Colleges in VA

[coopers5]

Hello - I'm interested to hear of anyone's top picks for colleges in VA.

Smaller scale, fewer than 6,000 students, I would say.

 

What about College of William and Mary? Does anyone know if it's hopelessly leaning liberal?

 

ISI seemed to think so.........

 

At any rate, I'm very interested in hearing what some of you know about VA colleges with good liberal arts core.

 

Thanks!

 

Jo

[hsmamainva]

William & Mary is extremely liberal, albeit it's a terrific college.

 

A very good liberal arts school with more of a "traditional feel" would be the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. I believe there are around 4,000 students.

 

Easier to get into than W&M also.

 

Are you only considering public colleges? Randolph-Macon College in Ashland is another good liberal arts college with around 1500 students, but it's pricey!!

[coopers5]

Please share about any and all.

 

Jo

[Gwen in VA]

Our family favors Washington & Lee. Well, with two kids there..... :)

 

W&L is VERY small (~1700 students), pretty rigorous, has strong academics and an amazingly supportive faculty. Additionally, it has a gorgeous location and two strong Christian fellowship groups. It also has huge quantities of merit aid available. (About 10% of the freshman class is there on full-ride scholarships -- and it's a USNWR top-20 LAC!) And the faculty really do care -- I could write a book on the doors that have been opened for my kids by caring faculty members, and they are just entering the sophomore and junior years!

 

Other schools --

 

The folks in our church have mock fights over whether UVA or VaTech is a better school, but both schools have lots of avid supporters.

 

We live down the road from William & Mary. It is definitely quite liberal, though it is quite strong academically. It is considered a "public ivy" (whatever that means).

 

What is your student interested in majoring in? Does he like being in the country or would George Mason, with its proximity to D.C., be better? Interested in sports? Greek life?

 

The one thing I'll say about schools in Virginia is that almost ALL of them seem to have a huge party reputation. But my two kids, both non-party-ers, are having a great experience at a college known for partying......

[dkholland]

Our family favors Washington & Lee. Well, with two kids there..... :)

 

W&L is VERY small (~1700 students), pretty rigorous, has strong academics and an amazingly supportive faculty. Additionally, it has a gorgeous location and two strong Christian fellowship groups. It also has huge quantities of merit aid available. (About 10% of the freshman class is there on full-ride scholarships -- and it's a USNWR top-20 LAC!) And the faculty really do care -- I could write a book on the doors that have been opened for my kids by caring faculty members, and they are just entering the sophomore and junior years!

 

Gwen:

 

My son is interested in W&L, did both your dc do the interview?? We are planning a visit there in August and just wondered if we SHOULD do the interview. My hesitation is that he is graduating a year early. He is very intelligent, but sometimes does not present himself in a self-confident way. He is only 16 and can grow a lot by he time he begins college.

 

As a mom who has kids there...what do you think of a 17 yr. old at that campus? We think it would be a good fit for him. A small school is one of his big requirements.

 

thanks for any tidbits you can throw my way:)

[Alice]

I went to the University of Richmond in Richmond, VA. It's a small liberal arts college, despite the "University" title. I think about 750 a year undergraduate. It has a unique arrangement called a coordinate system so there are actually two colleges, Richmond College for men and Westhampton College for women. All classes are together, however, each college has it's own set of traditions, own student government/honor council, etc. Because of the coordinate system I think I knew all the women in my class...not as friends but knew them by sight. There are double the opportunities for involvment in things like government. It might be different now, but when I was there they actually considered applications separately for men and women as they maintain an even 50/50 split in each class.

 

When I was there (1989-1993) the women's dorms and men's dorms were across the lake from each other. Recently they did move to having women's and men's dorms on each side of the lake and I believe they have only one co-ed dorm (very controversial :)). Most of the students live on campus. The school is in a surburban neighborhood so it's pretty much a campus school, as opposed to being in a city setting.

 

They do have a Greek system but it is less important that at some schools. Fraternities rush in the fall, so are slightly a bigger deal than sororities which don't rush until January. (When you already have friends. I was in a sorority but lived for three years with someone in a different one. Sororities were more like another club than the center of your social life.) Fraternities do have "lodges" for parties but don't live in the houses (unless that has changed in the past 15 years...totally possible.

 

One of the best things about the school in my opinion was the small class size and fact that there are very few graduate students, so classes are taught at all levels by full professors. There is a law school and graduate business school and a few other grad. programs but the undergraduates are the main focus. I was a Chemistry and Biology major and the largest class I had was freshman Bio and Chem at about 60 people. That's a huge difference than some of my friends who went to schools with lectures of 300+ people given by grad students. There are also a LOT of opportunities for things like research and internships. I did research for three years and two summers with one professor in Biochemistry, one of the most important parts of my college career. My roommate was totally different majors (English/Art History and Women's Studies) and she had multiple internships through the years.

 

It's very expensive, but also a very rich school. The campus is beautiful and well-maintained. There was a huge endowment given that stipulated all buildings had to be built in the same style to maintain the feel. That's a small thing but it is really beautiful..as a tour guide every tour I gave had someone comment on that.

 

There are also a lot of scholarships available and some really great honors programs. The school is traditionally Baptist, although there isn't a huge amount of Baptist influence anymore.

 

I have friends who went to Hampden-Sydney and really liked it (one of the last all-men's schools.) I also had a lot of friends who went to William and Mary, which is also a great school. The only reason I didn't go there was both my parents did and my big rebellion was to not go there. (Yes, I was quite the rebel. :)).

[Chris in VA]

Bridgewater is supposed to be good liberal arts--about 10 minutes from JMU (big but also a good school for liberal arts, depending on what you mean!).

Also, don't overlook VCU in Richmond--yes, it's big, but the various programs are small in feel.

[Gwen in VA]

Karen,

 

I would strongly recommend that your son interview when you visit W&L.

 

When we talked with admissions people at different colleges, one of the main concerns seemed to be that my kids had been around and worked with other people. (They HAD, but the "socialization issue" seemed to be the big concern about homeschoolers.)

 

W&L is pretty homeschool-friendly. They have accepted a number of homeschoolers each year for the past several years, and several of them have received GENEROUS merit aid.

 

The admissions peron in charge of homeschoolers went to ???, the well-known private Christian school in Moscow, Idaho, and he knows a lot about homeschooling. If you have any questions, call up the admissions office and ask to talk to him. (I don't know his name -- sorry!)

 

If your son is pretty mature and solid in who he is, I would think that he wouldn't have a problem entering at 17. My kids entered a bit older -- 18.5 and 18.95 -- but dd1 has met several kids who didn't turn 18 until spring of their freshman year.

 

Best wishes!

[coopers5]

Gwen, would that school to which you're referring in Idaho be The Logos School, the classical school?

 

Thanks for all of your great advice and assistance both here and in priv. messaging.

I may be continuing to contact you..........

 

Jo

[Gwen in VA]

Yes -- the Logos School. Thanks!

[readwithem]

Karen,

 

I would strongly recommend that your son interview when you visit W&L.

 

When we talked with admissions people at different colleges, one of the main concerns seemed to be that my kids had been around and worked with other people. (They HAD, but the "socialization issue" seemed to be the big concern about homeschoolers.)

 

W&L is pretty homeschool-friendly. They have accepted a number of homeschoolers each year for the past several years, and several of them have received GENEROUS merit aid.

 

The admissions peron in charge of homeschoolers went to ???, the well-known private Christian school in Moscow, Idaho, and he knows a lot about homeschooling. If you have any questions, call up the admissions office and ask to talk to him. (I don't know his name -- sorry!)

 

If your son is pretty mature and solid in who he is, I would think that he wouldn't have a problem entering at 17. My kids entered a bit older -- 18.5 and 18.95 -- but dd1 has met several kids who didn't turn 18 until spring of their freshman year.

 

Best wishes!

 

Just an update on this - sadly Jacob is leaving (has left?) W&L to go to Law School next year. I emailed (actually commented on the blog) about who would replace him as the homeschool rep, and they responded that they're interviewing for that person. So... it sounds like Jacob's replacement will also be the homeschool rep going forward.

 

Other than that, I would totally agree with Gwen's comments from a parent of a very interested rising senior :) We've visited the campus twice and found everybody to be friendly, approachable, and genuine.

[WTMCassandra]

Hampden-Sydney College is very expensive, but private, awesome, and with a very strong liberal arts tradition. My husband went there. At the time he went, there was a terrific InterVarsity group that was joint with Longwood, so he had Christian support even though it's not a Christian school.

[LBS]

We, in Va., are so lucky to have so many choices....I have a daughter at UMW, and a senior son, looking at Architecture programs, so that limits him to UVA, Tech, and out of state UMd and NCSU....not sure, he may go Engineering route.....hard to make a decision that lasts a long time, when you'd rather just be on the drumline....

My nephew at W&L was waitlisted, but delivered his waitlist confirmation in person and asked for another interview and got in. Loves it. His mom likes that the fewer choices available at a smaller campus compel his choices to be more varied out of neccessity. I thought the interview was mandatory, but having it be even recently mandatory makes me think it would be a good idea. Trust that these are people who look beyond your child's numbers and shyness.

Randolph-Macon, like UMW and UR (and UVA and W&L) has a gorgeous campus and a delightfully refreshing attitude of not accusing every parent of being a helicoptor parent. Every other school my daughter was accepted to, the accepted student weekends' parents'activities were all skits about "how quickly can I turn my son's bedroom into a workroom" ha, ha, ha."Leave your child alone, let him learn" Well, most kids need a family connection, and homeschoolers are probably more connected in many ways, and this attitude really was nice. They give great scholarship, and my daugher's ticket would have been equal to public, if she had gone there. The nicest dorms.

With the greater use of the common ap, even UVA taking it this year, more kids hit the button, spending $30+ a pop, and send their aps to a dozen schools, rather than 3-4.

The private schools are sending bags of info, to my son, every day, so, with money tight, I'm seeing more folk turning to in-state tuition at public schools, and public schools creating more spaces. W&M and UVA may used to have been backups for Ivy Leagues, but are rightly first choices now....Tech is gorgous with fresh air all over the place....JMU is more exciting than ever, more programs and not well-known outside our state, I believe.

Within every school, that some might consider a "B" school, there is a place for "A" students: honors program or honor college. Small classes, special dorm or hall....very nice.

 

I'm no expert, but am in the years where I have studied up and have to be on top of all this stuff and it changes daily. My one, best tip: use collegeboard.com as a base for reference, search, etc. You have to register on it, if your child takes an SAT or SATII, so you might as well use it. Non-biased, just telling facts, and searching within state, region or miles....I hope this is not considered an advertisement. But with all the other "best in....." lists, the bare facts are nice to find.

 

HTH, LBS

[Kathleen in VA]

Bridgewater is supposed to be good liberal arts--about 10 minutes from JMU (big but also a good school for liberal arts, depending on what you mean!).

Also, don't overlook VCU in Richmond--yes, it's big, but the various programs are small in feel.

 

I went to JMU and loved it. It has grown quite a bit since I was there which can be good and bad.

 

Bridgewater is a lovely, small school and, iirc, one of the admissions officers or someone higher up there was homeschooled. They accept parent-created homeschool transcripts.

 

ETA: Jonathan Brush, the director of admissions and marketing at Bridgewater College, was homeschooled and was a speaker at the HEAV convention this past June. He homeschools his own children.

Edited November 11, 2009 by Kathleen in VA

[Chris in VA]

Also wanted to mention Radford U--I didn't reread the thread to see if someone mentioned it yet. They have their Open HOuse this Saturday, if you are interested. It's quite close to VA Tech. Ds is looking at a 5 year program where he'd take 2 years at one and then 3 years at another and get 2 BS degrees--one in Physics and one in Engineering.

[newbie]

I just went to virtual open house for Patrick Henry College, a liberal arts classical Christian college.

 

It looked very good, very nice core curriculum and great faculty and low student/teacher ratio.

 

Also, nice campus.

[Faithr]

Shenandoah Conservatory, part of Shenandoah University is good school if you are interested in music. My 17 yo really wants to go to Berklee School of Music in Boston but if he can't get in there we are looking at Shenandoah Conservatory (in Winchester, private school but not nearly as expensive as places like Peabody in Baltimore). He's also looking at VCU in Richmond.

 

My 10 yo has already announced he's going to George Mason University, LOL! He went to a computer camp there this past summer and he announced the cafeteria there has excellent food! Of course by his standards if the french fries are good, it's all good! He's also been there for lots of shows at their Performing Arts Center, so he thinks it is very cool AND he'll get to live at home too!

[Kathleen in VA]

Of course by his standards if the french fries are good, it's all good!

 

This is very sound logic.:D