<p>My DD's grades and SATs so far aren't what she'd hoped after a lot of hard work (she will be retaking the SAT, and taking ACT in June) and the college she was very interested in doesn't look likely. We're on the west coast and she's looking at the east coast and midwest, any suggestions for other colleges to look at while we're out there?</p>
<p>She's looking for a LAC, French/Spanish/Linguistics/probably PolySci, in or nearish a great city (I know, LACs in a city are tough to find), liberal, not too religious, fairly balanced male/female. If the learning/physical/social environment is nice enough, she's trying to overlook its distance from a city or the religious aspect. </p>
<p>Her GPA is 3.3ish unweighted at a rigorous high school with a good reputation (9-10 Harvard/Yale/Princeton acceptances out of this year's graduating class of only about 40) and she has taken about 8 AP classes so I'm not sure what her weighted GPA will be. SATs were 590/600/640. The Counselor-O-Matic on Princeton Review is confusing, it suggests schools we're thinking of as reaches, as matches or safeties. </p>
<p>On the list for the east coast visit are:
Ursinus
Emmanuel (pretty sure its going to be too conservative and religious, but hey, its in Boston!)
Dickinson
Clark, maybe (have read Worcester is a crummy town)
BU
Providence College (does Providence really qualify as a city?)
Hobart and William Smith (maybe suggestions for other schools in that area?)</p>
<p>Midwest visit in early fall:
St. Olaf (possibly too conservative and religious, but they seem so darn nice!)
Hamline
Lawrence
We'll visit the out of reach Macalester - maybe she'll hate it and it'll make her feel better about not being able to get in ;-)</p>
<p>Providence is indeed a city; funky restaurants, nice places to walk, all-night diner serving awesome muffins for those late-night study breaks.</p>
<p>Before you go all over the map on this, has your daughter asked to see the admissions stats from your HS? That's a far better predictor than the counselor-a-matic. If you can get a handle on where kids like your daughter have been accepted (and where they've been rejected) it will help you focus a little.</p>
<p>Providence, imo, is a wonderful small city. We go annually and there are great artsy areas, funky restaurant areas, etc. Great option.</p>
<p>I think she may be a stronger candidate than you and she are feeling right now and so some schools may be less challenging than she will want (eg, Emmanuel - I'm not sure; just suggesting she visit classes etc. to get a feel. I don't think it will feel "too religious.").</p>
<p>I think Villanova will be a reach.</p>
<p>Some ideas (not sure in each case how close to a city):
Loyola (Baltimore)., Simmons (Boston), Stonehill and Wheaton also in Mass, Skidmore (NY).</p>
<p>If she's seriously considering BU then maybe the "small" college is not that much of a priority. In which case, Fordham?</p>
<p>I think Dickinson will also be a reach. The people I know at Dickinson (who are on no merit aid at all) Had mid 700's on their SAT IIs and were ranked in the top 20 of my HS class of 500.</p>
<p>Not sure about all of her interests, but American is good for poly sci, and Goucher has a good study abroad. Both are near cities on the east coast.
Fordham is Jesuit, but does not seem to be religious. I know kids that are of different faiths that attend Fordham.</p>
<p>Note: Providence College, Villanova, and Fordham are Catholic schools. They won't fit your "not too religious" requirement.</p>
<p>Sushi said, "Her GPA is 3.3ish unweighted at a rigorous high school with a good reputation (9-10 Harvard/Yale/Princeton acceptances out of this year's graduating class of only about 40)"</p>
<p>People should remember that schools without grade inflation are often known by adcoms and therefore their students are given more consideration. </p>
<p>Because this school most likely has a good reputation among admissions offices, I would guess that Dickinson is not out of the question. Besides, Dickinson does not require SAT scores unless someone is looking for a merit scholarship. Dickinson isn't exactly in a hopping city, however.</p>
<p>I suggest that you add Bryn Mawr to your list, despite its single gender campus. It's down the road from Villanova and has an excellent academic reputation; however, because it's an all women's college, it accepts a relatively high percentage of its applicants. It has extremely close ties with Haverford. Although it would still be a reach for her, it would be more likely for her than lower ranked Villanova. </p>
<p>I second Drew and Skidmore (Saratoga Springs is a great town). Wagner College on Staten Island might make a good safety.</p>
<p>I second Bryn Mawr as an interesting suggestion. It's located in affluent MainLine suburban Pa, but relatively-convenient public transportation takes you into downtown Philadelphia (and U Penn). It's located near Haverford and not far from Villanova & Eastern College (and thus relatively close to student activities & action). An endowment of >$500 million means nice resources for a LAC of it's size (1323 students). Admission selectivity index for Bryn Mawr is lower only for one reason ... too many student won't consider an all-women's college. The average SAT is 1313 so you might hit it with the retake.</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr is not need-blind (which means they give preference to the applicants who does not ask for finaid). I know a girl who was rejected from several lower-tier colleges but was accepted to Bryn Mawr; she did not apply for finaid. The girl had the gpa and scores similar to your D's and also was attending a pretty strong high school.</p>
<p>If you are considering Lawrence, take a look at Beloit: they are pretty similar, but Beloit is closer to a real city (Appleton does not qualify as a city, imho)</p>
<p>As long as you're in St. Paul, take a look at U of St. Thomas. Yes, it's Catholic, but our guide last year was not and she said she felt perfectly comfortable. (Interestingly, I swear all of our guides at Catholic colleges were non-Catholics. But I digress...)</p>
<p>UST is part of a consortium that includes Macalester, Concordia, Hamline and I-can't-remember-the-fifth-one. If you want to take a course that your "home" campus does not offer, you can take it at one of the consortium schools. There's a bus that transports students between campuses.</p>
<p>Take a look at Lake Forest College, a LAC just outside Chicago. Like most LACs, there are more women than men, but it is close to a cool city and not religious. As for St. Olaf, it's religious, but not conservative like Wheaton. Northfield isn't a city, but between St. Olaf and Carleton, students seem pretty content there.</p>
<p>Wheaton in MA was suggested, this is not the super conservative school in the midwest. Wheaton was an all girls college when I went there in the late 70s. Beautiful campus, between Boston and Providence. Small school, I went for two years, great education, not much to do socially, ended up transferring out. This was partly because my great freshman roommate transferred out after fresh year and I was kinda left without a social group. So, OP, check out Wheaton in MA, not the other one.</p>
<p>Well, first question I always ask is, how much can you afford to pay? If you can afford full freight, and you don't think you'll qualify for financial aid (go to the financial aid calculator) that clearly opens up a whole lot of schools. </p>
<p>I would not worry at all about any of the Jesuit schools (Fordham, Loyola Baltimore) seeming too religious. Not at all. However, money will be tight at those schools for your daughter (meaning you may be looking at paying full price $40K+/year).</p>
<p>Other schools I see listed here that you will almost surely pay full price - Skidmore, Villanova, Dickinson. Others I'm not sure about.</p>
<p>Dickinson is a good option for her..I know a happy graduate now working in DC. They are very well known for foreign language instruction. Franklin and Marshall..take a look there. Keep in mind she is a good student and she could offer geographic diversity to schools that want to be less regional. Definitely visit. Showing interest can impact an application. Consider University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA although they might not serve too many out of staters. Nice mix of urban mid Atlantic staters there but still more female than male. best of luck and enjoy this year with your daughter.</p>
<p>
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Providence College, Villanova, and Fordham are Catholic schools. They won't fit your "not too religious" requirement.
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Agree with weenie that many students would not find these schools "too religious." They certainly have a religious affiliation as well as origin and religious activities are there for the asking, for those who wish to partake. But the pressure is NOT on to do so; students of other faiths (or no faith) abound. Typically, the distribution requirements will include something in the philosophy/theology category, but these can be filled studying World Religions etc. etc.</p>
<p>It's certainly something you will want to check for yourselves, but I would not assume that a school of Catholic origin or current affiliation will have a religious feel.</p>
<p>In Ohio, you might look at Wooster and Denison. In Michigan, Kalamazoo. Some of the mid-West schools would give your daughter "points" for being from the West coast. In Wisconsin, try Beloit or Lawrence. In Indiana, Earlham is a good choice for liberal folk. Knox and Lake Forest in Illionois.</p>
<p>sushi, just a quick note -- nothing to add to all of the great school suggestions you've already received, but wanted to tell you that IMHO the Counselor-O-Matic on Princeton Review's site is just, well, odd. Particularly on the "match" end of things. Near as I can tell, if a school doesn't report SAT ranges, GPA's, etc. then the program just ignores that variable altogether and looks at the non-academic criteria to see if the school "matches". I've been completely unimpressed with the results it spits out.</p>
<p>Your daughter sounds like a serious student. If she is interested in Boston, I think that Northeastern and BU are better choices than Emmanual. Northeastern is only a few blocks from Emmanual, so you could easily visit both.</p>