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I want to go to a relatively conservative liberal arts college or just a university in MD, VA, D.C or even PA. Money is a big factor...not too expensive. I don't know if my credentials are all that, the only "special" thing about me might be that when I came here in the middle of 9th grade, I was being forced to audit 9th grade the following year [repeat it] according to "virginia law" or something...but since I did well in all my classes, the head counsellor consented to letting me get promoted. My gpa is roughly 3.7...i've been taking 3-4 ap ib classes..mediocre extra curriculars..profiles editor for school newspaper, key club, math honors society, president of arabic club..and a few others things...any suggestions? [hows jmu?] I don't know what I'm exactly looking for, I just want to have a great college experience...

By BBB on Monday, September 23, 2002 - 08:45 pm: Edit

Dickinson seems to get a lot of posts here (in PA) - you might check out their forum here in "Individual Schools".

By Betty Grable on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 - 03:19 am: Edit

Check out McDaniel College in Westminster MD. It is a traditonal college, with a great friendly feel, lots of merit aid and not a high price tag. Go Visit.

By Girl on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 - 04:28 pm: Edit

Dickinson is extremely expensive tho...

McDaniel, formerly known as Western Maryland, rite? Does it come under good schools or is it a school that every other person gets into?

By jack12 on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 - 06:54 pm: Edit

Conservative LACs: St. Olaf, DePauw, Washington and Lee, Wabash, and possibly Amherst and Denison, among others.

By jack12 on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 - 06:55 pm: Edit

Colby, too.

By Vamom (Vamom) on Tuesday, September 24, 2002 - 08:11 pm: Edit

Try William & Mary, top tier university at in state price, small and not a party school.

By Geo on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 - 07:34 am: Edit

Get a map, Jack! Most, if not all, of the schools you plugged are outside Girl's geographic area.

By Girl on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 - 03:59 pm: Edit

Isn't William and Mary a major reach for me???

By jack12 on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 - 04:42 pm: Edit

Geo,
Didn't read her message carefully enough to notice her regions of choice. Oops.

By Pwirth (Pwirth) on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 - 06:36 pm: Edit

The kids I know that went or go to W and M were from out of stste and the stats for out of staters seem to be a tad higher then for in staters...the SAT range of hese kids was 1450- 1500..they both had 4.0 unweighted GPA's in basically an honors/ AP Curriculumn...the extracurriculars of both were laden with a lot of community service stuff these kids did regularly for 5 or 6 years a soup kitchen (even at holidays) etc, teaching church school, a few political clubs but they did lot of it over time...none of then had any sports or leadership positions they were both real community and politically active with great grades though.

By anon on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 - 09:34 pm: Edit

Some more conservative colleges in that area that haven't been mentioned yet may include: Gettysburg College (PA), Mary Washington College (VA), Villanova (PA), Georgetown (DC), George Mason University (VA), Grove City College (PA), Washington & Lee (VA), and Sweet Briar College (VA).

I'm not sure if all of these can be classified as truly conservative, but I'm pretty sure all of them are more conservative than the average college.

By Bargain hunter on Wednesday, September 25, 2002 - 10:36 pm: Edit

Girl said money is a big factor. Are those schools any cheaper than other private schools?

By Pwirth (Pwirth) on Thursday, September 26, 2002 - 08:57 am: Edit

Mary Washington is quite reasonable especially for an in state applicant. Gettysburg and Villinova are not cheap and Georgetown would be a reach for sure as well as being very expensive. I am not familiar with the others.

By Girl on Thursday, September 26, 2002 - 04:19 pm: Edit

Thaanx...I am considering Mary Washington...and McDaniel College...any comments on McDaniel?

By Girl on Thursday, September 26, 2002 - 04:20 pm: Edit

W & M is definitely too big a reach. How about UVA?

By Confused on Thursday, September 26, 2002 - 08:09 pm: Edit

I don't understand this thread. People are making suggestions regardless of whether they meet "girl's" wish list requirements or not.

By Vamom (Vamom) on Friday, September 27, 2002 - 12:53 am: Edit

UVA is also a top tier school, actually ranked higher than W & M. We have a brochure from W & M
showing their SAT stats as 1500-1600 12%, 1400-1499 35%, 1300-1399 29%, 1200-1299 16%. Usually at their web sites under admissions you can find their SAT stats, also bookstores have several books on colleges, best buys etc that list cost, stats and a feel for the campus atmosphere.

By Pwirth (Pwirth) on Friday, September 27, 2002 - 09:01 am: Edit

McDaniel is not cheap unless you get a fair amount of aid..my nephew graduated from there and he seemed to like it fine..it is actually a very good college much ignored but with some really good professors.My son does not have it on his list as it is too close to home for him...about 30 minutes away.It is a nice campus as well and they are currently runnning a ton of open houses so you could go there and check on financial aide. It is worth it to apply to a couple private LAC's and see if their financial aid package makes it worth your time..do not discount them.
It seems as though you are leaning on staying more in MD and VA.
I have heard that West Virgina University is actually a pretty good school as is Wheeling Jesuit although both are kind of remote the U of WV is in a town that was voted one of the best college towns n the US.
Instead of looking a book like US News look at a book called "The Fiske Guide" it lists some top colleges and gives info on them and an idea of how they deal with financial aide..it is a much better assessment of college then some of the others out there.There is also a book by the same person called "Getting in to the Right College" even if you do not want to purchase it but have time to go into a Borders and look through them it might help you out in your decision.

By Girl on Friday, September 27, 2002 - 03:49 pm: Edit

Thanks Pwirth. I still don't know. Does anyone have anny comments at all on James Madison University?

By Girl on Friday, September 27, 2002 - 03:54 pm: Edit

Do the LACs that have been mentioned offer good financial aid? Because if they do, I have no problem applying to them...I've heard of them, the money factor just keeps me away from them.

By BBB on Friday, September 27, 2002 - 08:17 pm: Edit

Financial aid can be kind of hard to predict, Girl. If financial aid is important, apply to a few extra schools - you might get an aid surprise somewhere. You might decide to attend there, or use their offer for bargaining with others. Usually, the more competitive you are as an applicant, the better your merit aid offer might be.