Colleges like Reed on East Coast?

Parents Forum
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<p>I have several friends whose children did really well at Reed... smart, quirky kids ... some with diagnosed learning disabilities, or touches of asperger's or high functioning autism, or some emotional vulnerabilities... or nothing diagnosable, but when the powers that be cut them out of cloth their pattern was laid out on the bias. Reed was fantastic for them in being intellectually vibrant, quirky = baseline normal AND being nurturing... one friend's kid has a pretty bad crisis and Reed was wonderful, calling the parents in a caring way, being flexible about taking time off from school and handling incompletes, and then when my friend's H dies unexpectedly in an accident being flexible and kind to the same student now almost ready to graduate.</p>

<p>Not every student needs this kind of attention or flexibility (it would completely freak out son #1 who went to 3000 student HS and goes to large state university -- small state, large university).</p>

<p>But son 2 goes to teensy HS (60-65 kids 6th - 12th grade), is brilliant and tired of not having peers around him, but has complex issues that don't so much require formal accommodations as people getting to know him ... and having a safety net when he does academic acrobatics... and he yesterday told me he definitely needs a small college or he will ge "lost" on campus, by which he meant "geographically" lost between buildings, but I think we can infer other senses of lost.</p>

<p>And because of his quirkiness, he will have a quirky academic background... not all credits completed in 9th and 10th grade, but steadily improving, just took 11th grade PSAT's with no accommodations (despite diagnosed dyslexia and processing issues, we didn't have up to date testing and he didn't want retesting) he did really well... 94th percentile or above in all three tests, 96th percentile in combined score (merit scholarship index, not high enough to get one, but shows he does pretty well!) and he was disappointed he didn't get a perfect score on math. His school offers no AP courses, but he is set to complete Calculus before the end of 11th grade, he could have finished sooner, but then decided there was no rush, because after Calculus he probably has to take anything more advanced at the local CC. Even though he does all his work now, I am fairly sure he is not motivated enough to change course completely and would not be competetive for fancy, shiny LACs.</p>

<p>So, any suggestions in the category of small schools where the faculty would love liberal, quirky math smarties with real talent in science and computers and thinks he wants to pursue some sort of geeky field, but is also interested in EVERYHING, but hates requirements, wants to be around really smart, intellectual, creative, heady, intense people (who can also tolerate some lazy computer gaming friends like him), but it is not too difficult to get into.</p>

<p>He wants to visit Boston for spring break and look at schools there, even if he can't get into all of the ones he visits, and have them be "stand ins" for types.</p>

<p>Unless I get a better idea. Or ideas.</p>

<p>Also, I will have prepaid tuition at any Maryland state school... so that is awfully attractive to me! I will make him look at St. Mary's, but that may be too small town, rural for him, and we already know tons about College Park, which is very different from this question topic.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!!!!!</p>

2

<p>Don’t know your son, of course. Is Hampshire C. the kind of thing you’re looking for?</p>

3

<p>St. John’s (Annapolis)? Not east coast but I also thought of Oberlin.</p>

4

<p>Hampshire College (MA)
Bennington College (VT)
Marlboro College (VT)
Sarah Lawrence College (NY)
Bard College (NY)</p>

5

<p>As noted above, Oberlin is the obvious parallel though it’s in Ohio. How about Wesleyan in CT?</p>

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<p>Bennington.</p>

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<p>Green Mountain in VT has the vibe and size you’re looking for-- they have an environmental focus that might or might not work. Hampshire sounds perfect.</p>

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<p>St. John’s (Annapolis) is pretty much straight required courses and also does not have standard science and math courses.</p>

<p>I really like SLUMOM’s list.</p>

<p>If you are in the Boston area, he might visit Olin.</p>

9

<p>Bard might be worth a look, but it does have requirements that might nix it. They’ve got a brand new very cool looking science building, good art and music, but I have no idea what math is like.</p>

10

<p>Landmark College - Putney Vermont</p>

11

<p>In the Boston area, Brandeis. Maybe Tufts but it’s bigger and may be harder to get into.</p>

<p>in the midwest, in addition to oberlin, Grinnell and malcaster. in NY, i particularly second Bard.</p>

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<p>but when the powers that be cut them out of cloth their pattern was laid out on the bias.</p>

<p>That is a great description.</p>

<p>I think part of it- ( a huge part) is that it is on the west coast & that Reed is in Portland/quirkyville.</p>

<p>I would definitely look at the colleges that change lives
[Colleges</a> That Change Lives | Changing Lives, One Student at a Time](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/]Colleges”>http://www.ctcl.org/)</p>

<p>( I didn’t quite get why he wasn’t considering Reed- they do have great transportation inc to the airport- )</p>

13

<p>

Olin is an engineering school - they offer only three majors, all engineering of one kind or another.</p>

<p>For a kid who “hates requirements”, engineering is probably not the field of study to enter, since it is probably 75% or more required classes, and follows a very rigid schedule.</p>

<p>It’s very hard to get in, and requires all applicants who make the first cut to spend an entire weekend on campus where the kids are evaluated for their “fit”.</p>

<p>It doesn’t seem like a good fit, there are so many schools in the Boston area, I’m not sure Olin would be worth spending the time for a visit.</p>

14

<p>I like this list:
Hampshire College (MA)
Bennington College (VT)
Marlboro College (VT)
Sarah Lawrence College (NY)
Bard College (NY)
Oberlin, OH
Wesleyan, CT
Landmark College, VT
Grinnell
Macalester</p>

<p>How about a few more:
Curry College, MA
Manhattanville College, NY
Carleton ?
Franklin & Marshall, PA
Green Mountain, VT</p>

<p>And in Maryland:
Loyola

I knew someone who fits your description and he loved it there.</p>

<p>Goucher, MD

</p>

15

<p>I have two nieces who fit your description: Really smart, intellectual, creative, heady, intense people. They went to Sarah Lawrence and Bard (two schools on SLUMOM’s list).</p>

<p>But neither of those are easy to get into–and I’m not certain about their science, techy curriculum. The older niece, a NM finalist, was WL at Sarah Lawrence, went to WUSTL as a freshman and transfered to Sarah Lawrence. She majored in art and film. Her younger sister, also NM finalist, is senior, majoring an opera/theater major at Bard.</p>

<p>The younger one had some pretty serious health issues as a sophomore and Bard was wonderful about working with my brother and sister-in-law to get her medical care and work out a schedule to keep her on track in her classes.</p>

16

<p>A kid I know is a first year at Champlain College in Vt. I haven’t seen him yet to find out how he likes it, but his mother described it as a small and nurturing techie school in a beautiful area.</p>

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<p>I’ve visited Olin and it has a completely different approach to engineering education.</p>

<p>It is very hands on, and with only about 320 students total, it is quite unique.</p>

<p>Since he’s a quirky kid, he may want to check out a quirky school.</p>

<p>He’s looking for:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>He will find them at Olin.</p>

<p>The OP says she is looking for a school that is “not too difficult to get into,” I am not quite sure why if his scores are good – also I would say most schools with the atmosphere he is seeking are not easy to get into.</p>

<p>Goucher might be another possibility.</p>

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<p>I agree with emeraldkity that part of what makes Reed Reed is that it’s hiding in Portland. A school with equivalent academic rigor and intellectual atmosphere on the East Coast quickly turns into . . . Swarthmore. But then it’s not quite quirky anymore, and it certainly isn’t a place that it’s easy to apply to with a bunch of stuff to explain in your high school transcript.</p>

<p>Not so long ago, the University of Chicago was a place that was very welcoming to students like the OP described. It still is, to some extent, but with 20,000 applicants and an admission rate below 20% it’s not the same as when it had 8,000 applicants and an admission rate around 50%. Especially for kids with a science focus, the University of Rochester offers some of the same vibe. And Bard does, too, except I think its student body is more unbalanced to the humanities side than Reed’s.</p>

<p>One kid I know with problems more severe than maybe being a little on-the-bias went to Clark University (really an LAC), in Worcester, MA, and that was very successful. I think Clark, which has real strength and history in clinical psychology, is proud of its flexibility in accommodating a variety of psychological needs.</p>

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<p>Fendrock, you hit the nail on the head!
I’ve been through the application process before, so I totally and completely understand how competitive the process is. Older son had 750 math, high 600’s Verbal and low 600’s writing, unweighted B+ average with zillions of AP’s, some decent extracurriculars, great recommendations and we thought what made him attractive was that he was balanced in his math/science side and liberal arts side. We were thrilled that he got into Brandeis and Oberlin, understood the Vassar rejection, he was disappointed that Carnegie Mellon rejected him, and he wound up at U.Md. where he is very happy and graduated with two degrees… a BA is government and a BS in math, so happy happy.</p>

<p>Younger son will have a transcript from a school where he had to take most of 9th and 10th grade pass/no credit. His school does not have full year courses, it has a full year of math and “reading group” in which he earns english and some soc studies credits. he then has a two hour main class every day that lasts for 7 weeks. Thus he has never taken a full year course equivalent to a typical competitive suburban HS “honors” or AP bio, chem, physics, world history, government, etc. He has taken subjects like “genetics” or “anatomy.” Or “Civil rights” or currently “history of DC.” The school is not divided by grades, and the classes are mixed by age and grade, but the students are expected to advance their level of work as they advance through… but expectations can be very individualized. They have certainly been regularly ratcheted up for him. He is soaking up the teaching, but has huge standard knowledge gaps. He is almost certainly their most academically advanced student and probably their currently most gifted, though they cater to all levels and have certainly taught smart as whip students before, and other students are pretty sharp in many or some areas.</p>

<p>We applied to transfer him for 11th grade to a slightly more regular private school, but he was rejected… I think that their decision was based on how difficult integrating him into their curriculum would be, and that he would thrive better with the staff that had brought him along from the middle school student at risk of complete failure and implosion, miserable and suffering, to one now happy and relaxed wanting a perfect math SAT score and talking about going to college with smart people and doing all his work well.</p>

<p>He has no extracurriculars because he doesn’t like to leave his room outside of school. He does his required school internships, and his required school sports and arts classes, but nothing extra. He will interview poorly because he hates chit chat and I can’t imagine him selling himself. He is pathalogically private, so I never see his work, so I have very little sense of what he has accomplished (his room for instance has nothing on the walls, he keeps his computer table absolutely clear except for the peripherals and he shuts the screen off before anyone comes in to his room). His wardrobe consists entirely of one style of pants that we have been buying in increasingly larger sizes, in multiples, for years, with black T shirts he chooses with approved clever geeky or anime graphics. </p>

<p>His school contracts with a college counself that is included in our tuition, so a little later in the process we will meet with her and get a better sense of how colleges have interpretted his school’s transcripts and recommendations. </p>

<p>I like your lists though! Some suggestions overlap my preliminary ideas (Hampshire, Bard) and some are brand new to me (Olin, Landmark).</p>

<p>So keep the ideas coming! In the end, we’ll figure our what is likely to be a real reach or too far away or too literary/touchy feely/artsy or just right.</p>

<p>Thank you, thank you thank you!</p>

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<p>silversas, you may want to have your son take some SAT IIs which can clarify that he has solid knowledge in a range of subjects (this is something I think homeschooled students often do).</p>

<p>Does your son blog, program, do something that absorbs him even if he doesn’t show it to you? – these could be consider ECs, even if they are not standard.</p>

<p>I’ve visited Clark as well and I do think that is a good suggestion especially as it does fall in the not-so-hard-to -get-into range. (This school would be much more popular if it weren’t in Worcester.)</p>