Help looking for colleges that fit

College Search & Selection
1

I’m a senior now, so I’m quickly running out of time to find colleges that I want to apply to. I want to finalize my list now so I will have ample time to check applications, etc. At first I made a college list based on simply the state colleges I’ve heard of. Then I came to this site and was sucked into prestige like so many others for a short time. Now I just want to find a few colleges that would fit me.I’ve done a lot more talking with my parents, and they are more willing to look at LACs with me. However, they keep asking what will I do there? How will I get a job when I go out? I’m still uncertain on what I want to major in, so I know this is a concern for them, but I’m trying… For now I want to follow other’s advice, and find a college that I will be happy at.



First a little about myself:



For most of my life, I’ve been introverted, and I hate competition. Even so, I like to be challenged enough to grow and push myself, and I’ve been working a lot on my talking and social skills. I don’t like parties though, and Greek life is not for me. Recently I’ve been into art, both the appreciation aspect and the actual creative process. I want an artsy school that has a pretty nice campus and diverse student body. Pretty lax about politics but overall I’m more liberal leaning. I live in a small city and go to a relatively small school (aboutt 400 people?) so I’m looking for LACs that offer a more nurturing environment and allow connections with professors. I would rather avoid a highly preppy, elitist atmosphere. I fell in love with both Amherst and Williams, bc they seem like the perfect fit- beautiful campus, connected and diverse people, art museums, etc… But they are way too hard for me to get into, and way too expensive.



Basically, I want an LAC with the above requirements, but where I could earn enough merit aid, since I don’t qualify for financial. Is this an impossible wish? Are there any colleges with at least most of these qualities?



I want to be able to visit the college to get a feel for it, but I can’t travel more than a few hours for the majority. If there is one college that I absolutely love, I may be able to see it…



I would like to do something environmental related, but it seems like I’m not committed enough to go the full engineering route (although that’s what I keep telling my parents I’ll do to calm their suspicions…). I really don’t know though…



Basic stats:


ACT- 33


ECs- very weak (this is bad…)


GPA- uw: 4.0


APs- 14 or 15 by end of senior yr



Please ask me anything else that may help!

2

Haverford, but no merit aid there. Earlham would give you merit aid (a Quaker school, like Haverford, only in Indiana). Both are schools which are all about community and collaboration, not competition. Haverford is very selective admissions, but the emphasis on the Honor Code (a vehicle which creates community ties, not a vehicle for ratting on people), turns some people off, so Haverford looks hard at fit.

Connecticut College might be another – former women’s college so not football and no greek life – has very strong arts program, though can feel a little preppy to some. Bates in Maine also has no greek life, not a competitive environment, though no merit aid.

Outside of the northeast, Kalamazoo has no greek life, strong arts emphasis in an artsy town in Michigan, also merit aid there. Denison, Dickinson, Wooster, Lawrence all have less than 30% greek life, and merit aid, and are collaborative communities, all give merit aid.

3

Your basic stats (GPA, ACT) are strong.

How much merit aid will you need? You know family can’t get any financial aid at all, you’ve checked some net price calculators? If that is true, what is the budget they have given you, or can you ask them if they haven’t?

It sounds like your parents are concerned that you be able to get a job when you graduate, and certainly LAC grads get good jobs, and a few offer engineering, though it doesn’t sound like YOU are interested in that major?

4

@OHMomof2 They are willing to pay around $30,000, which is what an in state school would cost me. However id like to earn more if possible, because we would taking out loans for all of it…



I’m mostly looking for LACs that are either the same caliber and price OR a lower price and slightly lesser lvl of education because I would rather go to a small school. (The other schools I’m considering are VA tech, UVA, W&M, and VCU)



I’m definitely interested in environmental studies, so I thought environmental engineering would be a career that has some of what I want with what my parents want. I do like designing, but I struggle a lot at math and physics, so I’m worried that I won’t be able to succeed… My parents are pushing me to pursue a medical career, but I’m really not interested… It was difficult enough to convince them that I could make it as an engineer instead of a doctor. But in general, I’m still unsure right now. So I’m looking for a school that has a strong engineering program, but is still decent overall just in case I change majors.

5

OK.

YOU personally can only borrow $5500 the first year and slightly more in the next 3, so any loans beyond that are going to be taken out by your parents, with a few exceptions.

Have you run any net price calculators to see if it is definitely true that you won’t be eligible for any need-based aid at all?

You are a Virginia resident?

There is Mary Washington, your public LAC. No engineering but worth a quick look anyway.

I think if you struggle with math and science engineering and medical school are two things that will be difficult to pursue, but I wouldn’t rule them out. Your GPA and test scores don’t show much weakness, how “bad at it” are you talking?

6

There are a fair number of very good LACs which offer merit and you have the stats to get merit at probably most of them. So that seems like a good plan…especially since you are undecided on your major.

On the other hand, LACs with strong engineering programs are exceedingly rare. The fact that you struggle with math and physics is a big red flag for engineering. I can’t see how you would be happy and thrive in an engineering program if you don’t enjoy those subjects.

I’m going to throw out a suggestion for an LAC but it kind of pains me to because I don’t think they give merit: Colby College has a cross disciplinary environmental studies and computer science program which might interest you. The CS part of the program will give you marketable skills (and parental reassurance) while the environmental studies component sounds like it would be highly rewarding for you. A bonus is that Colby’s math requirements for the program are not overly intense.

While Colby has a dedicated cross disciplinary program, many other LACs will offer similar options for you to combine environmental studies with another field. So maybe look in that direction as you explore merit options.

7

Excellent idea. Double major, one for the parents, one for you, and a combo that will likely benefit everyone.

CS+Environmental Science or Statistics + Environmental Studies etc

8

@OHMomof2 parents make about $200,000 so I’d get about $10,000 for Williams/Amherst, which would leave them at abt $60,000 (according to the NPC). My parents don’t have any savings so after I take out the $5500, they’d have to get loans for most of the rest. And they say it would be crazy for them to spend any more than $30,000/year. I will work ofc, but I don’t want to be dependent on the little bit of money I’d make.



Also yes, I’m a VA resident. My parents rly want me to go to UVA but it seems to have everything I don’t like besides academics… So it’d be nice to find an LAC on par w UVA…

I’ll look into Mary Wash, but I’m not sure what I would major in there.



By “bad at math” I guess I mean that I struggle a ton with it. I had to get a tutor for Calc and physics this year when I’ve never had to before, and I’m scared that if I can’t handle them on my own now, I won’t be able to in college. I also did a ton of extra work and after hours with my teachers just to maintain my grades. I’m not afraid of working hard, but when math and science are the basis of engineering, it’s a little worrying… I’ll be the only one struggling among all the genius kids who knew they would go into STEM since they were in middle school… As for the ACT, my math score was 34 and science was my lowest at 30…

9

Grinnell, Kenyon, Oberlin and Richmond are all great LAC’s that give merit aid.

10

Do you identify as female and if so, are you open to a women’s college?
Bryn Mawr, with its consortium with Haverford and Swarthmore would provide you with much of what you’re looking for and with your stats, would likely give you quite a bit of merit aid.
Another that would meet most of your criteria is Mount Holyoke.

While both have dedicated CS programs, only MHC has an engineering program.
Both are strong in integrating STEM with liberal arts.

11

OK then I agree - instate public or OOS public or private with merit is probably your best bet here.

  1. You already know how to get help and use it to get strong grades. That's a great skill to bring to college.
  2. Math 34 is terrific and the science ACT doesn't measure scientific knowledge as much as it measures your ability to understand graphs and charts. I'd look to your science grades and perhaps AP test scores as a better guide there.

That said, engineering may not be a fit and IMO that’s perfectly fine. Perhaps a school where you can try out engineering but not get far behind or have to transfer if you decide on something else? Just going to throw some out for you to check out.

Rose Hulman
Bucknell
Gonzaga
Trinity (TX)
Union
Miami (OH)
Ohio Northern
Mount Holyoke (as stated above)

All offer engineering and merit and other than Miami are LACs, or very small Us. (Miami has very few grad students and a strong undergrad focus). All offer merit, I’m pretty sure, that may bring the cost to where you need it to be. All could be matches, even a safety or two in there.

If you think Comp Sci or Statistics or Math would be majors you’d be interested in doing solo or combining with environmental something, then the list expands considerably.

12

@OHMomof2 aha definitely no computer science for me… But I’m open to stats and math combined with environmental studies… Thank you for the suggestions!

13

Sort of. Engineering is a 5 year dual-degree program in conjunction with Dartmouth, UMass and Caltech.
It can get complicated and expensive. Read carefully. https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/engineering/dual_degree

Smith offers merit aid and engineering as a major.
https://www.smith.edu/engineering/index.php

14

Well then you can expand your search to consider just about any LAC that would offer enough merit aid to attend and offers environmental science/studies (those can be different) , and Math (obviously all of them) and Statistics/Applied Math/Data Science - most LACs offer one of those now too. So choosing which comes down to cost and fit, more.

Denison and Wooster come to mind right away, both in Ohio.

I’m sure others will offer more ideas.

15

@agentaquastar, BMC and MHC are listed in the link and both have excellent environmental studies programs. Both offer merit.
http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/lists/list/colleges-with-excellent-mathematics-programs/195/

I second Denison.

16

What you are looking for sounds a LOT what my daughter was looking for, and your stats are about the same except that you have a lot more APs (your unweighted GPA is identical and ECs about the same).

She ended up applying to the top 4 “small primarily undergraduate” universities in Eastern Canada (plus a fifth that is somewhere in the top 6 or 7). These are basically the eastern Canada equivalent to what in the US we would call a LAC. With your stats you would get into any of them (admission there doesn’t care about ECs). They would all cost less than $30,000 US at the current exchange rate. They are all academically great schools, but not hyper-competitive nor hyped up on “prestige”.

Cost was a major factor for us also, and was one of the main reasons to avoid US LACs. Another issue was the excessive emphasis on “prestige”, which put us off.

One negative: They are not well known in the US. Another negative: Only one (Bishop’s) is relatively close to the US. The ones in Nova Scotia are a bit of a drive since you have to get around the Bay of Fundy to get there – but the flights to Halifax are quite short from the northeast of the US and there is a ferry.

The four top ranked small primarily undergraduate schools in Eastern Canada (with apologies to the ones in Ontario and Western Canada which I am not mentioning): Mount Allison (New Brunswick); Acadia (Nova Scotia); St Francis Xavier (Nova Scotia); and Bishop’s (an English-language university in Quebec).

Acadia has a very strong Environmental Science program, and a separate very strong Environmental Studies program. Note that these are not the same thing (the first time that I googled looking for Environmental Sciences I accidentally found Environmental Studies, and it took me a while to figure out that I was just looking in the wrong place).

By the way, we are just back from the spring orientation for incoming students and we both LOVED it.

17

@DadTwoGirls college in Canada sounds like a really cool experience! Although idk if my parents would be open to the idea of being so far away… Also would I need to know French? I don’t know any… I’m nervous that the culture shift may be too much…? But maybe they’ll consider Bishops.



Edit: just looked up Acadia and both environmental studies and science sound rly cool there. It seems so nice…

18

Muhlenberg is known as “the caring college” and offers merit aid, so it sounds like a good match in those aspects. Engineering is only through 3-2 program with Columbia, though. But environmental engineering indeed is an option through that program.

19

@TheGreyKing I’m worried abt 3-2 programs bc from what I’ve heard, the aid doesn’t transfer over to the time spent at other colleges? Which I would need bc they are really expensive…

20

I am afraid I do not know the answer to your question in post 18. If you are attracted to any school with a 3-2 program, give them a call and ask.

Lafayette offers a civil and environmental engineering major and is a small college that matches your description. It has generous merit aid. However, it does have some Greek life. But I think many of the other small prestigious northeastern liberal arts colleges with their own engineering majors have an even bigger Greek life presence (e.g., Union, Bucknell, Trinity). Swarthmore has engineering and is not a heavy frat school at all, but it is as hard to get into as Amherst or Williams, and it does not offer merit aid.

Would you consider Harvey Mudd? If you are female, Smith?

Just some ideas…

And there are a lot of possible careers coming out of liberal arts colleges other than engineering, if engineering does not suit you! For example, students at colleges like Williams major in things like philosophy or classics and land high-paying jobs on Wall Street all the time. If you are interested in a school or a major different from what your parents might envision, research the college’s career placement and then you can share some data with your parents that might reassure them.