<p>Middlebury does not offer merit aid, only need-based aid, if this is a concern for you.</p>
<p>
Fair enough … but your current list is heavy on no merit aid schools … Middlebury, Barnard, and Columbia at least. There are a bunch of good threads on finding merit aid … the IVYies and I believe most of the NESCAC schools do not give merit aid … but a lot of schools ranked just a tad below them do. If you have a EFC/Family ability to pay gap it might make sense to visit more schools that do provide merit aid … especially schools far from home for which this might be the only chance to visit.</p>
<p>Repeat: Look at Fordham. Two campus choices: Bronx-Rose Hill…90 lush acres, gothic buildings, next to Botanical gardens, gated, safe and gorgeous. Lincoln Center, …immediately adjacent to Lincoln Center . Small, very artsy. Fordham offers majors in ALL the languages you suggest, including Mandarin and Arabic, plus it has area studies majors, international relations or International Political Economy.</p>
<p>Focus on FIT, not prestige. </p>
<p>For the record, you daughter will not fit in at Brown. Columbia is also very liberal and “open”. Great schools but a different political and social scene than you are in now. </p>
<p>However, I always leave the CHOICE TO THE STUDENT…because a different campus may interest her than me, or you…and its her life, her education, her opportunities and dreams. </p>
<p>It never hurts to visit a school and even apply. You don’t make final decisions until April of her senior year after the admissions letters are in hand. That is 20 months away. A long, long time. </p>
<p>So enjoy the trips and let her dream and experiment.</p>
<p>And once again, let me state: don’t get hung up on prestige. The kiss of death. There are brilliant kids at most colleges. Just having a 2200 SAT doesnt guarantee you will be admitted to HYP etc, or that you will be happy if you go there. Too many students and parents assume that all the “perfect kids” only go to the elite colleges. Wrong. In fact MOST go to other schools.</p>
<p>She will be changing her mind a LOT in the next 20 months. So just sit back and let her process all the information. Its okay if she flits back and forth with concepts…part of growing up and deciding what she wants. </p>
<p>And yes, sometimes change is a good thing…always challenging for her and her parents…been there and done that. But in the end, envigorating and the full blossom at the end always exceeds your dreams. </p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>and looking forward:</p>
<p>I wasnt hot at all. To the contrary, I was laughing. I dont want to recommend someone go to a school where they dont fit on the surface, UNLESS they specifically state they are looking for a contrarian environment and they are well suited for the significant social adjustment and culture shock.</p>
<p>People from Mississippi are called Magnolia’s for a reason…beautiful and fragrant and sensitive. New York and Boston and Philadelphia and Baltimore and DC are not for the meek and mild. Students there will be very forward, outspoken and their culture is decidedly not “southern belle.” Not judging the OP at all. Just trying to help her. (We are southerners too btw). </p>
<p>Agreed its a Junior doing college shopping and no decisions are being made…for a LONG time. If she wants to visit Brown and Columbia, be my guest. Fabulous schools. I have friends at Princeton, Columbia and Brown right now. All southerners. </p>
<p>My real agenda is to get someone with so much talent and intelligence to think for herself and think broadly at first…look around…and not get hung up on prestige. </p>
<p>I know someone who went to Kenyon with a 2300 SAT. I know someone at Davidson on a full ride with a 2300. </p>
<p>My D1 is at Fordham and has several friends there with perfect 1600/1600 SATs.</p>
<p>I don’t do politics on CC and avoid the Parents Cafe for that reason, like the plague. I could care less if someone believes in green cheese on mars. My agenda is driven by helping people find schools that fit them…whatever that may be. </p>
<p>Peace.</p>
<p>If you are going to DC, stop at American University - it is socially liberal but fits the criteria on a number of levels - languages, strong study abroad programs, strong international studies (SIS). It also gives terrific merit money to students like your daughter, many of my son’s friends only pay room and board, tuition is paid for by a merit scholarship. My son’s girlfriend speaks German and will be studying abroad next year in Germany. His roommate is taking Arabic and is in the School for International Studies. I just checked and they do also offer Russian and Chinese instruction up to the graduate level. There also is a consortium, and you can take courses at any DC school if AU doesn’t offer it. The opportunities for internships in both non-profits and government are terrific because it is right in DC.</p>
<p>
Middlebury has an acclaimed language program, but the school pretty much defines “rural” as far as setting goes.</p>
<p>Since she is interested in study overseas, one school to consider is Kalamazoo in Michigan. They are one of the top schools in the country as far as having students study abroad. May not have all the languages she wants, though, as its a small LAC.
I’d suggest spending some more time finding colleges with good merit aid. Generally you get merit aid by attending a college a few notches below the ones that are your matches; schools that are happy to have a smart kid on campus are the ones that pony up merit aid. These can be either public or private colleges. Of course this impacts what the average student will be like, the level at which classes are taught, etc. – its that old “no free lunch” thing again. Many of the schools you have mentioned so far have no trouble attracting top students, and consequently will offer little to no merit aid.
It may be difficult to find a school where you can satisfy the requirements for 2 majors and a minor in 4 years; and if you did it would probably leave very little time for electives out of just interest. Int’l Studies and a Language might be doable because they’re related fields and there may be a lot of overlap in the requirements, but adding in a minor may be tough. She should keep in mind you don’t need official recognition on your diploma to take several classes in an area.</p>
<p>Considering all of your advice, I will present the following suggestions/revisions to my daughter (who acquiesced re: Middlebury when told there is no merit aid there):
Bryn Mawr
University of Richmond
Washington & Lee
Georgetown
Fordham College at Rose Hill
UNC – Chapel Hill
Duke University
American University
Vanderbilt University
George Washington University</p>
<p>Of course, I have had to send away for information from some of these colleges, and as suggested, I will do research on levels of language provided (I’m a bit wary of Asian studies as opposed to Chinese). </p>
<p>I have suggested to my daughter that she create a checklist of what she most wants and checks off schools that have it, so she can narrow the list down for me. Thanks to all who have helped so far. If you wish to make more comments to help revise/adjust the list, I wouldn’t mind.</p>
<p>I also love the Magnolia reference, but remember Magnolia trees are huge with deep root systems. They’re no pansies. :)</p>