@JuliaO My son chose Lafayette and loves it but I’m sure he’d have been happy at any of them. Union and F&M were his runners-up. He’s more a science kid and while he didn’t declare a major in his applications, he was originally thinking Bio or BioChem. He ended up hating his first bio class and intrigued by the engineering program so he switched to ChemE, but there are only a few liberal arts colleges that have Engineering.
I grew up in Appleton, where Lawrence is located. Can give you lots of inside scoop on the area. The college is much loved by the community, and the conservatory is excellent.
St. Olaf seemed very wholesome, and yes, there were a lot of big blonde kids there, but plenty of other nationalities as well. That being said, it just had a very welcoming feeling to it—they seem especially close to each other, and everyone accepts everyone. I have several friends of my own age who went there, who loved it. All are musical. My son did not apply to Lawrence because I’m from Appleton, and while it’s a great school, there were others that were a better fit for him. I also didn’t want my Mom, who still lives there, to expect him to wait on her (which she would.)
Valparaiso University may work. Very chill. Nice diversity and liberal arts. Basketball is king.
My D is a senior and was looking for a similar vibe and had similar stats. We visited a lot of schools and she applied to a lot as we were looking for merit. We are from MA.
Applied:
Catholic U
Gettysburg
Depauw
Ursinus
Wooster
Susquehanna
Ohio Wesleyan
Marist
Hobart
All gave her good merit and some gave great merit. Depauw and Gettysburg are probably her favorites and seem to have a lot of what your son is describing.
Marist also seemed to have really happy kids and a manageable workload.
Others we looked at but she didn’t like:
Muhlenberg- seemed very music/theatre focused and campus felt small
Denison-just didn’t like the vibe/hilly campus
Univ of Scranton- didn’t like the city
Roanoke College- I loved it, she didn’t
Dickinson-felt like there were too many streets running through it
Clark-too close to home and campus was small
American-just not the right vibe
Conn College- just couldn’t get much of a vibe. Didn’t like the surrounding area.
We also debated visiting SLU, Lawrence and St Olaf. SLU we finally decided was just too remote and we ran out of time/energy to visit St Olaf. Lawrence just seemed difficult to get to.
Also applied to Butler, Elon, and Fordham which may be bigger then he wants but have some LAC properties to them.
Seconding the St. Lawrence recommendation. Relaxed vibe, nice kids, small classes and very, very sporty - the sports facilities were pretty amazing for a small school. Downside is it is hard to get to, but the upside of that is easier admission than most schools in its academic league.
Thanks so much for the input and ideas. If only we had enough time to visit all of these schools!
Just some tips on visuals- Anything that required a flight we visited at least 3 schools. I think that’s why we never got to St Olaf or Lawrence, we couldn’t find any other schools close by to visit. For example we visited High Point, Elon & Roanoke on one trip, Catholic, American, and Loyola Maryland on another, and Ohio Wesleyan, Denison, and Wooster on another… We did a PA road trip over the summer and did 6 schools as well as 2 days at Hershey park. Marist was a quick overnight as was Hobart and we also checked out Syracuse on that trip. I also have an S22 so he tagged along on some visits as well. We actually liked summer visits as you get lots of personal attention. Most tours during the school year are on Sat mornings and we found most of the campuses pretty dead as the students were sleeping in. And the tours were typically super crowded.
OP: In my opinion, you have received some great appropriate school suggestions, and some school suggestions that seem inappropriate.
It would help to know which sports your son currently plays & which, if any, he intends to continue at the DIII level.
Also would be helpful to know his prep school & his level of satisfaction & whether he wants to replicate that experience in college.
Without more, he appears to be a St. Lawrence, Hobart, Denison, College of Wooster, Gettysburg, Union College match. But expect a lot of partying at most of these schools. University of Vermont as well.
I am intrigued by your comment about “bright, kind, down to earth people without a climate of stress”.
P.S. It would be helpful to know which Niche reviews are of concern with respect to Franklin & Marshall College.
Also, as a full pay student, he would be a strong candidate for Colorado College–also lots of partying–where students take one course at a time for about 3.5 weeks each. Not sure that I would describe the kids as “down-to-earth” however. Same for Kenyon College. Similiar students to Colorado College. But what constitutes “down to earth” may vary by individual which is why I asked about his current prep boarding school , sports, and whether he wants to replicate that experience.
@JuliaO - Consider UVM, St. Michael’s, and Champlain College. All 3 are very different, but in/near the great college town of Burlington, Vermont. I am St. Mike’s grad and high school teacher with former students who have found the campus to be a supportive, tight-knit community with great opportunities in the classroom and on the playing field. https://www.smcvt.edu/academics/
https://www.smcathletics.com/landing/index