<p>ZM - I just cringe when I see the title of your thread.. could you see if the mods could, well, soften it?
That said, I second most of the suggestions here.
Hadn't thought of DePaul, but I know a kid there, and while it's a catholic school it's in a hip urban but somehow kind of safe and contained area. Lots of "nose sparkles" on the girls but not much worse. Good chance for merit aid. The bigger awards require an interview and seem to include a commitment to something outside one's self.</p>
<p>My son applied to only weird schools--10 of them--and we looked at 10 others. Not all give merit aid. PM me if you want details. Grinnell is where he'll be going, they do give merit aid and he LOVED the sense of weirdness there, but each weird kid has a different brand of weird. Some schools were more hippie-ish than my son was looking for. Some didn't have the international focus he wanted, etc. We went on guide book descriptions when deciding where to visit. Some of the schools described by the guides as "quirky" weren't quirky enough for DS. Oberlin is a good suggestion (my son was offered $12,000 in merit aid per year). Macalester would be if it gave more merit aid ($5,000 per year max), Reed in spades if it gave ANY merit $$ but it doesn't. One guide book I read, "Choosing the Right College", might be helpful because they basically hated every school my son liked so it was a screening mechanism of sorts. His "safeties" were Goucher and Lewis & Clark, 2 great internationally focused LAC's near metro ares. They offer good merit aid as well. Check out Evergreen State. I mean it!</p>
<p>Enjoy the journey--why be normal?</p>
<p>I was thinking about Lewis & Clark, but I wasn't positive on the atmosphere.</p>
<p>And hey, she'll have Monica Lewinsky as a fellow alum! :)</p>
<p>We didn't see L&C with students on campus, but I've been told it's alternative--and the campus is BEAUTIFUL!</p>
<p>Vassar maybe?</p>
<p>My son applied to Vassar too and was admitted, but they give no merit $$.</p>
<p>Florida's New College? May get merit aid there.</p>
<p>Emerson maybe</p>
<p>The Goth thing is not weird at all, just one of the adolescent flavors. Marlboro in VT not only gives merit money but is less expensive to begin with. There would be plenty of kids she could be arty with at Purchase, and it certainly is reasonable. The liberal arts programs are easier that fine arts programs to get into. UVM is known for interesting kids.</p>
<p>If you qualify for needbased aid: Sarah Lawrence, Bard, Bennington, Hampshire. My son was admitted to Vassar, but the aid package really is sub-par; that may change with new pres -- it is going need blind.</p>
<p>So interesting - we found that Vassar's aid package beat that of Wesleyan, Oberlin and Brandeis. I guess your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>What about NYU? (They're generally not known for good aid, but you never know.) She might love living in the village. </p>
<p>I second Oberlin, Sarah Lawrence, and Bard.</p>
<p>I agree that a larger school would provide more diversity</p>
<p>I dont know from death metal-but I ran across this to share-
then I will stay on topic</p>
<p>I can't tell the difference between hard core punkers and deathmetal heads, but I didn't really notice any goth at Reed- but then again my daughter was more the fresh scrubbed type-but still-
Oh I* have* heard reports of freshman especially, dressing differently to show how different they are, but I hear they give it up after the first semester because either everyone is different/nobody cares.</p>
<p>That is interesting Twinmom. I will stop passing on that info. about Vassar. If S had really had his heart set on it, we would have tried to negotiate the package. S was of the opinion that they had made a mistake. He LOVED Vassar, but felt he wanted an environment somewhat different from the one he frew up in, and Vassar is similar to the atmosphere he was already in. Still, he may regret all those Steinways and the film department! Is your child going to Vassar?</p>
<p>NYU and Emerson come to mind. I went to NYU and loved living in the village....I had sorta Goth leanings myself back then.</p>
<p>Eugene Lang (liberal arts college at the New School in NYC) ?</p>
<p>I also think Bryn Mawr would be an excellent choice for a "weirdo" who wants to study classics. But she should visit some of the LAC campuses mentioned here to get her own senes of how she would fit into their community.</p>
<p>My D was definitely out of the mainstream. She started at an OOS flagship which was decidedly whitebread, and was decidedly miserable. Sometimes your people just aren't there. For big Unis, I concur with UMich, if she'd gone there, I think she'd have been fine. I imagine the same for UWisconsin and Berkeley. NYU also a good choice, though stingy with money.</p>
<p>I think most of the smaller, out of mainstream (echoing dislike of weirdo term) LACs mentioned here would be a good fit for your D. Reaches (for pretty much everyone) would be Wesleyan (were my D transfered and thrived), Vassar, Oberlin, Reed, and I'd throw in Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Less reach (and possible merit money) would be Bard, Hampshire, Eugene Lang. Drew has good money but is, I think, pretty mainstream.</p>
<p>Hey zoosermom - my D could have been yours several years ago! She was never really goth but was definitely alternative (there's a nice way to put it.) She started out as a screamo/punk kid but has evolved into more of an electronica/power pop girl. Notice how she defines herself by her music?</p>
<p>Anyway, she has specific ideas about "her" kind of college - large, mostly urban with a critical mass of off-beat kids. She's thinking about a business major, but knows that she could change her mind. We've probably visited 20 campuses so far. She liked NYU, Northeastern, Emerson (not large, I know, but in Boston and lots of "cool kids"), and Ohio State. </p>
<p>She LOVES DePaul, and I have to admit I was impressed by the campus (the nicest urban campus we saw) and the attitudes of everyone we met, from admissions counselors to students. The information session spiel was probably the best we heard - informative and witty without being over-the-top. Nice dorms, too.</p>
<p>It's my D's safety school, but right now it's also her first choice. We did look at some carefully-chosen LACs but could never find the right flavor of quirky.</p>
<p>Mythmom: My son will be a sophomore at Vassar in the fall. The package they offered was a bonus for us as he had fallen in love with Vassar the first day that he visited. Although Vassar has that really quirky reputation, I don't think it's quite as offbeat as Oberlin or Wesleyan. I loved Wesleyan but he thought it was too out there for him, and he chose not to go to the Accepted Students Days because he had already made up his mind to attend Vassar.</p>
<p>Vassar did match Oberlin's package which came in a bit higher. Of all the schools that my kids were accepted to (which was several being that there were two applying at once) Wesleyan had the worst package of all the LACs. That being said, they were borderline rude when I called to discuss it. </p>
<p>That being said, I have read that other students did receive good packages from Wes, so perhaps it depends on how much they really want the particular sudent. That may have been my son's case with Vassar - who knows?</p>
<p>NYU, which does not guarantee to meet need, offered the least, but we expected that. </p>
<p>Vassar has proved to be all that my son had hoped and he is quite happy there. Do I recall correctly that your son is off to Williams?</p>
<p>Wow. You guys are recommending some really expensive schools considering OP has already expressed some concerns about costs... Not only that but very few if any of these schools are known for good merit money...</p>
<p>As someone intimately familiar with Oberlin, I get a little concerned at the degree of stereotyping that (naturally?) appears on boards like this. No one should get the sense that only "weird" or goth or punk or hipster kids--or any particular type--belong at Oberlin. I like the terms "alternative" or "independent" better. But really, there are plenty of Oberlin students who would fit right in at Williams or Yale or Carleton. And vice versa, I'm sure.</p>