ISO good fit: small-ish LAC, *super strong* French program, East Coast-ish [homeschool 4.0 GPA, want significantly less than $30k]

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We are on the hunt for colleges and I’d love some recommendations on schools that may be a good fit for our son. He is a 17 year old homeschooled junior. We live in southern Virginia, and would prefer schools that are not too far away (6 hour drive?). He’ll take the SAT in May, so that will help us formulate a vision for what types of schools may be reach/fit/safety, but in general we’re looking for smaller-sized (we think?) liberal arts schools that have really strong French programs. A few relevant details:

*He’s always been homeschooled, but most of his classes are taken through online providers. He has made straight As so far; he may end up with a B in Algebra 2 this year, but we’re hoping not! So right now hovering around a 4.0 unweighted and hoping we’ll stay there.

*He is fluent in French and highly proficient in Spanish. This year he’s taking AP French and he has completed Spanish 4. (We’re figuring out next year, since he’ll have maxed out of the opportunities at the schools we use online…) When he speaks with native speakers, they are stunned at his speaking abilities. This is his area of giftedness for sure (he was an autodidact around age 10). It’s The Thing that makes him stand out the most. He has also dabbled in Mandarin and Russian, but French is his first love. He wants to major in French and probably something else–not sure what yet? Philosophy, politics, environmental studies are all interesting to him.

*He has extensive theatre background, having acted in many shows and is currently assistant director in a show–all community theatre. This is a “fun” thing, not a career path for him from his perspective, but has been a big source of time/commitment/leadership over the past 5 years.

*He has a light ADHD (inattentive) diagnosis and is very high functioning ASD (to the point where people don’t know it if they meet him). He has only recently been diagnosed and I doubt he will need extra supports/accommodations, but it’s something we’re keeping in mind.

*Coming from a high school class of 1 :), I think a smaller school may be a better fit for him, so he doesn’t fall between the cracks. This may be an unfounded fear, but it’s one I’m keeping in mind.

*Like most people, the more aid he gets, the better. In terms of actual affordability, most NPCs are churning out #s in the $30k-$50K range, which is higher than we’d like to spend. (Dickinson was $50K!! And it’s one we’re most interested in!) Merit scholarships would be helpful.

*He is smart, quirky, uninterested in athletics or Greek life. In terms of college “vibe” I don’t know that a super competitive environment would be healthy; he is really smart, but isn’t a major gunner. He needs to be around other smart, thoughtful humans, but not in a toxically competitive environment. I went to W&M and we all loved bragging about how stressed we were (even though honestly I was never that stressed); I think he’s find this tedious. Because it is! Perhaps things have changed in 25 years. But in general, I want him to have a challenging college experience, but one that allows lots of room for making friends & enjoying his life.

Thank you for any steering/wisdom you can provide!

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Maybe take a look at Middlebury. It’s probably a little farther than is ideal, but it is a liberal arts school with a strong language program. Unfortunately, many smaller schools have cut back on their French programs. Back when dinosaurs walked the earth I was a French major (doubled with History) - if your son is already fluent, what is he hoping to focus on - literature, history or something else? Career goals? I had originally thought of going into the foreign service but ended up in market research where I didn’t use my major (although I don’t regret it just wanted to point that out). You might explore schools in French speaking Canada or think about having him study in France if that would be of interest.

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Was also thinking Middlebury as the LAC with the best reputation for foreign language, as well as W&M.

One note about W&M, stress, and the last 25 years is that the administration recognized, several years ago, the value of reinforcing to students that they shouldn’t spread themselves too thin, with a key refrain being “depth over breadth”. They’ve also tripled down on health and wellness support. I can’t speak to their French department, though!

You might peruse the schools on the right-hand side of this page, which shows undergrad programs who sent students on to foreign language Ph.D.s (not that that needs to be his destination; just as a proxy for “strong undergrad programs”). Of particular interest to you and your desire to find something close-ish, possibly Davidson? (Not sure about NPC, though.)

In your quest, you’ll get a lot of input about finding “likelies”. (Since you’re already looking up NPCs, this probably isn’t new to you.) From looking around ourselves for our two '25 students, St. Olaf has come up as a very appealing school. It’s not as close to you as you want, and the cold would be something to reckon with, but I just wanted to plant the seed as you’re building out your list.

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Does he know what he’d ultimately like to do? Juanita sounds like a fit for him in every other way, but they only have French as a “secondary focus”. They do “areas of study” rather than majors. I’d definitely take a look and talk to an AO to see what studying French there can look like.

My BFF went to Juniata and is now a French teacher. She loved the program there and is still in touch with her old professors.

St. Olaf also sounds like a fit for everything but geography.

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This site may help you find colleges with notably strong French programs:

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Middlebury was my first thought too…but I don’t think they give merit aid. And it’s a much longer than 6 hour drive from southern VA.

So, you need to check their net price calculator for an estimate of your net cost… The NPCs are currently set for students starting college in fall 2025, and that is not your son.

Are there no public universities in VA which might work?

I just skimmed the list provided by @merc81 and the vast majority of those colleges do not give merit aid at all. The CA publics don’t give aid to OOS students.

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Before we can suggest uber competitive schools like Middlebury, what does his course rigor look like? Sounds like he has foreign language covered, but will he have 4 years of courses in each of the other core areas (English, soc studies, science, math?) What math will he have senior year?

If $30k-$50k is higher than you want, what is a comfortable budget?

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Two schools going south rather than north :slight_smile: but may get you to under 50K with merit. Furman and Sewanee.

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Check the NPC for Vassar. A lot of things you mentioned about your son seemed like they would fit well there and acceptance rates are higher for males. They may not provide enough financial aid but it’s worth checking.

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Sewanee has been cutting language programs, and I would be worried there would be further losses.

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This site might be helpful as you research as you can see the total number of first AND second majors at the college for this particular year, whereas a source like College Navigator (the feds’ website) only lists the number of first majors in a subject, which will often eliminate a lot of people who did a double major: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/jonboeckenstedt/viz/BachelorsDegreesAwardedin2022/Dashboard1

That is the primary resource I used in terms of developing a list of smaller colleges for a student interested in French.

Although William & Mary students had a lot of pride in their stress levels when you were in college, I would definitely have him visit and talk to people and see if that is still the vibe today. That’s not how I’ve heard people talk about it who have had students there more recently, but it’s obviously a very subjective interpretation.

Here are some schools he may want to check out:

  • Centre College (KY): About 1400 undergrads with well-rounded liberal arts offerings and a member of the Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL) association, a group of smaller colleges that focus on undergrad teaching Centre College – Colleges That Change Lives. They give generous merit and @sbinaz’s family visited last year and had a very positive experience there, I believe.

  • Oberlin (OH): About 3k undergrads with lots of very strong programming. Recently joined CTCL, Oberlin College – Colleges That Change Lives. They give merit aid, but I don’t know whether they give out as much as you may want.

  • Roanoke (VA): About 1800 undergrads

  • Susquehanna (PA ): About 2200 undergrads and a lot of people have mentioned how much they’ve liked this school. @MaineLonghorn had a kid attend, I believe.

  • U. of Mount Union (OH): About 1900 undergrads

Wofford (SC) with about 1900 undergrads and U. of the South (TN) with about 1600 undergrads could both be possibilities, but both might be Greeker than he prefers (with Wofford at around 50% and U. of the South at 68%). But different schools have different Greek cultures, and some schools (like Washington & Lee) have such high percentages of students that go Greek that the culture is quite unlike what many people consider as “stereotypical” Greek life. Thus, they might at least be worth investigating.

If the geographic radius expands (or if you could even give additional insight like closer to Norfolk, or Danville, or Abingdon, as that’s about a 6hr difference East to West), additional options could open up. There are some midwestern schools that seem as though they could be a really nice fit if he’d be open to a place like Minnesota.

I included the CTCL profiles, where available, because they tend to provide a different look at a school. It’s marketing material, but I think still does a credible job of expressing a school’s ethos.

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Seems like a first screen for academic fit would be to check how many and what kind of advanced level French courses are offered at each school.

However, needing a net price significantly less than the $30-50k that net price calculators tend to show can be challenging. To find merit, aim for schools that are both less selective and which offer large enough merit.

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That’s a great point, @AustenNut, about College Navigator only showing first majors. That’s useful nuance.

In case it’s helpful, though, @pehp, I’ll just paste it here so you can play with the various inputs. Here’s a pre-filled query showing schools with fewer than 7,000 students, with a French Language and Literature major that are relatively close to you, where the 25th percentile SAT is 1240, and with an admit rate over 10%. The results:

School Location
Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Bucknell University Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio
Davidson College Davidson, North Carolina
Denison University Granville, Ohio
Franklin and Marshall College Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Haverford College Haverford, Pennsylvania
Kenyon College Gambier, Ohio
Lafayette College Easton, Pennsylvania
Lehigh University Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Oberlin College Oberlin, Ohio
Rhodes College Memphis, Tennessee
University of Richmond University of Richmond, Virginia
Washington and Lee University Lexington, Virginia
William and Mary Williamsburg, Virginia

Playing with the SAT scores, admit rates, states, etc. could be helpful to change/refine the search results.

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These are all so helpful! I will respond more soon—but a few more details:

-course rigor has been reasonable but nothing super outstanding. He’s got 4 years of Spanish under his belt and has gone through AP French. He’ll have AP statistics next year for his 4th math. He’ll have 3 lab sciences & may take an environmental science class next year which would be 4–but not sure about that yet. He’ll have 4 social studies & should have 3-4 English, depending on how we structure next year. He has also created & is undertaking his own in-depth course on climate policy, which is super cool, but not rigorous in the traditional sense of the word. Next year he’ll have AP Art History also. So I think it’s pretty average in terms of rigor.

-We are in the Roanoke Valley! So we have already looked at Roanoke (he’s not interested ) and W&L, which is where I went to law school (he liked it a LOT but I don’t know if the Greek culture is too much….).

-It’s good to hear this about W&M! I loved my time there, but I also didn’t internalize the anxiety too much (just some….;))

-what does he want to do with the French? We’re not sure. He loves literature, but I think he’s leaning in the direction of international work. I could see him working for the state dept or an NGO. He’s very interested in climate policy, in cultures, and philosophy. He does not want to teach. Although he’s 17. Anything could change :wink:

-We have looked at Middlebury! Two strikes against it: the 12-hour drive (he doesn’t fly domestically; see “climate policy”, sigh) and from what I can tell it seems really selective, so likely a reach.

-My husband and I have a long-standing joke that we never have a budget for anything; my budget is always “as little as possible for still getting what I want.” Nebulous. I am thrifty. :slight_smile: Ideally I think a comfortable amount with our current resources and income would be $25k/year. However, I also have the ability to bring in more income by working more hours, and suspect that’s what we’ll ultimately do. (Long story but I prefer not to work full time until our younger child, who is now in 8th grade, is in college.) If I take on more hours, $50k would not be unreasonable, but it’s not preferable given the work-life balance we want to maintain in this season of life. We are in good shape financially, it’s really more a matter of trying to be good stewards (&, what can I say, I’m thrifty.)

-Sewanee is GORGEOUS!!! But I suspect maybe too preppy and too remote for this boy?

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UVA and W&M are definitely on the list & I think will check the boxes for French very well. We may check out Mary Washington, but I’ve not investigated their French program.

UVA and W&M are right around $35k for us.

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Would a location that’s accessible via Amtrak expand his geographic parameters? There’s a train station in Roanoke, though it might need a connection in Richmond or something for some of the lines that go in a more midwesterly or southwesterly direction.

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This might be more useful:

with a snip:

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Since he has Alg II this year, I would highly encourage him to take precalc this summer or next year. Precalc is more important for relatively selective college admissions than AP stats, if you have to choose one. Can he do both?

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This could require flying both domestically and internationally. Does he understand that?

What about American University?

What about James Madison?

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I used the train routes to expand the geographic boundaries a bit.

  • Butler (IN): About 4500 undergrads, so this is more of a mid-sized option. About 40% of students participate in Greek life, but 60% of 4500 means that more kids don’t participate in Greek life than attend some of the smaller colleges mentioned altogether. It’s less than 6 miles from the Indianapolis Amtrak station (which is a direct stop on the train from Clifton Forge).

  • Connecticut College: About 2k undergrads and it seems like the vibe might be a good fit for your son. New London has an Amtrak stop, though I don’t know if your son would need to transfer lines in NY or similar, or if there’s a train that goes direct from Virginia.

  • DePauw (IN): About 1800 undergrads at this school that recently joined CTCL as well: DePauw University – Colleges That Change Lives. It’s another school with a high percentage of Greek participation, with about 62% of the student body, so definitely would need to investigate the culture of Greek life here. Less than an hour from the Indianapolis Amtrak station, and there may be shuttles available at times of school breaks (or at least from the IND airport which is 19m from the train station, so a less expensive ride). For a direct train, he would need to get on at Clifton Forge.

  • Lake Forest: About 1800 undergrads in a suburb of Chicago that can access the city via public transportation. I believe that if you go to Clifton Forge (1hr from Roanoke) he can then get a direct train to Chicago.

  • Lafayette (PA ): About 2800 undergrads a 6-hr drive from Roanoke. If the NPC doesn’t come back as affordable, I don’t think your son would receive sufficient merit aid to bring this within budget. I’ve heard it’s much less Greek than it used to be and that it’s a comfortable environment for a range of people. I believe @happy1’s D attended here, so may be able to provide additional insight, if you’re interested.

  • Shippensburg (PA ): Virginia has amazing public options, but if he’s wanting to go out-of-state, the sticker price is a little under $30k for out-of-state students. There are about 4400 undergrads here and it’s 3h48m from Roanoke.

  • Xavier (OH): About 4700 undergrads attend this Jesuit college, so it’s more of a mid-sized option than a small school, but I suspect that there aren’t many students who fall through the cracks here. It’s in Cincinnati, so there is city-life available, and it’s also a stop on the train from Clifton Forge.

If he’s willing to go out to Minnesota (I don’t know whether the train from Clifton Forge comes all the way out here or if he would need to transfer trains in Chicago), two other schools with strong foreign language programs that seem to hit a lot of what he wants would be:

  • Gustavus Adolphus (MN): About 2k undergrads, 1h19m from the Minneapolis-St. Paul train depot. (The depot is about a 12m drive from the airport, so again, shuttles may be available when it’s around break time.)

  • St. Olaf (MN): About 3100 undergrads, 44m from the train depot. St. Olaf College – Colleges That Change Lives

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He should plan to have four years of English.

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