<p>fireandrain-- Thank you. It’s obvious! But not to this math-challenged brain.</p>
<p>A kid who got 730 on Math2 and 680 on Spanish (where top scores go to native speakers) is not what I would characterize as a poor test taker.</p>
<p>If she likes Yale I agree that Rice’s residential colleges may be attractive. I have a nephew who is thriving there.</p>
<p>rathole comment …</p>
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<p>I am at a loss to understand how that is to the advantage of the individual student. <em>Half</em> the kids in an entering class will be below the median … don’t apply if you might be in the lower half of a class? I can see how it might play out well for the school on the whole but I can’t see how it is in the students best interest.</p>
<p>I am biased in two directions on this … one, I was drawn to schools with top students … and I have no problem with long shot applications. Personally as an undergrad and grad student I believe I was accepted at 8 of 10 places I applied with stats that were below the median for the schools … including all 3 schools I attended … sure glad I didn’t follow the advice listed above.</p>
<p>UNMHKU – It’s not that your state flagship honors program isn’t a good safety. It probably is a perfect safety, as long as your daughter really would be happy there. I think what some posters are trying to say is that too many students ignore the huge world of schools that lie BETWEEN their state flagship and the Ivies. There are private schools that might give your daughter substantial merit aid. There are some fun schools in fun cities that she may never have considered. Maybe the two of you can actually enjoy spending some time exploring schools on the internet that you never considered.</p>
<p>In many cases, the Honors Program at a good state flagship will offer an education equal to (and in some cases, better than) some of the much more selective schools, including Ivies. There will often be better mentoring and advising, and more research and internship opportunities available than the AVERAGE student at the more selective schools. Of course, I don’t know about your state.</p>
<p>As to the LACs, there are students who turn down Ivies every year to attend them. Curmudgeon’s daughter turned down Yale to go to Rhodes. My d. had classmates who turned down Yale to go to Smith. It doesn’t mean that Yale isn’t a great choice if she gets in. It’s just that there is a world of opportunities out there, with educational opportunities for the right student equal to what New Haven has to offer.</p>
<p>If she’s applying to Yale EA, and state school honors that you mentioned is rolling admission, she should be able to apply to both “early”. That way, if Yale is not the desired result…she will have an admission.</p>
<p>Agree with those who suggest Trinity CT and Brandeis for match schools. What about UMD - College Park? I’ve heard they have a very good honors program, and it’s a suburban location not far from DC. Possibly not a safety…but likely a match…</p>
<p>I agree that Brandeis is a great school, but it’s neither mid-sized nor urban (located in a very quiet, rather remote Boston suburb). From the rest of her list, it looks like the OP’s D wants a mid-sized, urban research U. OP, can you help us out by telling us your daughter’s ideals with respect to size, geographic location, urban/suburban/rural, campus culture, academic interests?</p>
<p>I would suggest Barnard. It is part of Columbia for all intents and purposes, so the aspect of a research U in an urban setting is there. It is very competitive, but certainly not as competitive as Yale.</p>
<p>In post #31, the OP said his daughter wanted the “sub-urban experience,” which is why I suggested Brandeis and Wellesley. Brandeis is not in a “remote” suburb – Waltham is close to Boston and there’s a train station right on campus. There’s also a strip of good restaurants and stores not too far from campus. And I would describe it as a midsized research university.</p>
<p>Barnard is also a good choice, but it’s probably a reach – not as impossible as Yale, but still a reach.</p>
<p>Brandeis is 17 minutes from Porter Square in Cambridge on the commuter line, and Porter Square is one stop away from Harvard Square on the Red Line, 20 minutes walk from Harvard Square. It is not exactly a “remote” suburb, but it is somewhat quiet (unlike Harvard, BU or NE or MIT and a few other colleges that are right smack in Cambridge or Boston).</p>
<p>I missed the OP’s mention of her D’s interest in suburban schools, so Brandeis could work very well. As research Us go, it is small – 3200 undergrads, per the website. Nothing wrong with that! You get an undergraduate focus coupled with research opportunities. When we visited Brandeis with our son, we all found it very, very quiet. Waltham is a mostly blue-collar suburb, as I understand it, and the campus is pretty well secluded from the town. Maybe that’s where we got the sense of remoteness. To us, it felt almost sleepy, and some students we spoke to complained that getting into Boston, while easy on paper, is not all that quick and easy in practice. All that said, Brandeis is a fine school – excellent music program, excellent sciences, great undergrad focus. My son did apply, but withdrew his application after the SCEA acceptance came in.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions on other schools like Brandeis and Bernard that my D should check out. We will definitely look into these further. My D hasn’t really looked into LAC before as her preference is research universities. She is interested in pyschology/pre-med. Her ideal college size would be around 5,000 - 7,000 - I would say mid-size if I am not mistaken. Re: location, she is primarily interested in urban/sub-urban settings (she is a very social person), preferrably in the east coast. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Tufts, University of Pittsburg, University of Rochester, NYU, Brown, UPenn, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown</p>
<p>Pitt would be the only safety among those. (and a very good choice!)</p>
<p>Your daughter might also like Duke. It’s medium sized, has a beautiful campus, a very social atmosphere and a great psych department. Again, not a safety, but a just under HYP in difficulty of admission with many of the same qualities and benefits.</p>
<p>I second the idea of UMD-College Park. They have a lot of honors and special interest programs for freshmen and sophomores, which make the huge campus seem smaller. And there’s very easy access to Washington, DC, which appeals to a lot of students. The main disadvantage of the school is that the community immediately surrounding it (except for one strip of stores, restaurants, and bars right next to the campus) is unappealing. The campus itself is lovely, and Washington, DC is great, but what’s in between kind of sucks.</p>
<p>My son graduated from UMD-College Park this spring and was very pleased with his overall experience there.</p>
<p>Check out the University of Miami-10,000 UG, good pre-med, many merit $ opportunities in a social, suburban setting.</p>
<p>Not to put you down, but to give an idea about competitiveness of Yale in particular, 2 top students from my D’s HS (small, private, 100% of graduate attend 4 years colleges) did not get into Yale this year. One ended up at Harvard, another at Middlebury. Both were NMF, one of them was 18th in a country in PSAT. My D. was top of her class previous year (2007). She did not care to apply to Ivy’s (received invitations to apply from Harvard and Princeton). She is very happy at in-state college in extremely selective program that accepts only 10 freshmen every year.</p>