another "please help me find a good college" thread :))))

College Search & Selection
1

hi! i’m a junior in high school right now and i’ve toured a ton of campuses and completed my first SAT and ACT at this point which have determined that i can’t get into swarthmore :slight_smile: here’s my dilemma and some stats about me to help you help me:

i intend to be an ENGLISH MAJOR and pursue a job in a publishing firm working as an editor. i might enter an LAC (i intend to attend an LAC) as undeclared just to save the trouble of switching my major in case i change my mind, but i’m fairly certain that i will remain true to an english major. i think that i will try to get a good job after graduating as an undergrad just because its so much money to go back as a post-grad.

my school only releases a weighted GPA on a 100 point scale which helps no one… my transcript currently declares a weighted GPA of 95.607 which transfers over to a weighted 4.0. i attempted to calculate my unweighted GPA, although i do not think it’s correct… on a 100 point scale i calculated a 92.4 GPA which lands me at about a 3.7 unweighted GPA.

i plan to retake the ACT (i’m also signed up to retake the SAT but i’m going to focus on the ACT which i need to find a prep course for stat yikes i’m doing everything wrong). after studying for the SAT with a month long course i scored a 1220 on the 1600 scale (yikes) and without studying i scored a 28 on my ACT. i’m hoping that i can score a 30 on the ACT and only submit that rather than the SAT, but i’m not sure if i’m capable of that.

and for constraints. i know that i should indicate how much i can afford, but as an only child from a very supportive, fairly well-off family (my mom is an anesthesiologist and my dad runs his own construction company) my parents hint that i will only be able to go to a school that offers a large merit scholarship to me but still encourage me to look at LACs with tuitions of $60,000 if i love them. so, sorry… but that’s about all that i know. i guess my family can afford around the $40,000 range?? i don’t know?? i wish college wasn’t so expensive i just want to learn and get a good job…

um, personally, i would like a school with NO GREEK LIFE or a very MINIMAL PARTY SCENE. i’m not into drinking or drugs or partying whatsoever and people who are make me uncomfortable (sorry if you’re still a nice person that’s into that). i’m very STUDIOUS and ACADEMICALLY DRIVEN even if my intellectual prowess is mediocre, and i would like to be in a community surrounded by driven people like me. i’m pretty liberal (hence looking at LACs) so if there’s a political atmosphere i’d like to go somewhere where students will respect each other’s opinions. i’d like a SMALL COLLEGE where professors will be able to get to know who i am as a student and a person and where i will be able to get as much extra help as possible. i would also like a small school so that the students have a close-knit, supportive community. i’m an introvert and socially awkward unless i’m pushed if that helps with anything. i’d like a college in the NORTHEASTERN REGION. so far, i have liked schools on a URBAN/SUBURBAN CAMPUS that is within a VERY SHORT DISTANCE OF A NICE, DEVELOPPED AREA. i particularly liked swarthmore and skidmore for their locations. i don’t want to be constrained in a place where you can only stay on campus to be safe. I DO NOT DO WELL IN THE COLD, but coming from new jersey i can tolerate winter. however, if that winter includes long periods of time below freezing i don’t think that i would fare well there. i am an ATHEIST, and i would not mind a school with a religious affiliation so long as i don’t have that religion shoved down my throat and my lack of faith is respected. i would prefer a pretty campus (i like skidmore as a college but the ugly campus has thrown me for a loop) and i prefer neo-gothic/gothic/old architecture as compared to contemporary architecture. i cried when i saw vassar, le high, and boston college’s libraries because i loved them so much. but of course the look of the campus doesn’t really matter, but that would be a big plus. if i’m going to go to college, THE DORM BETTER BE TOLERABLE. fairly clean bathrooms (preferably not gender neutral… i’d freak out if a guy saw me showering) and fairly spacious rooms with at least a fairly large desk for me to use. also, i want that food to be at least edible. good food would be a great plus, but it’s important that THE FOOD ISN’T DISGUSTING. as for SOCIAL SCENE… i just want a friendly, warm, academic atmosphere. the students should be open and kind to one another and none of that pretentious stuck up spoiled brat bs. i’d like to be able to meet people in college and have philosophical discussions at 3 am, discuss movies, books, netflix shows, cooking, our hopes and dreams… you get the vibe. i want quirky, interesting, kind, smart, driven people and the social scene should revolve around those qualities. parties could simply be a large gathering of kids sipping wine and dissecting shutter island.

my reach school would be swarthmore college. i used to want to go to reed but realistically its too far away. i also loved hamilton college, and as a safety/target i liked arcadia university as well as skidmore college. i liked haverford as a reach as well, along with bryn mawr (but bryn mawr isn’t co-ed so no). boston college was pretty good except its cafeteria is a joke, and i liked boston university but its too big. i would love to go to vassar but i could never get in… but the same goes for most of my reach schools.

i think that all of this information should be more than enough. thank you so much to anyone who actually digests all of this rambling to help me.

2

oh! also, on the SAT essay i scored a 6 in every category and on the ACT with writing i scored a composite score of 8 with all categories having an 8, except Language Use And Conventions which i scored a 9.

SAT: 600 M & 620 reading and writing
ACT: 32 english, 25 mathematics, 31 reading, 25 science, 29 ELA, 25 STEM

should i retake the writing on the ACT? i already signed up for it without writing…

3

Have you considered the Great Books curriculum at St. John’s College at all? You don’t choose a major there per se, as the whole cohort studies the same reading list of primary sources together, but students specialize via their Senior Essays and many are admitted to top grad programs in various fields including English. St. John’s has two campuses, one in Santa Fe, NM and the other in Annapolis, MD - the Annapolis campus seems to fit your parameters for Northeast but not ridiculously cold, suburban with urban access, and a studious campus culture with no Greek life. St. John’s tends to be quite self-selecting - they are looking for students who buy into the values of their learning community and its system of intellectual discourse around shared exploration of the selected texts. So you don’t have to have perfect test scores to get in; you just need to show ability, intellectual curiosity, and “fit.” They have summer pre-college programs that allow you to spend a week there and test the waters, if it’s something that might be of interest.

In terms of more traditional LAC’s, you might want to look at Earlham, which shares the Quaker foundation that you liked in Haverford/Bryn Mawr/Swarthmore but isn’t as steep an admit and could have merit aid potential. (I wouldn’t rule out Bryn Mawr on the basis of single-gender alone, given how closely integrated it is with Haverford; but getting good merit there could be a stretch anyway.)

4

Your list and others mentioned.

High reaches . Vassar. Boston College Swsthmore. Hamilton. Haverford.

Reaches. Lehigh

Target. Bryn Mawr. Skidmore.

Likely. Rutgers. Earlham

Schools to consider. Nice students. Less of a work hard and play hard vibe. Arts and creative culture. Non religious or religious but tolerant. Food? Beautiful Campus. Not too far from civilization. But necessarily urban. Price would be subject to review. But not impossible with your 40-50k parental contribution. 60k. All doable. Focusing on likely schools and targets. That’s where the aid and the better outcomes reside.

Oberlin. Ohio. May be perfect for you. Target

Bard - NY,Hudson River “ Skidmoresque” Likely

Muhlenberg- Pennsylvania- beautiful. Target

Washington and Jefferson - western pa Likely

Connecticut College. Underrated arts culture. Nescac school. Target/low reach

Bucknell - more traditional but really beautiful and great school. Reach.

Salve Regina - Newport Ri. Gothic and part of the famous Bellevue Avenue mansion area and on the ocean. Tolerant and not a overt party reputation. Likely.

Simmons. Boston based. Women’s college. Totally would mesh with your goals. Likely.

Endicott. Danvers ma just outside of Boston. Likely.

5

Ok – finances will drive everything. You must get your parents to be Frank and honest.

They need to run NPC, but the NPC don’t do well for self employed. If you Dad’s company is a C-Corp and he receives a W-2 then he is not considered self employed.

If colleges you are choosing require both FAFSA and CSS Profile, there is a good chance all his business equipment is considered assets.

If you’re parents won’t get on board, you have to assume your family is full pay and ask them how much they will give you a year towards college. If you’re guess of 40k is correct, you really need to only apply to schools that will be that cost of attendance or are likely to provide enough merit to get you below that.

Most small schools in the NJ/NY/PA area do have a large amount of partying. Honestly, most colleges, no matter size on general. You may want to expand your search. A large university with Honors college and Wellness/No Party dorms may result in a larger peer group who share your values.

Co-ed bathrooms-- Don’t discount a school because of this. One of my kids attended with coed hall bathroom. The bathroom was single use and only 1 student at a time. Other coed dorms have separate bathrooms depending upon sex. I just don’t want to see you rule out schools unless you are asking questions to understand the shower situation.

6

And, while I agree with private banker on most of the schools to look at, I strongly disagree with Bucknell. The Greek and party scene at a school that small likely won’t fit you well.

7

Skidmore seems to be a good fit. Could be a target for your stats but a stretch for your budget.

Be sure to run the online net price calculators for any schools that interest you.
It sounds like you won’t qualify for need-based aid. Many selective private LACs in the NE offer little or no merit money, but possibilities include:
Women’s colleges (Smith, Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr);
College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, ME … but note its rather unique curriculum);
St. Lawrence U.

(IMO highly-ranked LACs like Haverford are unlikely for admission, and if you do get in, the net price may be well over $60K.)

More options open up if you consider other regions besides the popular NE.

Maybe Lawrence University in Appleton, WI; Lewis & Clark in Portland, OR; Earlham College in IN.

One of the public LACs might work.
Check out New College of Florida, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and SUNY Geneseo.

8

What suggestions have your guidance counselor and English teacher given you?

9

Brandeis? Outside of Boston, about 3500 undergrad, has greek life but very understated, not known as a party school, although it has an often noted Jewish contingent from what I’ve read it’s fairly secular and accepting of all religions or the choice to not have one. Fairly liberal with a lot of activism. Campus isn’t the most beautiful but nice. It is known for science and research but might be worth researching the English department.

10

@Longhaul Good point.

I thought it hit on many items on her wish list.

But, I honestly didn’t know it was such a party type school.

It doesn’t have that reputation in my area. Maybe a bit preppy but usually really some of the top students have it one their radar for LACs, if they liked BC and Lehigh type schools the OP mentioned.

BC doesn’t have Greek life and is really not a party Mecca at all. The students there all seem pretty serious actually this first year. Work load is tough but not sure what it’s like for an English major.

I assumed bucknell would be somewhat similar.

Lehigh has an engineering type reputation locally, that’s the only one I left off the list for her major. Don’t know enough to comment on the school.

Looks nice to me.

11

Bucknell has a pretty campus but @Longhaul is right …huge party school, dominate greek life in the middle of nowhere.

12

Wow. Good to know. Probably it’s more remote location is a contributing factor for sure.

OP please note the posts above.

13

Drew University as a safety. 1500 undergrad in Madison, NJ just outside NYC. test optional, no greek life.

14

Dickinson, Mt. Holyoke, Sarah Lawrence, Conn College?

15

my english teacher told me PACE and Fordham but both of those are in sketchy spots so i haven’t really considered them… also, my counselor has told me to shoot for Drew University as a safety, as well as (here’s a collection of safety and reaches) bucknell university, bowdoin college, davidson college, dickinson college, franklin & marshall college, gettysburg college and juniata college

16

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colleges_That_Change_Lives

There should be a school in there for you. All Lacs and most with merit. They seem to hit your target areas of concern.

We made an excel spread sheet that listed like everything from costs, room /board, deadlines etc.

Why don’t you make a small potential list of schools then sit down with your parents. They are not understanding what it takes to go to school these days.

Did they put money away for you for school in a 529 or other account? You should know this and how much. Just looking up your mom’s profession the avg is like $300,000 if she works full time. Plus /minus your dad’s company etc so most likely no financial aid for you and I would be surprised if there is not money put away for you for college but everyone’s situation is different and complex.

They need to be more open with you and not just that you need merit. That doesn’t mean anything or help you at all. But lots of private Lacs do give decent merit. A lot it will be something like $20,000…does that help you if the school is $$60,000? That’s what you need to know.

17

BTW - even though you don’t want the cold my daughters at Beloit in Wisconsin and it’s everything that you just described. A lot of Lacs are just built that way. Lots of kids from the east coast there also.

18

You can’t afford to guess. Go ask your parents if a school costs $40k/year out-of-pocket will they pay? We’ve seen many threads over the years where parents hedge about money because they assume the kid will get loads of aid while the kid assumes a healthy income means parents will pay $30k-40k/year for school and neither is right. The kid is devastated in the spring because there are no affordable acceptances. Sit down with them and run some NPCs and figure out the finances.

19

There are a lot of colleges that fit your preferences. Where the sticking point lies is with the price tag. You want a LAC type school for about $40k. Wanting merit money beyond $5-10k boosts a lot of likely-safety schools up to reach level.

You want coed school in a warm or at least not too cold climate without much of a Greek scene. New College, Flagler, York are some schools that come to mind. I don’t know what the OOS premiums are for St Marys of MD, Mary Washington, Radford in VA Ursinus, Juniata, Knox, Centre, McDaniel, Susquehanna, some other choices. Mount St Mary in MD and other Catholic schools good possibilities.

Look for LACs like those and check on Common Data for averages in Merit awards. If there isn’t a lot of Scholarships at those schools, $20k not likely. You need to be the upper whatever percentage getting that money. Like if 10% get merit awards averaging $10k, and you aren’t in that upper percentage group, the chances of you getting $20k off is not good.

Not LAC, but a school a lot of kids I know have really liked is College of Charleston. Elon too. I don’t know their price points anymore.

20

Rhodes College is another one worth investigating. I believe it should be in the link provided above to colleges that change lives. Beautiful campus, 2000 undergrad, outside of Memphis, good music scene with restaurants etc…