Oglethorpe – small liberal arts college with big city connection

“Education should help students make both a living and a life.” This is the guiding principle of Oglethorpe University, which was founded in 1835 and named for the founder of the state of Georgia, James Edward Oglethorpe. 

Oglethorpe’s 118-acre campus is located in Brookhaven, a popular inner suburb of Atlanta. If you think you may have seen parts of this picturesque campus with its Gothic architecture before, you probably have – Oglethorpe has been the backdrop for several movies and TV shows. Students will enjoy walking (or going for a run) through its beautiful, wooded terrain. 

Here are a few quick facts about Oglethorpe:

Acceptance: 86%

Freshman retention: 77%

Freshmen out of state: 13%

Most popular majors: business administration, psychology, communications, biology

4-year graduation rate: 39%; 6-year: 50%

Student Community Diversity: 26.5% Black, 12% Latino, 9% International

 

Housing: Fifty-nine percent of all Oglethorpe students live on campus in one of seven residence halls. Most rooms are large suites with private bathrooms, but some singles are available. Many students live in Atlanta and commute to campus. The dining hall offers a variety of standard options like pizza, burgers, sandwiches and a salad bar, as well as Mongolian grill and some vegan options. 

 

Academics: All students take the interdisciplinary Core Curriculum program – all classes are sequenced and taken at a specific point in a student’s college career. This program provides a model for integrating information and acquiring knowledge. Students must take several liberal arts and sciences courses that help further develop students’ ability to reason, read and speak effectively. Classes are rigorous and generally small in size – 55% of classes at Oglethorpe have fewer than 20 students. 

Engineering students can take advantage of dual-degree programs with Auburn, Georgia Tech and several others. Oglethorpe’s Compass advising program guides students through all aspects of their first year. A_LAB (Atlanta Laboratory for Learning) coordinates many opportunities for students, including internships, research, service and study abroad programs. Ten percent of Oglethorpe students sign up for one of a variety of study abroad programs. 

 

Similar colleges to consider: Berry, Agnes Scott, Birmingham-Southern, Emory

 

Social: Some weekends students stay on campus and other weekends the campus is pretty much deserted. When students are on campus, there is a strong Greek life scene, with 41% of men and 59% of women pledging, respectively. 

Oglethorpe Day is one of the most popular on-campus events, where the college celebrates its origins with activities such as a tug-of-war between students and faculty. There is a strong nightlife scene with plenty of bars, clubs and cafes within 10 minutes of campus, and many students also frequent the other nearby college campuses to socialize. And of course, Atlanta offers plenty to do with arts, professional sports, and entertainment, including Six Flags theme park. 

Popular road trips include going to Savannah for St. Patrick’s Day and New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Florida is another popular destination any time of year. For the outdoorsy student, activities include hiking at nearby Stone Mountain and boating and swimming at Lake Lanier.

Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels compete in Division III sports. The men’s golf team makes frequent NCAA Tournament appearances, and men’s soccer and women’s basketball are recent Southern Athletic Association champions. Basketball games versus nearby rival Emory are among the most popular. 

 

Financial: Oglethorpe has strong socioeconomic diversity with 43% of students receiving a Pell Grant. Every admitted student who completes the FAFSA receives a $1,000 grant, regardless of financial need. 

Oglethorpe offers both need-based and non need-based merit aid. The average percent of need met is 80%, with 21% being fully met. Although the tuition and fees are $62,600, the average financial aid package is $38,800. 90% of students receive some type of financial aid.

University of Dallas – The best Roman Catholic university south of D.C.

University of Dallas is described as the best Roman Catholic university south of Washington, D.C., and while 80% of the student body is Catholic, you don’t have to be Catholic to attend. Located on 744-acres about 15 minutes from downtown Dallas, UD remains dedicated to its classic liberal arts education, focused on Western philosophy and tradition. 

 

Here are a few quick facts about UDallas:

Acceptance: 54%

Freshman retention: 81%

Freshmen out of state: 40%

Most popular majors: biology, business, English, history, psychology

4-year Graduation rate: 62%, 6-year: 69%

Student Community Diversity: 2% Black, 24% Latino, 3% International

 

Housing: University of Dallas has a small, safe campus. Eighty-five percent of freshmen and about fifty percent of all students live on campus. Students under the age of 21 who don’t live at home with parents must live on campus in single-sex dorms with strict visitation regulations. 

The sole dining hall is spacious and has great views, but most students agree that the food is too expensive for the quality. The Rathskellar offers fast food and snacks that are more popular with the student body. 

 

Academics: The foundation of academics at University of Dallas is the 4-semester Western civilization Core curriculum, which includes courses in philosophy, English, math, fine arts, science, American civilization, Western civilization, politics, economics, foreign language, and two theology courses. Seniors must complete a thesis or project, comprehensive exam, and/or senior seminar, depending on their major. Eighty percent of undergraduates complete a semester in Rome, usually during sophomore year, including rigorous coursework, as well as trips to northern Italy and Greece and time for personal travel. 

When it comes to majors, UD offers 25 majors and 33 concentrations. For students studying business, there are plenty of internship opportunities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. University of Dallas also offers combined degrees, like the 3-2 dual-degree program in nursing and electrical engineering and 4 + 1 bachelor/master’s programs in a variety of fields. 

UD does not use any teaching assistants and more than half of all classes enroll fewer than 20 students, so undergraduates get the opportunity to really get to know their professors and vice versa. 

 

Similar colleges to consider: Baylor, Trinity University, Austin College, Rhodes

 

Social: University of Dallas does not have any fraternities or sororities, so the Campus Activities Board sponsors most of the on-campus entertainment, including free movies, dances and visiting speakers. In the fall, the junior class organizes fundraising events for the annual Charity Week. The most popular event on campus is Groundhog, which features a week of events celebrating Groundhog Day and culminates in a huge on-campus party at Groundhog Park. For students who want to venture off campus, Dallas offers endless opportunities, and San Antonio and Austin are also not far away. 

While football doesn’t draw as much attention as in other Texas schools, Crusaders baseball and men’s and women’s basketball and soccer teams are pretty competitive in Division III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. UD also offers intramural sports, and about a quarter of students participate. 

 

Financial: University of Dallas offers both need-based and non need-based merit aid. UD does not offer any athletic scholarships. The average percent of need met is 85%, with 24% being fully met.  Although the tuition and fees are $63,400, the average financial aid package is $33,490. 97% of students receive some type of financial aid.

Princeton University – a liberal arts college with strong computer science and engineering programs

Set in the picturesque town that is its namesake, Princeton University is a haven of Gothic and colonial architecture, as well as a few more modern buildings. The most notable building is Nassau Hall, which served as the temporary home of the Continental Congress in 1783. While known for its exclusivity, the office of admissions has been on the lookout for more students who demonstrate intellectual curiosity, including STEM majors, creative types, and high ability/low income students. 

 

Here are a few quick facts about Princeton:

4-year Graduation rate: 90%, 6-year: 98%

Acceptance: 6%

Freshman retention: 83%

Freshmen out of state: 81% 

Most popular majors: computer science, economics, public administration

Student Community Diversity: 8% Black, 10% Latino, 12% International

 

Housing: Princeton’s dorms are grouped into six residential colleges, each with its own dining hall, faculty residents and social calendar. While some students do continue living in their residence hall through graduation, many juniors and seniors opt to occupy the nicer upperclassmen dorms. Only 4% of undergraduates choose to live off campus. 

 

Another feature of Princeton’s campus, and exclusive to upperclassmen, is eleven eating clubs, five of which admit members through a lottery.  These eating clubs are run by the students and unaffiliated with the school administration.

 

Academics: Princeton is one of the few top liberal arts universities with equally strong computer science and engineering programs. Their math and philosophy departments are among the best in the nation. All students must fulfill course requirements in epistemology and cognition, ethical thoughts and moral values, historical analysis, literature and the arts, quantitative reasoning, social analysis, and science and technology. Freshmen must also take a first year writing seminar with 70 options to choose from. During junior year, students work with a faculty member on 2 papers – 30 pages of work per semester on top of their regular work load. Students must also complete a senior thesis. 

 

Princeton is known as the smallest of the Big Three Ivies, which means that undergraduate students will find that 76% of classes have fewer than 20 students and around 70% of department heads teach introductory courses. Princeton is also unique in its approach to exams, including a two-week period before exams for students to catch up and an honor code that allows for unproctored exams. 

 

Similar colleges to consider: Harvard, Yale, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania

 

Social: Virtually all social life takes place on campus through the aforementioned eating clubs and dorm parties. The college does not endorse any fraternities or sororities, but they do still exist in small numbers. Princeton boasts the oldest college radio station in the country, and those who are culturally inclined will be pleased to find plenty of art offerings both on and near campus. 

 

Varsity and intramural athletics are a big deal at Princeton. Eleven of the Tiger’s 38 Division I teams took home Ivy League conference titles in the 2017-2018 season, including men’s cross country and track and field, as well as women’s lacrosse, soccer and basketball. Every fall the freshman and sophomore classes square off in the Cane Spree, an intramural Olympics that has been a Princeton tradition since 1869. Other traditions include Communiversity Day, which is an international festival, and lawn parties are hosted in the spring. 

 

The surrounding town of Princeton, New Jersey has plenty of parks, woods and bike trails. When students do want to take a break from campus, they usually only venture as far as New York City or Philadelphia, both of which are an hour away (opposite directions) by train. 

 

Financial: Students are admitted to Princeton without regard for their financial need. Princeton offers need-based financial aid and has replaced loans with grants in their financial aid awards. The average percent of need met is 100%, with 100% being fully met. Although the tuition and fees are $77,000, the average financial aid package is $50,000. 85% of students receive financial aid. Princeton does not offer merit or athletic scholarships. 

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