I know two people in my HS who applied to Swarthmore for 2023/24. The one who got in didn’t need any financial aid and applied ED. Swarthmore sends a representative to my school every year and our college counselor has visited the campus. I don’t know how far back the relationship goes though.
I haven’t heard of anyone in the last 2 graduating classes being accepted to Williams but I also don’t know if anyone applied there.
Cal Poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona have (five year) NAAB accredited BArch programs if you decide to fully commit to the BArch path for architecture.
Otherwise, after a bachelor’s degree in anything, a three year MArch degree would be the usual first professional degree, but that is a more expensive path than a BArch at one of the in-state Cal Polys (at CSU cost). Some MArch programs allow a less than three year path if your bachelor’s degree was in an architecture-related major.
For UCs and CSUs, you can calculate your GPA using the method shown at GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub . A few notes:
- UCs use all three versions of the recalculated GPA.
- CSUs use only the weighted-capped version. Also, any college courses taken while in high school count as two courses with two grades for a one semester college course for the CSU recalculation.
- Cal Poly SLO uses grades from 9th-11th grade, unlike all other UCs and CSUs that use grades from 10th-11th grade.
Freshman Student Profile indicates that the most recent admission cycle at Cal Poly Pomona had architecture applicants admitted at a threshold score of 4522. Since that index is calculated as GPA * 1000 + 450 + unspecified bonus points, an applicant without bonus points needed a 4.072 recalculated GPA to be admitted. Threshold may change next year.
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For an affordable safety with attractive programs, consider U of Utah. The Honors College would make a big school feel smaller - it offers great honors housing and robust programming such as its Praxis Labs. The School of Architecture & Planning offers several undergrad degrees that could fit her interests: both a pre-professional Arch Studies BS, and a BS in Multi-Disciplinary Design. (The Art department also offers BFA’s in Studio Art, with a variety of specialty areas, or Graphic Design.) UofU would meet your budget, either via the WUE discount or by full-paying for the first year and attaining residency for years 2-4. (They’re unusual in making this path accessible.) Merit aid is also possible.
How does the need-based aid look for your family at Conn College? Their Arch Studies major has excellent studio classes. Many LAC arch studies programs are more of a combo of art/arch history and studio art, without arch-specific studio classes. A few have a stronger arch studio component, including Conn, Middlebury, and Hobart William Smith. It could be worth checking out the affordability of these.
Have you run the NPC for the Claremont Colleges? The offerings are excellent for her interests, with both Studio Art and the “Sustainability and the Built Environment” track of Environmental Analysis (which was designed as a pre-arch pathway). Pomona would likely be the most affordable but the most difficult admit. Scripps, Pitzer, and CMC could all be options for her if affordable. None is going to offer enough merit to reach your budget, so it’s the NPC result that matters. (Pomona and Swarthmore have an exchange program, so that would be something to think about if she did apply ED to Swat and get in. Or vice versa. Swat students can also do a domestic exchange at Middlebury or Tufts.)
I’m surprised Brown isn’t on the reach list, given the cross-registration with RISD - likely a better option financially than RISD, plus you don’t want a BFA anyway, but you’d still get access to RISD courses, and lots of flexibility with Brown’s open curriculum.
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Thank you for all these suggestions. Conn College hasn’t been on our radar so we’ll definitely look into it. We haven’t looked closely at any Western schools as my daughter has always been pretty focused on going further east but the programs you mention sound appealing and worth researching. Brown was on her list but we removed it because the NPC came out too high for us. I plan on calling their Financial Aid office to see if there’s any flexibility on how they treat home equity. Like probably a lot of families in California, that’s our trouble spot when determining need-based aid.
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I think Brown is pretty well known for some of the stingiest aid of the meets full need schools when it comes to how they treat home equity. Several families on CC over the years have run into that issue and had to let Brown go (even alums).
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According to the linked spreadsheet (data from 2017), this does appear to be the case:
“Aug 2017: Per test of NPC, appeals [sic] there is no cap to home equity, they use 100% of equity, though could appeal.”
https://www.thecollegesolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Home-Equity-Spreadsheet.xlsx
Look at Common Data Set sections C7 for Williams and Swarthmore. Williams lists race/ethnicity and first gen as important factors for admission. Swarthmore lists these criteria as considered. Does your race and first gen status help you or hurt you at Williams?
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I’m confused…what does race and first gen status have to do with this student? They are a white middle class female whose parents went to college (I thought).
OP asked for opinions on EDing to Williams or Swarthmore. As a white female, non-first gen the applicant is missing two factors considered important admission criteria at Williams. That would suggest her chances are better at Swarthmore where those factors are considered but not important.
The applicant is strong. Once past the academic hurdles, admissions is driven heavily by institutional priorities.
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I think DadSays is suggesting that if the student is not an URM or first gen at a school where it’s considered important (Williams), then their chances might be greater at a school where those factors are only considered (Swarthmore). If the student is an URM or first gen, then the reverse would be recommended.
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Thank you because I was seriously confused! I need to improve my reading comprehension 
Completely agree with your read, now that I understand.
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Perhaps another factor with some Northeastern LACs is that their sports teams seem to be important, and a significant portion of the student population. That suggests that an applicant who is neither a recruited athlete nor someone who could plausibly be a walk-on athlete may be at a disadvantage compared to published admission stats.
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34% of Swarthmore’s class of 2027 acceptances were first generation students. That factor seems more than just “considered”. I haven’t been able to find a number for Williams.
What’s the opinion on the effect of an applicant showing interest in a less popular major at a highly selective school? Could it hurt or help the chances?
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Modestly helpful if the kid has the goods. But any college that doesn’t ask for a major commitment until sophomore year isn’t going to be bamboozled by the kid majoring in egyptology who shows zero interest, experience or curiosity about the subject.
So a very modestly helpful something extra.
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Are you asking the OP a question or venturing an opinion? That was where it got confusing.
We were in a similar financial position for D23 that the toughest admits would have given us the most aid. Our budget was $33,000, full pay at UMASS Amherst our state flagship. Here are some suggestions to look into:
Mt. Holyoke - D23 will be attending cost less than UMASS with merit scholarship and need based aid. Part of the of the 5 college consortium (Amherst College, Smith College, UMASS Amherst, and Hampshire). More rural than the other schools in the consortium. D23 said it reminded her of Williams when she first went to campus. Application is free.
Smith College - Needs meet school/no loans. D23 was waitlisted but the NPC had it as our lowest price school (the NPC calculator was very accurate for us). Northampton is great town. Also part of the 5 college corsortium. Application was free.
Clark University Worcester, MA I don’t know much about their arts major but I do know the last time I was at the Worcester Art Museum (great smaller art museum) there was an exhibit from Clark students. Cost for us was less than UMASS with merit scholarship and aid. D23 did not receive the top merit scholarship so there are higher awards. Free masters degree. There is cross registration with other Worcester colleges (WPI, College of the Holy Cross). Not sure how that works but WPI does offer Architectural Engineering. Liberal, artsy vibe inner city school about 45 west of Boston. App was free for us (but not sure if that is because we go to a local school). They are a FAFSA school no CSS is required this will help with your home equity situation.
Emmanuel College in Boston. This would be an easy admit for your daughter. Small Catholic college but it didn’t seem too Catholic. Housing provided for all 4 years which is huge in Boston (they built a beautiful dorm a couple years ago). Part of the Colleges of the Fenway, which includes Mass College of Art and Design, Wentworth (which offers architecture), Mass College of Pharmacy, and Simmons College. Cross registration is available at all the colleges. The MFA is close by. This was our lowest cost admit. FAFSA only school. Our application was free (D23 attends Catholic School but it may be free for all).
Colby College - Look up the Colby Commitment. Located in Waterville, ME. Very rural but beautiful campus. D23 didn’t end up applying. Free application.
Good luck!
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They do have a separate, additional financial aid form that asks about home equity.
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SInce you have home equity, you may have a better chance at getting more F/A at schools that consider home equity at all.
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Thanks for posting that! I thought I remembered there was a newer one than the 2017 one I posted a link to.
Interestingly, this one states that Brown doesn’t use home equity at all, whereas the 2017 document stated they used 100% and didn’t cap.
Not all of the info is accurate either, so it’s worth checking into things further. For example, that document states that Bryn Mawr considers 100% of home equity, whereas I had a direct conversation with their financial office in Summer 2022 where they confirmed that they cap home equity at 2x annual income. They were also starting a system where they would start doing official FA determinations in advance for ED applicants (not just athletic recruits) that would be completed by Oct. 15th each year.
Around the same time, I confirmed that Mt. Holyoke uses a 2x cap as stated, but their NPC doesn’t use that and the figures it generates show less generous financial aid than they’ll likely provide. They said that was to provide a conservative estimate, but it seems to me that they might be losing applicants as a result.
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That’s interesting about Mt Holyoke. It came off my D22’s list in part because the NPC showed a number we could not afford (much higher than most other meet needs schools). At the time I either knew or assumed it was due to home equity. It probably was coming off the list anyway for other reasons, but that certainly didn’t help. I assumed NPC’s were largely accurate (within an order of magnitude) and while nothing was off the table for regular decision (just in case it came in better) but my D definitely wanted to ED if she had a strong first choice and there were certain schools - Barnard was another - where we could not allow ED due to the NPC (note Barnard also came off the list for other reasons so the restriction was moot). In our experience her ED school was ultimately marginally more generous than the NPC suggested - which was a nice surprise - and with other expenses has turned out to be very much needed - but pretty much in line with the estimate.
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