Looking to add private colleges to son’s list, but am a bit stumped by, of all things, History offerings. There are fine departments all around, but smaller colleges, sadly, tend not to have the depth he’s looking for in his areas of interest. Big unis do, and he’s not anti-big at all, so we’ve got a list we’re happy with in the public realm, but have been challenged in finding private colleges that meet the following criteria:
- Not super-selective (50% admit or higher) with kids who might not be academic or test-taking superstars but are smart and on the nerdy / quirky / globally aware side
- History Dept with a lot of offerings across the board, but including strengths in European history outside the modern era (e.g. not just "World Civilizations to 1500" but sufficient depth in medieval / ancient). I'm seeing a lot of strength at the smaller colleges in 20th c and cross-cultural history but not as much in standard European pre-modern.
- Need-based aid that isn't heavily about the SAT score. (He can't take until October but has Math LD and is really, really worried about it.) I'm suspecting so-called "test optional schools" are often really only "test optional" if you're not asking for aid, and you have to submit them otherwise. (And I doubt there's a way to just submit the Reading and Writing sections, where he'll probably score well.)
I know about the CTCL schools, which are pretty much the kind of places I’m thinking about, but keep finding that schools that look wonderful on so many criteria and could be a “match” otherwise just don’t have much History strength outside the modern era – for instance, Clark, Ithaca, Lewis and Clark, etc 
Bates and Wesleyan look up his alley but those are mega-reaches and am not expecting his scores to be a match. (No GPA or class rank; he’s not in the US system though not an int’l student.)
Thoughts? Or have I stumped everyone? 
Try New College of Florida: even if they don’t offer a course, they will allow students to develop independent study or tutorial options. The same could be true of Hampshire, where you would also have access to the facilities at Smith, Holyoke, Amherst, and UMass. Pitzer is much more selective, but it’s test-optional, and worth a try. It’s not a great option if you need aid, though: they are one of the most expensive colleges in the country, with a tiny endowment (unlike their Claremont neighbors, Pomona and Claremont-McKenna). My son was accepted, but they didn’t even offer a subsidized Stafford loan (despite a cost of attendance well above our FAFSA EFC).
NCF and Hampshire are both on the extremely small list right now for exactly the reasons you mentioned! Keep thinking there must be others that haven’t run across the radar screen …
What state are you in? How much need based aid are you looking for?
Would the selection be broader if he considered that he’s probably going to be studying abroad for all or part of his junior year? Many history students do, so it means that the number of spaces he has to fill in his schedule during the other three years are probably fewer than he thinks. Most schools have great study abroad options these days since there are many programs internationally that aren’t affiliated with specific schools, but schools will accept their coursework for credit. (Usually, if even one reputable school accepts the coursework, you can submit a request to your own school that they consider accepting the coursework and get a favorable response if they don’t already offer something comparable.)
I’d also suggest that he leave open the possibility that his love of history could turn into a love of philosophy (as it did for my D), of a particular language area/culture group, of the history of some other part of the world/period of time…he’s very young to narrow down his college choices solely based on a narrow academic interest.
Buy a copy of “Ruggs Recommendations.” This is a PDF file that is available via his website for a small fee and is used widely by guidance counselors nationwide. It’s updated every year and lists by major those colleges with strong departments in all academic fields. Rugg’s guide lists colleges in decreasing order of selectivity so it should be easy to find a number of colleges that meet your son’s needs
Gettysburg is worth a look. I really enjoyed the campus and the town. Dickinson would also be a very good one to look at. They aren’t that far from each other.
Bates is test optional. Would he qualify for accommodations on the SAT?
Wooster tends to be generous with merit aid and they have an emphasis on independent research. And from a quick glance at their History offerings looks like there are some of the kinds of courses he is interested in. http://www.wooster.edu/_media/files/academics/catalogue/areas/history.pdf
CTCL: Earlham, Kalamazoo, Lawrence do well for sending students on to PhDs. Also look at courses in Classical Studies, seminar/directed study opportunities, study abroad opps, and check the research interests of faculty. If a prof has an aligned interest, one directed study course can make all the difference. Son might be getting too narrowly focused for the selectivity level he’s afforded, though.
He has accommodations, but does have severe dyscalculia, so extra time and a calculator can only go so far. Fortunately he’s very strong in reading / writing so could end up a good candidate at schools that look holistically, for lots of reasons.
Wooster, Dickinson, Kalamazoo and Lawrence all seem to have lots of courses right up his alley, thanks! I know Gettysburg is amazing for history but he’d ruled it out earlier because of its conservative rep and frat scene. (He understands there are kids who aren’t like that, but thinks it’d feel too small if you don’t really fit in culturally, since the student body is so small.) I’m thinking Sewanee is also heavily on the Greek / prep side but could be wrong.
Re aid, we have a college fund and can manage state schools, e.g. 20-25k a year (counting room and board), but privates are either totally out price-wise – or, from what I’ve heard, potentially more affordable if there’s good aid. So I don’t want to be scared away by the sticker price.
Re being narrow, in his case I don’t see it as narrow at all; he’s got strong interdisciplinary interests, but history has been such a long-standing passion that I know, whatever else he gets excited about, he’s also going to be keen to have history in the mix, particularly (though not only) classical / medieval. And grad school wouldn’t surprise me in the long run. Anyway, to me it makes sense to look for places with a variety of course options that really enthuse you, where profs (at least one) would share interests, etc.
Thanks for all the ideas so far! That’s exactly what I’m looking for – expanding the options to places it might not have occurred to me to look.
You might look into Bard, as well. Another test optional school. My son was a Classics major and had a great experience, as well as with other history courses.