a freeway (interstate) to get to Northhampton/Amherst, Hartford/Middletown (Wesleyan), Providence, Boston.
Other vacation ideas & colleges one could add to the wonderful suggestions above are other places in the Hudson Valley, like Woodstock, Olana, etc., Trinity College.
The reason I suggest omitting Williams is if your daughter is trying to get a sense of whether she’d like a small LAC & she doesn’t like Vassar, then most likely she & Williams won’t click, unless there is/are specific academic area(s) at Williams that strongly appeal to her & a remote location is what she wants. (On the other hand, if she both likes Vassar & on paper or online or talking with an Eph, Williams sounds right, then apply & see the campus during the academic year.)
Williamstown, and the Berkshires, in general, are lovely in summer with lots of cultural activities. The College during those 3 months, however, is very, very quiet as far as student life.
It’s amazing the difference between the academic year, when the place comes alive with students & faculty, and the summer. Having been to Williamstown in the summer many times only to see the Clark & MassMoca, the 2 major art museums in the area, many years before my son was old enough to think about college, we thought many of the college buildings were privately owned mansions. I wasn’t corrected until my son matriculated.
Enjoy your trip!
(depending on how much time you have, if you really want to compare Williams, say to its sibling, Amherst, you could stay in/near Northampton & drive roundtrip to Williamstown from there, they’re about 1 hour apart.)
If you take @jonri’s suggestion and visit the North Shore of Massachusetts, for an art lover I’d suggest the Peabody Essex Museum. http://www.pem.org
If you and your daughter enjoy seafood, there is no shortage of places to indulge in lobsters, clam chowder, etc.
In Boston, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (beautiful building and their cafe has a very nice lunch)
http://www.gardnermuseum.org/home
@shoot4moon, The faculty and administration of most – maybe all? – academically rigorous LACs lean left, but the student bodies fall on a continuum of very liberal to more middle road.
Among some of the colleges mentioned here I would put Williams, Kenyon, Hamilton, Conn College, Skidmore in the middle range. I don’t mean to say that they are conservative – they’re not – just that socially or politically conservative students are not shouted down. My son’s first year Junior Advisor (resident advisor) later became a priest. You can imagine the late night discussions that ensued. 
Everyone learned a lot.
Some of the other schools mentioned will have a greater emphasis on social impact and political activism. Some appear to be intolerant of more socially or politically conservative viewpoints, but I think the actual environments may be less extreme than the perception.
A word on Williams’ remote location: For my son, who enjoyed both the insular community aspects and access to outdoorsy, nature driven activities, the insular village environment was a strong draw, but it’s definitely not for everyone. My son had only ever lived in big cities and assumed that he was choose an urban school, but after visiting, something about the mountains spoke to him. (He did manage to get to New York or Boston once or twice a year.)
We visited in the summer and were knocked out by the profound natural beauty and the arts opportunities, but @ManhattanBoro makes a good point that the campus itself is quiet at that time of year.
What about Swarthmore?
@shoot4moon - When we compiled our list of potential schools for our kids we tried to get them to focus as much as they could on the empirical differences, and pluses and minuses for each school. Among these, the size of the school, it’s setting and location, and it’s academic and social offerings. There are of course other criteria including financial aid and personal aesthetics. Your initial list is a bit of a mixed bag. Williams (or Amherst) and Vassar are classic small liberal arts colleges in rural setting. Brown is a mid-sized Ivy in a city. Yale is much larger and much more citified than Brown. Marist apparently targets your daughter’s Christian face but is really not in a league academically with these other schools.
Perhaps the reason for this varied group is that your daughter does not know what she wants in terms of size and setting. But you have been gradually clearer about some of her other requirements. She wants a strong science program. She would like the opportunity to pursue art at more than a basic Art History or drawing/painting class, and she wants a perhaps more Conservative environment in which she can comfortably practice her faith.
There is no question that the combination of Brown and RISD, even outside of their joint degree program, meets your daughter’s academic and art inclinations. Providence is a lovely small city with ready access to Boston and some of the nicest areas in New England. However, Brown is known to be a more “liberal” leaning school.
Off the top of my head, have you considered Marywood University in Scranton, PA. It is a school of faith with strong science and art departments, with access to a substantial but not overwhelming city. My sense from people who have gone there is that it tends to be more Conservative in its environment. I can’t speak to rankings and academic rigor, but it came to mind in fitting so many of your criteria.
Good luck!
Increase the fun? Hit one of the glorious East Coast beaches. This former Californian was amazed how much better the beach scene is in the East. Warmer, calmer water, fabulous broad beaches.
Vassar is not rural. It’s on the edge of a small city. Like most colleges it has a Christian Fellowship in addition to other religious organizations on campus. If it’s important to you, I’d email them and ask lots of questions.
@mathmom - You are correct, I guess, in that Vassar is not in the middle of cornfields in Iowa. However, not sure I would categorize Poughkeepsie as much of a city. My mom grew up outside of Poughkeepsie and it definitely had its moment as a port town on the Hudson, with Smith Bros and IBM. But that’s all gone. Really just trying to differentiate between the OP’s other true city schools in places such as New Haven and Providence. As you say, OP should certainly ask lots of questions and visit as many as possible.
I third or fourth the lovely art museum at Vassar - it’s a real gem.
Something fun near Brown, there is a culinary museum at Johnson and Wales that is very different. When we went, it had a great exhibit about diners, the evolution of food on the go, etc. It’s a 15 minute drive or so. There’s also a little antique/vintage shopping area about a 10-15 minute walk to the south of Brown’s campus, if you’re into that sort of thing. You’ll pass through lots of older (19th century?) residential homes on the way. And the John Carter Brown library usually has interesting rare books/manuscripts on display if her art interests trend in that direction.
If possible, do try to have a meal or a snack on campus at the student union wherever you tour. You might have the opportunity for a conversation with a random student (even in summertime) and at a minimum, it’s always good to check out campus food options.
Finally, if you decide to tour the midwest at a later date, you might look at St. Olaf (Lutheran) in MN, as you mentioned your daughter’s faith is important to her. I have no idea how its art program is, but it’s strong in the sciences and has relatively easy access to the twin cities for cultural outings.
@mathmom - actually you don’t have to leave the Tufts campus to take SMFA courses. My daughter took one on campus and loved it…
During the spring 2016 semester, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SFMA) offered over 70 courses. Thirty five of them were taught on the Tufts campus (by SFMA instructors) with the remainder being taught at the SMFA campus (which is downtown next to the Museum of Fine Arts). From what I have heard, the plan is to expand the offerings on both campuses.
There is a regular shuttle bus that runs between the Tufts Medford/Somerville campus the SMFA and the New England Conservatory (NEC).
Here is a list of which SFMA courses that were taught at each campus last semester.
http://www.smfa.edu/files/SP-16-Courses-for-Tufts-Students-v5.pdf
http://publicsafety.tufts.edu/adminsvc/shuttle-services/nec-smfa-shuttle/
Northeastern University also has a relationship with the SMFA.
Is her Christianity denominational? Marist appears to come from a Catholic tradition. As are BC, Holy Cross, Fordham. St.Olaf is Lutheran. Gordon College in Wenham MA is a great school with a Baptist background. Berea in Kentucky is a cool school. Just wondering how important faith and conservative values are to her.
Many of the schools suggested do allow for diversity of opinion, in theory, but in reality might be considered more liberal. This is a gross generalization but artsy environments do tend to be more liberal I think.
That is not to say she should change where she is looking, unless she really needs a truly conservative environment where faith is more central. (And of course faith and conservatism don’t always correlate…)