Chance/Match My Unicorn! ISO biochem, fashion, WARM weather, ADHD [MD resident, 3.7 UW, 1400 SAT, <$31k]

Chance Me / Match Me!
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1

Is there anywhere WARM where DC might be able to study both biochemistry AND explore interest in studio arts - especially anything fashion-related? Or combine those interests, say, in a strong textile science program?

  • Academically, would probably thrive at a small or medium LAC
  • (Socially, would probably prefer a big state school, though)
  • DC would prefer somewhere urban (or at least not rural or isolated)
  • The more diverse (by about any measure,) the better. Enjoys the company of musicians, artists, hippies, and other weirdos :partying_face:
  • So much ADHD! All the ADHD :heart_eyes:

Demographics

  • US / dual citizen
  • Maryland
  • Senior at small private high school
  • ā€œWhiteā€ (actually middle eastern, but ā€œwhiteā€ when forced to check a box)

Intended Major(s)

  • Undecided, but very interested in biochem and other STEM majors
  • also VERY interested in fashion & fine art - both in design / studio but also in STEM applications (e.g. textile science)

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.7
  • Tiny high school offers no APs or honors - no weighted GPA or class rank
  • SAT Score: 1400

What else?

  • Strong, personal LORs
  • Well-written common app essay
  • Plenty of art-related ECs ā€“ not much else, though
  • Works PT 10-15 hrs/week

Cost Constraints / Budget = Important!

  • Budget = roughly same as in-state flagship
  • Will qualify for need-based aid (but CSS schools that consider noncustodial parent are less likely to be affordable)

here is their current crazy list of schools
Has applied EA or is in the process of applying to these schools
(ā€¦I thinkā€¦ the list has been changing by the dayā€¦)

  • Rhodes
  • Eckerd
  • Rollins
  • Hendrix
  • Trinity U (Tx)
  • Loyola Maryland
  • Loyola Marymount
  • Santa Clara
  • U San Diego
  • San Diego State
  • Cal Poly?
  • NC State (Raleigh)
  • C of Charleston
  • U Tampa
  • FIU?
  • UGA?
  • UT Austin?
  • Colorado State?
  • Colorado College? (will probably not apply bc cold winters)
  • Towson

Yes, this list is all over the place! I know! Soā€¦ what would you change?

  • How would you narrow the list? Which schools are probably not a good fit or unlikely to be generous with merit/need-based scholarships?
  • **What schools would you add **to this list? Any potentially-great matches weā€™ve overlooked? (We qualify for application fee waivers so can max out the common app to chase merit discounts)

And of course any specific feedback about individual schools would be awesome. thank you!!

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My D23 is a freshman Studio Art major at Trinity University, sheā€™s double majoring with Communications. I donā€™t know about fashion design at all but the Art program has been wonderful so far.

If she has a portfolio, Iā€™d recommend applying for the Baker Duncan Art Scholarship, itā€™s been a great experience for my daughter.

Good luck!

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Thank you! She does have an excellent portfolio of digital and fine art.

As for fashion, she is not seeking a fashion design program ā€¦ But would love to work in the industry in some capacity, perhaps.

I think sheā€™d enjoy any course of study that included studio work and kept her creative mind engaged.

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Maybe you should focus on schools that have support - such as SALT at U of Arizona and thereā€™s others. Not all large schools will have. There are other threads on here of schools with great support for ADHD.

Has each school you listed - such as Eckerd - do they have the fashion interest your student will want.

I would narrow by removing the big publics - short of any that will meet your ADHD needs. Again, some have programs to help here. Other schools will just be too big. Or not admittable.

A UGA, UT Austinā€¦Iā€™d take them off. If you want warm - itā€™s not Colorado State or Colorado Collegeā€¦or Towson, etc. Is NC State too big, etc.

Thereā€™s many lists like these - but I would go further, and talk to the schools about your childā€™s needs and there are multiple chats on this website you could look up covering ADHD experiences.

I know a lot on his website can probably give you great feedback. I included one previous chat.

Good luck

Recommended Colleges for students with ADHD - Parents Forum / Learning Differences and Challenges - LD, ADHD - College Confidential Forums

20 Best Colleges For Students With ADHD (affordablecollegesonline.org)

30 Best Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities ā€“ Rankings (collegeconsensus.com)

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Thank you. Iā€™m inclined to agree about UGA, UT Austin, and the Colorado schools. (The appeal of colorado college is the nontraditional scheduleā€¦ but otherwise I donā€™t think itā€™s a great fit.)

NC State is staying on, though, bc of the offerings at the Wilson College of Textiles, which theyā€™re intrigued by.

Thanks for the ADHD resources. SALT at U of Arizona looks interesting!

In general, I think theyā€™ve learned that what help most are personal relationships + hands-on and high-interest learning experiences. So a place like Eckerd seems like a good fit bc they pair students with student and faculty mentors.

Thanks for the feedback!

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UGA is an unlikely admit. UT Austin is a no chance admit.

Cornell College in Iowa is also a block schedule if you like that.

Iā€™d be more concerned and not knowing the LD issues but finding a school that can provide the services you need.

Whatā€™s interesting about SALT is that - a parent the other week noted - itā€™s a pay service that many have - but there are other schools that provide similar but maybe donā€™t get the credit.

Iā€™ll see if I can find the mention.

Here it is - i opened to the comment but you can go to the beginning of the thread.

Help me make a list for 3.5 GPA junior who wants big school sports but I want academic support - Applying to College - College Confidential Forums

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Thanks.

She doesnā€™t currently receive accommodations or specific supports but after reviewing that thread Iā€™m feeling more confident that a small school or highly personalised experience at a larger one would be ideal.

Weā€™re not really looking for specific LD supports, though. For her, living well with ADHD means being highly attentive to her interests and sensory needs. So the best college is one where she can explore STEM and art or design or fashion.

(ā€¦ ideally in the sun! Must be the mid eastern genesā˜€ļø She always struggles in the winter)

And agreed that not only are UGA and Texas highly unlikely admits, but also very unlikely affordable

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You didnā€™t provide a budget.

STEM wonā€™t be a problem at few schools outside of engineering and a few other things.

Hereā€™s a couple lists - seems mostly big schools unfortunately.

For the South, Florida State is a constant. Affordable even full pay although not an easy admit. But as you noted large wonā€™t be good so the student might have to find another way to meet this textile desire. You listed a lot of smaller schools above. Maybe they offer something the student could like as you added the schools to your list.

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I think you need to do a deeper dive into costs. You have a number of OOS public universities where your costs will most certainly be in excess of the instate cost of UMD-CP.

Cal Poly will likely be full pay. CA publics really donā€™t give aid to OOS students.

Have you run the Net price calculators for each of these schools to get a decent estimate if your net costs?

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Run the NPC on the remaining colleges to make sure theyā€™re affordable. Only about 85 out of 3,700 colleges ā€œmeet needā€ and if I understand correctly 25-30k is the max you can afford and probably less if you have commonapp fee waivers.

What about Agnes Scott College if their gender matches the collegeā€™s definition?

Berea College is in KY but has strict ā€œfamily income limitā€ criterion.
Lots of textile work as part of their work study program, excellent sciences.

I will try to think of good fits.

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Thanks. I canā€™t remember which NPCs I ran but I believe some of them seem way more accurate than others. Honestly until the new FAFSA
is out itā€™s a bit of a black box since we will likely qualify for asset exclusion under the new rules. But none of the NPCs reflect this yet.

(Just occurred to me that I could try running NPCs with zero assets and see if that seems usefulā€¦)

That said I agree that SDSU and cal poly are also long shots for admission and aid ā€” and might not be great fits anyway.

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There are three Cal Polys - Pomona, San Luis Obispo and Humboldt.

  1. Pomona is the most urban and warm. I believe this is the Cal Poly with a textile degree.
  2. SLO is what most people think of when they say ā€œCal Poly.ā€ It is approximately half way between SF and LA with a population of 48K. It isnā€™t what I would consider urban or warm.
  3. Humboldt is in northern California. It is neither urban nor warm

LMU and Santa Clara are Jesuit schools. They do not give much aid to RD students. Did she apply EA?
U San Diego is Roman Catholic. Beautiful campus with two chapels for $6K undergrads.

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Oh I missed that the budget is about $30k

Youā€™ll need an entire new list. Now Hendrix and Ogelthorpe - not on your list - have a flagship match.

A U of Alabama and Ms St will be less than UMD. Arkansas - maybe - itā€™d meet the academic needs. SUNY Oneonta - not warm - is another $$ wise to look at.

UMD, btw, is a target at best. FSU could make budget if you get an OOS waiver but not an easy in. NC State is alway unaffordable.

You can look at a Salisbury or CNU for smaller but will they have the textile part ? A College of Charleston - unlikely to come close $$ wise with those stats.

Lots on this list - most this list - wonā€™t work. You might focus on Towson, UMBC, Frostburg. Maybe an Ohio U.

I missed the $30k. W Carolina is an NC promise school and would easily make budget.

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Typical OOS publics do not provide any financial aid to students and their merit policy varies greatly. As a result, OOS publics are rarely a good deal - except for regional branches that may ā€œbuyā€ students they wantā€¦ such as WKU in Bowling Green KY, UT Chatanooga, SUNY Oneonta, UNM, New Mexico State, Unc Greensboro which all have sth textile-related but all have downsides (area, commuter, size, general levelā€¦)
Some are warm-ish and have honors communities but not sure how theyā€™d feel about smaller-town Tennessee or Kentucky

Some are a perfect academic fitā€¦ but cold in the Winter

https://watauga.appstate.edu/

https://design.appstate.edu/programs/apparel-design-merchandising

Definitely warm but are those in a State youā€™d consider and theyā€™re definitely large-ish publicsā€¦
https://honors.nmsu.edu/for-students/index.html
https://catalogs.nmsu.edu/nmsu/agricultural-consumer-environmental-sciences/family-consumer-sciences/fashion-merchandising-design-bachelor-science-family-consumer-sciences/
https://catalogs.nmsu.edu/nmsu/arts-sciences/chemistry-biochemistry/

https://honors.unm.edu/
https://ascas.unm.edu/academics/department/biochemistry.html
https://finearts.unm.edu/academics/degrees/undergraduate-degrees/minor-in-design-performance/

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Stellalune, I actually created an account so I could comment here, because your child sounds so much like my daughter (hoping for warm weather, interested in both STEM and arts, loves fashion, similar GPA/scores, ALL the adhd :heart_eyes:). Unlike yours, mine definitely wants LAC ā€“ ideally with minimal/no Greek life. Also prefers at least some sort of town - if there are good thrift stores in town, all the better.

For what itā€™s worth, Hendrix and Eckerd are at or near the top of her list. Theyā€™re not her biggest reaches, but they might be the best fit. We visited Eckerd, not yet Hendrix. You probably know this, but starting this year, Hendrix is guaranteeing a flagship match to every accepted student.

Trinity might be a great fit for your kid, though mine decided not to apply for reasons I donā€™t entirely understand (not eclectic enough vibe?). Other schools that might hit your kidā€™s sweet spot, especially if theyā€™d be interested in a design-your-own-course of study for the fashion aspect: Pitzer, Occidental, UNC-Asheville, UNC-Wilmington, Appalachian State, and Whitman (which will have winters, but plenty of sunshineā€¦like Colorado, maybe?).

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(me again. Having just done my first post, Iā€™m fascinated that some of those schools automatically linked, while others didnā€™t. Huh.).

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UTC is a great choice - glad you brought it up - across the bridge from an awesome downtown - and a mid size school.

Kids who go love it. Lots of nature nearby too.

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Wow - thatā€™s awesome - so kids can get that affordable tuition at an LAC.

Like many, they have financial issues and this is an indirect way to increase revenue - because likely yield and class size will go up!!

Thanks for posting this.

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Looking at your list, Iā€™m concerned that many of the schools will not meet budget. Below are some other schools that your family may want to consider, though priority/scholarship deadlines may be coming soon. The good news is that most state applications are relatively easy (i.e. not many supplementary essays).

  • Louisiana State: This is a big state flagship with about 31k undergrads, but if your daughter has a good writing sample, then I think she would likely be accepted to the honors college according to its admissions page (source). That would give her access to a smaller environment within the school and smaller classes. At the same time, sheā€™d have all the fields available that are harder to provide at a small school. I will warn you that Iā€™ve read a number of complaints about slow admissions and scholarship decisions on CC, but that eventually there is some generous merit aid provided.

Take a look at several of the North Carolina publics. They tend to have much more affordable rates and provide a quality education. If your student is accepted to an honors college at one of them, that would also help provide smaller classes.

  • Appalachian State: About 19k undergrads

  • East Carolina: About 22k undergrads

  • UNC-Greensboro: About 14k undergrads and has a reputation for providing excellent supports to a range of students, not just those within a particular program

Another public that is likely to come in within budget is Western Kentucky. If your childā€™s weighted GPA is above a 3.8 then thereā€™s an automatic $7500/yr scholarship; if not, then it would be $2500/year (source). But, out-of-state students who receive one of those scholarships also qualify for a Tuition Incentive Scholarship that will reduce tuition rates further (I suspect to near in-state rates, but was unable to find an amount). The deadlines for those scholarships, though, are for students to apply and be admitted to WKU by December 31. Additionally, its honors college has a priority deadline of December 1, so if this option is of interest, an application should be sent out soon.

  • Middle Tennessee State (about 17k undergrads) is another one your kid may want to look into.

The nice thing about many non-flagship state colleges is that they often will have many more options for fields of study, but their requirements/standards for entry into honors colleges are a little bit easier for good students to get into (whereas they might not be accepted at a state flagshipā€™s program).

In looking at smaller colleges, you may want to look at some of the Atlanta schools. Agnes Scott has already been mentioned, and Oglethorpe has a flagship match program. The Atlanta schools are part of a consortium that allows them to take classes at other schools, like SCAD, Emory, Spelman, Georgia Tech, and Morehouse. This would provide a more intimate home environment, but permit the exploration of fields not offered at the home school through other programs.

You probably already know, but Towson State is similar in a consortium through the Baltimore Collegetown network which lets students take classes at MICA, Loyola Maryland, Johns Hopkins, Goucher, etc. Speaking of Goucher, that might be another school your kid may want to investigate. Strong offerings and usually more generous merit aid than at Loyola Maryland.

If your kidā€™s looking for warm and sunny, thereā€™s one more school that might be worth investigating: U. of Hawaii at Manoa. Itā€™s a smaller flagship with about 14k undergrads, and a couple of years ago there was a student on this site with a similar SAT score who got a scholarship that brought the price within your budget.

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@Fibonnaci281 thank you for replying! If nothing else, hearing about your kid suggests that mine would be in good company at Hendrix or Eckerd

And mine would 100% choose a college based on the quality of the thrift shopping opportunities. 1000% (If you have any insight in that regard, would love to hear it!)

I should add that to the wish list: Biochem, great thrifting, studio art, eclectic weirdos :partying_face:

Sadly Pitzer and the Claremonettes are way too big a reach, and, like Oxy, wouldnā€™t be doable in any case bc they are require noncustodial parents to submit the CSS. (Fun to pretend thatā€™s the reason for not applying lol)

Whitman is farrr but App State and University of UNC-Wilmington were both on our list and maybe bear another look-see ā€“ esp Appalachian State.

Thanks so much for your comment. Hope our kids find their spots!

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