We toured Salisbury today and D really liked it a lot. She liked the size and feel. She also liked that there was not a large Greek crowd. The only thing lacking in her opinion was no big time sports (D3 sports) and the surrounding town was underwhelming.
Any suggestions for similar type schools (8,000-15,000 people) with a better surrounding area and improved sports. A few people have mentioned Ohio University, which we are going to look at.
Other suggestions? She is considering something in either education or nursing.
University of Denver is very nice, and has D1 sports (hockey and lacrosse rather than football. It does have Greeks, but they are not overwhelming (and she might finds she likes them). It has education but not nursing.
What’s your budget? Are you in-state for Maryland?
One I thought was pretty cool is Creighton University in Omaha. No football, but basketball team is in the Big East and 19-7 right now. They play the College World Series in the baseball stadium adjacent to campus every year. 8000 undergrads, they have nursing and looks like education. It’s right next to downtown Omaha, which has a very popular downtown bar/restaurant area (Old Market District). It’s a little weird that a highway cuts right between the campus and downtown, but the campus is very nice, and downtown is only about a 12-15-minute walk. Omaha was (for me) a surprisingly vibrant city, and the school has a great reputation in the Midwest. I don’t know much about Greek life there but haven’t seen an indication it’s too big of a thing. I don’t know much about financial aid either.
Two others that come to mind: University of New Hampshire and UNC-Wilmington. Both about 16k students, and I think would have the right programs. They have nursing, and some education programs; you’d have to research them though. I think they are both in nice towns. Obviously, one would be a winter wonderland and the other more of a beachy locale. UNH does have Greek life, not sure of how much of a place it has in the social life of the school. Good luck!
If you’re a MD resident and want big-time sports plus urban/suburban surroundings at state school prices, then the obvious choice is UM-CP. It’s much larger than you specified, but anywhere else is likely to have other trade-offs.
Villanova is in your size range, has D1 sports, a good academic reputation, and a suburban location with fairly easy access to downtown Philadelphia. Admission stats are similar to UMCP’s. 17% of undergraduate men join fraternities (per 2017-18 CDS section F). It’s private (Catholic/Augustinian) and claims to meet only 81% of demonstrated need on average, but run the online NPCs to estimate your own costs.
Check out University of Mary Washington in VA. “Affordable” even for out of state. One of Salisbury’s main athletic rivals - they are in same conference, so no…there is not big time athletics. No football, no Greek Life (there are some service ones). Gorgeous campus. Amtrak in town, great, fun town in Fredericksburg, strong relationship between town and school. 5,000 undergrad. D is currently freshman there, playing two sports, we are out of state. Strong in business, awesome nursing program, education and psych. D was a recruit at both Salisbury and UMW, so she did overnight visits and lots of camps/clinics etc at both. Fredericksburg is a WAY more enjoyable town. Both schools have strengths. So, UMW doesn’t meet all of her checkpoints, but could be an option if she was initially intrigued by Salisbury.
Also, if you go check out Villanova, take a look at St Joes. You can do tours at both in one day. St Joe’s is the “poor man’s Villanova” (it’s a joke…) but has strong athletics other than football. Lovely campus. Before my daughter decided to go D3 to be able to play two sports, she was recruited by St Joes. We spent a lot of time there - great campus vibe, strong sense of community, strength in a lot of areas.
@MYOS1634 She currently has a 3.5 GPA unweighted. Initial SAT was very low (1100) but she has been working with a tutor and recent practice tests have been close to 1200.
Budget is not really an issue as we have saved enough in a 529 to pay for 4 years of private.
UMCP is much tougher to get in though has great sports. Towson is D1 with competitive sports. UMBC does not have football. SU has a great new stadium and more than a dozen lacrosse national championships. Football is OK. Basketball is weak.