Hi and thanks in advance for your input. I have done tons of online research, but would like to hear from this forum about colleges for non-traditional students. We’re having difficulty coming up with a list. At the moment Hampshire is my Ds first choice, and I’m concerned she won’t get in.
D is a junior at a girl’s private school in NYC, where she doesn’t fit in at all. (She decided to stay there, it’s complicated.) Her grades are As and Bs, she’s very smart but unhappy in HS, is a great writer, and has a composite on her mock ACT of 33. I don’t know what her gpa is yet. Most of her extracurriculars are solo projects related to writing. She has written, recorded, and published a scifi podcast. She volunteers with kids at a writer’s workshop. Because of the poor fit, she has not joined anything at school. She has taken no APs, will take one in senior year. Her smallish school doesn’t offer many APs.
Because Hampshire is no longer looking at test scores I’m concerned my daughter won’t get in. She can write a great essay, will do well in her interview, and has shown interest. However, I don’t know if her resume will stand out.
We are looking for colleges where she can create her own curriculum to some degree. Creative writing and digital media are her current interests. .
Other criteria- no more than 3,500, on the east coast, not preppy, coed. Interesting kids, diversity of thought, and a culture of developing your own interests are important
Does Goucher sound like a possibility? We looked at Wesleyan, it didn’t grab us.
Hampshire sounds like a safety school to be honest. This year the school accepted [73% of female applicants](https://www.hampshire.edu/sites/default/files/CDS_2015-2016-FINAL%2001.05.16.pdf), a number that has stayed relatively constant since at least 2012. Given that your daughter would clearly be able to articulate “Why Hampshire” in her essay, I seriously doubt she will be rejected. If you can afford the school, I would not worry about her chances for acceptance.
Both the New College of Florida and Warren Wilson College are strong schools for the fields your daughter is interested, although NCF is much better for digital media. Another Florida school worth considering is Eckerd College. If she is truly interested in creative pursuits and nothing else, Emerson College is worth looking into. Keep in mind that it is totally different than Hampshire College in its academic philosophy and setting.
If you are okay with going into the Midwest, consider Kalamazoo College, known for its K Plan. This academic plan might not be the best fit for someone with little interest in extracurriculars, but it is certainly less traditional. As an added benefit to Kalamazoo College, it is next to Western Michigan University which might allow your daughter to have more social opportunities than if she were stuck on a rural campus.
Sarah Lawrence College is another school that I immediately thought of when you described your daughter. The students tend to be rather extreme, and certainly not balanced in political thought. There’s also a very large gender gap although it is near New York City which could allow for more gender mixing.
Rhodes College attracts less extreme students than Sarah Lawrence and will almost certainly welcome your daughter. If she’s interested in Hampshire, it probably won’t be a good fit.
SLC also has fairly limited course offerings in many subjects. However, writing is one of the subjects where it has many course offerings, along with literature, psychology, history, and visual and performing arts.
Bard and Bennington are schools that come to mind.
Hamilton while more traditional, has an open curriculum and a strong writing program that may appeal to your daughter.
Vassar could be worth a look
Thanks, everyone. SLC, Bennington, Bard, and Vassar have all been recommended by other parents. I hadn’t thought of Florida or the midwest, can’t really afford air fare for all those breaks. Except I am considering Kenyon in spite of the airfare because of the writing. No idea what the culture is there, though.
Anyone know what the culture is like at Goucher? I’ve read it’s great if you’re Jewish, but we’re not. Does that mean my kid would feel like an outsider? Fitting in is going to be very important after her HS experience.
My son is a freshman at Goucher. He loves it, its a very welcoming environment, and we are not Jewish, so I think its a warm and welcoming place regardless of background. My son was also an introvert in high school and has made alot of friends and has really come out of his shell. It also has a strong writing program. They give good merit aid also, and your daughter would likely receive a decent merit award. Its also well situated outside of Baltimore, so its easy to get to DC or NY as well. I would suggest visiting, its a beautiful campus and unique campus.
Hampshire, Bard, Bennington, Evergreen, Goucher, Grinnell, Oberlin, Vassar, UCSC. Some of these might be reachier, and I agree with the above posters that Hampshire sounds like a perfect match for your daughter. @colgrlma
I edited your post title to make it more aligned with what you really want.
I second the wisdom about Hampshire and the suggestion of Hamilton - their curriculum is open and they are an excellent place to be a writer. Oberlin is also noted for turning out great writers. Basically you’ve gotten a lot of really good suggestions here
I will also add Emerson College, a small college in Boston that is focused exclusively on communication and the performing arts. They have two degrees in writing, literature, and publishing (a BA and a BFA) as well as a BFA in media arts production and a BA in media studies.
Also, Amherst College is a top liberal arts college with an open curriculum. It may be more reachy - in the same realm as Oberlin and Grinnell. I do think the students are preppier there, though.
I was going to suggest Reed, but re-reading the opening post I see east-coast… In terms of self-designed curriculum (and all of your other criteria), have you looked at Marlboro College in Vermont?
You may want to distinguish between the two general types of open curricula: those in which a student selects there own courses (e.g., Smith, Grinnell, Hamilton, Brown, Amherst) and those in which a student, to a degree, creates there own courses (e.g., possibly Hampshire, Marlboro). These educational appoaches tend to attract different types of students, and your daughter is likely to prefer one to the other.
Hampshire sounds like a perfect fit for your D. My older D is there, with what sound like similar interests as your D, and has been very happy and very challenged there. There are many, many writing opportunities - she has taken courses both at Hampshire and at Smith and Amherst, through the five college consortium. She has taken full advantage of the self designed curriculum and crafted a course of study that has allowed her to follow her passions, in depth, and to excel in her studies.
Many excellent recommendations above. Maybe consider Skidmore and Dickinson as well. Kenyon is supposed to be great for writing but may be a bit of a reach. You may also want to look at the Colleges that change lives list (you can google online).
@colgrlma You say you can’t afford airfare for all those breaks. Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish. You have to look at the cost of attendance including airfare. $3,000 difference in costs of schools buys a lot of tickets per year. Also, when airfare is an issue, look at schools near major cities which is the best way to save on airfare (Maybe $300 per ticket instead of $500).
I don’t know your net price of any school listed but just a thought to consider.
Do you have a good sense of why she doesn’t fit in at her HS? You wouldn’t want her to end up at a school that fit her academically but wasn’t the right place socially. “Not preppy” is a good start; seems as if that would rule out Hamilton, for instance. (Not that every kid there would be preppy, I’m sure, but it’s got a bit of a rep that way, and to me that’d be a red flag.) Why didn’t Wesleyan grab her? Too sophisticated, too preppy, too SJW, too __________? (Not saying it’s any of those things, just wondering how it felt to you and your D.)
If you’re in NYC, it’d be easy to check out SLC and see what you think of the vibe. Same with Bard. And you’re probably doing this, but check out online reviews for school descriptions; niche is a helpful one. Google words that are negatives for her (snobby? preppy? whatever it is) with the name of the school you’re wondering about. That kinda thing.
“Diversity of thought” could be a potential issue at Hampshire – seems like a great school for the right kids, and I do think it’d be a safety or high match for the reasons mentioned, but she’d have to get a feel of the student body to see whether she’s a true fit. If it is, then I’d say she’d get in, because “fit” seems to be a huge factor (and she could articulate that.)
Also, if you’re concerned about airfare, you’ll need to be looking for schools that offer good merit aid, so that’ll have to go into the mix. I’d second the suggestion to check out Kalamazoo, New School of Florida (which gives in-state level of tuition to high stat students) and CTCL schools in general. And consider adding Beloit to the mix. Unconventional, friendly student body, seems good on the diversity-of-thought spectrum, good in creative writing, can make your own major (which is actually more widespread these days than I’d thought when we started looking), and her high stats would make it a high match or safety … which would be great for possible merit aid, for which it’s well known anyway. Also, the airport is Chicago, so that could be cheaper than a small town.
I just got back and want to thank everyone who posted, and to apologize for seeming to have done a hit and run. Family stuff came up. I really appreciate the helpful comments, there’s a lot of very useful insight here. Thank you all so much.
Reiterating what Momonalaptop said - what doesn’t work for your daughter at her current high school? What is she looking for in a college other than creating her own major?
I would not recommend Bard as it’s highly competitive, especially for a writing concentration (their word for major) and you don’t even apply for your major until the end of Sophomore year and if you are not accepted you either have to transfer or switch concentrations. Not a good system, IMHO.
My daughter did not like Kenyon because it was too “preppy” and “collegiate” in the traditional sense, it just wasn’t for her, she decided not to apply. Bard was too stressful in many ways so she turned them down after the admitted student day. Hampshire was a bit too hipster for her and they no longer offered ceramics, one of her areas of interest, so she turned them down also after the admitted student day. One of her best friends attends and has had a fabulous education. (My daughter says she’s really happy it’s perfect for her friend and that she didn’t attend.) My daughter is a senior at a midwest school that is perfect for her but it’s not fun to travel there. You can take two planes or a plane to Chicago and a train or car, so I’m thinking that won’t work for you.
Not knowing what your daughter is really looking for makes it difficult to make recommendations.
