I assume that’s a typo? Dickinson is about 3 hours from Pittsburg. In any event, Harrisburg (state capital) is only 30 minutes away, and while not a bustling metropolis like NYC, it’s still urban-esque.
eh…I am a Dickenson fan, but imo the environment is small town, not urban-esque! Not even urban-adjacent 
Right, my bad, with typo on distance to Pittsburgh. I’m from Philly, and now drive east from the midwest to visit family – I never appreciated how wide a state PA is until I had to drive 6 hours across it.
Pittsburgh.
But yes 3 hours.
Not my day . . . .
Worcester IS different! Even in the past three years. Dontcha know, it’s the “new Brooklyn”? Seriously, though, it’s one of the new “it” cities with quirky cafes and an influx of young people attracted to its urban vibe and affordable housing.
Also look at the Residential College a the University of Michigan. Small LAC within the university. Guaranteed housing in East Quad, one of the best dorms on campus, for two years. Ann Arbor is an amazing small city.
Clark. And yes, Worcester is much better than it used to be. There is a direct train to Boston too, I believe.
Skidmore for a quirky kid too.
QU is about 15 min from New Haven… and serviced by shuttle buses. They also shuttle to the train station, which gets you into NYC in an hour and half. Having said that I don’t think QU (or Marist, which was offered up) are full of quirky intellectuals. No offense, my S is headed to QU in the fall, lol. I didn’t get that vibe from our visit to UVM either.
I would third the URochester recommendation.
Huh that’s interesting about Quinnipiac. When I lived in New Haven, I biked to QU often because there’s a park nearby–Sleeping Giant. So in reverse it felt close enough. Also on Unigo I noticed that the Q students do go to New Haven for fun. So I guess it depends on your perspective. As for whether a schools too professional or just right, that’s good information you provide but it’s really up to the student in question to make the appropriate decision.
For example, another child of mine looked at Skidmore and found it decidedly too professional (business program) and not that arty and was put off by the “baby” feel of how they purported to help students get to class in the morning. But for many other families Skidmore is quirky, arty, and a new hot school. This child had just graduated from an arts high school (or was about to) and felt that Skidmore (and Bard for that matter) didn’t fit the bill. And this child said that if a student can’t get out of bed for classes then she didn’t want to attend that school. You never know how an individual family will react to a college.
Hiked Sleeping Giant many times- gorgeous place, incredible views, 4 season park! But Q is not in downtown NH, nor on the “outskirts” of the Yale campus, which I know many people believe when they read the online reviews of the place. Brandeis isn’t in downtown Boston, URI is not in Providence, I think it’s important especially during Covid when kids can’t visit to give accurate geographical information. People think that University of New Haven is next to the New Haven train station or that Bentley is near Copley Square.
There are people who believe that their kid is going to do an internship in lower Manhattan a few times a week from Trinity or U Hartford. I explain to them what the public transportation options are and their response is “he’ll take an Uber”. I know dozens of kids who have attended these schools- and if they get into Manhattan more than once a semester, it’s because Mom and Dad are in from California and have tickets to Broadway!
Wagner College on Staten Island. Nice LAC feel. Manhattan skyline is breathtaking.
I’m going to ignore this and recommend UNC Asheville anyway. As one of the relatively few public liberal arts colleges, it’s a bit bigger than the average LAC (3600 students) with a good mix of student interests, and both the school and Asheville itself are delightfully artsy and quirky. The academics are tougher than UNCA’s admissions stats suggest, and the core curriculum is very rigorous.
The New College of Florida is well worth a look as well. All admitted out-of-state students receive a minimum $15K scholarship, which knocks the cost down to about $25,000 per year.