Hi - we will be in NYC for a week in early April, and I am thinking of taking day (with an overnight) to visit colleges with my high school junior that are (hopefully) a 2-3 hour drive from the city. We’ll check out NYU while we are in the city.
My son is looking for a school with strong academics, not a heavy party scene, small classes, a residential focus for at least the first few years, study abroad emphasis, internships, and strong majors in political science, econ, or international relations. Left-leaning students would be a big plus, and a conservative religious school would not be a good fit for him. We are really hoping for some merit aid, so we have knocked Vassar, Wesleyan, and Swarthmore off the list (NYU is probably out for that reason as well)
So far, we are leaning toward visiting Muhlenberg and maybe Dickenson. We’ve been to Penn and Ursinus before.
Any suggestions welcome!
Lafayette. Not “crunchy granola” but not red country either. Strongly committed to government studies.
Thanks, @Oregon2016! I just did some reading about Lafayette and it seems like it has a lot of the attributes my son’s looking for! Based on the Fiske Guide, I had thought it was too conservative for him, but seeing that it meets so many of his other preferences means we will add it to the list. Great suggestion!
My daughter is pretty liberal. Not so politically active though very left leaning. She has definitely found her people at Lafayette.
I’d be shocked if NYU has great merit aid . . . but it would be fun to look at. Maybe Wagner on Staten Island?
Connecticut College
Skidmore
Sarah Lawrence
Drew
Trinity College in Hartford
Union College
Hampshire College (5-college consortium)
Manhattanville
Manhattan
Fordham is catholic, but it’s not overly religious
The New School
CUNY schools are residential and if he has a high GPA then he should consider the Macaulay Honors Program, Full tuition/ stipend/ honors classes. Deadline is EARLY for the program because they are competing with Ivy League for top students.
Bard might offer him aid. He has strong stats and he’s a boy, which they need. Try Bard. Neighbor’s daughter is loving it.
Doesn’t look like Bard gives merit aid. Sarah Lawrence gives some - 15% of freshman class. I’m not sure about the majors you mentioned, or the study abroad there, but I’m pretty sure it’s more than a little left leaning.
Dickinson seems like a good match on the study abroad and the majors, but not sure about how left-leaning it is.
The problem is that the schools in the northeast are so expensive to begin with, that you’ll probably still be in the 50’s at Sarah Lawrence and Dickinson, even with merit aid. There could be really big scholarships that I don’t know about though, so I’d check their web sites, if you haven’t already.
@“apathetic panda”, I thought of another one that matches on left leaning, not sure about majors and study abroad - Bennington College. They give lots of merit aid, too. Looks like you can get it down into the 30’s.
As a boy, he might get more merit than others might at Bennington, Sarah Lawrence, Connecticut college. They are girl heavy. Bard also needs boys. … Just check out the stats of boys to girls, and if he has high gpa etc. then he might get lucky. Muhlenberg would prob give him money. It’s a nice school.
Marlboro offers a renaissance scholarship – full tuition. He might love that school!
https://www.marlboro.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/types/renaissance
Thanks for all of the suggestions, @WalknOnEggShells and @Dustyfeathers! Much appreciated.
I looked more at Bard’s website, as well as some threads on CC re: merit aid at Bard. It seems like there could be some focused, limited aid that he might be eligible for. Also, Bard’s Globalization and International Affairs program seems potentially up his alley. A visit might be worth it, since we’ll be in the general area, although he is thinking he would prefer a more urban environment. A visit there will help him get a better sense, perhaps, of how left-leaning of an environment he would enjoy (he’s a pro-Bernie guy living in a pro-Bernie town right now, but he’s also quite motivated to be “successful” in a financially-oriented way and is kind of uptight socially).
Sarah Lawrence might also be worth a visit - I see that they do offer some decent merit aid. I’ll look more at their majors and what study abroad looks like there. He does enjoy being around girls - most of his close friends have always been girls, and a girl-heavy environment would probably be very comfortable for him. Thanks for the suggestion!
Bennington seems too small, although the merit aid is attractive. Too far away for a visit this time, anyway.
Marlboro’s Renaissance program sounds fabulous, but I don’t think he’d be a good candidate. He’s more of a diligent, bright, analytical student than the really independent, creative thinkers it seems Marlboro’s looking for in that program.
We welcome any other ideas! If we could end up in the high $30s/low $40s, we would be very happy. Need-based aid is out.
@tigerman333, if Columbia had merit aid (and if my son was in the running for it), we’d be interested!
Union gives aid. There’s a lot about this school to like. THE way scheduling is done, it’s possible to do internships in Albany. Everyone seemed friendly and down to earth.
It’s close to Bard so easy to pair with that. Bard is also pretty great, but I don’t think they are have the resources to give much merit aid.
I would check out Trinity College (it might be too much of a party school though), Fordham (it is not a conservative religious school), Conn. College, and Gettysburg. The merit money at Gettysburg maxes out at $25k annually. Would that work?
Check out The College of New Jersey. I know it isn’t private like most of the other school’s that you’re considering, but it’s a well reputed school that fits all of your criteria. Out of state tuition is only $25,000 so the cost with room and board will meet you limit without any aid/scholarships. If you look at its alumni list, you’ll see that TCNJ’s PolSci program has produced some of the most successful politicians in the state.
@gardenstategal, thanks for taking the time to post. For my son’s tastes, I’d say Union looks too Greek and not geographically diverse enough (Fiske says 70% of the students are from New York).
Actually, NY and MA together are about 50%, so Fiske is out of date, at best. Most students join frats, I think, but since it’s a D3 school, it’s more of a vehicle for organizing social activities. There are alternatives as well. THIS was a school that was so different from what we expected. Really friendly kids, interesting mix (maybe the engineering/humanities mix). Totally understand how it might not appeal, but figured I would mention it as it doesn’t seem to be on a lot of people’s radar, and they offer good merit aid and have great academics.