I am looking for a highly-ranked college for my 11th grade daughter who wants to major in French. We have a lowish income so have a good chance at financial aid based on need. But I also want merit from schools (1) that say they offer merit for French majors and (2) school that say that are needs-blind but want to fill the seats of their French classes and will want my daughter and offer her a lot of aid. Her guidance counselor is sure she will be Valedictorian and she placed 11th in the nation last year on Le Grand Concours / The National French Exam. She will attend Middleburg’s summer language-immersion program in French, for which she was given a one-half of tuition scholarship. I think Tulane will be interested in her, but otherwise I would prefer to keep her closer to home in NY, NJ, PA, NH, VT, at a small liberal arts college. We visited and liked Skidmore and Connecticut College. Her PSAT scores were like 98% percentile.
Middlebury is an obvious one (probably best for languages in the country) and Dickinson has a very strong French program that can be a less-selective alternative. Look into Bryn Mawr and Barnard, too.
As far as I know, there is no merit specifically for French, but many colleges with strong French programs will be interested in students who are good at it.
Never heard of 1) or 2) sorry. I would focus on the usual way to get merit-- being a desirable student with test scores in the upper 10 pct of the target colleges.
Do you mean Middlebury? Middlebury does indeed have an excellent reputation in foreign languages, and they are need blind for admissions, but they do not offer any merit aid.
What are her test scores?
What is your AGI, approximately?
(I believe it’s need-blind, not needs-blind).
Yes, of course I meant Middlebury, whoops. (I was typing slightly after 4 in the morning).
Bryn Mawr and Barnard are schools she is interested in. Also Skidmore and Connecticut College. Connecticut College has a dorm where students are expected to speak their target language not quite 24/7 but most of the time. Hamilton, Mt. Holyoke, Wellesley. Will look into Dickinson, MYOS, thanks for the tip.
Her second-round scores on the PSAT are Critical Writing 65; Math 65; Writing 78. Total 208/98th percentile. We are in New York State, and I don’t think she will quite make NMS.
AGI must mean Adjusted Gross Income, yes? On our 2014 1040, our Gross Income is $90,000 which represents a $70,000 salary and $20,000 pension (my husband is 63). When DD2 (whom we are talking about) is a Freshman, DD1 will be a Senior in college.
DD2 has a very high GPA, something like 104%. She is taking AP Computer Science through Florida Virtual School and has not make a single mistake since her first quiz in September. Her grade is 100%.
So I ask everyone I run into, “How can you turn French fluency and Computer Science into a career?” Everyone I’ve asked has replied, “You can’t! You can go to France and do computer science!” But DD2 has some interesting ideas herself.
DS2 plans to combine French and CS. He is targeting a very large French CS company in America and planning on an international CS program at our state flagship.
Could she prepare an application for the presidential scholarship at Georgia Tech (in November!)? Girl in CS is always a plus and GaTech has a pretty good French program, with a year in France offered (counting toward CS and French majors).
I don’t really understand the question. Don’t all schools want to fill their French classes (or any other classes?) with students who want to major in French? I don’t see why Tulane is any more likely to offer scholarships than any other language department in any school. Most schools don’t give huge awards for a specific major but may offer a small departmental scholarship; my daughter has one in theater, my friend’s son in accounting, many schools give them for engineering. Big bucks for French? I don’t know.
For some odd reason, I know a lot of people who majored in French at different schools around the country: Wisconsin, Wyoming, Metro State, Wesleyan, and all were top students coming out of high school (my sister even went to Middlebury, but no scholarship); none of them work in a field involving French now. Some got their careers using French (answering phones, writing some documents) but went on to study different things like law, business, teaching (not French).
Your daughter might find a better financial offer in Canada or France where she’d study computer science, but learn French too.
If her French is really, really good (AP French +) and she’s had Calc BC + Physics C + AP CS, she could apply for the “postbac grandes écoles” . I know there’s a March 20 deadline to enter choices (and be allowed to participate in applications/selections) but I don’t know more. Tuition is ridiculously low.
INSA’s are like American Tech schools (Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech…), with a campus etc. INSA Lyon is the most prestigious.
http://www.letudiant.fr/etudes/ecole-ingenieur.html
http://www.letudiant.fr/etudes/ecole-ingenieur/reussir-les-concours-des-ecoles-dingenieurs-postbac-14359.html
http://www.letudiant.fr/palmares/palmares-des-ecoles-d-ingenieurs/insa-lyon.html
She could consider applying to some of the Canadian universities which waive international fees for students attending classes in French (not necessarily majoring in French.) UOttawa has a program. I was told McGill does, but I haven’t confirmed McGill’s. UOttawa’s is one my ds has been investigating.
I read all these helpful replies very carefully and will take action. Thank you all for taking the time to focus on my question and supply meaningful, well-thought-out advice based on knowledge and experience.
Mom2physicsgeek, good point. She is thinking of Magill.
Yes, her French is better than AP plus. Her father lived in France and was fortunate to use his French at his employment and is either fluent or near-fluent.
Gearmom, good luck to your son! Keep us posted!
And when she gets to that point, Georgia Tech has a program with a dual degree from the Sorbonne…a MBA. That might be interesting too. About 20 per year get accepted.
You might want to PM a poster named Dharmawheel. Her daughter sounds exactly like yours…same grade, rural NYS school, attending Middlebury this summer, has an older sister in college, wants to major in French in college, has a father fluent in the language. Perhaps Dharmawheel can give you some info based on her research.
So sorry to see you go, dutchessparent (or whoever you are)! Best of luck with Middleburg and Magill!
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