My son is considering all three. Would just like any pros / cons from anyone that attended, has a child at any of these schools, or were there and transferred out. Just trying to get some feedback on each. We have visited 1 and will be visiting the other 2 this month. Thanks in advance!!
Berry is the clear outlier here - very religious and in rural Rome.
Good luck
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I just have secondhand info. A friendâs D had very high standardized test scores and ended up at Rhodes after not being accepted to Princeton and other elite schools. She is very happy and her mom says that she has been able to take advantage of opportunities that she probably would not have had at those other schools.
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Well, Rhodes is not Princeton. I have no idea what caliber the above mentioned girl was and how she end up in RhodesâŠ
Mine is premed already in BS/DO program there. Same is her friend. Both are 3.9+ students in HS (unweighted). Both with a lot of AP/DE. All my daughterâs friends at Rhodes are smart and capable, but not Princeton level (at least on my booksâŠ)
@Rcm 0136 If you have questions about Rhodes, I can help.
I know nothing about Berry or Southwestern as my DD never considered any of themâŠ
What is interesting that a lot of her friends considered and applied to many similar schools like she did: Gettysburg, Furman, Richmond etc. But I do not recall Berry or Southwestern on anybodyâs list⊠So there is some disconnectâŠ
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You wouldnât see a connection with BerryâŠitâs very very different/religious.
Southwestern - could be - but itâs more regional vs. a national name like Rhodes - and while most 2nd tier (and I donât mean that in a bad way) LACs are regionalâŠsome have more reach than others and Rhodes is certainly in that category.
But thatâs why youâd see little overlap with Southwestern, which Iâm sure will have a heavily weighted Texas student body. In fact, college factual - 3rd party so take with a grain of salt - but shows it at 91% - and that was my expectation before looking.
So you have a rural, very religious college in Berry.
A traditional, well known LAC on the outskirts of Memphis (in Memphis, but not downtown) and a regional, highly local LAC a half hour North of Austin.
Three very different schools.
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Iâve been to all three.
Berry is very rural and felt more like a local college to me. I remember the admissions counselor asking where everyone went to high school and they were all Georgia schools except for us. It is a very pretty campus but the âcastleâ area that they use in all of their promos is not the main part of campus and the main buildings were a little run down. I did not feel like it was overly religious but we stopped investigating it after our tour.
Southwestern was lovely. Everyone was very kind, we were the only tour on a stifling June day and the receptionist had made cookies and a little welcome sign for my daughter. Georgetown is the cutest town. They gave my daughter a huge 30K merit scholarship but ultimately she thought it was too small.
Rhodes is an excellent, beautiful school, in a dangerous part of Memphis that made me uncomfortable. I loved nearly everything about the school but could not send my daughter there.
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I do not know what is wrong with me, but to me, safety at Rhodes is not an issue. It was an issue for my close friend who did not send her daughter there.
DD is absolutely fine with safety. She usually leaves campus only with friends. She rides Uber a lot for Federal Work Study (school pays for itâŠ)
I have seen many unsafe areas (in Baltimore, NY and Atlanta). Memphis just does not scream that much trouble to me as Baltimore⊠I cannot stand area around Hopkins⊠I also felt very unsafe around YaleâŠMy older one is in midtown Atlanta at GaTech (open campus) with some crime in the area too. I sleep fine 
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We use Life360 and I can see that my DDs are in dorms 
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It seems like many kids are having a great experience. Iâd encourage the OP to visit and talk to students and see what they think!
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Where does he want to live when he leaves school? If Texas is a key endgame, Southwestern would really shine to me because Georgetown TX is much safer than Memphis and Southwestern is well regarded there and mostly known only there (btw Rhodes is at least as well regarded in Texas if not more from what my professional friends there tell me). A good friend of mine went to Southwestern and he has been very successful; he loved his experience and the academics and attention. If your S wants to be in the South more generally or elsewhere nationally, Rhodes has an excellent academic reputation across the South and nationally has become a back-up for some of the top tier LAC crowd (especially for the pre-med and pre-law crowds because it is respected by the professional schools; see eg Amy Cohen Barrett, who then went on to Notre Dame Law); we met the relatively new President while visiting and she is fantastic. I was not bothered by Memphis (but I lived seven years in New Haven) and I (alone) still second guess whether S should have considered it more; but Memphis killed the deal for my wife and S (and I didnât want to hear about it for the rest of my life) for a school that we otherwise all loved and thought would be a great fit academically and socially/sports and where S was a top recruited athlete. Comparing Memphis to Baltimore and New Haven is not particularly persuasive, objectively, and Memphisâ stats and recent events are probably worse than those two cities. Berry is just a whole different ballgame as described by others already; no comparison.
For the reasons stated, I would go with Rhodes, unless your S is set on living in Texas forever, in which case I think Southwestern is a strong contender. I left Rhodes thinking I would love to go there myself, even if I had to be mindful of the public safety issues in the city; this is not something that happened elsewhere for me in the second tier LAC universe on which we were focusing.
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I canât say anything about Berry or Southwestern but can speak to Rhodes. As a graduate of Rhodes, myself, I can speak for their strong academics. I turned down some other excellent schools to go there and my guidance counselor thought I was insane (got into UNC-Chapel Hill as an out of state student and EVERYONE thought I should go there). I loved the small size, the fact all classes were taught by professors and not TAs and that the largest class I took was capped at 55 students (the smallest class I took had 4 students). I tell everyone that asks âWhy Rhodes?â that the professors there taught me how to think, how to write, and how to express myself. I got a highly sought after internship with the State Department, got accepted into excellent graduate schools and it really was a great foundation for myself and for my classmates. I even had a paper published in an academic journal as an undergraduate. It is known for its pre-law and pre-med but its other departments are just as strong. Rhodes is not in the safest part of the city, but I think the campus itself is safe. I never walked the streets around campus by myself and would not recommend that be done today either. My daughter just was accepted to Rhodes and I would have no hesitation letting her attend if she ends up feeling it is the best choice for her.
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Thank you. My son is also being recruited for a sport. We looked at a lot of LACâs that are very similar to each other in the Northeast after which he decided he wanted to live and play in warm weather. These 3 schools were chosen for academics / major / interest in him for athletics, but also because they ARE different from each other. Through official visits he can figure out which he feels is the best fit for him. Thanks for the feedback!
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Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate it!
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Yes this is a must !! Since they are all different, I hope one stands out.
If heâs not religious, he wonât like Berry.
Itâs been attended by my kids schoolmates and co workers I have. Very religious.
Good luck. Let us know how your visits go.
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If a recruited athlete, I would weight very very heavily the fit with the coaches and team members. Those interactions are going to shape if not dominate his entire college experience. I recommend your S and you spend a couple of days with them if you can.
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The area immediately surrounding Rhodes College should be investigated/researched as should on-campus crime reports.
To the best of my recollection,all 3 schools offer merit aid to prospective students. Berry College is beautiful, as is Rhodes, and Berry College sits on the largest campus (by acres) in the nation. Berry is a regional school whereas Rhodes attracts a more national student body.
This very recent study (released 4 days ago) found Memphis to be the most dangerous city in the US:
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Agreed. That is what the official visits are for, to spend a couple days with the team and coaches.
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