Arty and academic rising senior with a middle-class budget [CA, 4.0/1530 <$35K]

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Posting this on behalf of my daughter:

I’m a rising senior looking to go to a small to medium-sized liberal arts college with a decent art department. My extracurriculars have been very art heavy and though I plan on applying to at ;east one art school, I’m leaning towards getting a BA instead of a BFA. I want to be able to explore different academic subjects and not be tied down to studio art. I also have an interest in architecture but I’m not sure yet if I want to major in it. Basically I’d like a little time to explore options and figure it out once I’m in college. I plan on submitting a strong art portfolio to any school I apply to. I will be applying to UCs but I would prefer a smaller school experience. I would also like to live in a different part of the country (ideally close(ish) to a major city), but I’m pretty flexible. I’m also curious about international schools. All of the schools I’m most excited about are a far-reach financially. I need suggestions for more financially safe schools where I would be a good fit. (Not looking for a big party school or to live in a state with weak gun laws.) I love art but I also really love academics and am a voracious reader. My ideal profession would be to write graphic novels or children’s books, but I’m also a pragmatist so I feel like I need to keep all options open! My school list below is a work in progress.

Demographics

  • US citizen

  • Los Angeles, CA

  • Title 1 highly-ranked public magnet HS (ranked as one of “America’s most challenging high schools” by US News & World Reports). I’m only including that info. because it seems like colleges “like” my school.

  • Caucasian female

Intended Major(s)

Undecided, but interested in minoring in art or design, or majoring in architecture. Other interests are economics, religious studies, and English.

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.0

  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.6

  • Class Rank: School doesn’t rank but I’ve been told I’m in the top 1-2%

  • ACT/SAT Scores: SAT 1530 (780 R&W, 750 Math). I only took it once. Should I take it again??

Coursework

*AP classes: still waiting on scores for junior year but I expect there will be a mix of 4s and 5s. AP Bio (5), AP World History (5), APUSH, AP Art 2D, AP Spanish Lang, AP English Lang, AP Calc.

I’m on track to take 4-5 more APs senior year (Enviro. Studies, Stats, English, Spanish Lit, Psychology).

College level art class taken at a Comm. College- A+

Electives: 4 years of Leadership. I’m the Chair of my committee.

4 years of Spanish, 4 years of math and science

Awards

Los Angeles Marathon (two completion medals)

JV Soccer (Regional award)

Girl Scouts Silver Award

Extracurriculars

  • Teen leader at a Quaker camp (backcountry camping, learning about environmental sustainability, fire prevention)
  • Volunteer tutor at 826LA literacy center
  • SciArc (architecture) summer program (application required, received full scholarship)
  • Volunteer at art museum research library
  • CSSSA (CA State Summer School of the Arts)- application required, received full scholarship.
  • Girl Scouts - Cadet
  • Students Run LA (Captain)
  • Play guitar and sing in a rock band
  • National Honor Society
  • President and founder of a Zine Club with a mental health focus at school
  • Designed and painted a mural on school campus
  • Designed and painted a mural for a local cafe in my neighborhood
  • Friends of the LA River volunteer
  • Babysitting

Essays/LORs/Other

*Working on essays now with a tutor. I think they’ll be strong.

I’ll have a strong LOR from my art teacher. I ended up having an unfortunate mix of teachers my junior year and though I’m liked, I’m pretty introverted and I don’t have very close relationships with any of them. I have stronger relationships with my core teachers from sophomore year but I’ve been told I need to ask Junior or Senior year teachers. My LORs are the part of my application I’m most nervous about.

Cost Constraints / Budget

*Trying to keep it below $35/year, which would still require us to take out some loans. We will likely receive assistance from a grandparent but it would come in the form of an inheritance years down the road. Budget is an issue. My parents make approx. 140k a year working for non-profits. I have two younger siblings. We have home equity that we don’t want to touch because it’s basically my parents’ retirement plan.

Schools

  • Safety (certain admission and affordability)

Cal. State Long Beach

Cal. State Fullerton

Cal. State Northridge

  • Likely *

Lewis & Clark

St. John’s College (Annapolis) - I love the curriculum offered at this school but it might be too small for me.

UC Irvine (though not sure it’s a financial match)

  • Match

Kenyon College

Oberlin College

Grinnell

  • Reach

Williams (ED) - This is my current top pick for a combination of affordability (w/ need based aid) and programs offered.

Yale - This is a dream but it doesn’t seem affordable or at all likely of being admitted. I’m drawn to their graphic design, letterpress, and publishing classes.

Swarthmore - I have a strong connection to Quaker values and I love the curriculum but it will probably be out of reach financially.

RISD - This would be a reach financially unless they award merit scholarships.

UCLA

UC Berkeley

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Don’t take the SAT again - score is great. Consider Vassar, Conn College, Skidmore, Wesleyan, Bard - but definitely run the NPCs first! Most small schools won’t have an architecture major but will have some classes.

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Are you by any chance a National Merit Semi-Finalist?

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I don’t think I am. I didn’t study for the PSAT and I only got a 1310. I didn’t realize at the time it was the qualifying test for National Merit awards. :frowning:

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Sarah Lawrence might be a dark horse to check out.

Bryn Mawr and Haverford also come to mind, especially if Swarthmore appealed.

URichmond - Is Virginia in or out with gun safety? Not sure where that state falls for you, seems reddish-purple right now politically

Cooper Union - might be a bit too specialized but an amazing school if it is the right fit

Dickinson - good arts program, study abroad options, merit scholarships

Edited to Add: I’d run the NPC for Swarthmore again because with the limited data you’ve provided, it looks like you should get enough need based aid to make it more than affordable. :smiling_face:

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Run the NPC at Macalester. Mac is in a cute urban residential neighborhood. MSP airport is a hub, so has a lot of direct flights. Mac is a very strong LAC with a solid art department. In addition, Mac has an agreement with Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) that allows students to take 1 class per semester.

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For your D’s interests, these are some schools I’d think about. They are sorted according to my very fallible sense of what your daughter’s chances might be at these schools. They all offer some type of major in architecture (the biggest limiting factor in the search, and not overly easy to find at smaller schools). Some of the schools also offer a degree in illustration, which I noted if I noticed it. Make sure you run the Net Price Calculators at the schools, especially the ones that give no merit aid (most of the ones in the low probability category). All the other schools will offer merit aid.

In-state financial safeties (@Gumbymom or someone else would need to provide chancing info):

  • Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo
  • Cal Poly - Pomona
  • Cal State - Fresno
  • Cal State - Sacramento

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • Drury (MO): About 1300 undergrads
  • Hampshire (MA): About 500 undergrads. If St. John’s appeals, this school might too. Plus, it’s part of the Five College Consortium with Amherst, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, and U. Mass, so you can take classes at the other universities and have a larger pool of students to interact with. Check on the financial status of the university, though. There have been rumors that it might be purchased by U. Mass and made as a specialty college within the school, but as far as I know, it’s just a rumor.
  • Ithaca (NY): About 4800 undergrads
  • Marywood (PA ): About 1800 undergrads, and the major in illustration may also be very appealing.
  • Roger Williams (RI): About 4200 undergrads
  • U. of Hartford (CT): About 4k undergrads. Check out the illustration major here, too.
  • U. of New Haven (CT): About 5k undergrads. The illustration major here might also be of interest.
  • U. of Idaho: About 8600 undergrads and a WUE school. Don’t know about the gun laws.
  • U. of New Mexico: About 16k undergrads and a WUE school, and your D would get very generous merit, too.

Likely (60-79%)

  • Hobart William Smith (NY): About 1700 undergrads
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic (NY): About 5600 undergrads

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • College of the Holy Cross (MA): About 3k undergrads
  • Connecticut College: About 1800 undergrads
  • Lehigh (PA ): About 5500 undergrads
  • Mount Holyoke (MA): About 2200 undergrads at this women’s college

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • Smith (MA): About 2600 undergrads at this women’s college

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Amherst (MA): About 2k undergrads
  • Brown (which also allows students to take classes at RISD): About 7300 undergrads
  • Carnegie Mellon (PA ): About 6900 undergrads
  • Washington U. (MO): About 8k undergrads
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I just ran the numbers on Swarthmore and was surprised that it came in well below our target. Are their admissions need-blind? (I’ve read conflicting reports.)
She wants to apply ED to one school and she’s trying to decide between Williams and Swarthmore. Any opinions on the chances of admittance to either? I keep wondering if there might be an advantage or disadvantage to applying as a potential art major to a LAC. It seems like all of her peers with similar academic records are more interested in STEM fields. Might that be an advantage for a high-performing non-STEM kid?

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Thank you so much for this list! I haven’t heard of some of these schools so I’m eager to research. I forgot about Univ. of NM. My daughter is hoping to get out of the dry climate but they have a great printmaking program that I could see her loving.

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Without getting into the details of your family’s finances, 35K a year is not an unreasonable ballpark figure with which to start playing with the interactive net price calculators at most, if not all the top colleges you’ve mentioned. Since you are interested in design, I would look at LACs with design programs:

Wesleyan University - Welcome, IDEAS - Wesleyan University

Swarthmore - 3D Design :: Art :: Swarthmore College

Colby - Architecture and Design | Colby College

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Swarthmore was one of the most affordable for us based on the NPC but my daughter took it off her list due to its reputation for academic intensity (she wanted intellectual but not overly stressful). I suspect they must not include home equity at all as that’s where we got dinged as well. We know several kids who are very happy at Williams but it’s very isolated.

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Swarthmore is need-blind in admissions:

That answer is found on the page linked above.

Both schools are highly selective so admission chances are low for all (relatively), but I would actually lean towards Swarthmore between the two as the place to use an ED application. Seems to have more of what she is looking for, as well as less isolated. Your daughter sounds like a strong applicant, especially with her arts supplements.

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All the Cal States would be financial safeties but necessarily admission safeties.

Unless the student is in the local service area for Cal State Long Beach or the HS has a historically high admission rate, I would put CSULB as a Match. Impacted CSU campuses can be admission safeties for local applicants but necessarily major safeties.

Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton look like Very Likely/Safety schools. The only CSU listed that would be a bit of a Reach depending upon applied major would be Cal Poly SLO.

If interested in Architecture, then Cal Poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona would be the CSU’s to add to the list but I would not add any more CSU’s to the list if OP is happy to attend attend any of the 3 listed without the Architecture option.

Cal States admit by major and changing majors can be problematic at several of the CSU Impacted campuses so this should also be taken into consideration. Exploring majors is not a given for the Cal States.

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Don’t want to nitpick AustenNut’s comprehensive and otherwise fine list but take off U New Haven. It is a VERY pre-professional place (degrees in fire safety, labor relations, things like that) in a particularly ugly stretch of fast food restaurants anchored by a big Walmart at one end and I can’t remember what on the other. For a kid who wants depth in the humanities and the arts, UNH ain’t it.

Swarthmore and Williams are both exceptional places. Williams is isolated geographically but in a beautiful part of New England. I don’t know much about its Fine Arts programs, but its Art History department is one of the finest in the country-- so much so that its alums working in the Art industry (auction houses, museums, key publications which cover the business side of art) are called the Williams Mafia. And some fantastic museums in that part of Massachusetts.

Swarthmore is a suburban campus- leafy and lovely- in an upscale neighborhood. Good public transportation to get into Philly proper (also terrific museums-- the Barnes is mind-blowing for the art, the architecture, and the legal battles to get it built) which is nice for internships or just an afternoon in an urban place.

Williams has more athletic/preppy types; Swarthmore has more intellectual/philosopher types, but you can likely find your people at both. Warm and friendly campuses with smart kids who love to learn.

Does your HS have a history with either? That would be a helpful data point in deciding if either represents a solid “maybe” for admissions!

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For a few suggestions, look into Connecticut College; Smith College; Hamilton; and Hobart and William Smith.

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Nitpick away! Most schools I mention I know only via website. Information about what the school actually is like in-person is very valuable, and I appreciate knowing more!

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I could have the school wrong but I think they might be local for CSULB.

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If you would like an estimate of expenses for a lot of colleges quickly, this site can be helpful:

Note that the listed colleges are “participating schools” and endorse the use of this site. For further substantiation, you can compare results to those of individual Net Price Calculators.

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We’re Los Angeles residents. I don’t know if that’s still considered local for CSULB?

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See link for local admission areas and it is based on the HS location.

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