<p>I concur on Reed for this student, though it is a stretch by the numbers. Assuming her scores come up a bit and her writing really is as outstanding as you say it is, Reed is possible. They seem to understand that some of the brightest kids are not turned on by high school.</p>
<p>Make sure to show her mom the admitted student rate for a bunch of colleges so she can understand how competitive it is. You can get that off each college website, or from the collegeboard site type the school name in college search, click on Admissions.</p>
<p>There is a book called The Gatekeepers that illustrates the situation quite clearly in the opening pages. It is mostly talking about a bit more selective than this girl may be aming for, but it is the same everywhere, there’s a trickledown effect. A GREAT read, worth getting.
[The</a> Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College: Jacques Steinberg: 9780142003084: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/The-Gatekeepers-Admissions-Process-Premier/dp/0142003085]The”>http://www.amazon.com/The-Gatekeepers-Admissions-Process-Premier/dp/0142003085)</p>
<p>Things sound great but be prepared for all of your researching to be ignored and that they will be unrealistic and that the parents may balk at applying to expensive schools. That the parents are going to control things and where she can apply.</p>
<p>Been around this block once or twice. It’s really hard to give other people advice. You may find the perfect set of schools and the mom will quash every suggestion you have. Sigh. Don’t people know how much we know. 
good luck :)</p>
<p>Seattle U is another good school, small and has good liberal arts. Everyone I know who has attended U of Puget Sound has been happy there as well.</p>
<p>What about York College in Pennsylvania? It’s a small school, with a modest price tag. This student might actually get a small merit award there. You can find out more about the school from Fendergirl who graduated from there!</p>
<p>deb, I know :(. I’m really, really hoping it won’t happen like that but I’m not unrealistic. I’m just acting on optimism at this point. </p>
<p>Fwiw, I don’t think the price will be the issue. They’re kind of hoping she’ll go to MSU, the school that her parents went to, which is 50k+ OOS (and yes, I know that they know this price). Again though, her aunt and uncle are more than willing to help her pay, too. They have no one else to pass their money on to and they both have well-paying jobs. They also know how their sister is. </p>
<p>HImom, I’ve never heard of U of Puget Sound. I’ll be sure to look that up! </p>
<p>Thank you so much for the suggestions. I’m going to give her the schools you guys have suggested as a starting point and I’m going to print out some admissions statistics and tuition fees just at a few of them just so she and her mom understand what they’re getting in to. </p>
<p>They were over last night and my mom talked to her mom. Apparently, the mom of this student is hoping to use her diabetes to “explain” her low GPA. I’m not even going to bother to convince her that that probably won’t work and just work on getting this girl some safeties (or as close as possible). It just drives me up a wall because her mom is probably the smartest person I’ve ever met and yet can’t possibly wrap her head around the idea that things have changed in the last 30 years. I guess that’s what happens when you refuse to watch TV and listen to the radio and don’t use the internet. It wouldn’t bother me so much if it wasn’t hindering her daughter.</p>
<p>@thumper- yes, fender has suggested it. The campus looks beautiful and the curriculum looks right up her alley. I’m actually going to use that as one of my “examples” for her tomorrow :)</p>
<p>Romani, what about Goucher?my sons felt it had a sort of artsy vibe. Also maybe Lake Forest outside of Chicago ?</p>
<p>Second (or third) the suggestion of Hampshire, Smith, or Mt. Holyoke. The five college consortium is such a great benefit. My older son is at Hampshire and loves it there. He’s taken probably half his classes at Amherst College. Another thing to perhaps consider is availability of medical facilities with her diabetes. We loved Bennington College and also Bard (and my older son was accepted at both, as well as at Sarah Lawrence) but both Bennington and Bard are in the middle of nowhere. My son was thrilled to be accepted at Sarah Lawrence then we visited and he didn’t like it at all. They do have an excellent writing program, as others have said.</p>
<p>Are there cost constraints? Parent limits on distance?</p>
<p>^ Nope. Neither. I think both parties involved might prefer a school further away rather than closer. </p>
<p>BT, thanks for that. Having a good medical facility nearby is important.</p>
<p>This is going to confuse things, but she should definitely look at Lawrence in Appleton, WI. It’s a great LAC with a strong music program that allows kids to do dual-degrees between the conservatory and another program in the college.</p>
<p>romani, Earlham has a music major, and lots of non-curricular music opportunities including an orchestra (open to non-majors) and a string quartet (by audition). It’s founded by Quakers, but there is no requirement for religious classes, and it’s WAY liberal, which should make mom happy.</p>
<p>Admission is holistic, so she has a decent chance, especially if her application as a whole is compelling and she can pull up the grades and scores just a tad. And students don’t fall between the cracks at Earlham; it’s very personal.</p>
<p>I’ll go back to look but in the meantime, did she want to do vocal performance, instrumental or string performance?</p>
<p>She’s a violinist.</p>
<p>Have her check out Lindenwood University outside of St. Louis - It is one of the faster growing schools in the area and offers all of the degrees she is interested in. Her 28 on the ACT will get her some tuition help and her GPA is not that bad for them. Great school, great people (I’m not an alumni and I mention this school often because it just seems to fit more and more people)</p>
<p>Their tuition is relatively low for a private school (Around 15/year) and she might qualify for as much as half of that in assistance right off the bat. It is also a school that focuses on educating students - they don’t have ‘research’ as a priority so the teachers tend to just be teachers.</p>
<p>I would post this question in the 2013 and 2014 3.0-3.3 threads within the Parents of the HS Class of 20xx Community: </p>
<p>[Class</a> of 20xx Community - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/]Class”>Class of 20xx Community - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/1469626-parents-hs-class-2014-3-0-3-3-gpa.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/1469626-parents-hs-class-2014-3-0-3-3-gpa.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/939937-parents-hs-class-2013-3-0-3-3-gpa.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/class-20xx-community/939937-parents-hs-class-2013-3-0-3-3-gpa.html</a></p>
<p>D, class of 2015, wants to apply to the following with several being reaches based on today’s 3.28 GPA, but safeties or matches based on her 31 ACT:</p>
<p>Beloit
Goucher
Hampshire
Bennington
Mt. Holyoke
Smith
Skidmore
Muhlenberg
College of Wooster
Tulane
Oberlin
Sarah Lawrence
University of Kansas ( financial and academic safety. Lawrence, KS was named the 2nd most liberal town behind Berkeley, CA and in front of Ann Arbor, MI. My D loved the campus and suburb of Lawrence.) </p>
<p>Schools D considered, but were too preppy or did not have her major:</p>
<p>Elon
Union College
Hobart & William Smith
Knox
Ursinus
Lewis & Clark
Earlham
Kalamazoo
Lawrence U, WI
Wheaton, MA ( NOT Wheaton, IL–a VERY religious school)
Case Western- nice merit scholarships for B students</p>
<p>Agnes Scott in Atlanta may be too far south than she prefers, but it’s a small women’s college that has creative writing and music as majors. It’s near Emory which has extensive health care, and Atlanta has a major airport which makes it easier to get there no matter where her family relocates. Socially, there is access to other universities and a large city.</p>
<p>I have not read every post so I apologize if these schools have already been mentioned:</p>
<p>Emerson College in Boston*
Muhlenberg in Allentown, PA
Rollins College in Winter Park, FL</p>
<p>I have known a bunch of kids who went off to Emerson as decent students but not really knowing what they wanted to do other than they knew they were inclined toward the arts - music, writing and the like. They have all absolutely flourished at this school. They are all now very interesting and focused people. As for medical care in the area Boston has top notch medical facilities all around so those needs would certainly met.</p>
<p>Thank you all again for the suggestions. There are so many schools here I’ve never heard of (and sound like great fits for her) and you’ve made things so much easier. </p>
<p>She prefers the northern states because she just really hates the heat lol. I’ll throw out some of the more southern ones to her but I don’t think she’ll go for it.</p>
<p>Romanigypsyeyes, I just saw this thread. You asked at one point about Cornell College. I am a Cornell alum, pm me if you still have questions. Music is not a strong point there, English would be stronger. It is maybe 20-30 minutes from U of Iowa medical teaching hospitals. </p>
<p>It is a very good, small LAC where she will get a well rounded education, though there are probably others that would be better in music. </p>
<p>I was accepted with lower stats then your friend, though I did graduate 25 years ago… Things have probably changed.</p>