Anyone have any LACs to suggest for me?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Okay, I've finally decided to post here after much debate... collegeconfidential can be a bit intimidating for someone who isn't a super-genius! Anyway, if you could suggest some schools for me, I'd be much appreciative. Here are my stats:</p>

<p>GPA (unweighted): 3.9
Weighted: somewhere around 4.3
Number of honors (by grad): 4
Number of AP (by grad): 3
I go to a fairly competitive California public high school, which by some accounts is ranked second in state (La Canada, if anyone knows of it). My school offers a lot of honors and APs and I have not been taking the most rigorous course load by any stretch... there are people at my school who take 5 AP classes in a year which I think is insane! Yet, I'm still probably in the top 10% of my class.</p>

<p>I have taken math to AP STATs (avoided Calc) and 4 years of German, in addition to all the other general requirements for college.</p>

<p>My SAT score:
verbal- 690
math- 710
writing- 750 (with 7 essay) or 730 (with 12 essay)
2150</p>

<p>National Merit Commended</p>

<p>Extra activities are very weak... I have been in choir for three years (in Chamber singers this year), an award in drama from London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and have been in Girl Scouts 12 years (but no Gold Award).</p>

<p>Realistically, where can I go? Also, are there any good LACs likely to give me any scholarship consideration or aid? I've been pretty lazy about taking SAT IIs so somewhere that doesn't require them would be good. I will have really stellar recommendations and a good essay (my main strength is my writing). </p>

<p>I've been looking at Whitman, Willamette, Pitzer, Scripps, Mount Holyoke, but I need some others to apply to. I'm not into a big party scene and would like somewhere that is challenging academically but not so much so that I'm going to have a heart attack. I do not take stress very well! My first choice is St. Andrews in Scotland, but that’s an entirely different discussion altogether.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Some good LACs that are generous with merit aid are College of Wooster, Denison, Depauw, Grinnell, Knox, and Lawrence.</p>

3

<p>My sons graduated from Wesleyan and Denison. The young women at Denison were terrific. Denison is an up and coming lac with a gorgeous campus and great academics. The faculty is top-notch and the students outgoing and friendly. Wesleyan is also my alma mater and to be honest I would recommend Denison over it at this point in time.</p>

4

<p>Do you plan to major in English or creative writing?</p>

<p>some LA colleges with good merit aid and good English programs:
Bard
Claremont McKenna
Depauw
Franklin and Marshall
Centre
Knox
Grinnell
Gonzaga
Holy Cross
Occidental
Kenyon
Whitman
C of Wooster</p>

<p>some larger universities with good English programs and generous merit aid:
American U
Boston U
Clark U
Emory
Fordham
Furman
George Washington U
NYU
U Rochester
USC
U Texas Austin
Washington U St Louis</p>

5

<p>Would suggest Holy Cross very good LAC that offers good financial/merit aid. HC has a nice campus with lots of school spirit and is only 1 hour from Boston.</p>

6

<p>Since you are considering female-only schools, how about Mills? There might be some financial aid there.</p>

7

<p>Hollins (in Virginia) might be a good safety and a possible source of $. I know a couple of English majors there that absolutely love the school. It's very strong in the arts, and it has a decent study abroad program (one of my friends is going to Italy as a freshman). It has a close-knit community and a lot of cool traditions, from what I've heard. For example, about a month ago they had "Tinker Day" where the whole school shut down for a celebration with different activities (and everyone in costume, of course). :)</p>

8

<p>we know a couple young women who are really enjoying Holyoke.
Plus- they seem to be very generous with the aid- and have their own way of interpreting need.
additionally one of the girls- did an arrangement where she was able to study at St Andrews-
I haven't looked- but I would strongly recommend Holyoke as a good possiblity</p>

9

<p>Thank you for all of your suggestions! I am thinking about English and creative writing, CollegeHelp, but I'm not quite sure yet if listening to a bunch of academics ramble on about Hamlet is for me. The following is my updated list at this point:</p>

<p>-Agnes Scott
-College of Wooster
-Denison
-Ohio Wesleyan
-Kalamazoo
-Knox
-Lawrence
-Whitman
-Macalester
-Mount Holyoke
-Pitzer
-Scripps
-Willamette
-University of Mary Washington
-Kenyon
-St. Mary's College of Maryland
-Grinell</p>

<p>Now all I have to do is narrow this down! A frightening prospect....</p>

10

<p>Look at Haverford too!</p>

11

<p>You have a very good list of schools, but you should cut it down to 9-10 schools, and if merit aid is important make sure the schools that are left have good merit aid programs. </p>

<p>FWIW, I'd judge your chances to be excellent at all the schools on your list with the exception of Grinnell and Macalester, and you have solid shots at those two. So I'd keep studying the college descriptions in the various guides and knock off any that don't excite you.</p>

12

<p>Birch, why would you recommend Denison over Wesleyan?</p>

13

<p>how about smith</p>

14

<p>Take a look at Hartwick College in upstate NY. It's not a big 'name recognition' school, but it's very solid, and does not require the SAT. They do require a solid academic record though, which you seem to have. They also offer very good merit $$. <a href="http://www.hartwick.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.hartwick.edu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>