I’m just playing around with a list of schools for D25. She is interested in schools that are good in environmental sciences/studies and also have gender/womens/sexuality studies.
Must be super LGBTQ friendly
Prefers small to medium size schools
She is outdoorsy and likes running and hiking
Not interested in Greek life
Prefer states that have legal abortion
No cost limitations
4.0 students in competitive public school
Doesn’t want to stay in home state
Should I remove any of these? Any schools I really missed?
Pitzer
Scripps
Bryn Mawr
Whitman
Cornell
Pomona
Bowdoin
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Amherst
Bates
Hamilton
Mount Holyoke
Williams
Carleton
Macalester
Colby
Smith
Wellesley
Middlebury
Skidmore
Yale
Duke
University of Vermont
University of Washington
I think that they are all in likely continued pro choice states.
Seems a too heavy list though with too few not top. Ie it’s too reach heavy.
A 4.0 in and of itself won’t bring admissions to many of the schools. I don’t know her rigor, test scores, ECs, etc. but you might nibble on a few more ‘lower’ tier schools unless she’s the crème de la crème.
I would google each college + campus pride to get a sense of how lgbtq friendly or inclusive the school is. While it shouldn’t solely determine inclusion, likely a rating below a 4 of 5 mighty cause at least the need for further investigation.
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Wesleyan. Colorado College (one class at a time) may be worth adding although also reaches for most. Occidental and Lafayette would be a tier lower. Since u have UW how about Colorado Boulder and Oregon State or Oregon.
Edit.
She wants mid size so maybe a western Washington works better than Washington.
Maybe a URI too and a few smaller SUNY. Plus U Delaware. Salisbury in MD.
Vassar is one I would have expected too see on your list. Since you have Pomona, how about Pitzer and/or Scripps? Reed? Connecticut College? Haverford? Wesleyan is an obvious omission.
Amherst
Bates
Bowdoin
Bryn Mawr
Carleton
Colby
Cornell
Duke
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Macalester
Middlebury
Mount Holyoke
Pitzer
Pomona
Scripps
University of Oregon
University of Vermont
University of Washington
Williams
Home state is Missouri
I was hesitant to put Duke on, but it seems to have a very good environmental science program. I’ll add Wesleyan and I added Oregon.
Oddly I can’t find campus pride ratings on several schools, including many of the womens colleges.
How do Pomona, Pitzer, and Scripps compare? Do they have different vibes?
Reading brief descriptions, D25 likes Bowdoin, Colby, Macalester, and Pomona.
Checking in as a very liberal queer Duke alum who majored in Earth & Ocean Sciences. Duke is a fantastic place to study environmental science, and its environmental policy offerings (in the public policy institute) are excellent as well. Duke is by no means a conservative institution, and I’m not even sure I’d consider it more conservative than comparable universities like Penn and Cornell these days; the university has changed quite a bit in the last 20 years or so.
That said, Greek organizations are still a prominent part of campus life. You certainly don’t have to join a frat or sorority to have a good time at Duke, but it’s probably not the best place if you want to entirely avoid Greek life and the “work hard, party hard” mentality.
It’s ok to have a list but you are waaaaaaaaayyyy too early.
Her academics are unknown. The political landscape is unknown.
Many of these schools have single digit admissions rates.
Even thinking about this now…with her…is gonna cause way too much pressure…like what if she gets a B or C. Way too many kids facing unnecessary pressure right now.
I suggest you table this but if you go on any family trips and can slip a school or two in, even in the wrong state to see about environment, school size and more etc.
Oops, I missed the 9th grade bit. Yes, it’s too early. There are no grades or test scores (if they even count in a couple of years) and no firm list of ECs. The list may be completely unrecognizable in a couple of years. Your child may decide she isn’t interested in environmental science by then. She is going to change a LOT by the time she applies to college.
I’d also advise against visiting colleges at this point. In my experience, a lot of kids are turned off by visiting this early in the process. No harm in visiting a school if you are nearby, but I certainly wouldn’t be planning college visits yet. If anything, start local to home, just to get a taste of what a college campus is like.
Yeah, just having fun. I’m going back to work soon, so just playing around. It’s also nice you have a rough list for when we are traveling. We stopped at Dartmouth just to rest and have lunch traveling from VT to Boston, and D25! Said it was too big.
Your D’s academic interests and what she wants in a college may change a great deal over the next couple of years. I expect she will grow academically and mature over this period. Frankly it is a waste of your time (and ours) to try to come up with a meaningful college list at this juncture.
She will be thinking about this stuff and 90%+ of kids won’t sniff most of the schools on your list.
It’s unnecessary pressure that she’s even thinking of it and heaven forbid she get a b next year. The psyche is very fragile and we see / read about way too many mental breakdowns.
Perhaps a summer program next year or the year after would be wise to gain her experience and validate does she even have an interest in the subject. Frankly, with these two majors of interest, where you go likely won’t matter as both will likely lead to lower paying careers or further schooling. So the goal should be finding the right school, big name or otherwise. But that can wait a few years.
Reed is good but a reach like just about every school on your list. Some less reach-y schools with environmental studies would be Willamette, Lewis & Clark, and Seattle U.
And definitely put this waaaay on the back burner for a 9th grader! Like don’t mention it to her for a couple years?
I like the suggestion of a summer program, maybe in a different part of the country from where you live.
If your student is still in 9th grade, then you are being very optimistic. Also, if your student is still in 9th grade, her intended major is likely to change, possibly several times.
However, reading your post two things immediately jumped into my mind.
First of all, at least in my mind and at some universities “environmental sciences” and “environmental studies” are not the same thing. I understand that there is some similarity, but at least some universities have two different programs for these. One daughter was briefly an environmental sciences major, was taking quite a bit of several sciences, and then picked one science as her major (involving a change of major that went well).
The other thing that jumped into my mind even before I saw it on the list was “UVM”. It is very good for environmental sciences. If your daughter really does end up with a 4.0 it would be close to a safety even out of state. I am not familiar with every university on your list, but UVM is the only safety or near safety that I saw on the list. It does have Greek life, but it is not a problem for students who just want to ignore it.
