Help looking for colleges that fit

College Search & Selection
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“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?”

No French needed. New Brunswick is officially a bilingual province, but nearly every one speaks fluent English (a significant percentage of the population also speaks French, but less than half). Nova Scotia is an English province. Quebec is the only province in Canada in which French is the official language. However, Bishops is an English language university (one of three in the province, McGill and Concordia are the other two). Bishops is in a small town (Lennoxville) that was originally founded by Loyalists, and is a very small town with an English language university in the middle of it. Thus pretty much every restaurant, store, or similar “public facing” service in Lennoxville is staffed by people who are fluently bilingual (as is most of the population of Lennoxville). As you might guess, Bishops does have a very good language program.

“I’m nervous that the culture shift may be too much…”

To me there is a significant advantage for an American to spend some time outside of the US, for example to get a different view of the world and of the US. However, it recently did occur to me that for a student from New England, going to university in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia is probably LESS of a culture shift compared to going to university in say, Texas. I have started referring to Canada as “slightly foreign” or “slightly abroad”.

22

@TheGreyKing Lafayette sounds wonderful! Their engineering looks strong and they have a really eco friendly campus. A little bit of Greek life is fine, I just don’t want it to be overpowering… I’m not sure if I’m strong enough for their merit aid but I will try.

Harvey Mudd would be too hard for me to get in, let alone get money…

Yes, I am a female. Smith sounds rly nice too. The art museum and garden are exactly the things I’m looking for aside from academics. The merit scholarships seem generous too, so hopefully I’m competitive enough.



I really like Smith and Lafayette, so I’ll try to apply. Thanks!

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William and Mary in state.

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Your parents intend to borrow the entire cost of your education? If they can't afford to pay anything out-of-pocket on a $200k/year income, how are they going to repay $120k+ in college loans?
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@austinmshauri At first I thought most people did this, but it worries me too. I have asked multiple times and they said they’d be willing to spend that much. Although now they say they could probably pay $5-10,000 of it, so debt would only be $20,000/yr. Is it not possible to pay this back? I will work some during the school year and in the summer. I’m still unsure on how this works… All I know is that $30,000 is how much they value my education. They say don’t worry about the cost as long as it is less than that…

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“All I know is that $30,000 is how much they value my education. They say don’t worry about the cost as long as it is less than that.”

You can get a very good education at an academically very strong university or college for that. A limit of $30,000 will limit where you go, but will not eliminate all of the academically appropriate schools for a student such as you with excellent GPA and ACT score.

By the way, regarding your comment in the original post: “I’m still uncertain on what I want to major in”. Most students are either uncertain what they want to major in, or change their mind once they get to college. This is entirely normal. You will figure it out over time.

27

Another thing to consider as you search for potential colleges is how much credit each will give you for your 14 or 15 AP classes. That can easily amount to 1 -2 years of college, and the financial savings would be significant. I suspect your public options are most favorable towards AP credit but you would really need to dig in and assess this at each of your target schools if it’s important to you.

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@my2caligirls I’m not too bothered by AP credits since I’m not sure how well I did on the tests anyways… It’s ok if I have to retake some classes too. I’ll wait until the 5th though and see how I did.

Of course it would be nice to save some money, but if I didn’t do well like I suspect this year, it’s ok…

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$30K is a respectable budget for college and with some deep research you will be able to put together a fine list. If your parents have given you that budget, I’m not sure its yours or anyone else’s business how they intend to pay for it or repay loans.

@DadTwoGirls , nice list of Canadian schools. Going “abroad light” never occurred to myself or D when she was compiling her list but I know she would have been interested had it came on our radar.

OP, you should really take a look at the Canadian options, you just never know! And once your parents see the pricetag on some of the NE LACs, they might become more flexible with your list.

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I would take a very close look at William and Mary if i was in Va.

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@sigmund1 yup I visited and am definitely applying. I just wanted a few more options.

32

I think Grinnell College may be perfect for you. It sounds like it’ll be a bit far from you, but I encourage you to take that leap. I’m from rural NY and it’s my perfect fit, so I don’t mind traveling the distance. The fist thing I noticed when I walked on to the campus was the people. Grinnell is as far from prep as you can get and I loved how humble and quirky everyone was on campus. Here, you can be yourself. I’d say the student body is split 60/40 introverted/extroverted, so you’ll easily find your home here. I’m surprised you liked Williams if you didn’t want prep as I have a friend who goes there who says that the sports act as the social stratifier there and if you’re not in them it’s like not being in greek life on other campuses.

This brings me to greek life at Grinnell, it’s nonexistence. greek life isn’t a thing on our campus because we value inclusion. In fact, we value inclusion so much that we are student governed. This means that we make the rules we live by. During orientation week, my roommate and I held nightly teas where we would invite all the new people we enjoyed meeting that day to tea in our floor’s lounge so that we could get to know each other in a quieter environment. This community can be extended to the rest of Grinnell. There are groups that get together to play board games to unwind. Getting to know professors is just as easy as getting to know fellow students. All professors have accessible office hours and many of them bake food to bring or bring their dogs. It’s very casual and this allows students to foster close relationships with them. This means that while students are getting world class education, they are still treated as people.

At Grinnell you will be challenged to push yourself, but it won’t be academically competitive. I have yet to hear another student compare their grade to another persons (a process I abhorred in high school) and we regularly support other’s goals.

The art community thrives at Grinnell. In fact, there’s an Andy Warhol exhibit happening in our gallery as soon as the fall semester starts! My roommate is a Physics major and she regularly takes drawing classes. Also, your friends who aren’t into art will come support you at gallery openings and displays of your work because here we support others’ interests. I personally work in the dark room regularly with a group of other students and it has become my time to unwind and chill.

Speaking to your major interests, Grinnell has state of the art science facilities that are really much better than most other LACs. Our science facility is named for Noyce as in the founder of Intel or the “mayor of silicon valley”. We take great pride in our science professors too. Grinnell College Professor Shonda Kuiper recently received a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program. This means that Grinnell is constantly improving their science offerings. Finally, Grinnell has a “women in science” program my roommate participated in that’s really helpful to get to know fellow classmates without the pressure of larger group situations. My roommate particularly enjoyed this because, like you, she is introverted. I am personally an Economics major here, so I can’t speak to much more about science at Grinnell, but I’d be willing to get you into contact with someone who is if you’re interested. :slight_smile:

Also, speaking to your need for aid, Grinnell offers both need-based and merit-based aid. Whatever your situation, Grinnell tends to offer some hefty packages. I was accepted to a lot of places like the LACs you liked and when I got my Grinnell letter, my FA there made it cheaper than every other college I applied to. :o

Finally, I argue you should apply to Grinnell if this at all remotely sounds like a place you would enjoy because a) we love artsy people and b) the application’s free and there’s no supplemental essay. It’s as easy as pushing the apply button once you finish your common app essay, so why not? I applied to Grinnell without ever visiting. Once I got in, I visited and fell in love. If you ever plan a visit to Grinnell, I’d love to give you a personalized tour. :slight_smile: If you have any questions that are more specific than what I answered in this post, feel free to message me. :slight_smile:

Some other colleges to look into as well: Wellesley, Hartwick, Allegheny, Carleton

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@starjoy8 Thank you for the suggestion! Grinnell sounds like a dream and an almost perfect fit. I love how supportive and fun it seems, and I think it’s great that the school has both STEM and non STEM focuses. I mostly liked Williams for the opportunities they provided, but it seems like lots of other colleges have great facilities and resources.

However, I’ve run into a wall because of financial constraints and am not sure if I can afford to look at colleges based on fit anymore… ;(

My budget is now around $15,000-20,000/yr or less, and even though Grinnell provides some merit aid, I’m afraid I’m not competitive enough to garner the amount of money I need. It’s nice that the app is free though, so I’ll think about applying!

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@agentaquastar I think you underestimate Grinnell’s FA help. My family makes close to $100,000/year and I am paying about $10,000/year.

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@starjoy8 thank you, but my parents don’t qualify for FA… They fortunately make $180,000, but the reason I have to go to a cheaper college is because we don’t have any savings, and we need to avoid debt so my brother can afford college in 2 years. I have a thread on this, and everyone has advised saving money to not put as much strain on my family.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/2002141-how-much-debt-is-too-much-p1.html

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@agentaquastar This is understandable. I hope you still apply (after all, it is so easy) as you may be surprised. they offer merit aid at all levels from $10,000 to $60,000 a year. It’s possible. Not guaranteed, but possible and you’ll never know if you don’t apply. I’d say skip the visit for now, apply, if you get in and get good FA look more into visiting then.

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@agentaquastar I know Allegheny and Hartwick aren’t super well known, but they give great aid for merit if you’re better than their average student (which it looks like you are). I’m sure they’re good safeties for you. I have friends who study Environmental Science at Hartwick if you want to talk to someone about it.