Colleges for a unique profile kid

College Search & Selection
1

So I posted last summer in an effort to start a list for my rising junior to explore, and we got a lot of great suggestions. She made a preliminary list based on many of the recommendations on that thread, but as the year has progressed her profile has changed significantly and she’s at a bit of a loss on how to proceed. Here’s the thread: Good colleges for (above?) average cool kids

The GOOD:
ACT 34
Recently selected for a study abroad scholarship with 15% acceptance rate (in a normal year; not sure if it’s different this year) and will spend senior year overseas
Earned college credit in Mandarin last summer and selected for a Stanford course on US-China relations last fall
Will finish up pilot’s license this summer before she leaves (7% of pilots are women)
Works 25-30 hours a week in fast food for 2 years (promoted to training supervisor) but was recently offered an internship in flight operations at an aircraft company for the summer so will quit the fast food job before then
Co-president of Science Olympiad team; went from worst in the region her freshman year to first this year (she won a gold at state competition this month)
Expanded her knitting club to include middle school students (they knit hats for cancer patients)
Accepted to a marine science semester school last year but came home early due to Covid
Despite only 3 years of high school, she will have 4+ credits each of English, math, science, and SS by the end of this year

The BAD:
Her transcript is a mess of regular/honors courses at her school, online courses, and semester school courses
Only 3 AP courses, which is all she could take this year
School is a very mediocre urban public in flyover country with an average ACT of 19.

The UGLY:
Her school has been remote most of this year and she earned a B first semester in AP Calc (there were zero A’s in the class and about a 1/4 of the kids dropped at semester). Second semester has been worse for her and she will likely end this semester with a C. Ugh. Obviously not ideal to take Precalc online last summer and AP during a pandemic, but other kids nationwide have done it and she has struggled. So….yeah.

She will still have a GPA around 3.93 (straight A’s in all other coursework but Calc) and graduate in the top 5%, but I’m thinking the second semester C will be a deal breaker for many, if not all, selective colleges.

Her initial list included Carleton, Tufts, Amherst, Bowdoin, and Pomona as favorites, but they are probably off the table. She also really liked Macalester, Grinnell, Whitman, Emory, and Bates.

This is also challenging because she will be applying to schools while studying abroad and won’t be able to visit next spring before making a decision.

Any suggestions on a new list? She is wide open on majors, but leaning toward environmental studies and international relations. Loves the coasts and urban settings, but not opposed to rural locations if there are outdoor opportunities (she loved Grinnell but hated the location). Most important factors for her include bright, down-to-Earth kids and smaller, discussion-based classes. Financial aid is also a factor (she knows our budget).

This is my first journey through the college admissions gauntlet and I appreciate the collective wisdom of the CC community!

1 Like
2

A C will not be a deal breaker at any of the colleges you list. You say you have a budget…have you run the NPCs at the schools you mention and they are affordable?

Do you have a safety (both admissions and financial)? What state do you live in?

Is she primarily interested in LACs or smallish universities (ala Tufts and Emory)?

6 Likes
3

A lot of kids have struggled with some of their courses this year so your daughter is not alone! My son hasn’t done as well as normal (no Cs, but a couple of Bs that would usually be As) – online learning is not for him. You may want to talk with your daughter’s guidance counselor - ours will be writing about the learning challenges this year to include with his applications so they can put his performance in context. Yours may be willing to do the same. In any case, one C shouldn’t keep her from being a wonderful (and interesting) candidate.

3 Likes
4

Gosh, don’t change her list because of one grade during COVID. She will do really well with admissions. Interesting kid. The guidance counselor, family or student can write a note explaining the “transcript mess” which is absolutely fine. In fact, schools told us they love “outliers.” I repeat, interesting, hard-working kid, willing to pursue some adventures. I think many top schools would be interested in her. She could also look at Brown, Amherst, Bennington, Sarah Lawrence, all schools that value independence of spirit. Editing to add that COVID has affected everyone and there is some latitude with that.

8 Likes
5

These sites may offer ideas for colleges to research further:

1 Like
6

I’m feeling a little better about C after reading the first few comments, so thanks for that. She is really upset and has been working hard, but I don’t think she’ll get over the top in the next 5 weeks.

Her safeties are state flagship (likely Honors) and Truman State, both of which are very affordable with guaranteed scholarship money. She doesn’t like the size or party rep of the flagship but she’s okay with it otherwise, especially if she’s in the Honors Program. She spent a couple summers at Truman doing pre-college gifted camps in middle school and loved it, but of course the location very rural and boring. She’d be fine at either, but she’s hoping for match/reach schools like everyone else. :slight_smile:

1 Like
7

Sounds like good safeties…but she could pick another strong safety school in Environmental Studies (which is different than Environmental Science wrt to the posted list above).

Is the budget still around $30K (from the other thread)?

Some schools to consider (all but NEU are probably matches or highly likelies) are Northeastern (has combined Env Studies and Int’l Affairs degree), Elon, Clark, American, Franklin and Marshall, Appalachian State, Butler, Occidental, U Vermont, Trinity (TX), Oberlin, U Puget Sound, Eckerd.

2 Likes
8

My son got a B in Calc and was accepted at several top 20 schools, it will be ok!

8 Likes
9

Hi there, sharing for comparison the experience of my daughter, who in some ways sounds similar to yours (same ACT and number of APs). My daughter also into launguages (German and Mandarin - although not nearly as accomplished in either compared to your daughter). Also my daughter does not fly, but does knit! She’s also interested in international relations and environmental studies (plus German and women’s and gender studies!). One difference: my daughter knew she wanted a small LAC. Even Tufts (which we pitched as a great blend between LAC and University) she deemed too big.

Here’s her list and results in case it helps: (from reach to “safeties”)

Middlebury - rejected - (by the way, a great school for your daughter - great languages and IR)
Colby - WL
Vassar - WL
Bates - Accepted
Oberlin - Accepted
Macalester - Accepted
Occidental - Accepted
Dickinson - Accepted

As mentioned, I think Middlebury would be great - maybe a stretch - but with the language skills she’s got already maybe not.

Lastly, I have to put a plug in for my alma mater - Georgetown - my daughter chose not to apply - too big and maybe a stretch - but great for IR (school of foreign service is excellent) and languages.

8 Likes
10

I didn’t know about the combined degree at Northeastern - I’ll have her check it out! Northeastern might be too big for her liking, but it’s in Boston so it might make the list. It also ticks the box for practical application of learning, which is something she values.

Our budget is comfortably around 25k but we could stretch to 30k for a great fit. Her sister is right behind her, graduating in 2023, so we need to be cognizant of that too. The challenge for us (like many others, I’m sure) is the fact that the tippy top schools give the best financial aid - she loved Occidental on paper but NPC wasn’t nearly as favorable as many others so she probably won’t apply. Puget Sound looks like it might be a good fit and NPC is within our budget assuming merit is accurate. She’s not religious at all so Trinity and Butler are out, and while she leans left, the SJW vibe of Oberlin may not be a great fit either. I have a friend who attended App. State, so I’ll have her look into that. A friend of hers is attending Eckerd and loves it, but NPC doesn’t look workable for us. Thanks for the suggestions!

1 Like
11

@hoya91 Thanks for the comparison - this is helpful! And congrats on some great choices - what did your daughter choose?

1 Like
12

My current sophomore had a 34 ACT, 3.9 gpa (one b freshman year) 9 AP classes, ended up at the university of Delaware paying $35,000 after merit. UCONN, URI, quinnipiac, Scranton, all came in the same, my high school senior has the same gpa, 7 AP’s, 33 ACT and had similar results (PITT and UMD didn’t give enough merit to be considered). Bentley gave her around $30,000 a year, but still to expensive. Definitely see how much the more selective schools give, I found our budget limiting. And I definitely wouldn’t worry about one C, especially this year.

2 Likes
13

You don’t need to worry about the C, many kids have struggled during the pandemic and based on what you’ve said about the area AO’s will see her as high achieving for her school! If you want more schools for the list, Sarah Lawrence, Williams, and Mount Holyoke could be great additions.

2 Likes
14

@skydivemom - she’s still deciding. Visited Bates, Colby, Vassar last weekend and visiting Oberlin again this weekend for second time.

So far she’s only ruled out Colby (didn’t “vibe” with her - her words!) She was WL there anyway. She really liked Bates. Also Vassar (but she’s WL).

she’s visited Oberlin before and really liked it. So think we’re down to 3 - Bates, Oberlin (and Vassar - WL).

Meant to ask - where is your daughter studying overseas?

1 Like
15

Miami of OH has guaranteed merit aid, and they publish the tiers. They restructured their honors program into a residential college with lots of perks. I know they have a Global Politics major, but not sure about enviro science. Each zoom and communication from them made me like them more. Great undergraduate teaching.

4 Likes
16

@hoya91 I think Bates might be a good fit for my D as well. She is really attracted to schools with reputations for unpretentious, down-to-Earth kids, and Bates seems to fit the bill! I think that’s why she also likes Carleton and Whitman.

She will be spending next year in Taiwan.

Best of luck to your daughter! I’d be interested to know where she ends up once she makes a decision in the next couple of weeks. :slight_smile:

1 Like
17

Definitely look at Miami University and if she has interest in it then look into the Honors and Prodesse Scholars Program and also apply for the Presidential Fellows program. Miami really likes well rounded students. https://www.miamioh.edu/news/top-stories/2020/08/new-honors-college-for-2021.html

1 Like
18

Did you look at the first year scholarships at Eckerd? They are given for all 4 yrs and run from $12,000 to $22,000 per yr. With your daughter’s GPA and ACT, she should be eligible for the top award and honors admission. They stack financial aid on top of merit aid. This should bring the COA to $30,000.

2 Likes
19

I agree with don’t cross off those schools she’d been intending to apply to, before the bad news on Calc. Reality is that a lot of kids don’t even take Calc, let alone in their junior year!

Is it possible to get her a really great tutor right now, for Calc, through the end of the semester? She might be able to pull it up to a B, and if she can get a 4 or a 5 on the AP exam, it will make even the C look not so bad.

She sounds like such a courageous young woman. Study abroad. Pilot, leadership, accelerated studies.

1 Like
20

@parentologist Thanks for your kind words. :slight_smile: The story on Calc is that our district started the school year 3 weeks late and added an additional break this winter due to Covid. Classes also meet remotely for 3 days a week instead of 5. This has made AP courses rough, but other teachers have modified their curriculum to accommodate the shortened schedule and the calc teacher did not. She told the kids she has the same tests and expectations as any other year and they are responsible for the material regardless of whether it’s covered in class. We hired an excellent tutor, but I think it’s too late. There are only 4 exams this semester, and the two that are left are practice AP exams, which are taken for a test grade and cover everything from the entire curriculum (again, regardless of whether or not it’s been covered). The whole situation is very disheartening, but life is full of speed bumps and the pandemic has been a big one.

1 Like