If your daughter is open to adding another school, Hamilton matches her preferences really well. It certainly fits her open curriculum theme and predilection for NESCACs. I highly recommend you take a look at the school.
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I agree with the posts above that she is still a very strong candidate for any of those schools. I would also suggest considering Middlebury. They have a very strong environmental studies department and seems to fit some of her other wants.
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Another thoughtâHobart and William Smith might be an option. They gave my son a very good offer of combined merit and need based aid. Beautiful campus, not difficult to get in to, offer environmental studies.
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As has been mentioned several times, I think Middlebury would be a logical addition to her list. Incredibly strong programs in environmental and international studies. If sheâs crossed it off her list, Iâd be curious to know why.
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On paper, Middlebury looks like a great fit. However, several months back when she was compiling an initial list, she watched a YouTube video where the interviewer was asking kids from different colleges the best and worst things about their schools. Middlebury was one of the schools, and three of the students, when asked the worst thing about Midd, said some variation of âracism.â Other schools had things like âfoodâ or âhillsâ or ânot enough librariesâ (there are 5 on that particular campus, lol), etc., but Midd was the only one that really turned her off with those answers. We also have a family acquaintance whose daughter attended, and while they are pretty well off for our area, her daughter definitely felt a divide between socioeconomic classes, so D took it off the list. Itâs too bad, because it really looks like an academic fit.
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Thanks! She is looking at Hamilton, as neither of us was aware of its open curriculum. She is just out of quarantine and with her host family for the new year, so she is currently busy with many activities they have planned. She also has semester finals next week, but she may be able to squeeze in 1 or 2 more applications!
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In terms of survey data on this topic, Amherst has performed poorly in recent years in studentsâ perception of race and class interaction. This surprised even the JBHE, which generally has regarded Amherst favorably:
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I just found and watched the YouTube video you referenced. If anyone else wants to watch it, itâs by a channel called Crimson and the series is called âHard Questions.â Easy to Google. For the record, one of the students interviewed did bluntly mention racism as the worst thing about Midd, and another mentioned economic disparity among students.
I canât argue with an individualâs experience or opinion, but I donât think that the majority of Midd students are racist. If you ask those on the right, Midd is one of the most woke schools in the country and a frequent punching bag for conservatives.
Truth be told, the student body has traditionally been characterized as white and wealthy, but the college has made a real effort to bring more diversity to campus. Partnerships with the Posse Foundation and others are helping to bring more minority, lower-income, and first-generation students to the college. Thereâs still a lot of work to be done, though. Youâll never be able to change the fact that Midd is in a rural part of the whitest state in the nation.
Midd is certainly not alone in addressing this challenge. Youâll find student newspaper articles about racism at many of the schools on your daughterâs list. The great hope is that all of these colleges are actively working to improve inclusivity.
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Yes, Williams is another NESCAC school that received exactly the same criticism from some of its students a few years ago.
Like many of their peer schools, Midd has a relatively high proportion of full pay students, 53% per the 2020/21 CDS, section H2 (1,196 of 2,551 (46.9%) students were awarded need based aid). https://www.middlebury.edu/system/files/media/CDS_2020-2021_2.pdf
Yes, I recently saw this source as well (although it was after D submitted her ED app to Amherst). I was surprised as well, considering that roughly half the student body are POC and 1 in 4 are Pell Grant. These two stats were major reasons she decided to apply ED (although admittedly, the FA was number 1). Disappointing.
That said, I think Amherst is taking important steps to reduce its elitist reputation (lack of legacy preference is HUGE) and hopefully that will steadily improve relationships within the student body. As it stands, I donât think my D will be accepted after her deferral anyway; the competition for an unhooked applicant is just too stiff in such a small student body.
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And Bowdoin:
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Letâs get back on topic please.
Totally agree with you that the majority of Midd kids arenât racist. Unfortunately, we had neither the time nor the money to visit most of these schools so D is going by what she learns online and the limited experiences of family acquaintances.
I am under no illusions about the relative wealth of students who attend the East coast schools on her list; I know places like Amherst, Bowdoin, and Williams have the same proportion of wealth as Middlebury. Unfortunately, she had to cut her list somehow and Midd was one that didnât make it. Truth be told, Iâm not sure sheâd be happier at one of these schools than she would be at the state flagship - while she craves the small classes with exceptional students and involved professors, I think the social experience may be a challenge to navigate. I also think this is why Grinnell is so high on her list.
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Sheâs incredibly accomplished and will end up at a wonderful college!
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As an opinion, if thereâs any school in which your your daughter may be having a rising interest, she definitely should make the time to apply there. This represents a potentially life-changing opportunity that cannot be recovered later.
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Have you thought about having her bolster her academics by studying outside of school and taking a Calc AP test? One grade that is a one-off may not keep her out of all those schools, especially if she applies for a non-quantitative major.
She did take the AP Calc exam last spring and scored a 3. She didnât report it in the Common App.
She most commonly listed majors of Asian Studies, Chinese, and/or Environmental Studies for all schools, so maybe that will help since sheâs not applying for a quant field.
You will note that a few of your daughterâs choices appear among these colleges with notable Chinese programs:
Just curious why youâd think Grinnell is somehow more progressive/ less racist than Midd. I know several Grinnell students who have transferred out due to racism (domestic students are 75% Caucasian â very low POC rate among peer schools).