<p>Pizzagirl- while we never visited I was very impressed with everything I read from Lawrence and tried to sway my D to visit.</p>
<p>She was accepted at Goucher but decided to stay in NJ.</p>
<p>tom, do you concur with the Goucher profile discussed above? My perceptions are based on someone who is actually quite preppy / traditional!</p>
<p>PG- The change in grades AND test scores from this point Junior year and this point her senior year could be significant- enough so that what is considered a reach now is a real possibility this time next year- A 32 ACT this spring, and great Jr. year grades will make a big difference in her final list. So I would relax and perhaps just focus on the region she is most interested in- until the end of her junior year, which is a very difficult yr academically and test wise. </p>
<p>That being said- if the west is a real contender- Colorado College, Scripps/Claremont Colleges, Santa Clara University, Whitman, Pepperdine University- provide a great cross section of schools to consider. Scripps and Whitman are the most academic of the group, and not party schools per say- all business during the week.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl–Been through the college process with my Ds and also stepkids. Colleges with which I’m familiar on your list: Mt. Holyoke/Bryn Mawr. D2 goes to Bryn Mawr. Her stats were similar to your D. She was accepted to both Bryn Mawr and Mt. Holyoke. My D decided on Bryn Mawr because she prefered the suburban environment–we live in a small town in Central Massachusetts, about 1.5 hours from the Pioneer Valley (area where the five colleges are located), and I think D wanted to go farther from home. My D has had a great experience at Bryn Mawr. She likes the fact that the campus is small (she’s very social and very involved in one EC). She also likes that the faculty is very accessible. She’s found the courseload challenging and she has taken courses at either Haverford or Swat every semester. The tri-co consortium is easily accessible in terms of the logistics (campuses are close–at least Bryn Mawr and Haverford–and registration is easy.) I know you’re planning on having your D visit Bryn Mawr and I’d really recommend that she do so. </p>
<p>Hearsay info on Colorado College: close friend’s son goes to CC. He’s an outdoors kid, is easily bored if not challenged and is also very bright. (Almost perfect SAT and a B- GPA) The one-course approach is perfect for him. Getting to Colorado Springs from the east coast is a pain, but other than that, it’s been an excellent fit for this young man.</p>
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<p>Thanks. I always have a perception of all the Claremont colleges as being way too reachy, but maybe I’ll reconsider. S (D’s twin) is interested in Whitman so she’ll likely accompany us to visit there. Pepperdine, I’m a little too concerned about the Christian linkage. But thank you to all! </p>
<p>They’ve both also discovered Clark University in Boston - I know nothing about - thoughts? We’ll certainly do a Boston jaunt at one point.</p>
<p>Pizza- I thought that the Goucher kids were artsy, non preppy, nerdy in an off beat sense not in a computer nerd way. Sports were not important. I got the feeling that most of the kids would not have been part of cliches in HS and most would never have picked on anyone in HS.</p>
<p>Clark is in Worcester, MA–40 miles from Boston. It’s a town that’s been declining for a long time (industry leaving and not returning despite city fathers who keep looking for something to bring it back). I worked at Clark for two years–program in the business school that was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The professors in this program were top-notch and the students who worked for us were interesting, bright, etc. Personally, I thought the whole area was so depressing that it colored my view of the campus, which is very nice, but set right up against the urban decay. I would definitely visit this campus before applying.</p>
<p>Don’t know if Barnard has been mentioned, but it seems like it could be a good fit</p>
<p>If you’re driving along I-90, side trips to Oberlin and Kalamazoo are fairly easy. I agree that KZoo is a bit of a local gem so it would come down to where she envisioned wanting to end up after school.</p>
<p>S1 and I visited Case twice. The area immediately around the University is nice but a block or two in the wrong direction and it can get very dicey very quickly. S1 also got a strong engineering/techy vibe. Of the schools he was considering, (at the time), it also had one of the lowest retention rates for freshman, seemed like it was easy to get into but hard to stay.</p>
<p>Also, I’d second Rochester as an idea, even though we had our worst tour guide experience there.</p>