Our S19 has a solid list of safeties and matches (dependent on him keeping his GPA this junior year and scoring the same on the SAT as on his practice tests). At first, my husband and I were thinking this list is enough. Now, though, we are wondering if we should throw in a super reach. S19 won’t apply anywhere ED. We are full pay and curious about any merit he might receive so we aren’t playing the ED game. We would be willing to perhaps pay full price depending on how his acceptances fall out. This is where we are right now -
We would really only consider Vermont or Maryland if he got into the honors colleges as a small community is important to him. He wants mentors and small class size. Wisconsin doesn’t match the rest of the list but he has cousins there and they LOVE it and they are serious students so S19 may be able to be swayed. As for looking for super reaches, we would want to stick with his requirements of small class size and stick with schools with fewer than 7,000 undergrads. He will go to school undecided (although definitely not comp sci, business, or engineering) but would be a possible environmental studies, poli sci, history, econ, philosophy major. He needs time to wander and figure out what he likes.
Suggestions? The only school is this category I’ve been looking at is Brown. I’d love to hear others!
My one piece of advice is don’t let him apply anyplace you are not willing to pay for. It is heartbreaking for a kid to get into a pricey reach, then have parents say they won’t pay.
@ucbalumnus@intparent not surprised that you both make good points. My husband and I definitely need to decide ahead of time before we allow him to apply anywhere that will be full price for sure (that includes Bowdoin and Carleton on his list). One thing we have decided for sure is that we will not visit them or any other reaches unless he’s accepted and is still curious about other schools after all decisions come in. I think it’s best for me to do as much research as I can on any school that will be full price and come up with reasons why it would be worth the maybe $20,000 more per year than some other schools with merit possibilities.
Good point as well about asking S19 directly if he wants more schools on the list. That conversation will happen after he has junior year grades and SAT scores and we have visited most of the schools on his list.
I guess right now I’m just looking for maybe a few more schools to put in the “might be perfect” category if we bite the bullet on cost.
I should say, too, to anyone who may have suggestions, S19 wants a school where the majority of kids are humble and down to earth. My husband and I went to Northwestern and met many kids who came from wealthy familiea but you wouldn’t know it from the way the kids were. Right now, we live in a town where every other 16 year old is getting a new red Jeep for their birthday. S19 looking to get away from the spoiled, entitled vibe of our town’s kids.
In terms of LAC reaches, you will find only ~10 that 1) offer your son’s potential majors of interest, 2) enroll men and 3) might be more selective than one of your currently listed reaches, Carleton:
Both Princeton and Yale meet your son’s size preference (fewer than 7,000 undergrads) and offer excellent programs in his areas of interest. Princeton students, however, have a reputation for focused intensity, so it might not be the ideal locale to engage in intellectual “wandering” and self-discovery. Both of these super-reaches will have a fairly high percentage of students from very wealthy backgrounds. The University of Chicago is also exceptionally strong in your son’s prospective fields, and it is less conventionally “preppy” than its East Coast peers; however, Chicago is, if anything, even more intense than Princeton.
My daughter has been very happy at Rice, the smallest–at 3,900 undergrads–of the elite research universities (excluding Cal Tech, which is an outlier). Rice’s curriculum isn’t as fully open as Brown’s, but the distribution requirements are nevertheless very flexible: It is easy to change majors and to double-major, even if the majors in question are in different schools (e.g. Humanities, Natural Sciences, etc.). This means that students have some breathing space to explore different options. My now-junior daughter, for example, entered Rice planning to major in History and Political Science, and her freshman course load reflected that; a particularly inspiring professor prompted her to re-think her plans, and she is now–quite surprisingly, from her parents’ perspective!–an Econ major. I’m glad that she ended up attending a college that makes such unexpected transitions not only feasible, but actually fairly common. Socially, Rice students seem to be a laid-back bunch. Wealth is not flaunted, and the residential college system encourages group solidarity without the the economic stratification that often accompanies Greek life on other campuses. It’s worth noting that Princeton Review currently ranks Rice #1 nationally for “Lots of Race/Class Interaction.”
I have a friend whose son recently graduated from Brown with a major in Physics and Philosophy–a major that very much reflects the somewhat quirky and non-conventional range of his interests. His final choice of colleges came down to Brown and Rice, and he found the decision difficult because the schools seemed quite similar to him in many ways.
@warblersrule I think he’s leaning towards environmental studies not science, but it’s super important information about geology programs if he changes his mind before next year. I hadn’t heard that feedback before so thanks so much for that.
I’m really unsure about Duke. The kids we know who have visited got a really snobby vibe. If I would have asked S19 where he wanted to go to school last year, it would have been Duke. Now, though, after feedback from friends and really liking our visit to Kenyon, I think Duke might not be the best fit.
@MrSamford2014 We visited Chicago and, while he loved the intellectual kids, it seemed they were just a little too intense for him. We have friends whose kids are there and they are always stressed out. I think Yale’s city campus isn’t right for S19. We do have a friend who is sending her daughter to Princeton this fall and we can pick her brain for more info!
Thanks to all who suggested Rice. I never considered it and now I’m not sure why. Maybe it was the Texas thing and I thought it was more for the science majors. We will look into it.
As for Wash U, I always thought it would be a match for sure. We went to a local presentation and S19 did not like the student who was on the panel. I didn’t either. He was so full of himself. I don’t know what Wash U was thinking using him on their tour. Maybe we should visit and give it another chance!
I count 13 schools on that list. I’m not sure if your son is planning to apply to all 13 plus another reach or two, or if he plans to prune that list. If not, that’s a lot of schools. And there’s nothing wrong with that - my son has a slightly longer list. Just make sure your son knows going in how much work it is to apply to that many schools. In particular check out how many of the schools have writing supplements (if you haven’t yet, you can get a practice account on Common App and check out this year’s applications to get an idea) and see if there are any competitive merit scholarships that require more essays. Make sure your son will be able to juggle all that with whatever courseload and extracurriculars he has going on in his senior year. I can tell you from experience that it has been a struggle for my son to get his apps done given his coursework, his fall sport, and his other ECs. And only 7 of his schools have writing supplements.
You might have already looked into it, so I apologize if I’m telling you what you already know, but of the schools on your son’s list, I know Richmond, Davidson and Wake Forest all have writing supplements this year. Richmond’s is fairly tame and could be recycled or reworked from an essay for another school. But the writing supplements for Davidson and Wake each involve multiple components that involve more work.
@gclsports I think S19 will prune this list a bit. We have quite a few still on the list to visit. I think he may have some that fall off of the list after visits. I’m aware of all of the supplements and that some of the schools require the applications to be sent by 11/1 to be considered for merit. I’m really hoping he can get at least some of his essay writing done during the summer next year. We will make it a priority. I know Wake’s supplement is a bear and Wake is kind of different than the other schools on his list. If it doesn’t really strike a nerve on our visit, it might be one that drops off if the list!
@homerdog If you are deciding whether or not to give Rice serious consideration, don’t be put off by “the Texas thing.” Houston isn’t Sticksville; rather, it’s the fourth most populous city in the US, and it boasts the expected cultural amenities of a major urban area: lots of museums, good symphony, excellent opera, happening food scene, easy access (two large airports), etc.
Houston actually strikes me as a combination of Florida (where I grew up) and Southern California (where I live now). It has the humid summers, lush greenery, and shady oak groves–especially on the Rice campus!–of Gulf Coast Florida, but the highly multicultural, internationalist feel of SoCal. Indeed, my daughter finds the overall vibe of Rice quite similar to that of California–with the notable exception that people are more likely to say “y’all” and to drink iced tea with dinner.
I can, however, empathize with your uncertainty about Texas. Many moons ago, when I was a freshman at Duke, my roommate hailed from Austin. Despite his protestations, I was convinced that he lived in a town with dirt roads, raised wooden sidewalks, hitching posts, and tumble weeds blowing down Main Street at high noon. He’s probably a tech billionaire in Austin today–one who gets a laugh when he happens to recall his old roommate’s misconceptions!
S19 got his SAT score back (1540. 800M. 740EW). We visited Grinnell this weekend and S19 just loved it. He wants to ED. LOL. He’s got over a year until he would have to apply. It’s a bit early for that kind of talk, but let’s just say it’s the one to beat. My husband is taking him to Mac and Carleton in October. If he likes both of those, I don’t even know if we would add any more reaches. One other thing I think we learned after the Grinnell trip is that he seems most comfortable being not too far away from home. This will be tested when we visit Davidson, Wake, and Richmond this spring but I have a hunch that he may choose to stay in the Midwest (unless that warmer weather makes its case!).
I looked into Brown and they require the SAT essay, which he didn’t take. And I believe they will only take section scores from an SAT with essay test. We didn’t have him take the essay originally because no schools on his list need it and he was so focused on studying for the M/EW sections that I wanted him to focus on that. Rice does not require the essay but does require two SAT 2s. Again, that’s more testing that he doesn’t need for his current list. He’s up to his eyeballs in homework and XC right now and winter/spring won’t be any better with winter track and track. Hasn’t gone to bed before midnight for the last three nights (home from XC at 6:00, shower, eat, 5+ hours of homework ugh). I don’t know if I can have him take more tests. I can see why kids start limiting their lists once they start feeling more sure about what they like. One could go crazy adding all kinds of schools!
That being said, with his score what it is, it seems like he should shoot for a pie in the sky school. My husband and I went to NU and I’m not sure it’s the best fit but it’s definitely a reach and close by I think we will tour and see what he thinks. Wash U is also pretty close so maybe we will give it another look. Neither require additional testing. That’s a bonus.
@homerdog - regarding the subject tests, depending on what classes he is taking this year, Math 2 and US History can be two he may be able to take without a lot of extra prep. And he can perhaps take them next August when he may have a less full schedule. Even is a school says the subject tests are optional, its a good idea to take a couple. I have heard that some schools say optional because they do not want to burden low income kids with the expense of more tests, but that they do expect certain applicants to submit them
@wisteria100 Yes. Thanks for the nudge. I was thinking Math 2 in Dec. He took pre-calc last year and is a strong math student so I’m hoping it not too much studying. He could spend a little time over Thanksgiving break. His APUSH teacher told me that taking the SAT History test is a bit different than the AP but, if he took it in May, he would have covered most of what he would need and he should just spend a little time with a Barrons book beforehand. Maybe if I just bite the bullet and sign him up then he’ll just have to plan on those since I paid for them!
If he has a good gpa and ECs to go with that wonderful SAT score AND he gravitates towards LACs then maybe think about putting in an app or two to schools like Amherst, Williams and Middlebury. Also, for the heck of it, one favorite Ivy. Personally, I would drop U of Maryland.
@citymama9 Yes. I think we may drop both Maryland and Vermont. If we can be pretty sure about some of the LACs on the list (Beloit, Denison, maybe Dickinson) then we can forget about large universities all together. His weighted GPA is strong - 5.65 on a 5.0 scale. I think his unweighted is around a 4.8. Still puts him in top 10%. He does have a few Bs but they are in the hardest AP classes and our GC thinks it’s not a deal breaker. He’s seen kids at our school with similar stats go pretty much everywhere depending on ECs, letters of rec, and essays.
It sounds like your son is going to have lots of good choices. For an added boost, look at the gender differences at each school he likes. Many these days have a shortage of males, so I bet that can give a slight edge, especially at the smaller LACs.
@citymama9 Thanks again. Yes, being male at some of these LACs is probably a boost. Plus, he will have an art portfolio, so we are hoping that will help differentiate him as well. Our scary part is that we are planning all RD applications. My husband wants to be able to compare financial aid and merit offers. For some of these schools, it’s definitely better to go ED. We will just have to hope that showing interest by visiting and keeping in touch with reps is enough to know that he’s truly interested even though he will be in the RD round.