Looking at schools in the warmer climates, I came across University of San Diego recently, and thought it might be a possibility. I don’t think any one has mentioned it previously. Does any one have any insight on that one?
It is a Catholic University ranked 89 in USNWR National Universities. Campus is gorgeous, looks like a Spanish monastery, sits on a hill overlooking San Diego. It is slightly isolated but there should be some transport into the city.
I do not have much insight into academics, just been on campus couple of times. It should be a “match” for your daughter. There is a chance that they may offer small “scholarships” to full-pays as T+R+B=$57K, acceptance rate is 46.3% and yield is 17.2%
I don’t think Oxford at Emory fits your bill - while Emory is in Atlanta, Oxford is out in the middle of nowhere Georgia. A better option in the city would be Agnes Scott.
I would also suggest College of Charleston.
There is a shuttle that runs between Oxford and the main emory campus. About a half hour ride.
Oxford is an outlier, perhaps, but looks attractive, nonetheless to DD. As a parent, I like the idea of starting out on a smaller campus and then moving to the bigger school. Will investigate Agnes Scott, and College of Charleston too. Looking at everything mentioned here, and learning a lot. I am loving this thread. CC people are so knowledgeable, and generous with their knowledge.
FWIW, USanDiego is a nice university, but due to their poor financial aid it’s also known as a “rich kids’ school”, where ability to pay may take precedence over academic ability.
It’s 37 miles from Oxford to Emory. 30 minutes seems wildly optimistic given the traffic once you get close to Atlanta. I would count on more like 45-60 minutes depending on the time of day.
Update: Darling Daughter applied to eight schools, and after considering going to TUJ (in Japan) or doing a gap year in Japan, she has changed her mind, and thinks she would like to go to a school here in the U.S. this fall. Her top choices after recent visits are currently: Rollins (1), Loyola New Orleans (2), Willamette (3), and Eckerd (4). She made a list of things she is looking for in colleges and assigned points to each category. They are not very far apart, really, but Rollins came out on top. Also, even without a list, she simply really wants to go there, now that she has visited.
That Rollins is currently her number one is a surprise, as it didn’t seem to be the one on paper, and she has been enamored all along of going to school in New Orleans, but she fell in love with Rollins on visiting. It is the most expensive school of the four, but she did get some merit aid at all of these, which helps some. She really was enamored of the room with the table on tour, the discussion/presentation style of classes, and the neighborhoods program (fairly new). Dorms were the nicest, I think of the four schools. The campus of Rollins is very pretty. The area across the street, with restaurants and shops, also very nice. While she has strong interests in music, theatre and the Japanese language, I think she feels that Rollins is a good place to continue participating in those interests, but also to explore some other things that she hasn’t tried yet.
All of these schools have some wonderful things to offer, so I am happy with her choices.
Any input/light that knowledgeable CC’ers can shed on pros and cons of Rollins? Or not necessarily pro or con – any information/insight would be helpful – it is the school I feel that I know the least about.
Also, thank you for all the suggestions. She is the last of our (five) kids to go through the college admission process, and applied to a completely different set of schools from all of her siblings. No overlap at all. I don’t know that she would have known to apply to what became her top choices without this thread. None of those were on our radar before getting suggestions from this amazingly knowledgable group of CC’ers.
Hi mstee,
Thanks for the update.
Am assuming these are all affordable acceptances. Any significant $$ differences? Rollins is a pretty campus. The shops nearby are high end and my sense is that the students can be a little preppy. FWIW, Eckerd is pretty open to FA reconsiderations if you have an offer you want them to look at from a peer institution. Good luck!
Yes, there is a significant $$ difference. Eckerd is the most affordable, I think. And New Orleans close to the same as Eckerd. They all gave similar merit amounts, but Loyola and Eckerd have a lower sticker price to start with. Rollins definitely had a country club feel. But if that is the only thing wrong with it, I guess I can live with that.
Out of curiosity, is she looking to advance her Japanese language skills or also looking to major/minor in Japanese related areas(Literature, History, Politics, Anthro, Philosophy, Art/Art History, etc)?
Depending on the answer, some schools(including universities)…even ones with strong Japanese/East Asian Studies programs could be added or eliminated.
For instance, when I was applying to colleges, one well-known top 20 LAC I briefly considered before eliminating it from consideration was one which had strong coverage in Art/Art History but practically no coverage in Politics. Conversely, a younger friend ended up choosing that LAC and eliminating my LAC from consideration because it had a much stronger coverage in a sub-field of Asian Art/Art History than my LAC at the time.
Also, how well/quickly did she pick up Japanese and how advanced is her level? Just wondering as some colleges pace their language courses differently.
For instance, one non-heritage college classmate considered advancing from first year Chinese at my LAC straight to 3rd year Chinese over the summer by taking second year Chinese at one of the non-flagship UNC campuses(He was in-state).
He found it was a non-starter as that UNC campus paces their Chinese courses in such a way that 1 year’s worth of their Chinese courses would be the equivalent of one semester at our LAC which means taking the second year summer course there would leave him ill-prepared to pass our LAC’s language placement exam for placement into 3rd year Chinese in time for the fall semester after that summer session.
@mstee My D1 is a freshman at Rollins and very happy. Class sizes are small and taught by professors that truly care about student learning. Office hours are plentiful. D hasn’t had a class in the room with the table yet!
D isn’t preppy and fits in well at the college. Her roommate is a home-body, which made the first couple of months in the dorm a bit rough. She now has a gaggle of friends and one very good friend. I don’t think your D will have a problem finding her tribe at Rollins.
Rollins’ dorms for first year students are good but not great. Typical of other colleges. D1 is looking forward to living with her friends in the on-campus apartments next year. Dave’s Boathouse is a fun spot to hang out on campus on some evenings. The library is also well-attended by my D.
I’ve heard that music and theatre at Rollins is very good. Don’t have any first-hand knowledge, however. It seems several of the foundation classes revolve around theatre.
Research opportunities are plentiful, at least for my science-oriented D.
Lots of opportunities for working in the surrounding community, service-based field trips, and study abroad.
Send me a PM, if you would like more in-depth, specific information.
ETA:
Yes… Rollins does have that effect on students and parents!
older thread, but just searched Rollins…dadof1? tried to pm you but fairly new to this…Rollins in number one for us too!