I read an article last summer which said that the college population is now basically 60:40 female. So wherever you go except for elite schools which are able to pick the students they want, it’s not going to be 50:50 anywhere. Especially when we consider that Engineering is 3:1 male, it skews the averages in all of the other disciplines even more heavily toward females.
If your daughter appreciates the notably flexible curricula of Amherst, Brown and Grinnell, she should consider adding Hamilton, which offers a similar flexibility.
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Thank you for the updates. I am curious to see where she ends up, also! I definitely think she will get some nice acceptances — whether the FA is what you need it to be is another issue.
I, too, have learned a lot about the challenges facing “unhooked” students who are not from feeder schools — but I have also been encouraged and heartened to read about so many amazing kids like yours who are filling classes in colleges of all ranks all over the country. It gives me some hope for the future.
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I was not aware that Hamilton was an open curriculum school - thanks!
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“One of the nice things about Carleton is…”
Can you finish your thought? Carleton is a top contender!
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It was not my unfinished comment above, but of the schools on her list, I am most familiar with Carleton and Whitman and think they share a similar vibe and type of student. If she thinks Carleton students are her type of people, I think she’d really like Whitman, also (if she hasn’t visited).
That said, they are both rural (which originally was not her preference), but Carleton has the advantage of being less than an hour from a major metro area — something Whitman lacks. It is easy to go see a concert or event in the Twin Cities if you are at Carleton. In contrast, Walla Walla is a long trip from Seattle or Portland or even Spokane.
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Thanks! She has visited Carleton, Macalester, and Grinnell and liked all three. She now seems willing to give a little on location, as her most important criteria include a bright, down-to-earth student body with discussion-based classes. Grinnell is definitely a favorite due to open curriculum and what she deemed “a non-preppy vibe.” Whitman seems great and I think she’d love it there, but the financial aid will be another story…
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Regarding general classroom experience, the Princeton Review now produces a slightly different (aggregated across time and unranked) list of colleges that may be of particular interest to your daughter:
https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings?rankings=great-classroom-experience
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Great to see several of her potential schools on this list!
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I thought the same thing about the donut hole, which is very real, and unfortunately the conclusion we arrived at (too late) is that basically ONLY colleges like Amherst can possibly work for us. Because they are so competitive, ED and ED2 are practically our only shot at going to college. I drank the koolaid that people like us can’t apply ED because we need to compare offers. That’s rich people think. There are no offers to compare for people like us. Here’s a list of offers so far to “compare”:
Hollins
Agnes Scott
Lawrence
Hendrix
Dayton
Gustavus
Willamette
Puget Sound
Earlham
And some others I’m forgetting. Despite getting top merits at a lot of these, none of them are in range. So we can “compare” them (Hendrix is lowest), but so what? Hendrix is lowest. Good to know. But can’t go there.
An elite-er college that meets need is always going to be lower than any of these and this could have been known from the start and a strategy to make it work could have been implemented.
ED and ED2 are the only rational choice. We are last minute attempting ED2 but should have done as you did and applied ED1. Consider ED2 before it’s too late!
True, it does look like you have 30k to spend which in our case would make almost all of the above actual choices to compare on merit alone. I’m sure you’re daughter can get top merit at some of the above list and be able to attend these for 30k. Her current list has far more affordable options on it but they are some of them quite competitive and an ED2 might be necessary to get in.
Consider ED2 and apply to some on our list RD!
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Regarding costs, if your daughter were to gain admission to a school such as Amherst or Williams, the value in the education seems more than worth the expense for partial-pay families. This Forbes article, for example, suggests value even for full-pay families:
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I absolutely hear what you’re saying, which is why she applied mostly to higher tier schools. Even if she’s admitted to schools like Rhodes and Whitman, they are unlikely to be affordable without very high merit. Thanks to @compmom 's suggestion, she is going to apply to Clark and give their Presidential Scholarship a shot (full ride).
Her favorite schools from here on out include Rice, Brown, Williams, and Grinnell, only one of which offers ED2. She considered it at Grinnell, but she says she’s willing to take her chances with the others on her list. I know it’s a gamble, so she’ll find out in March if this was a mistake! Fortunately, she is happy with her two safety choices and they are easily affordable, so worst case scenario she’ll end up at one of those.
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oh great you have safeties! Yes definitely there are some affordable colleges on your list and I wish we were oriented more like you from the start.
I don’t know Rhodes but Whitman is, yes, not the greatest merit giver and not comparable to some on our list that way. My D also applied to Whitman but RD not EA
Might you consider Willamette then? My daughter is down to like 25k there, not including indirect costs. I don’t know how this process works, but sorry your daughter is a tad bit more remarkable on the level of what she’s done than mine. I don’t see how some school wouldn’t offer her more than mine.
Of course it’s late. My daughter would love to, and really should, go for some of the schools on your list now, but she’s pooped. She could make a great Brown video, but just doesn’t have it in her at this point.
BTW just in case: that optional video at Brown is NOT optional.
Ha, I have no clue! I think Carleton is a really, really good school, however. Like the student body and overall vibe more than any other LAC’s I visited. Was not a fit for either of S1(athletics) or S2(ENG), but wouldn’t hesitate to send either of them there, though there has been an inappropriate situation between faculty and students brought up on the Carleton Reddit recently. They’ll have to address that ASAP.
Oh, I remember. I like that they have a 50/50 M/F balance there, or very close to it.
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Yep, I’m in the camp of “optional” at any school is not really optional. My D made her Brown video from quarantine. 
She knows it’s nowhere near the caliber of some she’s seen online (they look professionally done!), but it describes her well and she’s going with it.
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Not disputing that these colleges can for donut hole people actually be the cheapest and therefore automatically the highest value, nor that they are all great colleges, but when they make these lists you have also to account for the wealth of the kids going in, and quality of their high schools and the stability of their families and communities, etc. Upper class people when they graduate will tend to become upper class people and have lots of opportunities. So when the metric is post graduation salary, that can’t be attributed to the college alone.
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I hadn’t heard about any faculty/student situation at Carleton, so I’ll have to look into that. The 50/50 split is good to know and that, along with its MN Nice vibe and proximity to the Twin Cities, make it a top contender if she’s fortunate enough to be accepted!
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Has your D considered Davidson College? Top LAC w/rigorous academics with small class sizes, close proximity to a major city and airport (Charlotte), nice weather and large endowment that allows generous financial aid w/no loans. Back in the day Davidson was nicknamed Amherst of the South (though unlike Amherst it does have a core requirement). ED2 deadline is fast approaching though (Jan 6).
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AFAIK neither of these schools are religiously affiliated.
Rice offers great financial aid.
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