<p>AZGene. . . I think the OP is a girl, which would put Deep Springs out of the question, as it did for me.</p>
<p>Although I think St. John’s College in MD or NM is worth a look.</p>
<p>I would second a look at the Claremont Consortium and Pomona in particular - highly “selective” (15.8% acceptance rate) without the prestige-whores or uber-competitive students - the SoCal climate might help with that.</p>
<p>You do seem to come across as very well versed and knowlegeable about your college options, even if your parents are not. My wife and I are both Ivy grads but encouraged our D to look at LACs - she happily started at Pomona last week.</p>
<p>Finally, I would go to the best school for UNDERGRADUATE education, in my opinion a top LAC, and then the best school for GRADUATE education, ie. your parent’s favorite Ivy.</p>
<p>Here’s a list of programs with Senior Capstone programs (from USNWR)</p>
<p>Academic Programs: Senior capstone
Alverno College (WI)
Brown University (RI)
Carleton College (MN)
College of Wooster (OH)
Dartmouth College (NH)
Davidson College (NC)
Duke University (NC)
Elon University (NC)
Grinnell College (IA)
Harvard University (MA)
Kalamazoo College (MI)
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology
Pomona College (CA)
Portland State University (OR)*
Princeton University (NJ)
Reed College (OR)
Southern Illinois U.–Edwardsville *
Stanford University (CA)
Swarthmore College ¶
Truman State University (MO)*
Worcester Polytechnic Inst. (MA)
Yale University (CT)
- denotes a public school.</p>
<p>smyeth, you have an interesting situation. First, congratulations on having such good options. In one sense, you can’t go wrong. But I do sympathize with your predicament. Your description of what you want in a school sounds awfully similar to what my son wanted. He’ll be starting at Kalamazoo in a few weeks and couldn’t be happier. I have absolutely no doubt he would have chosen it over any Ivy League school, because it matches who he is. As other posters in this thread have noted, there are many other excellent LACs that fit your criteria, too. But I’m sure you already know that. The question is how do you overcome your parents’ preference for the Ivies. </p>
<p>You communicate well, and your father being a lawyer (as I am) I suspect he will be most impressed if you gather the facts and present a cogent argument. What facts? Well, identify a few schools that really attract you. Then get information about the achievements of their faculty, their notable alumni, their production of Phd students, etc. You want to convince your dad that you aren’t asking to go somewhere that will just let you be artsy and intellectual, but someplace that has great teaching and great results. Make the case that one size doesn’t fit all, and his special daughter needs a custom fit.</p>
<p>As for your Mom, that’s a slightly different issue. In her case you need to get her comfortable with the idea that saying her daughter is at Reed or Carleton or Haverford is much more interesting than saying she’s at Penn. Everybody goes to Penn. It’s like the four star restaurant in Midtown Manhattan that there are a thousand reviews written about. Ho-hum. But the hidden gem bistro in the small town in Vermont, well that’s much more exclusive and interesting.</p>
<p>I have run into a lot of Ivy grads – particularly easterners – who are very intelligent but shockingly naive about the many other great colleges in the US. Sounds like you’ll need to re-educate your folks a little.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>