Episode 99: Schools You Don’t Know #2
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Episode 99: Schools You Don’t Know #2

Date of Publication/发布日期
March 17, 2023
Author/发布者
Todd
Language/语言
English
Files & media
Volume
Volume 3 2022-2023

As we consider Round 2 of this topic from last month, I encourage you to look again at my colleague Iain McClinton’s previous blog (#94) and his reasons for considering these often-overlooked colleges and universities. I won’t repeat what he explained there, except to say that a college that you may have never heard of could be a better fit for your child than a more famous school.

Here are a few more colleges to investigate as you look for a good fit for your student’s interests, abilities, and preferences. I have indicated in a few places where some of my former students have gone.

  1. Davidson College is a highly ranked private liberal arts college located in Davidson, North Carolina, near Charlotte. It's known for its strong academic programs, commitment to community service, and beautiful campus. Three former students of mine are still attending this school (one Korean and two Vietnamese, all male.)
  2. Haverford College is a private liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It's known for its strong academic programs, commitment to social justice, and beautiful campus. One of our BIPH Class of 2023 students chose Haverford as her ED school, and she is the first BASIS student to be accepted.
  3. Lehigh University is a medium-sized private research university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It's known for its strong engineering and business programs (with job placement help) and scenic hillside campus in the Lehigh Valley. One of our BIPH Chinese teachers of English went to Lehigh for a master’s degree.
  4. St. John's College is a private liberal arts college with campuses in Annapolis, Maryland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. It's known for its unique Great Books curriculum, which emphasizes the classics of Western literature and philosophy.
  5. The University of South Florida is a large public research university located in Tampa. It is ranked 42 among public universities in the US, and it is known for its programs in business, health professions, biomedical science, and social sciences, plus its location in a year-round pleasant climate similar to south China. I graduated with a degree in business management from this school in 1983.
  6. Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college located in Oberlin, Ohio. It's known for its strong academic programs, commitment to environmental sustainability, and beautiful campus. One of my former students, a girl from Japan, is scheduled to graduate here soon.
  7. Colby College is a highly ranked private liberal arts college located in the small New England town of Waterville, Maine. It's known for its strong academic programs, especially economics; its commitment to environmental sustainability; and its beautiful campus.
  8. New College of Florida is a very small liberal arts college located in Sarasota on the Gulf of Mexico. It is the public honors college of Florida with an attractive 9 to 1 student teacher ratio. It has an innovative academic program that allows students to design their own course of study and receive narrated evaluations instead of letter grades. Most students major in humanities subjects or a biological or physical science. Sarasota is my hometown. One caveat: the school is currently under new management at the initiative of the state governor to steer the college in a more conservative direction, politically and morally. This change may affect the school’s ranking negatively but still make it a more attractive alternative to Chinese parents compared to schools like Reed or Oberlin College.
  9. The University of Massachusetts-Lowell is a public university near Boston with Business Insider magazine’s highest rating for mid-career earnings even though its US News ranking is not high. Most of the 14,000 students major in business and engineering.
  10. Grinnell College is a private liberal arts and sciences college offering a New England-style education in Iowa. It is known for excellent academics and giving students more voice in the administration of the college. Grinnell’s student body is more than half international and US minority, thanks to generous scholarships and ample student-led student support.
  11. Kenyon College is a highly ranked and selective private liberal arts college located in the rural village of Gambier, Ohio (not too far from the capital city of Columbus.) It is known for its programs in English language, literature, and writing; plus psychology and economics. Two students in the BASIS network applied this year and were accepted.