Help in creating "the list"

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am in need of some input. We are in the process of putting together a list of colleges. My daughter's dream school is U of Chicago and so far it is the only school that she has fallen in love with. We are looking for schools with a similar taste to U of Chicago.She likes the core and the residential system, she likes that she could be herself and being able discuss school and the latest book that she has read etc.</p>

<p>She doesn't want a school in the middle of no where, she wants a school that would be highly academic where she can be challenged, and she is not interested in a school that is known for having a huge party environment. Size not important. Location as far as travel expenses and Financial aspect important considering I am a single parent. </p>

<p>She is as Junior.
Projected ACT 28-32
Ranked 1st in class of 275
Part time job since Freshman year
First generation college student
Single parent family
EC's, Community Service and Awards all music related. Definitely her passion but unsure if she will pursue in college. Would like to have a school where extra curricular music activities would be available.<br>
Recommendation letters should be great.
Essays should be great. </p>

<p>Thanks for any input you may have.</p>

2

<p>Flutemom, I'd suggest that your daughter take a look at Swarthmore, Haverford and Smith.</p>

3

<p>Rochester is a possibility, including for merit aid</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the replies. I will give her those that you mentioned. If anyone else has any to add, we would love to hear them.</p>

5

<p>Flutemom- you might want to look through some of the schools listed here
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=6280%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=6280&lt;/a>. The all have very strong music programs.</p>

<p>I'm not familiar enough with U/Chicago to be able to suggest comparable schools from that listing.</p>

6

<p>What aspects of Chicago does she really love? The core? The more quirky and less laid-back environment? The location?</p>

7

<p>You should have her look into Rice -- residential college system and great music program, as well as strong financial aid resources.</p>

8

<p>Violadad,thanks so much for the link. I will have her check it out. She has spent the last 2 years planning on a performance major but finally looked at the practical side of things and decided she just did not want to go in that direction.</p>

<p>She has decided to persue a major in International Studies with a concentration on Latin America.</p>

<p>She still is very passionate about her music and wants to be able to participate and take lessons so that is why we would like to find a school that also has a good music program. </p>

<p>Once again thanks for the link. She will check it out.</p>

9

<p>teenage-clique, When she came to me after discovering Chicago I asked her straight what she liked about it. She is interested in Chicago for all of the reasons you mentioned. She is pretty passionate about her studies and in most ways does not fit in with her group of friends at school, she actually enjoys reading and homework and learning in general. Also I think she thinks the location is ideal...about 6 hours from home...so not to close but not to far also.</p>

10

<p>blackeyedsusan, I agree about Rice. She was pretty interested in Rice until she read somewhere that there is a pretty large party scene. I would like to plan a visit there for her to see it for herself and talk to some students to learn if that is the truth. Just the other day I was telling her that there will be kids that party at all schools but not all of them do and she will find the ones that don't just like she has in high school.</p>

11

<p>The names that constantly come up as equivalents to the U of C are Swarthmore, Reed, and Columbia. I would add St. John's of Annapolis if she likes the idea of reading the great works. Those are the only direct equivalents of which I'm aware. As you can see, there are precious few American schools where working hard at learning in rigorous coursework is consistently practiced.</p>

12

<p>Flutemom,
Chicago does not offer music lessons, but instead refers students to the numerous music teachers in the Chicago area, just so you know. Their music program is not performance based, but students have opportunities to participate in various music programs on campus. Here is a link the the dept of music.
<a href="http://music.uchicago.edu/academic/undergraduate/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://music.uchicago.edu/academic/undergraduate/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

13

<p>Reed sounds like it could be a great fit, however, she may be turned off by the weed scene (it's not a party school, but a large percentage of the kids smoke). </p>

<p>Yale, I think, has a residential system, and would be worth considering as a reach. </p>

<p>How about Barnard? The atmosphere is quite intellectual, and I've heard excellent things about music opportunities (both around campus and in the city). It's also slightly easier to get into than it's counterpart, Columbia.</p>

14

<p>Tarhunt, thanks for the additions. She will add them to her list. She is pretty excited to learn of others to check out.
Thanks again.</p>

15

<p>Hi menloparkmom,
Yes we know that they do not have offer music lessons. She says that if she could get accepted there that she would just find a teacher if she decided that she was going to continue with lessons. She wants to major in International Studies but would like to have the option of music extra curriculars such as a wind ensemble or orchestra. So having a good music program would be a plus but not a requirement.
Thanks for the link</p>

16

<p>worldchanger it sounds like you have her pegged. Reed was on her list and she was turned off when she read about the weed scene so it came off of the list.
Yale is on her list as a Reach
I will tell her about Barnard. It sounds like a definite possibility.
Thanks for the input.</p>

17

<p>Flutemom - I think your daughter should look into Rice a little deeper to get a real sense of it. It's NOT a party school, although it has a lot of social interaction. Academics are a high priority. And the social scene is very inclusive (because there's no Greeks). My son, who does not drink, is having a great time participating in the activities and parties he wants to, but doesn't feel pressured to do anything or left out if he chooses not to participate.</p>

18

<p>Endowment Per Student will give you an idea of how much money a school has to use in offering aid</p>

<p>schools that offfer need blind admissions and 100% need met are that most likly to meet you $ needs....</p>

<p>good luck....my D loves Swarthmore..sounds like your D might also </p>

<p>LISTED BY ENDOWMENT PER STUDENT </p>

<pre><code> Endowment Per Total Endowment

Student** Market Value**

</code></pre>

<p>NAME 2006 Rank* (06/30/05) (06/30/05) # students </p>

<p>Grinnell College(IA) 14 $893,666 $1,390,545,000 1556
Pomona College(CA) 7 $837,825 1,298,629,000 1550
Swarthmore College(PA) 3 $789,735 1,164,069,000 1474
Williams College(MA) 1 $748,146 1,514,248,000 2024
Amherst College(MA) 2 $698,469 1,154,570,000 1653
Wellesley College(MA) 4 $557,347 1,275,767,000 2289
Smith College(MA) 19 $361,572 1,035,542,000 2864
Bowdoin College(ME) 7 $344,786 578,206,000 1677
Haverford College(PA) 9 $336,788 394,715,000 1172
Claremont McKenna College(CA) 12 $315,208 336,012,000 1066
Middlebury College(VT) 5 $306,253 721,839,000 2357
Hamilton College(NY) 17 $287,572 529,708,000 1842
Macalester College(MN) 24 $284,891 541,293,000 1900
Bryn Mawr College(PA) 20 $280,279 498,056,000 1777
Harvey Mudd College(CA) 14 $277,207 199,589,000 720
Carleton College(MN) 6 $274,779 536,094,000 1951
Vassar College(NY) 12 $271,254 671,354,000 2475
Washington and Lee University(VA) 17 $245,384 531,992,000 2168
Colby College(ME) 20 $232,952 424,205,000 1821
Davidson College(NC) 10 $222,963 382,159,000 1714
Oberlin College(OH) 22 $218,498 617,693,000 2827
Mount Holyoke College(MA) 24 $214,832 460,815,000 2145
Wesleyan University(CT) 10 $203,413 564,879,000 2777
Colgate University(NY) 16 $177,456 502,378,000 2831
Bates College(ME) 23 $119,055 207,512,000 1743 </p>

<pre><code> * As ranked by U.S. News and World Report, Fall 2006

** Endowment per student figures from 2004-2005 Council for Aid to Education data
</code></pre>

19

<p>tommybill - the endowment per student list you just listed only includes LACs.</p>

20

<p>From The Chronicle of Higher Education <a href="http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:4WZmGvZbXoIJ:chronicle.com/weekly/almanac/2007/nation/0103301.htm+endowment+per+student&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:4WZmGvZbXoIJ:chronicle.com/weekly/almanac/2007/nation/0103301.htm+endowment+per+student&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Largest Endowments per Student, 2006</p>

<p>Endowment, Enrollment, Endowment per student</p>

<p>Rockefeller University $1,771,954,000 200 $8,859,770
Princeton University $13,044,900,000 6,828 $1,910,501
Yale University $18,030,600,000 11,346 $1,589,159
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering $432,117,000 286 $1,510,899
Harvard University $28,915,706,000 19,218 $1,504,616
Princeton Theological Seminary $945,355,000 652 $1,449,931
Stanford University $14,084,676,000 13,155 $1,070,671
Pomona College $1,457,213,000 1,530 $952,427
Grinnell College $1,471,804,000 1,558 $944,675
Curtis Institute of Music $153,149,000 166 $922,584
Juilliard School $663,886,000 770 $862,190
Bryn Athyn College of the New Church $320,179,000 372 $860,696
Swarthmore College $1,245,281,000 1,474 $844,831
Marine Biological Laboratory (Mass.) $51,617,000 62 $832,532
Amherst College $1,337,158,000 1,629 $820,846
Massachusetts Institute of Technology $8,368,066,000 10,200 $820,399
Rice University $3,986,664,000 5,014 $795,107
Baylor College of Medicine $1,059,393,000 1,359 $779,539
California Institute of Technology $1,580,922,000 2,169 $728,871
Williams College $1,462,131,000 2,018 $724,545
Webb Institute $52,977,000 80 $662,213
Wellesley College $1,412,410,000 2,250 $627,738
Berea College $948,738,000 1,555 $610,121
Columbia Theological Seminary (Ga.) $162,820,000 281 $579,431
Christian Theological Seminary (Ind.) $107,280,000 197 $544,569
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary $110,764,000 204 $542,961
Dartmouth College $3,092,100,000 5,780 $534,965
Principia Corporation $552,931,000 1,041 $531,154
Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art $471,081,000 1,013 $465,036
Wabash College $363,466,000 874 $415,865</p>