<p>Oops, I didn’t see your most recent post! Ignore what I said about Amherst, then. Sorry! :)</p>
<p>Haha, no problem, aplomb. Our posts were within 3 minutes of eachother. I see how that can easily happen :)</p>
<p>Bowdoin meets the full, demonstrated need of all admitted US applicants for all four years with grants (as opposed to loans).</p>
<p>If I did, I didn’t mean to sound hostile in my last post.</p>
<p>Whatever Bowdoin does in terms of scholarships and grants, it does not apply to me:</p>
<p>“With the exception of a few $1,000 scholarships associated with the National Merit Scholarship Program, Bowdoin does not offer merit money of any kind. Although merit plays a significant part in the decision to admit an applicant, it plays no part in the decision to aid an applicant. Consistent with this commitment to need-based aid, Bowdoin does not “negotiate” financial aid awards or attempt to match first-year aid awards offered by other colleges.”</p>
<p>As I said before, I do not qualify for need-based.</p>
<p>Julliet: The point I was trying to make was that students are willing to work together. I didn’t mean to imply that they were forced to. Of course some people will like to do it on their own.</p>
<p>I contrast the experience my daughter is having at one of the LACs on the OPs list with my sister’s back in the day at an ivy. The intro Bio class for my sister was cut throat in the worst way - no reviewing notes together, no helping each other study, competition for grades, hostility to others in the class. It really left a bad taste in her mouth. My daughter’s experience has been the opposite. This was something that she looked into carefully at the schools she applied to and her list was very similar to the OP’s.</p>
<p>I’ve only managed to sound like a deutsch in this thread.</p>
<p>Tzar out.</p>
<p>A German? Hehe.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it Tzar09.</p>
<p>Don’t expect significant financial aid at the top LACs. You would have to reach far, far down the rankings list for a full merit scholarship.</p>
<p>Look at Yale and Princeton, both of which offer unmatched financial aid packages, and both of which are well-respected for their undergraduate focus. You would have the same sort of excellent education in an intimate environment there, without overburdening your family financially.</p>
<p>Like I’ve said several times–I cannot receive financial aid, and I’ve come to terms with the fact that merit-based aid is not within reach.</p>
<p>We live in the NW. Whitman is a wonderful school. The NE lacs may have more prestige and many like the idea of sunny southern CA for 4 years but Whitman is definitely right up there with Pomona and Bowdoin. The idea of Eastern WA is a deal breaker for some just as the midwestern and southern schools can suffer in the rankings. We have a friend that is a top notch doc that attended Whitman and then Yale for med school. Guess where he sent his son? If you choose to apply to Whitman, I don’t think you will be disappointed! Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>I know you have emphasized that you do not qualify for need-based financial aid, but have you looked into scholarships? There are tons of resources to find scholarships that are not always based on need. Many can be found in your community. Talk with your guidance counselor. Or check out websites through google. Don’t be discouraged. </p>
<p>Also, don’t ever discount a school just because its rank or prestige is not as high as other school choices. You will be spending the next 4 years of your life in whichever institution you choose, and your decision should be based solely on which school you fit with most and will find yourself happiest. So many people get wrapped up in the name recognition aspect of college, but prestige should not be the reason to apply or not apply to a school. Many people have chosen ‘lesser’ schools because they felt that such schools were better matches. </p>
<p>However, I can definitely say that Bowdoin is an amazing school – I’m going there in the fall and could not be happier with any other college or university. I turned down Amherst and Middlebury, even though they are both more prestigious and higher ranked, because I wanted to go somewhere I would be happy. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>
For a full merit scholarship, maybe so.
For a significant merit scholarship, maybe not.</p>
<p>The cost-of-attendance for Grinnell is nearly $6K cheaper than the full sticker price for Wesleyan. Plus, the endowment per student is about 4-5 times greater. So Grinnell has money to toss around. Macalester, Colorado College, and Oberlin also offer merit scholarships. Most of the New England LACs do not (and tend to be more expensive to start). </p>
<p>Colorado College and Macalester are at about the same positions in the rankings lists as Bates and Colby. Grinnell is neck-and-neck with Wesleyan. Oberlin is tied with Hamilton. College is a very personal choice but if the total costs are $4-6K/year cheaper, plus you take off another $5-10K in merit money, then flyover land may be worth a second look.</p>
<p>Whitman scores at #37 on the USNWR scale, if that matters. According to its Common Data Set information, it appears to offer merit aid. I don’t think the OP should assume he cannot get it. In fact, I suspect if he can get into Swarthmore, Amherst, or Bowdoin, he’d probably be able to get some merit money from Whitman (or Grinnell, or Macalester, or Colorado College).</p>
<p>I think the Bates campus is beautiful. Many new buildings, amazing food, buildings are spread out more than at Bowdoin. Love the student body. A great school that is a little more laid back than others on your list yet excellent academics, profs, etc.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m easily impressed but I particularly liked some of the course descriptions in the Bates catalog. (e.g. “BIO 114. Extreme Physiology” or “MATH s45K. Roller Coasters: Theory, Design, and Properties” or “CHEM s25. Science Meets Art: Loudspeaker Design and Construction”).</p>
<p>Carleton</p>
<p>-Northfield, MN doesn’t offer much. It’s a cute little town shared by Carleton College and St. Olaf College. Other than that Carleton College is completely surrounded by farmland. However it is 40 minutes from the twin cities and I know for sure Carleton has its own shuttle bus from the college to Minneapolis/St.Paul. I dont clearly remember if it was free or not, (it’s either free or $5).
-Professors at Carleton are incredible. Even students dissatisfied with the location say “oh well at least i’m getting the greatest education possible.” They make themselves available and are very friendly. Most research projects are done WITH students at Carleton. So you have a variety of chances to learn from your professors.
-Carleton really is working to get an incredibly diverse student body. Being a black female I would describe it as only somewhat diverse. Their admissions officers really look for uniqueness within a person so if you’re applying from in-state (or somewhere else where they get a lot of applicants) let your personality really shine through on your app. To me (i’ve been to a couple programs there, visited, and have had many friends attend carleton) race relations seemed strained between minorities vs. whites.
Other than that the student body is very quirky, very intelligent, and very friendly. Plus they have quite a few international students.
-Courseload is tough. But with such friendly students there shouldn’t be much trouble finding a support system. Also pre-med type classes are SMALL!! Take advantage of that. Sit in the front row. Oh and when you visit make sure you visit and ask about their library. They have it sectioned off by levels of quietness its awesome.
-I don’t know the exact acceptance rate but I have a lot of friends graduating this year and all are attending a medical school. (That probably doesn’t help :p)
Carleton does push for students to take a year off between senior year and medical school so they can intern or travel abroad or do something amazing and relax before filling out applications. And starting the stressful medical school process.
-Potential for an enjoyable experience? If you’re really really motivated to get an incredible education not only from classes but also from the students around you you’ll love this school. </p>
<p>You can PM me and I’ll try my best to answer other questions.</p>
<p>irunoninsulin: Most LACs have more women than men, Vassar is 58/42 which is similar to many other schools. What kind of guys go to Vassar? You are right, you DON’T know.
My son (science/premed, athlete, sports fan, disc jockey, auto buff, and Catholic to boot)
is a graduate. Most of his friends are athletes and love the beautiful, smart and talented women who also attend Vassar. They also love the odds!</p>
<p>Please don’t post information you know nothing about.</p>
<p>I definitely think you should consider Vassar.
Beautiful, cultural school(esp.library)
85% rate into Med school. My cousin just graduated from there and is now in med school, along with several of her friends.
Tey have amazing research opportunitues and study abroad.
Small classes too(small classes makes it easier to participate and get to know professors)
My dream is Vassar. They have a wonderful pre-med program.</p>
<p>Poughkeepsie is cute. Not hugs, but there is so much to do there…hike,ski,lakes, and a quick train ride to NYC.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Keep in mind, there are over 3000 institutions of higher learning in this country. So #37 is still pretty high. In fact, if you just go by SAT scores (simply because they are accessible and easily compared), the top schools seem to be a rather tightly bunched pack. Whitman’s 75th percentile M+CR is over 1400, within 50 points of schools like Middlebury and Bowdoin.
If your 10-student freshman seminar has 3 kids in it with SAT scores over 1400, instead of 5, are you likely to notice a huge difference in the quality of discussion?</p>
<p>All the schools we are talking about receive more applications than they can accept, and most applicants are academically qualified. If anything, I think the OP needs to add more schools in that 25-50 area of the rankings. Look for schools in that range that Whitman students also liked (Princeton Review and maybe a couple of other resources can provide this.)</p>
<p>^^not only is #37 pretty high considering the total number of higher education institutions, but, according to another thread, there are only 137 fully functioning LACs in the entire country. All of them deserve credit for standing tall in the face of educational and corporate super-sizing.</p>
<p>So, to recap, LACs with great merit aid are: Pomona, Bowdoin, Whitman, Carleton, Vassar, Oberlin, Macalaster, Colorado College, Grinnell. Would anyone like to add anything or challenge this list?</p>