We’re planning a road trip from PA to TX in January (three weeks+).
Kid is HS sophomore and already interested in touring colleges. I know it’s early, but he seems set on going to law school. High achiever in school, but no real stats yet.
He says he likes small/midsize schools in more urban areas, with a LAC vibe. (Princeton is his dream school, e.g.). But we are extremely budget-focused, and will be chasing merit.
With those factors in mind, what schools would you suggest we visit? We understand schools might not even be open, let alone doing the full tour experience, but since we’re there, might as well drive by at least.
Rice University in Houston
Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas
Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth
Baylor University in Waco (not as urban but over 250k in the metro area)
Small Liberal Arts Colleges:
Austin College in Sherman (north of Dallas)
Southwestern University in Georgetown (outside of Austin)
Trinity University in San Antonio
All of these schools are very solid academically (Rice is in the Top 20 nationally), and most will offer merit to top applicants. However, even with a nice merit package they can still be quite pricey.
Austin College, Southwestern, and Trinity most likely would offer the best merit and financial aid package to a student with outstanding grades and test scores.
With regards to Rice, SMU, TCU, and Baylor, you will have to decide for yourself whether these schools have a “LAC vibe”. Rice is most likely to exude the “vibe”, whereas SMU is most likely not to exude it.
Agree that Rice is probably the closest in Texas to what you describe. I don’t think Rice offers a ton of merit but they have the “Rice Investment” which provides half - full tuition grants to low and middle income families.
Southwestern and Trinity for merit money. My D applied to both, and attended Southwestern on their top scholarship. Both excellent schools. Trinity is just outside downtown San Antonio, Southwestern is in Georgetown, which is a little more small suburban but still less than an hour from Austin. My D had a great experience at SU, studied abroad twice, did and REU at a top university, graduated in three years ( lots of AP and dual enrollment) and landed a great job after graduation, as have her friends. She had friends from other states (we are not from Texas) and also international student friends in her major. It’s a great small school. Trinity is a little bigger, and we had a very favorable impression there too after her visit.
Thanks, all - Trinity was definitely on the list. I’ll add Southwestern and take a look at Austin. I don’t think Rice or SMU are in the budget and the other two probably also.