Are we missing any schools that we should be lookig at?

College Search & Selection
1

D20 is a prospective Psych/Cognitive Science Major, double Major (BA) or minor in Vocal Perf with additional areas of interest in Sociology and Women and Gender studies. She is attracted to liberal arts schools with a strong extracurricular music/arts scene, prefers 2000+ students, ideally 3000-5000. She wants an intellectual, collaborative environment but not high stress. We likely won’t qualify for much, if any FA; can afford $20-$25 K per year so we are looking for significant merit. I think she has a decent list but I would love to know if we are missing any schools that might meet her needs. I think she would prefer to be within driving distance of home (Indianapolis) but willing to consider further away. Bonus points if the school has a rock wall or if there is one nearby.

Stats:
GPA: 4.0/4.0, 11.7/12 (12=A+, 11= A etc), school reports both scales.
Class Rank ( end of 10th grade): 11/450
SAT Oct’18: 1530
NMSQT Index From Junior year PSAT: 223

Classes through Junior Year (Honors only offered in Math and English):

English: 9(H), 10(H), AP LIT
Math: Alg 2 (H), PreCalc (H), AP Calc BC
Science: Chem, Anatomy and Physiology, AP Phys1 (4), AP Bio
Social Studies: World Civ, US History, AP Psych
Spanish 1-3
Choir: 2 Years
Band ( Flute/piccolo): 3 Years

ECs:
Marching Band ( Sousaphone): 9th, 10th
Marching Band (Drum Major): 11th, (12th)
Show Choir: 10th
Vocal Jazz Ensemble: 11th (12th)
Theatre: 9,10,11,(12). 2 main stage productions and student showcase each year. Directing a 1 act play for showcase this year.
Young Democrats: 9, 10, 11-VP, (12)
Math League:9, 10, 11, (12)
NHS: 11, (12)

Other Activities:
Indoor Rock Climbing (3-5/ week)
Voice lessons
Helps with Middle School Theatre productions
Summer drama camp counselor

Schools of Interest (comment if visited):

De Pauw ( first LAC experience, great music scene, loved it, but i’m curious how it would rank now after visiting others)
University of Richmond (Loved the campus, location, and size,and commented on all the small groups of students studying together during mid term week, not much emphasis on arts during tour or info session)
Dennison: liked the campus and proximity to city, but thought the town was very small. Good academics and music opportunities.
Kenyon: off the list - town too small, too isolated, too preppy.
Wooster: these were her people - quirky, artsy and social justice-y! Very interested in senior research project, supportive environment, nice sized town. Downside - nearest climbing facility is an hour away.
University of Evansville: Visit scheduled, likely safety due to NMF full tuition.
Grinnell: Visit schedule
Knox: Visit scheduled on way to Grinnell
St Olaf: tentative spring visit. Will probably also tour Macalester and Carleton while we are in the area

Rhodes
Oberlin?
Centre?
Xavier?

Are we missing any obvious schools that would be a good fit for her? TIA!

2

I’ll give you a reachy reach due to the need for merit but you should check out WashU and it’s Philosophy-Neuroscience-Pyschology program: https://pnp.artsci.wustl.edu/undergraduate

I think your D would be interested in the program and it fits a number of your boxes (location, friendly, collaborative students). About 7500 UGs so a little over your prefer but it doesn’t seem big (beautiful compact campus next to a huge park).

It does have competitive merit but it’ll be reach but worth investigating.

3

I would Rochester to her list. Also slightly bigger than her preferred size but ticks all the other boxes.

Am also wondering about some of the women’s colleges. She could see high merit there and some would tick her boxes.

PS. Sounds like a great list so far!

4

Check out the University of Denver. Further from home, but a quick drive from Denver airport. Has all majors/minors covered, lots of students interested in climbing… She would probably qualify for significant merit with her stats!

5

As far as Women’s College:

Smith fits a lot of your wishes but getting the COA down to 25K will be next to impossible I believe from what you describe. Their top merit hits 25K (or maybe its 30K now) and getting COA below 35-40K will be extremely tough if not impossible.

Mt Holyoke has some higher end merit but it suffers like Kenyon in that it’s isolated with only a small ‘village’ nearby though there is bus service to Amherst and Northampton.

Bryn Mawr also only has merit that tops out in the 20’s I believe.

Wellesley only has need-based FA.

6

Is Case Western too far outside your criteria? My D graduated psych/cog sci double major - loved her experience there and was able to do research and volunteer in her field. After graduation she landed a stint as a research assistant for two years at UPenn and is currently applying to PhD programs. I know Case has a good music dept., perhaps vocal also… I think it would be worth a look… P.S. I believe there is a rock climbing wall on campus…

7

@massmomof3, I’m not sure University of Denver would have the “intellectual collaborative” vibe OP’s looking for. DU is many things, but being a magnet for intellectual students isn’t - in general - one of them.

8

“can afford $20-$25 K per year so we are looking for significant merit”

I think that this is going to be the biggest issue. Do the schools out near you include merit aid in the NPC results?

9

Does she want to join a sorority? https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg05_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=351 says that 65% of women join sororities, and 75% of men join fraternities.

You may want to investigate whether Truman State and University of Minnesota - Morris have the desired academic offerings, because their list prices (even for out-of-state) may be affordable to you.

10

Lawrence University in Appleton, WI would fit her interests and personality. It has a cognitive science major and a music conservatory that non-music-majors have full access to. Not sure about merit, but she would be a top candidate and likely to get whatever merit they offer.

11

You have St. Olaf on your list already. Great idea! Sounds perfect for her.

If she’s willing to look as far south as Centre, have you considered Hendrix? It seems to check several of your boxes.

She should also look at Muhlenberg – happy school and has music. Lots of arts. LIkes to give merit.

Drew would give her lots of FA probably and it has great music and theater too. Pretty campus. Also it’s on a commuter train line to NYC and has some NYC programs.

Further afield but has great music (bot at the college and with its proximity to Austin TX), and it has great FA, a pretty campus, – look at Southwestern University in TX. Great little school. Nice Career Services there too.

12

@Dolemite beat me to it - the PNP program at Wash U. A good friend of my daughter’s was accepted ED at Wash U and is planning to study in this program (not sure if it is direct admit?). She is also a singer and into theater.

Your daughter’s stats make her competitive for Wash U.

13

Thanks everyone! @Dolemite and @DCCAWAMIIAIL - The PNP program at WUSTL does sound perfect and we weren’t aware of it at all. I just sent her the link to look at. I can’t wait to hear what she thinks!

WUSTL, Case, Lawrence, and Muhlenberg have been on the periphery of some of our research, so it sounds like those are definitely worth looking into in more detail. I’ll also have her look into some of the other schools mentioned to see what she thinks.

@ucbalumnus She is not interested in Greek life at all. When she visited DePauw, I don’t think she really understood how much that level of Greek involvement can influence student life. I don’t think it is a good fit for her but I think she’ll realize that herself as she visits more schools and gets a better feel for what she’s looking for.

@DadTwoGirls Finances will definitely be the biggest hurdle. Some of these schools include merit aid in the NPC, some don’t. She’ll be looking at competitive merit for most of these schools to make them affordable. She is obviously in a better position for competive merit at some of the schools than at others. Fortunately, University of Evansville should be a good small school financial safety and she also has IU/Purdue/Ball State as Affordable options.

14

If you liked Richmond, look at Furman in Greenville, SC. Beautiful campus, around 3000 students, Greenville is lovely. I toured with S a few years back and felt as if the academics were strong and personal. I also believe they have very good Music major/minor.

15

PNP at WashU is a direct admit. Neuroscience in the Biology department requires a 3.6 GPA and some kind of application.

John Hopkins and Vanderbilt might be some other options to consider as both schools are associated with good music programs.

16

I realize that Purdue doesn’t tick her LAC/small boxes but, she should be competitive with Honors College which will give her a much more intimate feeling. And despite not having music majors, the arts/music scene is very strong at Purdue.

17

I’ll add Furman to her research list!

@momofsenior1 Yes, she will definitely apply to at least 1 of IU/Purdue/Ball State for their honors colleges. She has friends at all of them and I know she would do just fine at any one. I really think she would thrive at a LAC, but those are all good schools that would serve her well if the finances or fit don’t work out at her smaller colleges.

18

@momofsenior1 Have you run the NPCs for potential LACs? Both Williams and Wesleyan sound like good choices for your daughter: excellent academics plus vibrant arts, notably music and theater. They both offer generous financial aid but it’s need-based only.

I don’t know about Wesleyan, but Williams offers terrific climbing venues, both rock wall and real mountains, plus extensive music performance opportunities, even for non-majors.
https://woc.williams.edu/equipment-and-facilities/climbing-wall
https://music.williams.edu/category/ensembles/

19

One that is sort of on the way to Knox/Grinnell is Beloit. I think your hard part is going to be the price point. To get to the 20-25k range is going to require full nearly tuition. We have a very similar stats kid and I haven’t really found any Midwestern LAC’s that would have a price point below $30k with merit only.

20

Two possibilities:
1.) Occidental meets 100% of but not big on merit. It is in the greater LA area, roughly 2000 total students, very social justicey and great school. Challenging academically as well.
2.) My D is considering Ohio Wesleyan. Your D would auto qualify for a $30k per year scholarship putting COA at about $25k plus could get more (assuming merit more issue than financial aid).