OP, your son is a solid A student with an SAT score achieved by the top 1%. Check the numbers but probably only 15,000 students in the entire country did as well.
I think when the dust settles…he (and you!) will be plenty happy.
Good luck. Please let us know where he ends up as my daughter may be applying for similar schools for Classics next year.
@londondad…Holy Cross offers 2 full tuition scholarships for entering Classics majors each year. HC offers a third full tuition Classics scholarship every four years which was for the Class of 2020. Good luck.
@MYOS1634, S has applied to Hamilton. He had a good visit and interview there. I loved the campus. He did a visit and interview at Vassar as well.
@ScaredNJDad1, thanks again for the words of encouragement.
@londondad, I will try to remember to post the outcome in April.
My apologies, this is all in the first post, which I evidently read too quickly or didn’t memorize the LACs well enough for.
I still think he should apply to one more “just in case”. All reach (due to selectivity, even Vassar although it’d be low reach) and one safety tends to be a risky approach that’s damaging to kids who lose out (there are always some in the Spring). It’s pretty risk-free to apply to at least one more LAC. If he gets into one of his top choices, you forget the backup LAC. 
Didn’t know about this, I have to say. But the bar is pretty high:
“Candidates are expected to have a strong background (equivalent of four years) in Latin and/or Greek, and significant academic achievement in all other subjects and on standardized tests.”
Our S has one year of latin he took via local college but nothing like 4 years and didn’t take the AP latin test. While HC is test optional, this scholarship is not. Great deal if you get in but I wonder if you’re still on the hook for room and board, which typically runs 11-12K/year.
HC meets need… but the point is moot, right?
1 year in college = about 2-3 years in high school.
rjj,
Some folks would say that the purpose for ED at the NESCAC-like LACs is to rope in the athletes. This can make it look like it is easier for all applicants to get in ED, since the admit rate is higher. Plus, entrance is getting harder and harder at the LACs. Colby had over 9800 applicants this year - more than the number of applicants to Williams. Wesleyan had over 12,000.
I don’t think your son did anything wrong or is a weak candidate. Williams is easily as hard as the Ivies to get into. Middlebury less so, but not much less. Perhaps something just didn’t click. Since Bates is test optional, Bates would probably love those test scores. Others have voted for Vassar.
It seems to me you did exactly the right thing. You rolled the dice on two “hard to get into” LACs – perhaps that won’t work out. You felt comfortable with Binghamton – although plenty of folks wouldn’t call it a safety – and it worked out. And in between, you have a number of terrific LACS that your son will be in the mix for. No slam dunks, but no “are you kiddings” either. So just enjoy the rest of the ride. Your son will go to college next year. The only question is whether or not he goes to one of his first choices.
Colby waived the supplemental writing requirement last year and the application fee. That accounts for the rise in applications.
I would guess that his stats were good enough to make him a legitimate candidate but that nothing really leapt out to the school that made him a “must have”. The pool of candidates who have the stats is much larger that the number of seats in the freshman class so it comes down to whether or not you have something the school wants, and then, they only want so many so that they have balance in the class. This is not the admissions process we went through when having the stats got the job done.
I’d put money on one of these coming through. It’s disheartening, though, for sure.
Scared NJ Dad,
Actually, Colby has not had an admissions fee since the mid-2000s – perhaps even before then. And, the essay issue was done away with in around about 2010. It is interesting how the lore evolves in that respect. Check out the Colby forum from last . Last year, posters also attributed the huge jump to no fee and no supplemental essay. How many times can a college eliminate the fee and the essay? Honestly, it is just a dynamic president and a genuine recruitment effort.
@intparent , I would have thought the same but two of my D’s schools requested family recs after applying. Uni of Rochester and Geneseo. I really enjoyed writing them too!
I didn’t say that no schools want them, but they are pretty rare.
I was going to cast another vote for Muhlenberg, but I don’t see a classics major. http://www.muhlenberg.edu/main/academics/majorsandprograms.html
Just a few thoughts from my corner of the world for what it’s worth…
I think your S has a good chance at Colby, Bates, Hamilton, and Vassar. He seems like a really solid applicant, and the chances are that at least one or more of those will come through. I didn’t notice previously on this thread if he needs FA, so I don’t know if this has been brought up already, but I think financial need might come into play at some schools more than others. Hamilton and Vassar seem to be the most need blind (and meeting full need) while Bates and Colby are not strictly need blind (though they claim to meet full need). Being a full pay family could help you with the latter schools if that is the case. Conversely, needing FA could hurt at those but at least wouldn’t be a factor at Hamilton or Vassar. I’m slightly embarrassed to post a Wikepedia link, could be woefully inaccurate, but if the financials interest you maybe it is helpful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission
Earlham has not been mentioned yet, and I know it is out of his geographic comfort range, but what a gem of a school. Application deadline is Feb 15, gives generous merit based aid, and has a classics department:
http://www.earlham.edu/ancient-and-classical-studies/
This school has caught my eye (at least on paper), seems to offer a really strong undergrad education, healthy/engaged community vibe, and could be well worth an application just in case things go wonky with his top choices.
Also it hasn’t been mentioned yet but Middlebury took over 50% of its class ED1 this year, high even for a school that often takes 40%+, which I absolutely think has (ED2) and will (RD) effect admissions rates downstream. So it is a great sign that your son was deferred and not outright rejected ED2 as there were a few ED 2 casualties coming from Midd this year (at least according to the Middlebury thread). I wouldn’t give up on Middlebury.
I hope things work out well for your son, seems like he is in a good spot with a solid transcript etc. I would just encourage you guys to check out Earlham and some of the others mentioned upstream since they are still accepting applications. Earlham could be an excellent fit, and is a very likely admit school for your son.
Thanks for all the thoughts and suggestions. 9800 applications for Colby??? Good lord. The most recent CDS data I can find (2014) is about 5400. This over-application business is spinning out of control. I wonder if application bumps of this magnitude can throw off an admissions office’s balance.
S will need FA. My feeling is that if he can get in at one of his LAC schools it’ll cost us less than if he ends up going to Binghamton.
@gointhruaphase Colby had over 9800 applicants this year
Where does your 9800 number come from? The Colby CDC lists 5148 for the the class entering fall of 2014, so to almost double in one yr sounds suspect. Plus on the Colby website, it currently says they read over 5,000 applications per yr,
Earlham is a good thought, location notwithstanding. We liked Wooster too. Can’t speak to the classics department at either, except to note that they have them.
Here’s the list of places still accepting applications, in case it hasn’t already been posted.
http://www.collegesimply.com/guides/application-deadlines/
If any might be in contention with Binghamton should things not work out elsewhere (hopefully he’ll get some good offers – this is just contingency planning), it might be wise.
@rjjxv26 , you may well be surprised. I always thought state schools didn’t offer merit aid. I do knw that SUNY Albany does, at least. My friends son has been accepted there and they offered him quite a lot of money. So much so that they think he might only have to pay about $7000 a year. He had mediocre grades but a good ACT score.
@Lindagaf, great to know. I had been told there were some NYS scholarships for kids in the top 10% of their class.