My son just started at Grinnell, so I can describe the town to you, but have not been to Gambier in many, many years and can’t remember it enough to compare them. The central part of the town of Grinnell (just a few blocks from campus) has a sort of 1950s charm to it, with old buildings and a pretty town square where a weekly farmers market is held. There are about 4 or 5 restaurants of varying price and styles that we happened upon–there may be some hidden gems that we didn’t discover. There is a very nice upscale grocery store a block or two from campus. There are a few other things that would draw students–a coffee shop, bike store, bakery, movie theater showing first-run movies, comic book/gamer shop, book store. It is not a town for shoppers or for a kid who wants a lot of variety or outside stimulation. But for a kid like mine (who never even seemed to notice that he was growing up right smack in the middle of a big city and is thrilled to be in a small campus-centered environment) the town is perfectly adequate. Maybe not too far from the “cute, but limited” Gambier description, but some kids prefer that or don’t care much as long as there is a lot going on on campus.
One can also sort LACs by their production of physics PhDs. In the last 15 years, the following produced 5+:
107 Harvey Mudd
57 Reed
44 Carleton
42 Williams
41 Swarthmore
39 Gustavus Adolphus
30 Lawrence / Oberlin
28 Grinnell
27 Amherst
24 Bucknell
23 UPS / Vassar
22 Wesleyan
21 Bryn Mawr / St. Olaf
20 Haverford
18 Wooster / Whitman
17 Colorado College / Franklin & Marshall / St. John’s (MN)
16 Drew / Middlebury
15 Bates / Hope / Kenyon / Mount Holyoke
14 Furman / Kalamazoo / Luther / U Dallas
13 Goshen / Morehouse / Pomona / Wheaton (IL)
12 Bowdoin / Colgate / Holy Cross / Macalester / Wellesley
11 Denison / Hamline / Lewis & Clark
10 Beloit / DePauw / Dickinson / Wabash
9 Albion / Alma / Centre / Occidental / Union / Wittenberg
8 Allegheny / Guilford / Ohio Wesleyan
7 Augustana / Bard / Hamilton / Hendrix / Monmouth / Moravian / Rhodes / Southwestern / UNC Asheville
6 Colby / Concordia / Davidson / Earlham / Hastings / Knox / Lafayette / Millsaps / Sewanee / Siena / Smith / UMN Morris
5 Eckerd / Gordon / Houghton / Illinois Wesleyan / Westmont
Since 1966, the following produced 20+:
250 Harvey Mudd
176 Carleton
155 Reed
152 Swarthmore
122 Oberlin
110 Williams
95 Amherst
89 St. Olaf
80 Wesleyan
79 Pomona
71 Grinnell / Union
68 Haverford
64 Gustavus Adolphus
56 Bucknell
55 Hope / St. John’s (MN)
54 Occidental
51 Kalamazoo / Whitman
49 Franklin & Marshall / Lawrence
48 Holy Cross
46 Bates
45 Bowdoin / Lafayette / Middlebury / Wheaton (IL)
44 Kenyon
42 Wooster / Gettysburg / UPS / Vassar
39 Colorado College / U Dallas
38 Bryn Mawr / Davidson / Wabash
37 Colgate / Rhodes
35 Muhlenberg
33 Macalester / Mount Holyoke
32 Beloit / Concordia / Dickinson / Hamilton / Wellesley
31 Drew / Earlham / Hamline / Ohio Wesleyan / Wittenberg
30 Denison
29 Barnard / Goshen
28 Albion
27 DePauw / Knox / Luther
26 Antioch / Lewis & Clark / Trinity (CT)
25 Colby
24 Allegheny / Guilford
23 Sewanee / William Jewell
22 Hastings / Siena
21 Centre / Morehouse / VMI
Thank you so much @porcupine98 for your insights. I too am more of an introvert so would not fit in well in the large institutions.
Besides the UCs (my in-state) , amongst the Public OOS, I have,
UNC - Chapel Hill
Georgia Tech ( would love to attend)
UIUC
Purdue
UMich
U Minnesota
Stonybrook (safety)
Private:
Reed ( 1st choice) - will be visiting
URoch - visited
Case - visited
Tulane - did not visit
USC - visited but long shot given my stats
Oberlin - visited
Lafayette - may not apply - visited
Lehigh - may not apply - visited
SCU
Grinnell - did not visit yet
Colorado College - latest add - did not visit yet
BU - visited
Brandeis - visited
Macalester - visited
ClarkU - safety - may throw in a last minute application
As you can see , this list still needs a lot of work and I am breaking my head trying to pick out the ones that can be dropped. The primary reason for my long list is surely my less than stellar GPA . I am having nightmares at night worrying about a scenario where I don’t have any acceptances.
I dare not even apply to Haverford or Carleton which I visited and absolutely loved. Not sure if Wesleyan should be added.
Sorry for the long post. Thank you again.
Wow. That’s a LOT of schools. Does your HS have Naviance? That may help you figure out what to target. I sat down with my kid’s current stats and our school’s Naviance history divided the schools into broad clumps by accessibility – likelies, matches, reaches, extreme reaches. That’s helping to inform focus. For similar reasons, Haverford and Carleton are not on the current list, and a couple of others are probably fantasies as well – thought it’s OK to have a couple of those. Also, though the kid has done a fair amount of visiting, my understanding is it’s really not essential to visit ALL the schools prior to applying, especially those you need to fly to. There are other ways to show interest, and you can always visit after being admitted.
Oh also, the key to having acceptances is to have realistic choices, so be sure you have those. And then keep on keeping on. You really don’t want to attend a school you have to make yourself crazy to get admitted to, because then you’ll have to keep doing the same thing to stay there, and that’s not a good way to run your life.
Also, @samikhan of the ones you visited, where did you really feel at home? And for those you say you might not apply to, what’s the reason? That will help inform and refine your choices as well. If you can indicate the ones you really loved, and the ones that didn’t feel quite right (even if they qualify on other criteria) people here can be pretty helpful in steering you towards other similar choices and away from those that don’t make sense given your tastes and wishes.
@merc81 - Thank you for your reply to my question. The schools you have listed are all fantastic schools but I think they all are out of my range. Hence spreading such a wide net hoping that some school will like my profile.
Wish , I saw this day coming two years ago 
Why not make the easy drops first:
- Any school that you would not choose over your safeties under any circumstances can be dropped. Remember, you must start with safeties that you are certain of both admission and affordability.
- Any school that is unaffordable can be dropped. Check net price calculators and merit scholarships at each school's web site.
- Any school that is missing (or offers too infrequently) important courses in your potential major(s) and interests can be dropped. Check course catalogs and schedules at each school.
@samikhan: I understand your situation now. My reply was intended also to suggest that those liberal arts colleges as well as others would be suitable for your interest in physics. Lawrence, from @warblersrule’s compilation would be a somewhat less selective choice. Beyond LACs, some schools are a little more receptive to students with an uneven record. RPI, for example, is an excellent school that tends to favor students who demonstrate strength in math and science, but is somewhat forgiving outside of those areas. SUNY-Geneseo, I’ve heard, has an interesting physics program, and is fairly affordable for OOS students. Augustana in South Dakota also produced an Apker Award winner, btw, so their physics program may be worth researching.
And yet they say, the only thing more difficult than getting into Harvard is flunking out of Harvard 
Seriously, schools that are very hard to get into tend to value their 4 year grad and frosh retention rates. They do not want you to fail and will often devote significant resources to see that you do not. I suspect this is the case with LACs more than Us, because of size, but I have no data to back that up. Still, something to consider.
Any school that you would not choose over your safeties under any circumstances can be dropped. Remember, you must start with safeties that you are certain of both admission and affordability.
@ucbalumnus - Brandeis is such a school which I would not choose over my safeties. My mom is insisting I keep Brandeis on the list since it is a likely but I don’t see myself attending that school.
- Any school that is unaffordable can be dropped. Check net price calculators and merit scholarships at each school's web site.
BU is on the higher side but is not unaffordable for my family. Based on our family income, we would not qualify for any need based aid and my stats will probably not put me up for any merit-based aid. That makes the COA for all the private schools on my list in the same range. USC is another such school which becomes quite unaffordable w/o any form of aid. I may end up dropping USC from my list although my parents think otherwise since it is such a favorite amongst our school community
- Any school that is missing (or offers too infrequently) important courses in your potential major(s) and interests can be dropped. Check course catalogs and schedules at each school. @ucbalumnus - This is where I should dedicate some time for research. I have bookmarked several of your posts where you have listed the courses required by grad schools.
Thanks for your insights! CC community is so supportive .
@porcupine98 - My list is ranked by my priority in terms of my willingness to attend if I do get in. Naviance shows red in the gpa column for most schools on my list but show green for my ACT score. I am pursuing the ‘red’ ones because my ECs are pretty strong , show a keen interest in Science since 9th grade. I am expecting my teacher recommendation and cousellor recommendation to be pretty good as well. If schools take a holistic approach (keeping fingers crossed), some of them may like my profile even if I am on the lower band for gpa.
Who knows?
@samikhan: Also consider Union.
@OHMomof2 Not flunking out is not the same thing as being happy and successful. (Been there, done that.) Really it’s a question of whether a given kid thrives amongst other driven strivers or not. YMMV.
@samikhan Can you articulate why Brandeis is a school you wouldn’t choose? Still on my kid’s list, so looking for input, thanks!
@merc81 - I love Union and Naviance shows green but have heard from other folks that their selectivity is like the Ivies. I will be more than happy to add it to my list
If a school like Harvard starts with students who are all (or almost all) at the top end of academic qualifications, then its retention and graduation rates are likely to be very high, since the usual academic reasons for flunking out are very unlikely to happen with such students.
@porcupine98 - Brandeis is a great school with good research especially for Physics majors. It also has the proximity to Boston. My mom thinks Brandeis is teh school for me 
. I don’t have a solid reason for not liking the school, it is more of a gut feel. At the risk of offending folks on CC, I did think Brandeis was more of a Jewish school. Again , nothing against that, but it did not feel right for me.
Of course. But I’ve seen firsthand how a struggling student (me, back in the day) can be helped by a selective LAC’s support staff. The frosh dean made it very difficult for me to avoid her
My D’s new LAC explained at orientation that they, too, will reach out to students who are struggling, to the point of knocking on the dorm room door if it comes to that.
Out of Michigan, Minnesota and Purdue – remove one or two of those. They are all big, quality state schools offering essentially the same programs. Michigan is the most selective and prestigious, Purdue is the most STEM-focused, and Minnesota is the least expensive OOS.
@prezbucky - Thank you! Maybe Michigan because it is so selective. Really like Minnesota because of College of Science & Engineering being one and the same and it is very affordable too. Will keep Purdue as a safety.