Daugher confused/Parents clueless - Please help with college search

Parents Forum
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<p>We are very new to this site and have been completely amazed by the intelligent and informed people who frequent it. Stumbling upon CC has been like finding water in the desert! As the title suggests, our beloved D is so confused as to where she should begin her college search. We, her parents, are so totally clueless about this process, we are of little help to her. We are also beginning this search a little late. Our older D applied to state U honors program and honors housing, was accepted, is there and loves it. This D does not think she wants to follow that same path. We read and read, find a school we think might fit her, and someone will say, "Oh she doesn't want to go there!!" Our counselors struggle with their 350+ student loads and are of no help - can't say D's counselor knows anything about her except she is a good student. Counselors also know nothing about any schools outside of local and state U. Any help as to what would be good reach/match/safety schools for her to consider would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>D's story:
<em>we live right in the middle of the US - town pop. 25,000
*junior at a very mediocre, noncompetitive high school of @ 1400 students
(school has 1 AP class - yes 1) only high school in town.
*class rank - 1/325
*GPA - 4.0
*classes taken: the best the school offers (the 1 AP class, 4 years of honors English, 3 years of honors soc st, all math offered, etc.)
*SAT: 2200 (CR800/M700/W700 - E9) - no SAT prep in her school or in our town. In fact, she drove 75 miles to TAKE the test!
*should be a NMSF in Sept. (PSAT 230)
*advanced orchestra (9,10,11) - qualified for state orchestra 10,11 (not eligible to tryout freshman year) - only student to qualify this year
*tennis - varsity (9,10,11) - regional champion (11) state qualifier (11)
-only player to qualify for state this year. Will be team captain next year.
(</em>*Tennis is a tough college sport - she is still probably not at the level to play at any college she would be interested in attending).
*National Honor Society (10,11) - elected president for next year
*artistic - Scholastic gold key and honorable mention awards.
*Bausch and Lomb Science/Math Award - selected by the math and science teachers at school this year as most outstanding math and science junior.
*Named "Student of the Quarter" - (10,11)
*D was ill for quite some time when she was young. For the past four years she has raised several thousand dollars by selling artwork and gives the money to the national association for the illness (she is doing great now!).
This association asked her to do the artwork for the Christmas card they sold as a fundraiser in 2005 - group sold over 5,000 cards and considered it a great success. She was invited by the group and this past May served as a lobbyist for their cause in Washington, D.C. Talked to several senators, representatives, or their staffs to promote awareness and ask for increase funding for research. Plans to continue this in college, if possible.
*she is in some other various school clubs, etc. and holds offices in some of them - tried to just list the major ones.</p>

<p>What she is looking for in a college:
*small to medium (or possibly a great honors college/program if large public U)
*decent residential housing available all 4 years
*seperate housing for males and females (or at least floors segregated by sex)
*fabulous professors who want to get to know their students
*smaller class sizes
*probably not right in a large city - wants a "campus"
*other students who are not cutthroat and overly competitive
*doesn't want a school so ridiculously hard that her grades might keep her out of a graduate/professional program she would like to enter.
*a "college town" would be nice but not absolutely essential.</p>

<p>What she wants to study:
**This is the difficult part. She has studied German four years and wants to continue that in college, but not major in it. She wants to "dabble" in art at the college level, but not be an art major. She wants to be able to play her violin in an orchestra (recreational orchestra??), but not be a music major.
She has a true passion for science, so her major will probably be some type of science, but she does not know what kind. She also really loves math.
People have suggested architecture, medical illustrating, medicine, etc. to her, but she is just not sure of what path she wants to take.</p>

<p>We can't thank you enough for any suggestions of places we might take her to look.</p>

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<p>She has a great profile! She could really write a great essay based on her fund-raising.</p>

<p>She ought to consider Carleton, St Olaf's, Grinnell, Kenyon, in the Midwest and in small towns. Lookf or other schools with similar profiles; there are many in the Midwest. They're excellent and somewhat less hard to get into than LACS of similar quality in the Northeast.</p>

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<p>St. Olaf came to my mind too. That one has floors segregated by sex. Has a very good orchestra too, that occasionally travels abroad.</p>

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<p>Take a look at Knox IL, Beloit WI, Lawrence WI, Lake Forest IL, College of Wooster OH. You not specifying whether money will be an issue - at above schools your D will have chance for some nice merit money. Knox and Lawrence do not require test scores. All those schools are more similar than different and they all have great academics, tight neat residential communities, lots of personal attention and tons of opportunities. You might want to do some reading like Loren Pope" Colleges that change lives".</p>

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<p>Seems like your D will do well at some of the top LAC's. If she likes to go to an all women college, then Wellesley, Smith and Bryn Mawr are all strong in science as well as having strengths in social sciences and humanities. For co-ed LAC's, Swarthmore, Williams and Amherst are wonderful schools that fit your D's interests. These are all on the Eastern seaboard as I am more familiar with this side of the coast. The co-ed list is quite a bit more selective. Smith and Bryn Mawr gives out merit awards in addition to meeting all financial aids. All these schools will nontheless give out full financial aids.</p>

<p>For state universities, your D should be able to get into UVa and Michigan. I am familiar with the honor program (Echol Scholar) at Virginia. It is not a traditional honor program but is really good although difficult to get in. Check out the school's website. If you wish to know more about a particular school that I mentioned here, you can send me a mail through a private message, and I will try to be more specific.</p>

<p>My D just went through her college search this year and is going to Amherst this Fall.</p>

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<p>Bates College meets all of her criteria except the "college town." My S was there as a Visiting Student due to Katrina and I was so impressed that he was able to develop personal relationships with profs in such a short time. Warm, collaborative atmosphere. Bowdoin College has the college town atmosphere in addition to all of the rest. Wellesley, if she will consider non-coed. Lafayette in Pa. is somewhat lower on the selectivity scale, since she of course needs matches and safeties. Other ideas: Middlebury (Vt), Trinity (CT). Some of these are in cities but have a real campus.</p>

<p>Of the ones I have mentioned, a rough guess as to how they fall out in making a balanced list:</p>

<p>Reach: Bowdoin, Middlebury (because they are reach for most anyone)
Reach/match: Bates, Wellesley
Match/safe: Lafayette, Trinity</p>

<p>And don't worry that she doesn't know what she wants to study or "be when she grows up." Plenty of time for that after she gets to college.</p>

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<p>Kenyon was the one who came to mind for me too.</p>

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<p>We cannot tell you how helpful this is! We are getting the books out to research the schools you have listed as fast as you type.
Please keep the suggestions coming and THANK YOU!</p>

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<p>Remember to look up the schools' websites, too!</p>

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<p>Medium sized schools - you might want to check out Washington University in Saint Louis and Emory in Atlanta. Also look into Vassar (much smaller Liberal Arts College) in NY which has one all girls dorm as it used to be an all girls school years ago.</p>

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<p>Your D has great stats and as the kid from "Nowheresville High" she has a great shot at the top schools. This requirement might eliminate a lot of them:</p>

<p>"*seperate housing for males and females (or at least floors segregated by sex)"</p>

<p>Almost all top colleges OFFER this. If your D wants to live in a single sex dorm HERSELF, the options are unlimited. If, however, she objects to attending a college where the majority of OTHER students live in co-ed dorms, then she's eliminated many of the top universities in the nation. </p>

<p>That said, there are options. I don't know if these will all meet your other requirements. One is Notre Dame. It's a Catholic university. It has single sex dorms. The rules are enforced. As I understand it, everyone takes general ed courses for the first two years, which sounds like a good idea for someone as undecided as your D. It's not in a city. It certainly has that campus feel. It does accept non-Catholics, but anyone who isn't Catholic should understand that he or she will be in the minority. </p>

<p>U of Richmond. I think it's a safety for your D. It has separate campuses for males and females. A conservative "flavor." </p>

<p>Your D may change her mind about co-ed dorms. For a kid from a more sheltered background, they may seem "wild." The truth is that they have a LOT of advantages. I would respectfully suggest that your D at least CONSIDER schools which OFFER them, but where most students do not choose to live in them. (Vassar isn't the only co-ed college with one women's dorm.) She may find that by the time she's a junior or senior, she WANTS to live in a co-ed dorm. </p>

<p>Please note that some all-women's colleges offer co-ed dorms. Bryn Mawr is one such school. Barnard is another.</p>

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<p>Centre and Rhodes might also be of interest.</p>

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<p>Hmmm....how important is a "college town?" Lots of places with a residential campus have a strong sense of place even if they are in cities.</p>

<p>Is she generally conservative or just private (preference for single sex housing)? If the former, any Catholic university would provide her the single sex housing she prefers, without an overly religious atmosphere. Check out Gonzaga in Spokane, WA. The other place that is excellent (small town, not cutthroat, great financial aid, seems to be a good fit for kids from small towns) is Linfield College in McMinnville, OR, Seattle Pacific in Seattle (evangelical Christian and pretty active about it-nice campus in North Seattle), Willamette University in Salem, OR, Knox, and maybe some southern schools: Trinity in TX comes to mind. We just attended an "eight of the best" college fair and I was impressed with Connecticut College in New London, CT--not sure about the single sex housing but it seemed like a wonderful place. </p>

<p>I am trying to think of places that emphasize community, since your D's high school experience sounds kind of underpowered. It might be intimidating to her to come into a place where everybody had IB and AP up the wazoo and she felt like she had hay in her hair.</p>

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<p>take a look at colorado college <a href="http://www.coloradocollege.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.coloradocollege.edu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>close to the midwest (colorado springs), smaller city -- nice campus, good dorms with most of the kids living in them all 4 years. small class sizes, professors really get to know the kids (alot live near the campus -- we see them out walking their kids, riding their bikes, at the park next to campus, etc)</p>

<p>top 25 LAC -- but because of its location, not as well known.</p>

<p>it has an innovative block schedule -- you only take one class at a time (for 3.5 weeks) so you can really get into some great discussions, go on extended field trips, etc.</p>

<p>it would be a match for you daughter, stats-wise.</p>

<p>I also think she would be comfortable there!</p>

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<p>Yes, the single-sex housing is a question in my mind, too, as it will seriously limit your daughter's choices! Is that your wish, or your daughter's? Having coed housing does not equal wild sex parties - and dormmates tend to treat each other in brotherly/sisterly fashion (IMHO). I also think that your DD could add some reaches to her list - with the caveat that they are reaches for all - Dartmouth? Princeton?</p>

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<p>Some clarifications:
Regarding "single sex housing" - D is just generally a conservative sort of girl. No bare midriffs/spaghetti straps for her, and believe me I've tried! (Something about that statement sounds backward!). I think what she DOESN"T want is having to head down the hallway in her robe to shower with males living on the same floor. Yes, you are probably right that in time, she may want co-ed living. We are not opposed to it - totally her request. She doesn't care how the campus as a whole is set up, she just would like to have the option of selecting a living arrangement where at least there are single sex floors.
"College town" is not as important as other criteria on her list, but a great college town sure is nice. She would be just as happy with a strong "campus community". Her high school experience has been a very isolating one - not too many kids that share her interests and goals. She has a rare maturity for a 17 year old kid, always has. We tease her that she was 45 at birth!
Someone mentioned financial need. We have saved since the day she was born for college - this combined with present day earnings should allow us to send her whereever she gets accepted and decides to attend. I would be lying if I didn't confess that hearing about the merit money offered by schools for NM students wasn't enough to make a parent turn greedy with the tuition money! We are trying to turn a deaf ear and blind eye to that information!
Again, we can't thank you enough!!</p>

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<p>Check out D3 schools; your D may be able to play in college in Division 3. We are from a tennis area, with unbelieveable kids-- and we thought if our D was not good enough for UCLA then tennis would not happen in college. We were wrong. I sent you a PM.</p>

<p>SBmom</p>

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<p>Concur that if she wants to try one of the reach for everyone schools she might go for Dartmouth or Princeton. The bathroom issue can also be solved by living in a large single-sex suite, i.e. 8 people etc., with its own bathroom. However, does she mind if there is a robust party scene at whatever college she attends? Or does she want some place less partying? Both Dartmouth and Princeton have a fair amount of drinking.</p>

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<p>She might want to visit some colleges before ruling them out due to not being single-sex floors. The res halls at UCSD are co-ed floors but they're arranged so that females are on one end and males on the other with doors between them and a common lounge area in between (these aren't the traditional 'dorm' style with a long hallway with doors on each side). The bathrooms are in each 'pod' end. There's no need to run around in one's robe. </p>

<p>My younger D will be going to UCLA and staying in a res hall that's also co-ed but each room has its own bathroom/shower.</p>

<p>I'm sure many other colleges (but not all) have similar arrangements as well. I suggest selecting the college first on all other criteria and then drilling down to the living conditions, 'party' reputation, etc.</p>

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<p>UChicago has dorms with single sex floors and mixed-floor dorms where the showers are part of the room or suite. They are quite taken with kids from smaller towns, with your D's numbers, and if she can write great essays, she would have a good shot at being admitted.</p>