I echo this comment about Bryn Mawr/Haverford. My daughter initially dismissed Bryn Mawr due to its small size but reconsidered when she further researched the relationship with Haverford, proximity to Philadelphia, and also the variety of restaurants/stores within walking distance. She’s now at BMC and loves it - it’s so easy to take classes at Haverford - which essentially doubles the coursework, student body, clubs, etc… And the social life is really full if you want it to be - she regularly goes to Philly for fun and food, and has been to several weekend parties at Haverford. The campus itself is quite contained, but she loves coming back to the quieter and beautiful setting.
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Oh–would it be better to apply RD then?
I haven’t had the chance to visit most of them if I’m honest, though I’m hoping to hit more of the MA schools this fall. I visited Brown, Harvard, Yale, Wellesley, and Tufts during school breaks but haven’t had much of a chance otherwise (I have two younger brothers and my mom likes to plan tours for when they can come too, to spare her the extra trip in the future). I was thinking I’d try to go to more accepted students days than visit beforehand if that makes sense?
I know a couple of Northeastern freshmen, but obviously they haven’t been there very long yet. I’ve been taking the size of the education/psychology major into account as well, since I figured that schools where a very small percentage of the students are ed majors can’t end up with too many massive classes.
I have testing accommodations but that’s about it. My school told me I didn’t qualify for a 504 plan, so I have a school-specific plan that gives me extra time on tests and not much else. I have done a little research on the process of obtaining accommodations (a huge part of the reason why I took Columbia off finally was realizing they require their own evaluation to provide accommodations, no matter how recent the previous one may be) at specific schools but little on students’ experiences in the actual program.
This is all very helpful, thanks so much!
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This is amazing!! Thank yoU!!
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That’s honestly what I was thinking, but (as you can tell by this thread) I’m terribly indecisive haha.
I guess the thing I liked about Stanford was their education program looks amazing and they offer a 5 year masters in education, which most of the other Ivies don’t seem to.
I think part of what I didn’t love about BM/H was even combined, the education department was pretty small.
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You definitely should visit all 4 (BMC/H, S, P) to get a better idea. The vibe is quite different - for instance, Swarthmore is textbook “intense” and although the others are too, the degree is noticeably different.
I’m not sure bringing younger sibligns along is going to help much: whatever they care about now is likely to have changed within 2 years or be biased due to their age. I guess it means they can have a broader exposition to many colleges out there than most students so it’s a positive, but not if it restricts your ability to visit…
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No. This is purely anecdotal, but ED is your best shot IF it’s your first choice. It looks like you have other front runners.
From what I have seen, EA is your next best - but it is possible you would get NU.in. The high stats kids from my kids’ school who applied EA were admitted through NU.in.
RD is the toughest. We saw a few kids with competitive stats get waitlisted that way. The admittance rate seemed very low.
Again, purely anecdotal, but it seemed to play out more or less this way from the people who posted here.
I would not recommend applying ED unless you are willing to give up a chance at your other schools and your parents are on board with the price tag.
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Yeah–if we were to travel to visit PA colleges they would probably come anyway. They’re a freshman and junior, so not too far off from their own application season. I’m not sure I’m gonna be able to make it out there by RD decisions but I’ll certainly try!
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What were your impressions of these? What did you like or dislike? Based off your reaction to these schools, other folks might have some feedback as to how you might like other campuses on your list that you haven’t had a chance to visit yet. Also, does that mean that every college you’ve visited you’ve liked (as all of these are on your list of possibilities)? Or are there some that fell off the list? If so, which ones were they and why? Again, you’re trying to winnow your list down, so the more folks know about your impressions and reactions, the more helpful they can be.
Also, have you done online tours? Looked at the university’s social media feeds, college newspaper, etc? That might give you some preferences or indications as to which schools might be a better fit.
Additionally, you may want to map out what a 4-year plan would look like at each school. Look at any distribution requirements and whether you are having an easy time finding classes of interest to fulfill the requirements, and then combine that with the requirements for your proposed major. Are you happy with how the overall plan looks? Overwhelmed? Missing something? For instance, some students really like a 4-class/semester schedule because it allows them to focus on fewer classes at a time. Others might prefer a schedule where the expectation is to take at least 5 classes/semester, because then they can dabble in more subjects and have more free space for electives. There’s no right or wrong answer; it’s an individual preference. Ditto with schools that have a January term or a May term.
You don’t have to do this for every school, but perhaps do one that has 4-classes/semester and one that has 5-classes/semester and see if you have a preference between those. Then you could start narrowing down your list that way, and then start doing that for your favorite schools to see if any get eliminated, etc. This is your time to knock schools off. Can’t find classes that sound interesting to fulfill distribution requirements? Knock the school off the list.
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Thank you for all of this!! Those were the only ones I toured, yeah.
I loved Brown. Loved the size, loved the architectural style, loved how the students didn’t seem to take themselves too seriously, loved the thought put into everything like the outlets in the lampposts so that you can study outside. Loved how it was adjacent to a city but also had its own enclosed, quieter space.
Yale I did back to back with Brown so it might have been tour fatigue but I thought it was good but not great. Something I remember that stuck out to me specifically was how fancy all the libraries were—it didn’t seem like a space you could sit in your sweatpants and study at.
Harvard was nice architecturally and it was cool how many libraries they had. I went to an info session beforehand and the thing I didn’t love was how they kept emphasizing all the resources they could offer, implied because of their massive endowment. The students themselves seemed fairly down to earth but the way the institution was presented felt a little lofty?
Tufts was added to the permanent list because of the campus visit. I didn’t love the hill but otherwise really liked the campus. I think the thing that really cinched it for me was the student tour guide talking about how upperclassmen were able to teach classes for underclassmen on a subject of their choice (like she did Taylor Swift). Between being an aspiring teacher and ADHD, that sounds like a dream.
Wellesley was self-guided. I liked the campus a lot and thought it was pretty, but didn’t have much more to say about the school itself. We didn’t go into any buildings.
Other schools I haven’t formally toured but stayed on campus for some time:
Kenyon - food was okay, dorms were fine, I honestly really liked the small size and it was just gorgeous in general.
Sewanee - food was probably not as good as Kenyon’s. I liked that there seemed to be a lot of suites but cockroaches (which are probably normal for college dorms but made me very anxious at the time) and a middle of the night fire alarm were a turn-off. Significant white population took it off the list permanently.
UMass Amherst - food was incredible. We stayed in a hotel, not dorms, so no comment on that. I didn’t love the more modern architectural style and also how massive the campus was (one of the volunteers was a student there and told a story about getting lost even as an upperclassman).
Schools that I’ve looked at online and came off/lower on the list because of what I saw:
BU - fairly spread out, a little too urban, lacking a traditional campus.
NYU - same.
Stanford - looked at online videos; didn’t like that it didn’t seem to have much green space? Also for some reason the palm trees were a turnoff; I guess I’m more of a New England person than I realized. It was fine but those were the things I didn’t like.
Hope this is helpful, and thanks for your advice on taking a deeper dive!
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I’ve sent in a bunch of applications; if I wanted to do more of a chance me type thing, should I update this post or start a new thread?
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Update it, since you’re already in the 'Chance me/Match me!" Forum. 
Also👏on finishings apps and🤞on results!
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Applied:
- Brown (ED)
- Clark (EA)
- Northeastern (EA)
- UChicago (EA)
- UMass Amherst (EA)
- Wheaton MA (EA)
- University of Cambridge (Education)
- Kings College London (Psychology)
- University College London (Education, Psychology with Education)
- University of St. Andrews (English and Psychology)
I applied for education if an education major was offered; if not I applied for public policy and/or psychology.
Application Materials:
- LORs - one from my Latin teacher (8/10), one from my freshman/junior year English teacher (8/10). I don’t really know how to rate them because obviously I haven’t seen them, but my Latin teacher said she wrote “the best letter she could possibly write” and the English teacher is someone I have a fairly close relationship with. Both have taught me for multiple years and know me as a person as well as a student. I also submitted two extra LORs to schools that would take them: one from my middle school GSA advisor who’s known me since seventh grade and is still a mentor to me/someone who I talk to often, and one from the co-founder of the nonprofit I work with. I haven’t seen these either but I would probably guess they’re an 8/10 and a 7/10 respectively?
- CommonApp essay: 7/10? I don’t really know how to rate these haha. I wrote about how when I was in middle school I wanted to take my principal’s job because he wasn’t doing a good job handling homophobia at school, then connected it to a broader theme of believing that if something can be better, it should be (and including anecdotes from my summer job and nonprofit fellowship). My English teacher read it over and said she really liked it/my voice was very strong in it so take that as you will.
- Brown supplements: supplements - 7/10; I think they showcase my personality very well but I don’t consider them particularly “clever”/standout? English teacher also liked them. I don’t know how to assign numbers to them but I would classify them as “solid.” Video - 5/10; I procrastinated till the last day and ended up stuck with a flat tire in a town 30 minutes away for like four hours, so I had to film at the last second. Was just me talking to my camera about teachers who’ve inspired me to want to teach myself.
- Clark supplements: 7/10; solid and mostly reused from other supplements I’ve written. I don’t know if the student interview was evaluative, but I would say it was solid as well.
- UChicago supplements: supplements - 8/10; I wrote the long one about Minecraft and I’m really proud of it/I had a great time writing it. English teacher loved this one. Video - 7/10; I talked about my best friend coming out to me and related it back to Minecraft :). Also unedited and just me talking to the camera.
- UMass Amherst: same as Clark
- Northeastern and Wheaton did not have supplements; I plan to upload a supporting doc to Northeastern with a “why” essay to show demonstrated interest.
- UCAS - personal statement did my best to blend my various interests (mostly centered around educational psychology and previous papers I’d written based on studies around it); I’d give it a solid 7/10?
I did a lot of research into each school and referenced specific classes or clubs in all of my supplements that I could, so I’m hoping that will count for me. I also submitted a resumé to the schools which accepted it. I know I keep saying this but I have no idea how to rate these haha.
Side note:
My school submits first quarter grades to all early action schools. I have a B in AP Physics C for first quarter; it is the only B I’ve gotten besides the B- in multivariable calculus. Since I’m not applying for physics anywhere, will this count against me? Physics C is considered to be the most difficult class offered at my school.
Thank you for y’all’s help and encouragement in this process 
Don’t worry about the B in Physics C.
Good job with all these applications!
You stand a good chance, as much as this is possible for such a reach, at Brown.
You should have good news from Wheaton and Clark before Christmas 
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