Californian looking to go to the northeast

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am finishing out my junior year, and looking for some advice.
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
SAT score: 730M/700CR/710W
I won't bore you with the details, but I have some good extracurriculars/community service and leadership.
EFC is $25,000 but I have a sister in college and a brother who is going to be in college in a couple of years so I am hoping to get some merit money</p>

<p>I go to a competitive private school in California, where most people end up going to UCs and other schools that are pretty nearby. I'm one of the only people who wants to go into the Northeast, and so my counselor is having trouble suggesting schools for me (she just keeps suggesting schools in California). I want a small/medium school with a liberal arts feel in the New England area (willing to go to New York or possibly Pennsylvania). I would rather urban or suburban, but am open to rural environments. I love Boston, but have been unable to find a school that really fits what I want. I don't want sports or Greek life to dominate the scene, but I'm ok if they are present. I also want a school that is more liberal, rather than conservative.</p>

<p>My current list is:
Brown (my dream school, but I know it's a long shot)
Northeastern -- it's too big for me, but it's in Boston and I like the co-op; my counselor says it would be a safety, is this true?
Boston College -- my sister is going there next year, will this help or hurt in admissions? Also, I'm not sure because of the sports scene, which I don't want to be overwhelming.
Wesleyan
Haverford, although I'm not totally in love with Pennsylvania</p>

<p>I have been to visit Northeastern, BU, and BC with my sister, but haven't visited any other schools in the northeast. I've also visited UCLA, UCSB, and Stanford, none of which really appealed to me at all (too big and Stanford was too sports-dominated). I have been thinking about visiting some of the Claremont colleges, but I really want to get out of CA, if possible.</p>

<p>I need some more matches and safeties (especially because I don't really like my only safety), but am also open to reaches. Any schools that are good with merit money would also be much appreciated.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Look at Rochester.</p>

3

<p>Thinking in terms of merit money:</p>

<p>If you’re female, would you be willing to consider women’s colleges? Bryn Mawr awards some significant merit aid, and there is cross-enrollment with Haverford. Of course, if you’re an XY, this is a useless suggestion. </p>

<p>I’ll second Rochester. In the Boston area, look at Brandeis (though there’s not much merit money, if any) and Clark (Worcester, about an hour outside Boston). </p>

<p>Not on the east coast, but Macalester might appeal–it’s urban and liberal. </p>

<p>Do take a look at the Claremonts. Pitzer awards merit money, Pomona is need-based only. CMC has highly competitive merit, not sure about Mudd or Scripps.</p>

4

<p>Wheaton (MA) Highest merit award is $17,500/per year, Balfour Scholarship.
1550 undergrads, no Greek Life, great academics, small classes, easy to get to Providence & Boston via public transportation. Providence is closer, 16 miles or so. </p>

<p>Connecticut College (CT) No Merit Aid</p>

5

<p>Why don’t you take a look at Vassar? Also, Amherst, Skidmore come to mind.</p>

6

<p>I am female, but I have gone to an all-girls’ school for junior high and high school, so I really want to go coed for college.</p>

<p>I know I said small/medium sized, but I am really looking in the ballpark of 2000-7000 students, so Wheaton seems a little small. </p>

<p>While merit is somewhat important, it is not entirely necessary, as my parents have said they are willing to pay the 25k per year.</p>

<p>So after checking out a few of the options I have seen, I like:</p>

<p>Rochester
Macalester
Vassar
Amherst
Skidmore – how far is this from the nearest city? Is it a very rural setting?</p>

<p>I’m wary about Connecticut College because I’ve heard it’s very preppy.</p>

<p>I should also note that I’ve been to Worcester, and I absolutely hated it.</p>

<p>As for Brandeis, I’m not Jewish, and I’ve heard it is very Jewish, so I feel like I would be out of place.</p>

<p>Any other suggestions?</p>

7

<p>stars, merit money is scarce in the Northeast, especially at the more selectives. Conversely, need based aid is usually good.</p>

<p>If you include the midwest, like Macalester, your chances of merit rise. </p>

<p>As noted above, women’s colleges tend to be the best bet for merit based aid. You should take a look at Smith. It’s part of a 5 college consortium (Amherst is one of them) so the social options are wider. I believe it would be a safety for you.</p>

<p>Skidmore is located in a lively small town (similar to Amherst, actually). It’s far from an urban center, but it’s not exactly rural.</p>

<p>All colleges in the Northeast are more liberal than conservative, though some have more pronounced political agendas than others. </p>

<p>I’d consider Northeastern a safety. I like Northeastern but it does seem out of place with your other choices.</p>

<p>Otherwise, you should look at the usual suspects Williams, Hamilton, Colgate, Middlebury, Colby, Bowdoin, Bates, Bard. A lot of these may be more rural than you you’re looking for, but they offer true New England atmosphere, insular campus communities and excellent academics.</p>

<p>What’s your area of interest? Major ECs? Any talents/hooks?</p>

8

<p>Women’s colleges with close connections to coed schools are worth a look. Smith, as momrath says. Bryn Mawr w/Haverford. Barnard (more reachy) with Columbia. Scripps at the Claremonts. </p>

<p>Since you’ll have a sister at BC, go visit her and then take a look at Brandeis. If you hate it, or feel it’s not a match in fit, no harm no foul. </p>

<p>If your parents are willing to pay their EFC, you can look for schools that meet need. Tufts doesn’t appeal? They only offer need-based FA (which is why I didn’t mention them before). There are similarities with Brown.</p>

9

<p>*EFC is $25,000 but I have a sister in college and a brother who is going to be in college in a couple of years so I am hoping to get some merit money
*</p>

<p>Do you understand that merit doesn’t reduce EFC unless the merit award is greater than need?</p>

<p>Some people mistakenly think that a merit award can directly be applied to EFC. That’s not true unless EFC is equal or greater than COA. </p>

<p>The problem I see is this…your EFC is at least $25k and you’re looking at schools that will cost $55k+ per year30k per year. So, if you were given a merit scholarship of - say - $15k per - that wouldn’t do you any good at all. Your family would still have to pay the $25k per year.</p>

<p>We need more info: </p>

<p>How much will your parents spend each year? If you don’t know, ask.</p>

<p>For instance, if your parents say that they can only pay $15k per year, then you would have to find schools that would give you a “free tuition scholarship,” so that their $15k can pay for room, board, books, etc.</p>

<p>Boston College – my sister is going there next year, will this help or hurt in admissions?</p>

<p>how much do your parents have to pay for your sister to go to BC? (BTW…don’t worry about the sports scene…those who aren’t interested, don’t have to go to the games…no big deal.)</p>

<p>P.S… I also went to an all-girls high school in Calif, so I can understand the desire to go to a co-ed college.</p>

10

<p>I’m hoping to do a double major in psychology and English. I have a variety of ECs, but what I’m focusing on is the fact that I’m the editor of my school’s newspaper and that I’ve been involved in community service for a long time. I tutor kids from my town and also work with an organization that tutors inner city kids.</p>

<p>One of the main reasons that I want to be in/near a city is that I would like to continue with this type of volunteer work during college.</p>

<p>Adding on some of the suggestions, my list is:</p>

<p>Safety: Northeastern (may remove if I can find another safety that I like enough)
Matches: BC, Vassar
Reaches: Brown, Wesleyan, Haverford, Tufts, Barnard, Williams, Bowdoin, Amherst</p>

<p>What should I classify these as? Skidmore, Bryn Mawr, Macalester, Rochester</p>

<p>Obviously, I will need to narrow down my reach list a little, but these are the schools that I have at least a vague level of interest in.</p>

11

<p>Sorry, mom2collegekids, I didn’t see your post before I posted mine!</p>

<p>My parents said that they would be willing to pay the $25k a year–I just feel bad because I have siblings going to college as well. For BC, we are paying about 30k per year. I’m not quite sure how it works, but I guess they don’t use the federal method of calculating EFC, they use one of their own. Some is loans, some is work study, and my parents are paying some out of pocket. To be honest, I actually didn’t pay that much attention when they were doing the FA for my sister.</p>

12

<p>Safety: Northeastern</p>

<p>Northeastern doesn’t “meet need” so your family could be expected to pay most/all of the costs. If they can’t do that then this is not a safety for you. A safety must also be affordable.</p>

13

<p>Might look at Holy Cross- beautiful campus with great alumni network.</p>

14

<p>“I should also note that I’ve been to Worcester, and I absolutely hated it.” </p>

<p>OP does not care for Worcester.</p>

15

<p>So, if Northeastern can’t be a safety for me, then could any of the schools I have already said I liked be a safety? Or will I have to find another school? If so, are there any suggestions?</p>

<p>Where would Bryn Mawr, Skidmore, Macalaster, and Rochester fall (safeties, matches, or reaches)?</p>

<p>Also: I go to a small, rigorous high school where many graduates go on to top UCs and top schools in CA (e.g. Pomona, CMC, Stanford). I’m not sure how well known it would be in the northeast, though.</p>

16

<p>The adcoms will likely know your hs. Especially if it is rigorous. Geographic diversity can also help. (Unless you’re from a specific town where many kids apply for these schools.) </p>

<p>I don’t know Conn College as preppy- but Trinity, in Hartford, has that rep. Is it possible someone confused the two? I think you’d like Wes and your stats make it possible. (The campus is pretty, but the town is a bit worn.) Skidmore would possibly be a safety. It’s very artsy, 60% female, a walk from the town of Saratoga Springs (take a look at info about the town.) Then maybe 40 minutes or so to Albany. Maybe a good 4-5 hours from Boston, by car. We couldn’t get any definite info about comm svc. It’s a fairly modern architecture, having moved from their old campus. Many kids like Union, in Schenectady. Small campus, a very old school with an interesting history, but not a great surrounding area. Hamilton is popular, somewhat rural, but has a very active Greek life that the school occasionally has to clamp down on- and traditionally has been seen as very prep. When you look at these NY colleges, try to consider how easy (or not) it would be to get back and forth, during breaks.</p>

<p>Bryn Mawr is in a pretty part of the Phila suburbs and you can cross enroll at Haverford. But, all-girls. Mac might also be a likely and it’s 10 miles or so from St. Paul. Yes, there is a possibility having a sister at BC could help you get in- if there is a “Why Us?” short question, that’s where many kids explain they know and like the campus because a sibling is there- and happy and productive.<br>
Also, you know that when both you and your sister are in college, your EFC reflects that? Did you run the EFC sample with the info that your sister is in college?</p>

<p>Don’t forget to look at the online course catalogs to get a feel for classes offered, the backgrounds/interests of the profs and what you can learn about research opps and how the school supports any internships.</p>

17

<p>Safeties: Look at some of the lower tier (but still academically good) LACs, like Dickinson, Wheaton (the one in MA), Clark. Get the USNWR LAC list and research from the bottom up. Perhaps, you could find an EA school, like Chicago.</p>

<p>I believe that Bryn Mawr would also be a safety (as would Smith and Holyoke), but again the all-women’s decision is a personal one. Skidmore, Macalester would be matches. I’m not sure about Rochester.</p>

<p>Your highschool is probably known by admissions committees, but California isn’t a particularly strong demographic. Not a negative, just not a positive.</p>

18

<p>Dickinson is a great idea.</p>

19

<p>Tufts is very interested in extending its reach in California.</p>

<p>OP, Rochester loves feeling loved. If you can’t make it to visit the campus, do make an effort to attend a local info session. They also like when people interview.</p>

20

<p>@lookingforward: I actually don’t know, because my parents did all the EFC stuff. I’ll have to ask them.</p>

<p>Is Bryn Mawr to Haverford as Barnard is to Columbia? My sister applied to Barnard, and we both really liked the idea of that, so I think I want to apply there.</p>

<p>I should be able to visit Rochester this summer. I’m trying to figure out a solid long-list within the coming weeks so I can make a good short-list after visits.</p>

<p>Safeties: Bryn Mawr (although I would probably not want to apply here if it didn’t have a very close association with Haverford), Dickinson (not sure about PA), Wheaton (not sure about size)
Matches: Skidmore, Macalester, BC, Vassar
Reaches: Brown, Wesleyan, Haverford, Barnard, Williams, Bowdoin, Amherst</p>

<p>Rochester would also be on the list, but not sure where it would be. Will have to email guidance counselor to ask about this.</p>

<p>Could Tufts be moved down to a match because “Tufts is very interested in extending its reach in California”?</p>