For what it’s worth, Niche rates it B- although the one comment said Amazing Food.
New food service started this year
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Agreed, D finds Hamilton food to be quite good as well, with a lot of options! Also, considering Hamilton’s 92% freshmen retention rate well above the national average, most freshmen are quite happy there, D included! Of course no one school is going to be right for everyone!
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92% seems more like Hamilton’s six-year graduation rate. This site, for example, has Hamilton’s first-year retention rate at 94%, which places it in a tie for 12th among liberal arts colleges: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges/freshmen-least-most-likely-return.
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Hamilton’s retention rate per their 2022-23 CDS was 95.12%. Posting not to be pedantic but so that people know the CDS has this information in section B22. Note that CDSs do tend to lag, but in this case it’s the most recent public information, short of calling the school and asking.
B22. Retention Rates
For the cohort of all full-time bachelor’s (or equivalent) degree-seeking undergraduate students who entered your
institution as first-year students in Fall 2021 (or the preceding summer term), what percentage was enrolled at your
institution as of the date your institution calculates its official enrollment in Fall 2022. 95.12%
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A query was made on the linked thread for campus visits comparing in-state VA tuition with out-of-state FL costs.
It may not apply in the instance referenced, but out-of-state applicants with grandparents residing in Florida can try for in-state-tuition slots. They are limited in number, however.
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Fascinated by a Virginia resident looking at Florida and Georgia schools with in state options of W&M, JMU, VaTech and UVA. Is out of state tuition less than in state for Virginians?
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Moved reply to off topic thread
I have lived in both Gainesville and Atlanta, and I know both UF and UGA. This is going to sound funny–but it is definitely a comment on the campuses (which I have “visited”). Gainesville is extremely humid–a whole level up from Athens. If your kids like cities, then the relative proximity of Atlanta to Athens is a definite win over Gainesville. I guess Orlando is a nearby “city”–but it doesn’t feel like one!
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But, if your kids like ocean beaches, then…
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No, tuition is not less expensive and he would likely get into UVA at a cheaper initial cost. He feels like any of the instate options he would be around people he grew up with. He wants to start a new phase of life somewhere new. Different strokes sort of thing. UGA gave him instate tuition as part of a scholarship so it would be likely cheaper for us to go there than UVA.
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Good point! I am a beach grinch myself.
My daugther went to an OOS school 2000 miles away from her high school and a boy she went to K with was in her dorm and a girl from K (and girl scouts, basketball, and most of her k-5 activities) was also there and then ended up in the same sorority. IT WAS FINE and sometimes nice to see a familiar face. Plus the other girls thought Will was ‘so cute’ and couldn’t believe my daughter actually KNEW him.
If 50 kids from your son’s hs go to UVA, is he likely to run into any of them on any given day? My brother went to the same college as me, I could see his apartment from my apartment, but I rarely saw him.
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When my kid was at UVA years ago, there were only about 10 kids from his class of over 300 there. And he rarely ran into any of them and none of them were part of his close friend group while in college. Some kids just really do seem to want to get out of state though, despite the reality that you don’t have to interact with those from your old high school life if you don’t want to. And that’s okay too, as long as the other college choices are in the family budget.
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I agree some want to get out of state, but my point was going out of state doesn’t guarantee you won’t know anyone. When my D was a sophomore, another girl from her hs 2000 miles away attended, somewhat because a teacher recommended it because of how much my daughter liked it. You can also have a fresh start at an instate school.
It seems to always work out.
Kids don’t seem to eliminate Harvard, Yale, Stanford or MIT on the possibility that someone from their hs attends.
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He knows logically he won’t have to interact with any of them and likely wouldn’t see them that often. We did a tour at UVA and on the tour was a kid who he used to be on a soccer team with and the tour guide was from the neighboring high school. i think that sealed it.
I went out of state and I feel like I made a good decision. People choose schools for many different reasons. I went 500 miles away from home only to have my freshman roomate date one of the girls I went to high school with. If he has strong feelings one way or another, who am I to tell him those feelings are invalid if the finances work out either way.
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My S feels the same way. He is going to a school where he won’t know anyone, wants to be somewhere that people don’t know him as who he was but who he is. My older S had an incredible experience creating new friends and being who he really is. I went to college with several acquaintances and it was so much easier to just hang with them, and I really regret it. I don’t think he thoughts are at all silly and if it can be accommodated makes sense to allow it.
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I think there is something to be said for going to a different part of the country for college. The US really has very different regional cultures, and experiencing that is also part of the education.
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I couldn’t agree more. It’s a great time to explore a different part of the country. Both my kids have been eager to go somewhere new. Being far from home and all that is familar certainly has its challenges but also many benefits. I went from CA to NC thirty years ago and am very thankful I did.
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I agree. Of course I recognize it can be financially prohibitive. But on the other hand, sometimes it might actually be a great opportunity to experience living in an expensive place at a fraction of the normal cost. It all depends on the circumstances.
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