<p>Sorry if someone already suggested this, but I didn't read all the postings here. Try going to princetonreview.com and creating a profile for your daughter. It helped us quite a bit.</p>
<p>As other posters have said, your daughter certainly has a HUGE range of schools available to her and I won't try to add much to the great list that's developing here, but your initial description really did catch my eye because it sounds like my own school (Scripps in Claremont, CA) might really be a match, if your daughter is willing to look away from home. A previous poster mentioned Claremont, so I'll quickly expand on why it sprung to mine (aside from obviously being the place of greatest familiarity to me)...</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Scripps is part of the Claremont College Consortium, made up of 5 undergraduate schools (Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, Scripps, Harvey Mudd...5000ish students total) and 2 grad schools (Claremont Graduate University, Keck Graduate Institute...2000ish students). With the exception of one of the grad schools, which is located a few blocks away, we have 6 campuses that all make up one big Consortium campus. Each school has its own atmosphere, academic focus, etc., but we share basically all facilities. We have cross-enrollment, cross-majors, shared athletic teams, extra-curriculars, dining halls, whatever. Last semester, I had 6 classes...one on Pomona, one on Pitzer, three on CMC, and one on Scripps, just to give you an idea. The reason I chose this is because it allowed me the small school, residential campus that I wanted without limiting my resources. I came in having NO idea what I wanted to study and I would never have had the same amount of flexibility at another school of the same size. I'm happy to expand more if you have any interest in hearing...I also recommend visiting <a href="http://www.claremont.edu%5B/url%5D">www.claremont.edu</a>. Of all the schools, both Pomona and Scripps strike me as being of potential interest to your daughter. Either one would probably be a match, with Pomona a bit more of a reach due to its lower acceptance rates, but Scripps sounds like potentially a better fit of atmosphere. Either way, both may be worth looking into! </p></li>
<li><p>There are 2 orchestras...one at Pomona, one "4C" (the other four schools), but either is potentially open to students of any school. These are open to any students who try out. The 4C orchestra is more recreational, rehearsing for less hours per week.</p></li>
<li><p>We are D3 athletics, so a lot of people are coming from your daughter's situation...love their sport, experienced in it, good at it, interested in continuing, but not choosing their college based on it. We have two teams...Pomona/Pitzer and Claremont/Mudd/Scripps.</p></li>
<li><p>Scripps is 800, Pomona is 1500, the undergrad population is 5,000. Because of the fact that we're split into 5 schools and have so many repeat-resources, the campuses altogether give the feeling of a MUCH larger university. The consortium is easily large enough to hold 20,000. 800 doesn't seem as small when it's part of a larger whole, and part of why I like Claremont is the way in which I feel like part of a close-knit community without having the feeling of "TOO SMALL!"</p></li>
<li><p>Dorms at Scripps are <em>amazing.</em> I don't have this past year's ranking, but the year before we were 4th in the nation for "Dorms Like Palaces", and about 97% of students live on campus all 4 years (guaranteed). Truly, the residence halls are just beautiful, as is the campus as a whole. Pomona also has very nice dorms--totally different feel from Scripps dorms (less "grandma's house", more "really nice dorm room"), but definitely high quality...also a beautiful campus. In general, Scripps and Pomona are known as the 2 most attractive of the Claremont schools.</p></li>
<li><p>I believe that all Pomona housing is mixed, but I'm not positive of that. After freshman year, you can choose to live in a suite which you might make single-sex. Also, some of the dorms designate male/female bathrooms, depending on what residents prefer. Scripps, being an all-women's school, has all-women's housing. Male guests are allowed at any time, provided that they are escorted at all times by their Scripps host. Every year begins with a closed vote regarding bathrooms, and if one person is uncomfortable with co-ed bathrooms, then she is guaranteed that. For this reason, basically every floor/hall ends up with one co-ed and one female-only bathroom. At the same time, the consortium and guest policies prevent the gender-isolation of some single-sex schools. I went to a girls high school and wanted the best of both worlds...the comfort and atmosphere of single-sex, without the isolation. </p></li>
<li><p>Fabulous professors who want to get to know their students + small class sizes...this is the norm throughout Claremont. I've had numerous classes of 5-8 students, which is crazy. I had one freshman required course which alternated lecture/discussion. The lectures were the entire freshman class (200) and the discussions were small groups led by professors (about 15 students). This course (CORE...it's a 3 semester requirement at Scripps) was 40 students in its second semester, taught by 2 professors. Aside from these and one PE, I've had maybe 3 classes of 25 students and everything else has been well under that, usually 12-15ish. I've been to the house's of multiple professors, had dinner, gone out to lunch, whatever. It's been wonderful.</p></li>
<li><p>Claremont is definitely not a small city. It's a weird bubble in the middle of LA sprawl. It's about 30,000...a very cute, quiet community and a great location. The metro train is about a 15 minute walk, however, and that'll take you straight into downtown LA. The campuses are entirely residential and very self-contained. The community is very aware of the colleges and there's a fair deal of interaction (the local ice cream shop had college-themed flavors for awhile, i.e. Mint Chocolate Scripps, we have a lot of various outreach projects in the community, discounted tickets to local events, a college night in "The Village"--the local downtown with gift-shops, boutiques, and restaurants, about a 15 minute walk from Scripps, right off Pomona, etc.). However, the city does not cater to college students in the way that some large University town's might.</p></li>
<li><p>It's Southern California. Competition and cutthroat, not so much. In general, we're a population of very intelligent people, all of whom have chosen to attend schools with very little name-based prestige (at least to the general public). People are often competitive with themselves, but in my experience, virtually never with one another. As I understand it, this is common to LACs.</p></li>
<li><p>Scripps ranks high on the list of "Students Never Stop Studying". While I've felt VERY challenged, I do not feel overwhelmed, so this ranking was misleading to me. I think this fits the "wanting a challenge, but also wanting good grades to be attainable" issue. This was a desire of mine, as well.</p></li>
<li><p>I took German for 4 semesters. It's offered through both Pomona and Scripps, and I can vouch for the department...they're GREAT!!! Students also have the option of living in a language corridor (Scripps) or language dorm (Pomona), which is not limited to language majors. At Scripps, these are just common-interest hallways you can apply to where you'll live with a native speaking resident and where you'll participate in themed dorm programs. There are always a few courses each semester offered IN German, at various levels. It's truly a great department, and the language programs at both Scripps and Pomona are highly respected.</p></li>
<li><p>Studio art at Scripps is one of the most popular majors. Art students gain swipe-card access to the studios so they can go and work/play at their leisure, which is very convenient. The classes are, again, not at all limited to majors (benefit of a small school). Lots of dabblers. I don't know much about Pomona art, sorry!</p></li>
<li><p>Bio is another of the most popular majors. We have a pre-med track with a HUGE med-school acceptance rate. Scripps is part of Joint Science (Pitzer, CMC, and Scripps)...a shared department. Though Scripps is a humanities-focused school, the consortium makes it so that there's a huge outlet for non-science majors. Again, don't know a lot about the Pomona departments on this topic. Scripps graduated more female math majors this past year than CalTech...we were very proud of that (math minor speaking) =D My point is: humanities school, but not at ALL limiting. We're also adjacent to Harvey Mudd, which is a tech school on par with MIT, CalTech, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>I had no idea what I wanted to study. Bigger schools wanted me to apply to the college of engineering or the college of letters, whatever, but I didn't know if I wanted to do humanities or engineering, and I couldn't choose before exploring both. Smaller schools didn't want to pigeonhole me into one department or another, but they didn't have the resources to cater to such a broad range of interests. Ultimately, one of the reasons I chose Claremont was because, like I said before, it allowed me the best of all worlds. Small school, great resources, no limitations to what I wanted to study. My major is joint with Pitzer and CMC, my minor is cooperative across the 5Cs. Also, the first semester CORE class has lectures by 15-20 different professors of all disciplines, so it's a great way to get exposure to a LOT of faculty and topics right off the bat, and the Breadth of Study general ed requirements give a great opportunity to check out various departments. You can explore lots of subjects under the guise of fulfilling GEs :o)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Sorry for such a long post on such a narrow topic, but your post really stood out to me. Best of luck in the college search, and to your daughter, wherever she ends up!</p>
<p>Student 615 , outstanding job. My D was lucky enough to visit Scripps for the JES weekend and just loved it. It was a fine school and a beautiful campus with wonderful opportunities for mentoring. I can't recommend it more highly, and you post makes my opinion seem very logical. Again, wonderful description and congrats on finding your college home.</p>
<p>Wow Student615! - your excellent detailed write up is much appreciated! That is the kind of information that is hard to find on the college web site condensed in such a precise manner. We had a friend tell us her niece was very quiet, shy kid in hs and blossomed at Scripps. Thank you for taking the time to outline everything for us - very helpful!</p>
<p>yeah thanks student615, that was a really informative post about the whole claremont consortium. I'm going to CMC this fall, and at this award weekend I went to, I met a guy who planned on going to cmc and was really into math and science. He said that he was in some club at his school where they were trying to prove the existence of anti-matter in the universe or something-- way over my head. But he was also interested in international relations and was being recruited for soccer at CMC.</p>
<p>So he planned on taking his math classes at harvey mudd, and possibly majoring in something there, but taking his international relations classes at cmc. And I just remember thinking what a cool opportunity that is. He is able to take his math classes at one of the most well respected math LACs in the country, and his IR classes at one of the most well respected government LACs in the country. </p>
<p>Also, I think that he might be a star soccer player at claremont, whereas at a bigger (maybe D1 school) he might have trouble standing out on the team. So at a D3 school, playing on the tennis team is probably a real possibility for your daughter, even if she might not be quite up to snuff for Wimbledon. </p>
<p>So my point is that I'm sure there would be lots of opportunities for your D to study whatever she wants at Scripps-- even though it is strongest in the humanities. And because there would be guys in many of her classes and at all of the nearby campuses, I think the biggest difference that is made by it being an all women's college is the single gender dorms and the overall emphasis of the school.</p>
<p>Hope that was helpful.</p>
<p>Student615: Kudos from me, too, for the best description of the Claremont Colleges and Scripps that I've ever seen.</p>
<pre><code> Midwestparent: One note of caution. I would avoid reading those quicky one-line descriptions of the LACs and other colleges -- either on another thread in this forum or in some of the guidebooks out there.
These one liners are often out of date, still depicting stereotypes of the colleges that don't necessarily hold any truth anymore. Unfortunately, on the thread that asks for one liners from enrolled students, many posters are not current students and instead are parents or nonattending students who maybe visited once and are contributing their one-day impressions or repeating old catchy sayings about the college that can do a real disservice to someone trying to decide which colleges might be a good fit.
My son, for example, would not visit UChicago after reading the description "where fun goes to die." Dumb to dismiss a great university because of a one liner, I know, but he's only 17 and that was the kiss of death for him.
</code></pre>
<p>Midwestparent:My D sounds alot like your daughter. She chose Butler in Indianapolis. I know that they do have an all female dorm available.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, between this and the other thread your daughter now has about 200 schools to visit. :) Seriously, I think thats the best (only) way to get a true feel for a campus. My sons experience and I don't think this is uncommon was that his list was completely turned upside down after visiting. What he thought would be #1 fell off the list and a last minute reluctant add rose to the top to be his ED choice.</p>
<p>For some less selectives: Id suggest that you try to identify a few reaches that sound like good fits then grade down in selectivity from there. For example, if she likes the idea of Williams she could look at Skidmore, Conn College, Kenyon, Hamilton. (The last two are becoming more selective, however, so Id consider them more match-ish, than true safeties.) All of these have good science, good art, warm and friendly environments and physically active students. Except for Williams, Im not too familiar with their music offerings.</p>
<p>I second Colorado College. Housing is guaranteed for four years and there is a seperate woman's dorm (that is gorgeous!) and also coed dorms that alternate by floor. There is a campus feel for sure and it was rated as one of the colleges with the "Happiest Students" 2 years ago. The block plan (one course at a time meaning lots of field trips/camping trips/study abroad opportunities) is especially cool. Plus, Colorado College has a top Hockey team so students all go out to support it and show their school spirit. It's a top LAC filled with strong students who wanted a Liberal Arts College and small campus feel without the cut-throat east coast mentality. Sounds like a great fit for her.</p>
<p>Any good LAC would meet many of the criteria and your D is clearly an appealing candidate. One school that I don't think has been mentioned is Davidson, which comes to mind for a couple of other reasons. Climate is somewhat better than in the Northeast, since Davidson is in Notrh Carolina, in the Charlotte nmetro area. Davidson is a pretty little town, campus is also very pretty. Housing is gender-separate by floor or wing--that is, if on the same floor separated by a door and separate bthrooms etc. Grading is tough but atmosphere is not cutthroat. Majority of students study abroad for at lest one semester, or at the very least a summer. Duke
Family Performance hall is a wonderful facility; visual arts center is impressive as well. it is a overall a really excellent and nice (in the classic sense of the word) place, and I think somewhat underappreciated because of its location and perhaps because of its D-1 sports program, which does not seem to dilute its academic strength in the least and does add a bit of excitement to hte basketball season.</p>
<p>Well, for a more in-depth look at Smith:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Smith is part of the Five College Consortium that also includes Mount Holyoke, Amherst, Hampshire, and U/Massachusetts-Amherst. After the first semester, students may register for classes at any of the other four colleges. (Smith is the biggest net importer of students.) A free shuttle bus runs among the colleges. Amherst and U/Mass are about 20 minutes away, Mount Holyoke about 25, Hampshire is on the way to Mount Holyoke.) </p></li>
<li><p>The Orchestra is smallish--the top level (of five) at D's high school was larger--but is filled with a lot of non-Music majors and is pretty darned good. Last year they played Beethoven's Ninth at Carnegie Hall (with U/Michigan's men's chorus), this year they concluded by playing Mahler's Second, importing the chorus from the US Naval Academy for the occasion. The performing arts in general are strong at Smith; D is a serious ballet dancer and one of the reasons she chose Smith over Wellesley was that performing arts were more peripheral at W, treated seriously at Smith. There is also a wind ensemble.</p></li>
<li><p>Smith has D3 athletics, and they also have serious club teams, as with fencing. The teams include those who have never participated before to those, like your daughter, who are quite good. Rugby and crew have passionate followings (I think you have to be masochistic for either). I suspect the Smith website could fill you in on the other sports.</p></li>
<li><p>Smith has an undergrad population of approximately 2650, making it one of the largest LAC's. (There are a few dozen grad students, including men, in the Social Work program, which runs classes during the summers. One of my friends has his Ph.D. from there and is one of the few male Smithie alumni.)</p></li>
<li><p>Dorms at Smith are <em>amazing</em>, rating either #2 or #3 (<em>cough</em>...ahead of Scripps) in PR's "Dorms Like Palaces" ratings and rates #2 in the overall "Quality of Life" rating. [The dig aside, Scripps was designed to be the Smith of the West Coast and is a very good school. Was never on D's radar screen simply because it was too close to home.] On-campus housing is guaranteed for all four years. Smith uses a Residential Housing system. Incoming students are assigned to a House...you generally have a preference as to which part of campus you want housing on and Green St. rocks and don't pay any attention to what the Quad bunnies say...housing preference are one of the most fiercely debated topics on campus. Students may change Houses and some do but most stay with their House for all four years. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>I've found that it's a great thing that students for all four years live together instead of there being things like "freshman dorms." My D has made friendships that I suspect will be "lifelong" with classmates of every year. The interactions between all years is great and many find it useful to pick the brains of upperclass students about profs, classes, etc. </p>
<p>In some ways, the Houses are like sororities but without the icky rushing/rejecting and emphasis on clothes & appearance in selection. D's house is a four-story Victorian house built in 1878; Julia Childs once lived in hers. The Quad is newer and even many first-years can get singles there. My D had a double her first two years but the second year it was a fourth-story room approximately 600 sq. ft. with a view. One student got assigned to another house after pleading that she wanted to be in the house (Chapin) whose staircase inspired a scene in "Gone With The Wind."</p>
<p>There are speciality Houses that students may tranfer to after first year, including French-speaking, seniors-only, kosher/halil, and a co-op (this last with a waiting list). Dining has been consolidated--all Houses used to have their own dining--but there are still a <em>lot</em> of dining options, with many different kinds of food being offered, including one dining room that is Vegan/Vegetarian.</p>
<ul>
<li>Fabulous professors who want to get to know their students + small class sizes. Some gateway or very popular classes like American Presidency may be larger (50-75 students) but even where there are classes with discussion sections, professors teach the sections...no TA's. The head of the department was the TA for one of D's first-year Government classes. Most classes are in the 12-20 mode. Smith will make a class run if even as few as four students sign up for it. I think that in two years D has had two professors who she'd rate as merely "Good," all the others being "Very Good" or "Excellent."</li>
</ul>
<p>Smith has no required courses except for a first-year writing-intensive course of which there are several dozen options focused on dozens of academic fields. Some of the options are to drool over. However, if a student is pursuing Latin Honors (laude, magna & summa), then distribution requirements must be met. Seniors may enroll in a senior thesis class.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Northampton is a <em>great</em> college town of about 30,000 that's very student-friendly. Boston is about two hours away, New York about two-and-a-half; D has made several trips to both. D is a big city kid and one of her concerns before applying was that Northampton might be too small. When she visited, she found it to be hip & happening, with enough music, art, theater, restaurants, etc. to keep things interesting. She and her friends will sometimes go into town--a five-minute walk--for Thai, Japanese, or Italian food either as a celebration or just for the heck of it. Herrell's Ice Cream is a local landmark not to be missed.</p></li>
<li><p>As for competition, Smithies seem to be competitive with themselves. I've not yet heard anyone obsessing about their GPA relative to someone else. My D was rejected by HYS (she really liked Y and I thought that <em>not</em> being in the top of the class might be a good experience for her) and based on a scholarship was probably in the top 5 percent or so of Smith's class; I had some concern that Smith might be not challenging enough for her. The concern has proved to be ill-founded. Smith does very well in terms of students going on to graduate and professional school and is consistently among the leaders in numbers of students being awarded Fullbright Scholarships...16 this year, I think.</p></li>
<li><p>The language departments are very strong. Smith runs four Junior Year Abroad Programs in Florence, Paris, Hamburg, and Switzerland. In addition to Italian, French, and German, the East Asian languages seem to have a good reputation and many students certainly feel "pushed" in the year-long Intro. Latin & Greek classes; some go on to take advanced courses while majoring in Classics. Because of the JYA programs, the language classes are reputedly pretty tough...they want you in good shape when you go over there. </p></li>
<li><p>Art. Smith is one of the few LAC's with its own art museum. (My opinion is that it has third-class works by first-rate artists and first-rate works by third-rate artists, but still...for an LAC, it's impressive.) Art students take regular field trips to the MFA in Boston and the Met in NYC. The chair of the Art department came out here to speak to a gathering a couple of years ago and he was so enthusiastic about the program that I wanted to go and start taking art classes there immediately. I don't know as much about the studio art side as I do the art history side. I have heard that it's a danger to take too many art history classes at the same time because of the number of papers required.</p></li>
<li><p>Science & Engineering. Smith is one of the very few LAC's with its own Engineering school. They are breaking ground for a new science center with state of the art facilities. Biology and neuroscience are strong at Smith and one of the nation's leading experts on genomics is on the Smith faculty...his class is reputed to be a bear. Physics has a rep as being a tough major as well. I don't know anything about Chem except that it's sufficient for the pre-meds and the Bio students without any complaints.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>[end Part I]</p>
<p>Ack, I ran afoul of the 10,000-character posting limit, something that seldom happens outside a political discussion.</p>
<p>====</p>
<ul>
<li>Other notes. The advising has been absolutely first-rate. Pre-major advisors, class advisors, major advisors...you'd really have to actively work at it to really screw up. One of the pieces of Smith propaganda says something about "Four years where it's all about you" and I think it's true. The advisors look at students as individuals. E.g., they looked at my D's pattern of courses and grades and invited her to skip a "required" course for one of her majors. The subsequent course was a challenge (she handled it) and this ultimately leaves room for one more advanced class in the major.</li>
</ul>
<p>Smith's Praxis program gives <em>every</em> student $2,000 towards the cost of a summer internship, most being taken in the summer between junior and senior year. The CDO (career office) helps with resumes, has write ups from students about various internships they've had, and provides some pretty decent guidance. The student herself is expected to do the leg work on getting the internship, in and of itself a good learning experience, though again the CDO can help.</p>
<p>The Government department has its own Picker Internship program in Washington D.C. and the American Studies department has another internship program specifically with the Smithsonian Museums. Internships in the Picker Program include placements in the White House, Senate, House, and various organizations such as the Brookings Institute, NOW, the NRA, People for the American Way, etc.</p>
<p>In addition to running its own Junior Year Abroad programs, Smith participates in others on a co-op basis. My D is planning to spend one semester in an English-speaking program in Budapest studying Mathematics. I know another student who spent a year in China. Others in South America. There are literally dozens of options. About 2/3 of the junior class spends at least one semester, usually all year, in an off-campus program.</p>
<p>Between semesters, Smith offers a three-week J-term in January, where students can explore various interests, often on pass/no-pass basis.</p>
<p>Smith also offers a non-credit class in Finances for Women, covering everything from credit cards to mortgages and investment; I've heard this strongly recommended several times.</p>
<p>Smith top applicants are awarded STRIDE or Zollman Scholarships that include part-time research positions the first two years, offering the kinds of research opportunities often open primarily to grad students in larger universities. (My D was tail-end Charlie on her research team her first year but still was credited as part of the team in a paper presented the at a Mathematics conference during her first semester.) Students awarded the research positions have dozens of choices and almost always get one of their top three. [Some positions are nothing but grunt work and "slave" labor...it does pay to inquire about the professor, etc., through various channels, but most are bona fide great opportunities.] In my D's case, her position the first year led to an eight-week on-campus summer job founded by the National Science foundation.</p>
<ul>
<li>Student body. Most Smithies are both bright and quirky. As with many LAC's, the student body is predominantly liberal in outlook. My D is culturally more moderate (not conservative) and sometimes just lets the PC-ness roll off her back. Otoh, she has found a very warm attachment to her campus religious community (Catholic) and was very touched when non-religious friends came to witness her Confirmation and when an atheist and a Jewish friend accompanied her as part of group spending a weekend at the Maryknoll retreat house in upstate New York. There is a vocal group of campus Republicans.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>Approximately one-third the of the campus is gay or actively bi. If you are not gay-tolerant, Smith is not the place for you. However, while the gay community is vocal and casts a large shadow, straight students are not pressured or made to feel uncomfortable. There are fewer unwanted advances than there would be at comparable co-ed institutions. </p>
<p>Socially, Smith stands out in that compared to many other LAC's and universities, it's rate of binge drinking and other drug/alcohol-related problems is very low. </p>
<p>Meeting guys. For some, a problem. Some guys to attend Smith classes or participate in Smith EC's, such as the orchestra. Many Smith students meet guys while taking classes at one of the other Five Colleges. And then there are the parties on the Quad that draw guys from the surrounding colleges to Smith. I've also heard of Smithies making connections in town via interests such as theater, music, church, etc. But for it shouldn't be downplayed; there aren't the same level of girl-guy opportunities as there would be on a co-ed campus. My D may be in a minority but I think it's a sizable one: she says that Smith doesn't leave her time to sustain a relationship and she's not interested in the casual hook-up scene. I suspect this may account for <em>some</em> of the popularity of the junior year off-campus in a co-ed environment.</p>
<p>My D's experience at Smith so far, in her words, has been "two absolutely wonderful years."</p>
<h1>#</h1>
<p>A nice safety might be St. Olaf. Lots of music opportunities for non-music majors. Coed by floor. Officially a dry campus, though there is drinking at every college, it's not as dominant a part of the culture. Community atmosphere, housing all four years. Smart student body for a school with a relatively high admit rate.</p>
<p>WOW TheDad your indepth knowledge of Smith is neck and neck with Student615's of Scripps. You can't buy that kind of information, let alone find it on a web site or in a brochure. We can't thank you enough.</p>
<p>I think we have a pile of super reaches, reaches, and matches. Please send along any more that you might think would be safeties she should consider. I hate to say that when I think of a safety, the only thing that comes to mind is the local U (which is won't even consider, thank goodness) and the HUGE state U, which she would attend only if forced to. A couple of people have said to love your safety, so we want to be really care with those applications too.</p>
<p>A HUGE MIDWEST THANK YOU to everyone!</p>
<p>MidWest - Can you give us what you now think of as the most likely 4 super reach 4 reach 4 math? That way if there is a method to your madness, if there is a pattern of what you all think she will like, we can think of safeties that fit the pattern. It can be easier than working from bullet points like - wants German, performance opps, etc. For those of us better at metaphors than spreadsheets....</p>
<p>TheDad - Smith sounds GREAT! :) I wish my son could attend! :(</p>
<p>MidwestParent - What state are you located in? This helps when figuring out which schools are safeties.</p>
<p>We are located in Kansas</p>
<p>MidWest, I went back and read your OP. D is also a Math major (double major with Government), so if you want to query on that side of things. I ran my longish posts by my D afterwards for vetting and she has some footnotes for me to add. Next pass...a client calls.</p>
<p>AnxiousMom, there are probably quite a few Smithies who wish your son would put in an appearance too. :)</p>
<p>MidwestParent, Forgive me if I missed this info in prior posts and forgive me for this personal question but what is your EFC, do you know? Will you be going for need-based or merit aid?</p>