Candid/Learned Opinions on These Choices Please?

<p>I'm posting this on the parent's forum in the hope that my daughter won't stumble upon this and kill me for discussing her business with internet strangers . . .</p>

<p>She's been accepted to five colleges: Carleton (w/$0), Grinnell ($12,000 a year a Trustee's Scholarship), St. Mary's of Maryland ($7500 a year merit scholarship), Wooster ($15,000 a year merit scholarship), and William & Mary (no $ but in state). She has already ruled William & Mary -- the best deal from a money standpoint -- completely out. Grinnell, St. Mary's, and Wooster all cost about the same with the merit $$, and Carleton is about $15-$20k higher than the three.</p>

<p>Money isn't the determining factor but it's obviously a consideration. What really matters is which school has the best reputation and is the best fit for an extremely hardworking and dedicated but "quirky" daughter who's well left of center politically and who, while completely undecided on a major, does know that she wants to dabble in theatre in college. </p>

<p>Please discuss. And thanks</p>

<p>Has she visited all of them? From your description, I would put them in this order: Carleton, Grinnell, Wooster, St. M. All are good schools.
Also, I would concentrate more on fit and less on reputation.</p>

<p>Same top two as ASDad...I might flip St. Mary's and Wooster, would have do to some reading.</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice. I agree that "fit" is important, but I think and I think she agrees that any one of these colleges can offer a good fit -- which is why she didn't apply early decision to any of them -- and I also think that you do have to factor reputation into account when you're talking about spending six figures over four years.</p>

<p>I may be over-simplifying things, but I get the impression that Carleton is a harder admit than Grinnell and that most kids who have the option choose Carleton over Grinnell. But are the academic reputations of the two all that different? I'm aware that Carleton is ranked higher in most surveys.</p>

<p>Based on academic reputation, i don't think Carleton is worth 15-20K/year more than Grinnell.</p>

<p>St Mary's is the perfect school for some kids. I know when we visited it, my son looked longingly at it for a lot of its aspects. If he had been a little different, had different goals and desires, it would have been it. In many ways it was his dream school in ways other schools were not. But he loves the water, the sailing, and that quality of life. The buildings, the grounds, the kids were what he would consider heavenly. I am already earmarking the school for one of my younger ones.</p>

<p>I have put that school apart because I think it is very special and requires a match more than the others. Some kids would be terribly unhappy there. THough reputation and selectivity, the order is Carleton, Grinnell, Wooster, I would put Grinnell right next to Carleton, not below it in any hierarchy. I know many, many top grade kids who have chosen Grinnell and done extremely well. I am with MomofFour that the dollars would easily put Grinnell over, unless the student is set on Carleton, fallen in love with Carleton or any such issues. $60K put away can buy an awful lot of experiences and material goods or additional education or is a danged nice nest egg coming out of Grinnell.</p>

<p>I'm with jamimom on this one. Grinnell for an artsy quirky left of center kid with $12,000 merit? Match made in heaven.</p>

<p>Re: academic stretch at Carleton. We've been discussing Carleton's trimester system on the Carleton board: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=52182%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=52182&lt;/a> . 3 courses per trimester, each 10 weeks, each covering 15 weeks of semester's worth of material. Thus students take 9 semester courses in one year. Plus, the winter break is from Thanksgiving through Jan 1.</p>

<p>There are plenty of artsy, and definitely quirky kids at Carleton. Dabbling in theatre is what several of my D's friends are doing right now at Carleton (directing student productions, acting, etc.). I'd put Carleton a notch higher for academics (and selectivity - 28% for 2008 class), but not enough of a notch higher to justify bagging the $12000 merit from Grinnell. If all things were equal, it would come down to where she wants to be for the next 4 years.</p>

<p>Sounds like parents are lining up in favor of Grinnell!</p>

<p>My vote: Grinnell, Carleton, St. Mary's, Wooster. I am also the mother of a quirky, left-of-center D, but art is her thing, not theater. Will your D be visiting Grinnell next week? Mine is going, and her father and I are grateful for their generous merit offer.
I must say, I admire your list. You and your D did a great job searching for schools.I have been playing, "shudda, cudda" and would like to be able to do it all over again with present knowledge.
Was William and Mary insufficiently quirky, or does she just want to spread her wings?</p>

<p>We liked College of Wooster a lot, but it is probably not as quirky and definitely not as academically intense as Grinnell or Carleton. I'd go with Grinnell if the choice were mine.</p>

<p>Gee, I don't think Wooster and St. Marys despite their intimate charms...can compare in any way re diversity of student body and rigor or reputation...to William and Mary.<br>
I think St. Mary's is a bargain for in state families but that it really has not yet succeeded in coaxing a percentage of kids from Non Beltway communities there so that could get dull re everyone from the same region. </p>

<p>Carlton has the strongest breadth and depth if money is no object and only a notch below and only because it is a smaller student body...Grinnell, which like Carlton, has super motivated kids who are willing to leave their regions and take chances, and a superior record when it is time to apply to graduate schools. Grinnell for biggest impact for the money outside of Wm and Mary, Carlton for overall national star undergrad experience.</p>

<p>pattykk,</p>

<p>It's funny that you're admiring our list as our daughter has some regrets. She applied to Brown, not expecting to get in, and she was right about that, but she now wishes she'd applied to a few more "reach" schools. As for William & Mary, yes, she does think the school is insufficiently quirky and we disagree with her on that. She also underestimates the quality and reputation of the school since it's in state and so familiar, and she also thinks -- again, wrongly in our view, but this is ultimately her decision and not ours -- that the school is too big. </p>

<p>She's most proud of her Carleton admit but when she visited she found the students more sporty, mainstream, and generally less friendly than Grinnell.</p>

<p>If she doesn't mind the cold, I think Carleton is her best choice, but Grinnell would be preferred because of the money. However, Iowa is just as cold as Minnesota. (I grew up on MN) Something to consider when out of state is how accessible by plane or car and what are the airfare rates? How often would she realistically be able to come home? Especially that first year, they can get pretty homesick. Sounds picky, I know, but it's those little things that can add up and make the difference when you otherwise can't decide.</p>

<p>My daughter applied to plenty of reaches and was accepted to Swat (her heart's dream), Haverford, Pomona, and Wesleyan, but we had no need, and it's really hard to say no to all those great schools. We are juggling the books, and she is going to visit Chicago and Grinnell in the next two weeks. We will have to decide whether to sell her brother and send her to Swat or take one of the nice merit packages offered by Chicago, Grinnell, or Kenyon. I wish we had steered her away from the heartbreakers and steered her towards the good but reasonable schools. On the other hand, Swat is just perfect for her, so what I really wish is that we had figured things out earlier and saved more. She has some great choices, and we are extremely lucky, all in all.</p>

<p>hey Patty kk:
Wait and see what she thinks of Grinnell. Our D has the honors program at UC Santa Barbara, UCSD, UCLA and Cal to choose from, but she really doesn't want to go to any of those. Our D thought she wanted to go to Brown, but I don't think it would ultimately have been the best fit. I do think Grinnell is. However, I sweated bullets trying to get her to fill out the applications. And we might have ended up in your shoes. We have at son at Cal, so we will have two tuitions for next year. Pretty tough nut. It would be fun if we could network next weekend at Grinnell.</p>

<p>Grinnell plus a year in medical school, or living on the Left Bank in Paris or two years of saving the world in Africa, or four trips around the globe, or an unpaid internship at a leftie organization or a large downpayment on a house vs. Carlton and none of the above? It is hard to make an argument (or at least it is for me) that Carlton is worth $48k more than Grinnell when one takes into account the education that this $48k could buy in addition.</p>

<p>Mini, a lot would depend--in our case, in this theoretical exercise--on the student's gut feel about each campus. If it's a comparable reaction, then $12K a year is significant. If the student likes Grinell more than Carelton, it's a no-brainer. If the student really likes Careleton and twitches at the thought of Grinnell, then, yes, it may be worth it to have Carelton and nothing.</p>

<p>My daughter went to St. Mary's College of Maryland and loved it. They have a small but excellent theatre department. In her freshman year she was in a theatre seminar of fewer then ten students, with a professor who performed at the Folger and produced plays at St. Mary's. We're not from Maryland and she didn't feel out of place at all as a non-resident.</p>

<p>I'm thinking "Carlton is lowest." Oh wait, that's an old cigarette ad.</p>

<p>I'd be leaning strongly toward Grinnell, if it were me.</p>