<p>Sorry if the posting seems disjointed but I merged two identical threads from two fora. Hopefully everyone can figure out the flow of comments.
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<p>âEmilybee, Iâm wondering what other schools your so liked since he also liked Bates?â</p>
<p>My post must have gotten mysteriously eaten during the merge. 
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<p>Sonâs 3rd choice was Hobart William Smith. They gave him $27k/yr in merit. He applied there because he sails and they have a highly ranked team. TBH, he has told me he is very glad he doesnât go there as itâs too preppy for him. Also applied to U New Hampshire because of sailing and it was a good safety. I think they gave him $10K in merit. Bates only has club sailing but sailing is different than a lot of other sports in that club team compete against schools with varsity teams. Not having a sailing team was not, however, a deal breaker for him. </p>
<p>Allegheny gave him either $22K or $25K /yr in merit (canât remember) and Ithaca gave him $18K/yr. </p>
<p>His forth choice was SUNY Binghamton which is instate for us. No merit or FA. </p>
<p>His other safeties were Hartwick (22K/merit) and Juniata (either 22K or 25K) </p>
<p>If we had to do it all over again, I think he would have applied to more reaches and fewer safeties. </p>
<p>LACs he didnât like were Hamilton, Colgate and Bowdoin. Never looked at Colby. Larger schools he didnât like were Rochester, Syracuse and Clark. Liked Fordham but not where it was and liked the idea of NYU until he visited and didnât like that there isnât really a contained campus. </p>
<p>Hartwick and Hobart William Smith do give nice aid packages from what I have seen. Geneseo, too, when lookng at NY schools.</p>
<p>Donât have any additional suggestions but wanted to mention that Allegheny College (mentioned up thread as a possibility) does have a Greek system and 30% of the students participate. Friend whose two kids are there says social life tends to be more active for Greeksâwhich is why her kids joined.</p>
<p>OP⊠as I think emilybee has already mentioned definitely have your D check out St Lawrence. My S loved all those same schools⊠Bowdoin, Midd, Colby, Bates⊠etc. He didnât get in to those ( lower GPA, but high test scores). Anyway, he got into SLU with a $30,000 merit aid and the rest in grants. We pay for his books, and a few thousand a year in tuition. He does have 2 jobs on campus, so that helps A LOT. He absolutely LOVES St Lawrence!! Can not imagine himself anywhere else. It has a very active, sporty, fun, happy student body. Tons of stuff going on all the time. The academics are top notch, he is working hard, but still able to hang out in the Outdoor House and guide their triips, ski on the weekends, work 2 jobs. He loves his professors ( has been to their houses numerous times for dinner and conversations), and the food in the dining hall just got rated one of the top colleges in the country. It has a very similar vibe to the other small, outdoorsy, LACâs. I am thinking your D is ok with being in a remote location based on her other schools. It is remote but OH so beautiful!! My S actually wanted a school in a remote place because he likes that everything happens on campus. 100% live on campus all 4 years. My S is actually in a theme house this year and is happy as a clam. Check it out, I really canât think of any negatives:)</p>
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<p>My D1 got $15k/year in merit aid about 5 years ago with lower test scores and grades than the OPâs kid. They have early action at Dickinson, too â my D applied through EA, maybe that helped boost her merit (they knew she was interested enough to get the app done early). She also interviewed (very well, I think), and went to a presentation in our home town Dickinson put on (so showed a lot of interest). It looks like about 13% of the incoming freshman who enrolled had merit aid last year (from the Common Data Set).</p>
<p>Hi Erinâs dad ⊠yes, exactly. My daughter is definitely middle of the road. She isnât the political/granoloa type ⊠not that she isnât interested in politics (she eats up history) and she loves granola but she is not as serious or contemplative as I think the political/enrivonmentally conscious/granola type of person might be (or at least the stereotype of it). Do you think there is reason to worry that Oberlin will not be a good fit for her?</p>
<p>Hi Emilybee, thank you for all of that information!! What didnât your son like about Bowdoin? Did you visit the school with him? What did you think? Thanks!!</p>
<p>Thanks, Bromfield2, for letting me know about Allegheny. My daughter does not want any Greek life, if at all possible. She will want social life but the exclusiveness of Greek life (and the hazing, etc.) is something she doesnât like. </p>
<p>Hi intparent, what does your daughter think about Dickinson? Is she feeling challenged? Is there much Greek life there? Thanks!!</p>
<p>walsh, unless I missed something in the merging of your threads, I was the one who picked up on your daughter being âmiddle of the road.â My guess is she might find Oberlin too âout there,â based on the kids I know who have chosen that school. And I may have mentioned earlierânot sure why, but PA has the Greekest LACs I have ever encountered in my research. Of course, Greek systems tend to be associated with more conservative or middle-ish schools.</p>
<p>re Bowdoin. Yes, I was with him. We didnât have a formal tour. Just stopped on our way home from a wedding weekend in Maine. </p>
<p>We both thought campus was too flat and even though I know a lot of people think the campus is beautiful he liked Bates campus much better. Even if he had liked it, I doubt he would have applied because he really didnât have the stats for Bowdoin. We didnât even think he would get into Bates, tbh. </p>
<p>My daughter loved Dickinson (she graduated). She was Phi Beta Kappa, double majored, spent a semester abroad in an unusual country (Dickinson has particular flexible and strong study abroad options, IMHO), spent a semester in the Washington Program interning at the State Department, and got a very good job after graduation by networking with an older Dickinson student she knew. She belonged to several clubs, made great friends, and all in all had a great experience. She did not participate in the Greek system, and says she did not feel any pressure to do so, nor did they dominate campus life. She also did a senior thesis that sort of kicked her tail â she was stressed and working really hard senior year, but it paid off when her thesis was nominated as one of the top 60 in the country in her subject that year. She developed close relationships with professors, and still keeps in touch with some of them two years after graduation. She goes back often to serve on alumni panels and things like that. It was a great fit for her.</p>
<p>Hi Sally305, thanks for picking up that my daughter is middle of the road. I apologize for attributing that to someone else. Maybe I missed something with the merging of the threads. Also, I agree that Pa LACs do seem to have a lot of Greek life. Iâm not sure why that is but it is too bad.</p>
<p>Iâm not sure I would discount a school that has less than. 30% Greek involvement. That means that 70% are not Greek⊠Plenty of friends to find.</p>
<p>As an observation, my kid went to a Jesuit school where less than 2% of the students are sorority or fraternity members. Many of her friends were in that 2%âŠbut my kid wasnât. It was not a big deal.</p>
<p>WelshâŠagain, I urge you to look at the Colleges That Change Lives. Many are smaller schools. many give good merit aid. many cost <$50,000.</p>
<p>Sorry, Iâve been away for a couple of days. Yes, my daughter LOVES Oberlin. Sheâs also not politically savvy, but Oberlin has changed that in some ways, especially re gender/sex/racial issues. </p>
<p>I would definitely consider Dickinson for your daughter too.</p>
<p>D1 was offered a 20K merit scholarship, that is their max merit scholarship, when she applied to Dickinson 2 years
ago. The campus is very nice and the main street of Carlisle runs right through it, a small town with cute little shops and restaurants within walking distance. Her stats were higher - 2300 SAT, not sure what your daughterâs stats would get.</p>
<p>She attends the University of Richmond on a full ride, but donât think your daughterâs stats would get big merit there, might get 5-10K.</p>
<p>She liked the feel of Lafayette and applied. Their Marquis Scholarship, valued at $24,000 per year, is offered to 10-15 percent of admitted students each year, might be worth a visit.</p>
<p>Someone else mentioned St. Maryâs Honor College in MD <a href=âhttp://www.smcm.edu/â>http://www.smcm.edu/</a> - it is really nice, LAC feel with a lower price tag to start with, and she might get a bit of merit too. </p>
<p>Geneseo honors college in NY is very nice also. Daughter of a friend was offered decent merit with stats similar to your daughter and since it is state school, price tag is lower than private LAC to start with.</p>
<p>Ursinus has a very nice campus in a suburb 20 minutes from Philadelphia. A friendâs daughter attends and really likes it. They offer decent merit.Your daughter might get enough merit to make it work.</p>
<p>D2 applied to Providence college and was offered a 3/4 tuition scholarship, 2230 SAT, they do offer other levels of merit too.</p>
<p>New College of Florida hasnât been mentioned. Public LAC in FL (obviously), and probably not really like the NE LACs that youâve mentioned in feel, but they have as high or higher a percentage of high achieving grads as all the LACs you mentioned (below the WAS tier). The only public LAC with that characteristic, in fact.</p>
<p>OOS tuition would definitely be within your price range with their automatic OOS scholarship now.</p>
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<p>Much less important than it was years ago. None are residential, for one. Denison also has a lot of international students (many on financial aid), and was just named #11 in economic diversity by the NYTâŠIâve been aware of the school for 30 years and this is not what it was like back then, at all.</p>
<p>That said, even 30% Greek can feel like a lot if they host all the parties. Not saying thatâs so at Denison, but worth considering if you look at schools where participation is under 50% but not zero.</p>
<p>Somewhat amazingly, Bard hasnât been mentioned yet. They have some big scholarships.</p>