I’m not sure what “too small” would be in your D’s view, but she might take a look at Denison University in Ohio - about 2300 students. Denison meets full need and is generous with merit money. My son is a junior at Denison, and loves it, but I don’t recommend it automatically - I thought of it immediately when you mentioned Communications, Journalism, drama, etc. Denison has a highly-regarded Communications department and has just upgraded its journalism concentration to major/minor. Drama is strong at all levels - my son has been welcomed even though he is not interested in majoring - and they have a good track record with alumni like Hal Holbrook, Steve Carrell, Jennifer Garner and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, who recently funded a phenomenal new arts center on campus. Denison is in the small town of Granville, which is a kind of picture perfect college town - it was founded by a group from New England and looks it, so it feels comfortingly familiar to a Northeasterner. Denison is located about 30 minutes from Columbus, which provides access to big-city resources as well as the airport. Other Ohio schools to look at would include Kenyon and Oberlin. Kenyon is renowned for its writing program and had Paul Newman as an alum. I am less familiar with Oberlin, and I also don’t know as much about financial aid at Kenyon and Oberlin, but others on CC could help with those schools if you decide to consider the Midwest. I grew up in New Jersey and was initially skeptical about sending my son, who’s been raised overseas, to Ohio (or anywhere more than an hour from the ocean), but he has had a wonderful experience and I have become a convert to “Midwest nice.”
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