<p>So my 10th-grade daughter started to seriously look into colleges this past spring. (A bit early, but she comes by it naturally, I suppose—both her mother and I have doctorates.) Her first filter was whether they have all of the programs she's interested in: neuroscience, peace/conflict/human rights studies, and at least a minor in gender studies. (Basically, she's interested in the biopsychology of conflict and gender.) I was happy with this, because (1) it narrowed the list down dramatically at the outset, and (2) if—perhaps when—she changes her mind about what she's interested in, a college that has all of those is likely to have a decent range of other stuff to choose from.</p>
<p>Anyway, she then looked at curricula and statistics and such. She's looked at rankings but doesn't really care much about them. Location is unimportant, except that she doesn't really want terribly hot weather (since we live in Alaska, and Arizona-type temperatures kind of scare her). She now has a list of 46 schools, which she and I plan to work on cutting down to something manageable that we can turn into a college tour next summer. The list includes some incredibly well-known schools (e.g., Amherst, Wellesley, a bunch of state flagships), and some less well-known schools but that we know a good bit about because one of us just happens to know people from there, but there are a handful of schools on the list that we don't know anything about (and, in most cases, that have no message board—or an inactive one—here on College Confidential). She's requested information from them, but that's mostly marketing fluff, of course, and so not terribly informative.</p>
<p>So: Can y'all help me out with your thoughts on any or all of these? I'd greatly appreciate it.</p>
<p>St Lawrence University (Canton NY)
Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green OH)
Manchester University (North Manchester IN)
Drake University (Des Moines IA)
University of St Thomas (St Paul MN)
Regis University (Denver CO)
Westminster College (Salt Lake City UT)</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about those schools, but I just wanted to add that she might also want to consider schools where she could create her own program of study, which would give her the opportunity to really focus very closely on exactly what she wants to study (with the same flexibility to change it up if/when she changes her major/focus)</p>
<p>I also can’t help with the schools on your list, but if she liked Wellesley she should also check out Smith and Mount Holyoke. Mount Holyoke is very strong in sciences as well as gender studies and global/IR studies. It’s a wonderful, welcoming, supportive, super smart group of women.</p>
<p>Oookay I do not know about most of those schools but I do know about Bowling Green. People may disagree with me on these points, but it’s basically a party school. You can find a much much better school, I’m sure. I don’t live in Ohio; I’m from Indiana, but one of my best friends lives just inside Ohio in a small, unmotivated, not-academically-interested town (her words, not mine). Even the high schoolers there try their best to avoid BGU.
Of course, I’m sure there might be people who like it there, but right off the bat I’d say to avoid it if possible.
I agree with the above poster; look into Mount Holyoke and Bryn Mawr. </p>
<p>I know one girl who goes to St. Lawrence. I unfortunately don’t know much about the college, but from what I’ve heard I would say it’s a rural, pretty, liberal college. It sounds like it would match what your daughter’s looking for. It’s not super well-known, but coming from upstate New York, I’d say a lot of people here have heard of it.</p>
<p>St. Thomas is “known for” their business program. It’s located in a nice area of St. Paul. An advantage to attending this college is that one can also take classes at Macalester, St. Kate’s, Hamline, and Concordia. I’ve heard that it’s a “suitcase” school. </p>
<p>I know of a few people that recently have attended Drake. Both liked attending there. It’s a small division one so it may be harder to participate in varsity sports there. It’s kind of in a sketchy area of Des Moines I’ve been told.
I did the net price calculator for both schools 2 years ago and Drake was about 10k cheaper.</p>
<p>Does she have Scripps on her list? With the Claremont consortium, she could probably create her own major or at least work on research in the area that interests her. I’m thinking Hendrix and Wooster would probably also have offerings (much less selective than Scripps but still quite good).</p>
<p>Anyway… those colleges from your list!</p>
<p>St Lawrence University (Canton NY) => didn’t seem that liberal to me, more middle-of-the-road/moderate, preppy, upstate/rural, rather cold (not as much as MN or Alaska of course), strong academics, good outdoors
Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green OH) => very weak academically, commuter. A directional university that “does the job” but not worth travelling from Alaska to.
Drake University (Des Moines IA) => kind of a party school, preprofessional, solid academics
University of St Thomas (St Paul MN) => cool neighborhood in St Paul, catholic, rather liberal theologically.
Regis University (Denver CO) => preprofessional, rather commuter</p>
<p>BTW when I read your title I thought it was a Star Wars joke. :)</p>
<p>I know a little about St.Thomas. It’s a perfectly nice Catholic school that draws primarily from the Twin Cities area and has very popular graduate programs in law and business catering to working professionals. It’s a very pretty campus and in a nice area of town just down the street from Macalester, </p>
<p>Personally if I had 39 schools I did know something about and liked, i wouldn’t waste my time adding this one to my list.</p>
<p>I second St. Thomas being a very nice school, and is even pretty LGBT positive for a Catholic school. People usually consider the students very rich (it’s steep tuition,or at least people assume that) and slightly snooty. That’s just word of mouth, though.</p>
<p>I think BGSU is not quite as bad as @gb1904 states but in general agree with @MYOS1634. There are some majors that it would be worth taking at BGSU like Org Psych (probably why they were the first college to offer a neuroscience degree).</p>
<p>I know many people who have attended or currently attend St Lawrence, and they all like it. I have heard great things about variety and freedom in classes, and how the school (despite its rural location) brings in good events and gives a lot of options for things to do besides just party and drink, at all. Also, Canton is just lovely and if you are into hiking, the opportunities are practically endless from what I can tell. </p>
<p>I recommend checking out university of richmond and the WILL* or WGSS programs.
<a href=“http://will.richmond.edu/”>http://will.richmond.edu/</a> <a href=“http://wgss.richmond.edu/”>http://wgss.richmond.edu/</a> they don’t explicitly have a peace/conflict/human rights program but they cover this in WILL* and those are high profile causes around campus. They also have a create your own major if she decides that’s what she wants to major in and finds that WILL* doesn’t fit her needs.</p>
<p>(And no I’m not just pushing it because I go here, but because I think that the WILL* program would interest her).</p>
<p>St. Thomas is at the top of my daughter’s list. She is neither snooty nor rich and is coming from a diverse urban school in WI. </p>
<p>People around here also love Drake. You could easily visit both schools on the same trip. If you are going to visit Manchester (which is really obscure–I have never even heard of it) you should also check out Earlham, which is only two hours away.</p>
<p>Thanks, all! Like I said, these are just the ones we don’t know about that have all the subjects she’s interested in, so some of the schools others have mentioned are on the list, too (e.g., Smith, Mt. Holyoke)—we hadn’t known about Richmond’s WILL program, though, and we’ll check that out.</p>
<p>(I like the fact that there are some differences of opinion about some of the schools, too—as an undergrad I attended a school that elicits a lot of “it’s just a party school/no it’s not” discussions, so I kind of know that dynamic.)</p>
<p>Anyway, everything’s been quite helpful. This is our oldest, and so our first time through it all, and it can be a bit overwhelming at times.</p>
<p>Just wondering if St. Olaf College (Northfield, MN) ever blipped on her search of the more obscure colleges. They do offer majors in neuroscience and gender studies, as well as a “design your own major” option (Center for Integrative Studies). The Oles (as in “Sven and Ole”) are just across town from the nationally ranked Carleton College and, through a unique arrangement between the two schools, are able to register for inter-campus courses in certain curcunstances. Plus, the climate may be more to her liking:</p>
<p>If you do plan a trip to the Twin Cities for St. Thomas, you might want to take the hour drive south to Northfield to visit St. Olaf and/or Carleton.And good luck to your D (and you, too) as she heads farther down this college-quest path!</p>
<p>If she has the stats, she should consider Colgate. They have a very strong neuroscience program. They also have a minor in women’s studies. Because of how early she is starting her search, I am assuming she is a strong student. Colgate has a very strong academics, and is a private residential school. It’s upstate NY, so there won’t be a huge adjustment when it comes to weather.</p>
<p>I agree with MinneMom2 that St. Olaf and Carleton would be good options for your DD. Northfield is a small city. Some love it. Some feel it’s too rural.</p>
<p>Another college you might want to consider is Lawrence University in Appleton WI which has majors in neuroscience and gender studies. They also offer the opportunity for student-designed majors. They have good financial aid and a nice trimester schedule that works well for those students who live far from home. First term ends the Tue. before Thanksgiving. Students don’t go back until the first Monday after New Year’s.</p>