college suggestions for my junior DD

College Search & Selection
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<p>DD is a junior this year, and has no real idea what she is looking for in a college. I am not certain where to steer her, since she is pretty different from her older brother, so the first run thought this process did not help all that much! </p>

<p>She thinks she wants a school that is somewhere between 5,000 and 20,000 students, and a major in some sort of biology or psychology, with an eye on med school, a PA program or grad school. Engineering is a possibility, but she doesn't love math that much, so probably not. She is not wedded to urban or rural, but I think she would probably like something with a campus of some sort. She needs something that is non-religious, co-ed, and liberal leaning, or at least not conservative. We visited a number of schools in the Boston area a couple of years ago with DS, and she said she liked the feel of Brandeis and Tufts more than Harvard or MIT, in case that helps. She is sort of quirky/nerdy, and her friends are in large part marching band kids, if that lends a bit of color to her personality. I really can't see her interested in Greek life, and would probably prefer that it not be the center of the social scene. I do not envision that she would really go for a big party culture, either, since at this point she much prefers talking with friends to loud parties with dancing.</p>

<p>Her UW GPA is 3.57 and weighted is about 4.6. She has taken all honors and AP classes. She has not taken the ACT or SAT yet, so the only test scores we have are her PLAN test, which predicted an ACT of 31 to 34. We are hoping to visit some schools this year, and would love some ideas. She will apply to our state flagship, but it is really huge, and pretty Greek, so not ideal. We expect a decent amount of need, so schools with pretty good financial aid would be great. Schools with good merit would be nice, but at this point I am more interested in figuring out where she feels comfortable. Thanks for the help!</p>

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<p>Home state? How much can you pay towards her college?</p>

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<p>Home is IL. We have committed to paying the cost of our in state flagship, but would prefer to pay less, of course. The stated COA is 30-35K but I know we could spend far less, especially after freshman year, as apartments are pretty cheap in C-U. We are very envious of those of you with actually good, affordable in state options!</p>

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<p>OP, you’ve done some of the things with her I would suggest. Is D a picky kid, or a kid who doesn’t know what she wants, or a kid who is open to all kinds of things, or a kid who’s just enjoying driving you nuts? It doesn’t sound like she’s all that different from most kids her age. Try not to compare her to many of the kids parents talk about on CC. She’ll find her way. It might not be a direct route. Or it might be a direct route that appears as if from nowhere. There’s a lot going on in that body.</p>

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<p>^^^
I am confused, jkeil. Did you mean to post this to another thread?</p>

<p>DD is amazing. She is a better person than I could even have hoped to be at her age. I think she is wise beyond her years, and has a huge heart. She doesn’t really know what she wants, but I don’t really expect her to.I jsut don’t knwo what schools might be viable matches for her.</p>

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<p>no, it was directed at you and your D, OP. I’m sorry if I have offended. I intended to do just the opposite. You said she doesn’t really know what she wants in a college and then went on to document the extent of her uncertainty. I had intended to say that this is not unusual in a person this age, particularly because your D has some idea of her parents’ expectations and experience with older sibling. I had intended to reassure you that she is going to be fine.</p>

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<p>We don’t know what schools are viable matches for her either, OP, because D cannot settle on parameters. You’ve taken her to some schools but still haven’t rec’d much guidance from her. Give her time. Maybe it’s going to take her longer than you’d like. So what? Whose clock matters? If she needs a year off to work things out, I don’t see anything cataclysmic about that. Maybe she does, however, and that’s another pressure (see above) she feels. Sounds like a bright, maybe sensitive kid.</p>

<p>Perhaps we could talk about the money end of things, since you do know about that. Saying you “expect a decent amount of need” doesn’t help us. Have you run the net price calculators for Tufts, Brandeis, and your state flagship? What do they suggest about your Expected Family Contribution at those schools? At Brandeis, where she is more likely to gain admission than Tufts, can your family meet the EFC? If not, then you’re going to want to look at schools that either will offer you more need-based aid than Brandeis (tougher to find for someone with D’s grades) or you’re going to have to find a school with a lower cost than Brandeis, like your flagship. Your D’s GPA is not so strong that you should expect merit greater than what Brandeis offers in need-based aid. Roughly speaking. Having a strong SAT score would be very beneficial, and you have the time to help her get her standardized test scores up to a really high score, potentially. Her unwtd GPA also has a chance to rise a tenth or so. </p>

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<p>I am not offended at all! She IS a bright, and somewhat sensitive child, and I have no expectation she should know what she wants. I can’t believe any kids her age do, and I know from experience that what a kid wants in October of junior year, my not even resemble what he/she wants by May of senior year! I have already broached the idea of a gap year, and she was privy to a number of conversations with DS where we discussed that option. At this point she has said she has no interest in that. I have run the NPC, and meeting the EFC would not be a significant issue, although I imagine everyone would love a free ride to the school of their child’s dreams! I am really hoping for suggestions of mid-sized schools that she stands a good chance of admission, given her interests and personality. Since we will probably do a spring break trip to visit some places, I would prefer it include some that might be a good fit for her.</p>

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<p>so, to clarify, are you saying you’re committed to paying any EFC?</p>

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<p>to be clear, your D’s parameters are so broad I’m looking for some parameter upon which to begin. cost is a good one with which to start.</p>

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<p>I’ll toss U Rochester out there for you to consider. It fits my somewhat nerdy guy (and several others) quite well. It’s medium sized, with its own campus, not heavily Greek, lots of study/research options, good for pre-med or other things including engineering, diverse, not political, and has been good at meeting our EFC.</p>

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<p>@jkeil911, I am saying that, at least at this point.</p>

<p>I didn’t really think the parameters were that broad: </p>

<p>mid-sized
science/social science major, ideally with an engineering option
not heavily Greek or a major party school
not a religious school
Coed
politically liberal, or at least not conservative
slightly quirky/nerdy vibe
a match for a student with a B+/A- average in all honors/AP classes</p>

<p>I will throw one more in for me: ideally, not too hard to get to from the Chicago area, either by car or plane</p>

<p>@Creekland, my DS looked at U Rochester/Eastman and liked it a lot, and considering he visited in the dead of winter that says something. I had that on my list of possibilities. Thanks!</p>

<p>Any other ideas?</p>

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<p>Case Western in Cleveland might be a good fit. It has engineering, heavy on STEM majors, a little quirky. We visited with both my S and D and they both liked it though ended up choosing other schools. It’s in a pretty cool area of Cleveland where a lot of the arts institutions are located- Severance Hall which is home of the Cleveland Orchestra is right on campus, the art museum is across the street as are the botanical gardens and it shares the campus with CIM.
They have some pretty generous merit scholarships for high stats students that your D might qualify for, I don’t know exactly what their stats need to be to qualify. Not too far from Chicago.</p>

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<p>Rochester is a good suggestion, and similar is Case Western. Both offer some merit, have pre-med with med schools attached, so plenty of volunteering and shadowing possibilities, both have engineering if she’d like to explore that. CMU might work, I think she’s a good candidate for Tufts if she scores at least 32, but the GPA might be a bit of a problem, still worth a shot. Emory might work as well. And there are no conservative top schools outside the military academies, where you will still find a range of opinions, and handful of others like Washington & Lee. Even Notre Dame, which is religious sort of, is still liberal enough for all but the most die-hard progressive. Great marching band, too.</p>

<p>Personally, I think once you get past a certain size, it makes no difference whether it’s 20k students or 50k, so if she wants big, take a look at Ohio State. She’ll get enough merit to possibly make it cheaper than UIUC if she gets the expected ACT scores. And she might qualify for a full tuition scholarship at Alabama, if she’s willing to go to the South.</p>

<p>Since she’s all over the place and only thinks she knows what she wants, go visit a LAC. A lot of kids think they’re too small until they visit one, then they start to see the advantages. Or they know it’s not for them. Since UIUC is so expensive, other OOS flagships start to become an option, so if you’re in the Chicago area, a loop through UW-Madison, Lawrence, Macalester, UM-Twin Cities, Carleton, and St. Olaf might not be a bad idea. After that trip, she should have a good idea of what she’s looking for, even if none of those schools is exactly what she wants. If you want to go the other way, hit Notre Dame, Indiana, Purdue, Ohio State, Kenyon, Oberlin, Case Western, Ohio Wesleyan.</p>

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<p>My guy also looked at it in Feb - and knew that was where he wanted to go after that visit. Kids who like it there just seem to click with a visit.</p>

<p>Other places my guy considered were Case, WUSTL, Emory, Pitt, U Alabama and some others that don’t fit your criteria.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the suggestions, and feel free to keep them coming! Some were already on my radar, so I am glad to hear I am not too far off base. She is not against a LAC, and is planning on visiting Lake Forest some time, since she has a friend there, so it will give her at least some idea of what that is like. I thought Case Western might be an option, but might have a little to studious of a vibe. I only say that because that was the feeling DS got. I considered WESTL but thought it would be a reach for her. Oberlin, Lawrence, Macalester and Carlton were on my possible list, and I know nothing about Kenyon, but was planning on doing a little research on it.</p>

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<p>If we drop engineering and look at 5-20K sized schools strong in science and social science which would match her 3.6 and 32: Chicago, Rochester, Brandeis, Tulane, Clark, Boston College, several SUNYs, Duquesne, UVermont, URichmond, William & Mary</p>

<p>If we add engg, Illinois Institute of Technology, UConn, UMass, MIT, Tufts, Northeastern, BostonU, several other SUNYs, Carnegie Mellon, Drexel, UPitt, Villanova, Lehigh, Vanderbilt, UVirginia, Cornell, Case, </p>

<p>I’ve avoided 3+2 and 4+1 schools like William and Mary. I think there are good engineering schools like MIT and Cornell where with good essays, etc., your D might get in with a polisci or similar major. A lot of these schools are reaches at 3.6 but hope springs eternal for good junior and half-a-senior years. I’ve not tried to address D’s personality too much, but if I had to guess at broad personality matches I’d say Chicago, Rochester, Brandeis, Tulane, Vermont, W&M, MIT, CMU, and UVA. Further from home, with Tulane I’d add Clemson.</p>

<p>Personally, I really like Pitt for your D but that’s in part because my freshman D is there and she’s a non-partying nerd who’s, surprisingly, finding a space there even tho she’s living in the Honors dorm with the pre-meds. The city has a lot going for it these days, and Pitt offers her more than enough off-campus escapes for the outdoors and urban adventure. Her science and Italian and courses are going strong and are plenty challenging, so we’re happy about that. But I can also say from D’s experience that there are kids who build then their own worlds, as Emerson advises, and can find niches in worlds that aren’t particularly small, friendly, ivy, classically college to anyone’s first glance.</p>

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<p>U Rochester belongs in the “with engineering” list.</p>

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<p>Thank you! I have done some searching on Naviance, and I have found several schools that she can take a look at and as we get closed to spring break we will figure out a trip schedule. While a few, like UChicago and Tufts look like reaches at this point, Brandeis, Rochester, Tulane, CMU, Case Western, and several others look like matches. I am pretty sure engineering will end up off the table because she just doesn’t love math enough to do it.</p>

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<p>If that is the case, then she should probably stay away from all the [url=“&lt;a href=“http://theaitu.org%22%5DAITU%5B/url”&gt;http://theaitu.org”]AITU[/url</a>] schools which have been mentioned in this thread. They are small and rigorous but mostly focused on engineering.</p>