Desperately seeking universities to add to DS’ list. We just did several tours to see what type of campus he liked - we’ll deal with academics later lol.
*Modern campus
*Good food
*Strong academics
*Mid-Atlantic region - seeking better weather than New England
*Not a party school
*Suburban location
So far JMU tops the list (quieter campus, the food was good, and he liked the buildings)
No to URich (car culture, brick buildings)
No to Georgetown (city)
No to American (city)
Truly a waste of time for people to spend time suggesting schools w/o some indication of what level is realistic (is JMU a reach / match / safety?) and budget constraints (anything goes / meets need / X COA limit?).
Towson U is suburban, not too big, not too small.
As this is a very broad ISO, here are some lists that might help:
https://www. niche .com/colleges/search/best-college-food/
Colleges With the Best Dining Halls and Student Food Options (the 15 seem to be the top 15 from Newsweek, but it gives additional info on them.
For modern architecture:
Best Universities in America Founded in the Last 50 Years (there were only 7 U.S. schools on the entire list…this article highlights those 7).
I would take a look at Christopher Newport.
You’re right - my apologies! I just added more info to the original post 
Thank you - we’ll look into it!
Great - thank you!
So helpful - thank you!
Delaware? Lots of great honors programs there.
Dickinson? Davidson? (Smaller than the others you’re looking at, but you considered Richmond which is pretty small also.)
You might want to double-check, but I don’t see that an edit has been made to the first post with additional information.
ETA:
Does it have to be mid-Atlantic? Is there anxiety about going too far away? If not, Pomona & Claremont McKenna are worth a serious look.
Back to the East Coast, Emory ticks all your boxes. Davidson, Wake Forest, Duke, UNC and Furman tick the boxes except for the brick buildings!
Emory, Wake, Davidson, Elon, Dickinson, University of Richmond; Uva and Virginia Tech if he liked the larger size of JMU.
Elon would be a safety for him. I’m not sure what you mean by “modern campus”, but people seem to really like the campus. Maybe check out Wake Forest while you’re in the area? More of a target for him.
The architecture (if that’s what you mean by modern campus) is typically the last thing students care about once they are actually at college— and one of the first things they notice when they are visiting, which is why it goes on the list…
Will it matter if the dining hall is a converted 1920’s science lab or a 2000 concrete (i.e. modern) sprawling building? No. The kids care about the food and the ability to meet up with their friends! The look of the libraries? Half of them won’t even be on your kid’s radar- the rare book library, the archive of historical ephemera from the Civil War, the collection of period musical instruments- your kid may never wander into any of these buildings which are sometimes old (but with new climate control systems) and sometimes brand spanking new, depending on which generous alum has endowed the place!
I don’t think Mid-Atlantic has better weather than New England, btw… the CT coastline gets a lot less snow than Maine or Vermont, and has more comfortable Spring/Fall than Maryland/DC/Virginia.
Just something to consider. So colleges like Fairfield, U Rhode Island likely have “better weather” than some of the Virginia/Maryland options!
I’m wondering if “modern campus” means up to date dorms and classroom buildings? My D22 has been complaining about her dorm room, which is not posh.
While American is IN DC, it is a very suburban setting. It isn’t like GW or VCU that way.
Just apply to JMU. Think how easy that would make things. 
High Point university was made for u. Literally. Nicest campus some say. Dorms. Top food. Disneyland of college.
Food can be rated but beauty (campus)is in the eye of the beholder.
Google niche + best college food.
Then niche + best campus. Find the crossover.
Ps JMU is known as a PARTY SCHOOL. And often a nice campus but has a big power plant on site and I-81 cuts through. I liked. Daughter didn’t. So beauty depends on the person.
Good thing not AU or Gtown. Their food is known to be atrocious. I would not define American as city tho. Address yet. Reality no.
Maybe Elon.
Check UAH. Auburn too. A bit south. And CNU as mentioned.
To me the best combo is Va Tech. Nicest campus in America imho and always top 5 food.