<p>GCmom… here are my S’s safeties… UVM, St Lawrence, Hobart and Smith on the East Coast, Sewanee in TN, University of Puget Sound and Western Washington in WA. His middle schools which may fall into the category of reaches more than matches are; Colorado College, Reed, Whitman, and Lewis and Clark. I would LOVE him to stay on the West coast but I know better than to say a word.</p>
<p>Schmaltz… That school looks like a place my S would love… </p>
<p>JHS…LOL!! I know… he has those 2 schools on the outskirts of his list for that reason… he probably will not end up applying to either… as his list will tighten up after EA decisions are in. He does undertand that Midd is a uber reach for him… BUT, like I said, he has plenty of safeties that he really likes…i.e. UVM, so as long as he has those schools I am not going to discourage him from applying to any uber reach. All of his EC’s are pretty much on the same line as his college interests. He is an Eagle Scout, 2 leadership positions in a national organization, search and rescue volunteer, 1000 hrs. CS in environmental and conservation projects, rescue diver that started a scuba environmental conservation program. Spring semester Junior year working and going to school on an organic farm& a Wilderness First Responder. He thinks Bennington is too small a student body.</p>
<p>Thanks, 5boys. Love St. Lawrence. Older D got in there, but chose Saint Michael’s in Burlington. Younger D has UVM on the list, we’ll re-look at Hobart and William Smith. St. Lawrence doesn’t have many courses in younger D’s language, which she plans to continue with.</p>
<p>GC… I know it is a bit harder if you are looking for a specific language program. My S wants ES so all schools he is looking at have pretty good programs. He also wants to do pre-med so that comes into play as well. His goal is to become a rural ER doc and work in the mountains as a searcha nd rescue volunteer as well. St Lawrence has a great rural md. program and guarantees admittance into med school if certain qualifications are met.</p>
<p>In Freeport we’ve stayed at the Harraseeket Inn and the Fairfield Inn and Suites, both in the Freeport town. The Hampton Inn looked nice too, all About 15 mins from Brunswick. In Middlebury we always stay at the Marriott Courtyard.</p>
<p>Just a plug for Colby – D is an ES major, LOVES it, and the department is considered one of the best anywhere. The school is very big on outdoor everything, has a <em>major</em> commitment to green issues, and has an organic garden run by students that furnishes food for the dining halls. I’ve done the 3-Maine-schools trip twice now, and both times it worked well to plan 2 in one day–just check out the tour/info schedules carefully!</p>
<p>Schools like Middlebury, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Williams put a lot of emphasis on outdoorsy activities and a serious commitment to the environment can compensate for weaknesses in other places. I was astonished by the number of fellow Eagle Scouts that my son encountered just in his first year class.</p>
<p>purplegirl… thanks for the hotel tips… I will make reservations this week. We will stay 2 nights in Freeport and 1 night in Middlebury. </p>
<p>Cadence… From what my S and I have read about Colby it looks like it will be a close 2nd to Midd. There is a lot to love about Colby, and meets all of his requirements… Outdoorsy, friendly, unpretentious student body with close professor/student relationships, great ES program, environmentally progressive campus with an organic farm, and it even has a woodsmen club…something that my S would love and very few schools have. I just looked at our schools naviance and it looks like a safety for my S… although I know how selective it is…they must j ust really like my S’s school… also being in CA doesn’t hurt I’m sure.</p>
<p>momrath… where does your S go to school with all those Eagle Scout’s? One of the things that my S does have going for him is his passion for Environmental issues and I think all of his EC’s and CS in that area will bode well for him. He is very self-aware and makes no exuses for who he is. One of his teachers wrote on his report card that " xx could definitely have received and A in my class instead of a B+, but he just decides to spend his time doing more intersting things than fine tuning the last efforts of an essay. You would usually find him out working on the farm or learning how to do something new…like making maple syrup." Colleges will either decide they want him on their campus, or they will deicde they would rather have the A student… that’s okay with him, as he wants to stay true to himself and get accepted to the school who will value him as who he is.</p>
<p>One last plug for Williams… it’s just about as rural as you can get, snug amongst the purple mountains, it has a small but lively climbing scene that usually does well at comps, they have an organic garden, two of the biggest activities on campus are WOC (the Williams outing club, which hosts tons of hikes and other outdoorsy things and provides an extensive amount of equipment students can rent) and Thursday night meeting (an environmental activism group), there is a contest between entries (familial groups of 20 or so frosh and 2 junior advisors) to see who can use the least electricity every year, and finally, there’s Mountain Day, when one day in October the president declares all classes cancelled and everyone hikes up Mt. Greylock to enjoy festivities at the summit.</p>
<p>I ended up having to choose between Midd and Williams, and because they’re very similar, it mostly came down to financial aid. However, Williams is an awesome school and I think you’d be missing out if you skipped it (of course, you do have a schedule to consider, but it’s basically on the way to the NY schools).</p>
<p>My two cents: if S loves outdoorsy then I would definitely add Williams (but not Amherst)—and since Midd is a bit of a stretch, I would not cut Hamilton, which is a wonderful school (I think underrated), meets his criteria, is somewhat easier to got into than Midd and visiting and interviewing, I believe, can actually help in getting admitted.</p>
<p>Williams is indeed a wonderful college. But it is more selective than Middlebury, and I don’t think that is the direction the OP needs to go. I agree that Hamilton should not be dismissed. My nephew had a dream experience there – originally an Environmental Science major, morphing into a design-your-own program (fully, lavishly supported by the college) in Philosophy of Agriculture. He is an outdoorsy kid from central Massachusetts who chose Hamilton over Colby.</p>
<p>One advantage of Hamilton and Colby over Williams and Middlebury, from an admissions perspective, is that they aren’t so locked in to NESCAC sports. So they don’t need to admit anywhere near the number of athletic team recruits that Williams and Middlebury do, which in turn frees up more space for non-recruited applicants. They’re a little smaller, too, but not enough to eliminate the importance of fewer recruits.</p>
<p>JHS… Thanks for that info… I love that you are always learning something new on this forum…I agree with you that my S really doesn’t need any more reaches… as he is leary about applying to the ones he already has. He isn’t one of those kids who just wants to apply to every top school just because they are the top.He is really putting a lot of thought into what he wants in a school and how he will fit into the schools culture. He is actually a little more on the intellectual quirky side than the sporty side. He can get along with anyone but is somewhat socially independent and would rather go climb a mountain by himself than play any kind of a ball sport. That was one of the reasons he was kind of turned off by Midd at first, but he has since talked to a few people that have said he would fit in fine there. He will be able to tell a little more when we visit. He has always liked Hamilton… that too looks like a good bet for him on our schools naviance. He is also visiting Colorado College and Whitman this September. Both look like schools that would be a good fit.</p>
<p>Great, well thought out list. No need to add Williams. There are plenty of schools on the list. Middlebury will love that he’s taking the time to visit from way out on the West coast. Agree with decision to leave Hamilton and Colgate for visits if admitted. Would keep with your idea of visiting Carlton and Macalister if possible. Kids I know with similar interests to what you’ve described about your son have been very happy at those MN schools.</p>
<p>Not sure what dates you’re going, but The Basin Habor Club is an absolutely wonderful place to stay that’s near Middlebury and right on Lake Champlain. Right next to state park and lots of walking trails on the property, and ones connected to the state park. They close for the season the weekend of Oct 22-24. Usually Fall rates are quite reasonable for such a special place. Have to like old-historic. If you’re into modern, Basin Harbor isn’t the right place.</p>
My son is a graduate of Williams. He’s now in architecture school at Cornell – another nature-friendly campus. Much bigger than the others on your son’s list but a lot of opportunities for outdoorsy and developmental agriculture.</p>
<p>Williams is more selective than some of the others, but since your son’s interests are so in sync with the prevailing character of the campus community, I would definitely visit while you’re in the neighborhood. At all of these small LACs, demonstrated interest is an important part of admissions.</p>
<p>My son is not a team athlete but like yours is involved in outdoorsy and environmental activities. He found more than enough to keep him busy along those lines at Williams. One of the oldest and most revered Outing Clubs. Plenty of trekking, climbing, wilderness excursions, both nearby and distance. Serious, environmentally active student body. Also no shortage of quirky intellectualism and rugged individualism.</p>
<p>My son is in the arts, but his Williams friends have mostly gone into public service careers – Teach for America, Peace Corps, Urban Planning, Developmental Economics. Some in medicine, some law, but with a public service bent. </p>
<p>If it works financially, your son should consider applying ED. It’s a real advantage at most of these schools.</p>
<p>PS: I have to add that when one friend visited us in Indonesia, he brought us a jar of homemade maple sugar.</p>
<p>Thanks momrath!! One of my best friends son is at William’s and having a wonderful experience there, so I am familiar with the school. For some reason my S hasn’t shown any interest in it, and when I asked him if he wanted to visit he said, " not really". shrug… I think it is okay because it seems to be way harder to get into from our schools naviance and if after our visit to Midd, he decides he loves it… which I can almost guarantee he will, he will apply ED there. His heart is definitely in VT. Loves the whole outdoorsy, environmentally conscious vibe. If he doesn’t get into MIdd ED, he can then decide to apply ED2 to his second choice. He already has 4 EA schools and one rolling, so he is good there. I am almost thinking if he doesn’t get into Midd and gets into UVM EA, he might go there.</p>
<p>Oh and JHS… my S would LOVE that Philosophy of Ag major… WOW!!</p>
<p>2boysima… thanks for the hotel tip… sounds really cool, and my S would love the historic over the modern.</p>