Off-Topic Discussion from "Colleges Crossed Off List or Moved Up After Visiting"

Yes! Thank you! Looks doable.

This just pulled Boston college right off the list. I didn’t think it would vary so much school to school.

2 Likes

Home equity and other things.

It’s smart to do for any school of interest. We started with a really long list. Then we learned many had no merit aid. They came right off.

The good news is there are always more affordable or potentially affordable via merit - matches to most any school.

Good luck.

4 Likes

Hey - I don’t know where to ask this -and this seems like a general random comments thread – haha! But Dickinson seems to have vanished from a lot of threads in the past year. Did I miss a big news story or something? It’s still a good solid SLAC right?

1 Like

I hope so. We are waiting for a decision from them. A top pick for us.

1 Like

Have you been to visit? It looks like a great option for my daughter --and trying to decide if we should try to have it make the visit list.

I haven’t heard any recent negative news about Dickinson, and it is indeed a very good LAC.

Dickinson comes up periodically–in fact I recall suggesting it at least a few times recently. But I do think some colleges get mentioned more than others just because there are one or more posters in the community with some particular knowledge, fondness, or other tie to that college. So maybe Dickinson currently is just a little lacking in the “champion” category in this particular community, but that definitely does not mean it is not worth serious consideration if it appears to be a good fit.

5 Likes

Yes, we did and I wrote about it on this topic thread…well, not this one, the one that this one spun off from. The school seemed great and Carlisle is a nice little town (assuming you aren’t looking for an urban environment) and Harrisburg is close if you need a little bit of culture. I like to hike, so anything North of there is state forest, which I like. Very much a heavy preprofessional school…lots of pre-med, pre-law, etc. The trick for us is getting accepted and getting significant aid. I’m hard pressed to pay $80k for a school, when C25 is already accepted at good schools that are under $30k after merit…but if it comes in at $40 or $50k, then we get to think about it a lot harder. (full disclosure, I grew up about 40 minutes from Dickinson so could be biased) Gettysburg and F&M are great, but Dickinson was both mine and my child’s favorite of the 3 for both academics and social (not very fratty, but definately a bit preppy). And they really stress international connections and environmental sustainability…not only in coursework, but in everything they do.

8 Likes

No question about this. I feel like we have visited a lot of great places that never seem talked about here or were only discussed in old threads from a specific time period in the past. For example, I feel like Union College and Allegheny College are way under-represented.

5 Likes

Completely agree! C22 is at Union and absolutely loves it. Is getting a great education and they were generous with merit aid. Allegheny is another hidden gem.

3 Likes

The estimated tuition calculator brought it into range for us (similar to our state school) --that’s one reason it’s high on the list. Yeah -we can’t do 80K a year. From your description, I think it’s a good fit still (if money appears). I think the are need aware --so that will decrease her chances -but I can’t do much about that unfortunately.

Union is another one on our potential list. One of my daughter’s favorite teachers is actually an alum and he loved it there. It looks like another good match in the target range. It’s good to hear they are generous with merit aid.

1 Like

And just to show I am not immune, I am way more likely to throw in a mention of Allegheny than Union just because I am more familiar with Allegheny. But that doesn’t mean I have anything against Union! By all reports it is excellent.

So I try to be careful to say things like these are SOME of the colleges you might consider. I never want to create the impression a suggestion list is exhaustive when I know other people might also have good suggestions, and then still other colleges might get no mentions in that conversation but still could be just as suitable.

4 Likes

There was a generation when Union was included in almost any list that likewise included Hamilton or Colgate. Not sure when the other two began to pull away :thinking:. Blame it on the USNews.

10 Likes

Union is an amazing school and what a beautiful campus!

6 Likes

Union got high marks from everyone in our family. And the kids we know who went there really liked it.

They are pretty thoughtful about what they do and why.

2 Likes

The Way We Were was filmed at Union. Garnet-colored memories: The way it was at Union as iconic movie turns 50

4 Likes

This Life Magazine article from 1960 places Union in a tier between those of Hamilton and Colgate and with that of schools such as Bowdoin, Duke and UPenn: LIFE - Google Books.

4 Likes

We visited Union and Skidmore. My son loved Union but crossed it off because of the town. It was the opposite with Skidmore.

1 Like

I think those will both end up on the likely visit list. What did you son like about Saratoga Springs? ETA: Did he not like Skidmore itself?

Chiming in belatedly to say I was recently at Dickinson a couple of weeks ago, and thought the parts of the campus I saw were very pretty. I would recommend researching it to anyone considering LACs of that type.

4 Likes