Completely agree. I encourage the OP to start a couple of “Schools That Are Like…” threads in order to get some matches and safeties in the same camp as her reaches.
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Wash U St Louis and Vanderbilt Nashville could be good fits academically and for location and school vibe.
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@pishicaca, I am in general agreement with your post. I am usually one of those always touting likelies for students rather than reaches, and I only gave a major thumbs up to William & Mary and then a mention of Davidson (18% admissions rate). Thus, I acknowledge that I’m contributing to the problem here.
I think one major component we’re missing here is the budget. There are many schools that would be likelies for this student, but budget is a key factor, particularly when one is no longer looking at schools that meet need.
Also, a school like Willliam & Mary is a likely for an in-state student with the OP’s daughter’s stats, although it’s probably not an extremely likely, and it will be extremely difficult to beat that quality at that price.
One school that was mentioned upthread that I think should be reiterated is Virginia Commonwealth (VCU). It’s an in-state public and I’ve heard excellent things about some of its arts programs. I’m not sure how/whether VCU places an emphasis on integrating the arts with sciences, but I definitely think it merits a close look.
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This is a “List of Integrative Arts, Humanities, and STEMM Programs in Research Universities, Community Colleges, and Liberal Arts Colleges” that 200+ programs in the U.S. Some of the programs are specific courses, other times it’s a major or graduate degree, other times it’s a symposium or summer study program or residential life option. Here is the press release from Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities and here is the website on the topic from The National Academies of Science Engineering Medicine. Below are schools that offered an undergraduate major/degree (or concentration) that was listed here.
- Arizona State: Major in Arts, Media, and Engineering
- Baylor: Medical Humanities
- Cal Poly: Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies Program
- Emmanuel College: Undergraduate Psychology Concentration in Physiological Bases of Behavior (combining Neuroscience and Social Media Tools)
- Emory: AB in Engineering Studies
- Evergreen State (unsure about name of program…indicates to refer to College Bulletin)
- U. of Florida: Art Technology
- Georgia Tech: Threads (combining Computer Science & Social Psychology)
- U. of Iowa: Global Health Studies
- Keene State: Integrative Studies Program
- U. of Maryland – Baltimore County: Music Technology
- U. of Maryland (College Park) – Language Science
- Michigan State: Lyman Briggs College History, Philosophy, and Social of Science
- Michigan State: Science, Technology, Environment, and Public Policy
- U. of Michigan: Socially Engaged Design
- Rensselaer Polytechnic: Science & Technology Studies
- Rochester Institute of Technology: Motion Picture Science
- St. John’s College (the entire curriculum)
- Stanford: Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities Scholarly Concentration
- Union: Environmental Science, Policy, and Engineering
- Vanderbilt: Medicine, Health, and Society
- Virginia Tech: Green Engineering
- Weber State: Integrated Studies
- Worcester Polytechnic: WPI Plan
There were schools that offered minors, certificates, gen ed requirements, particular courses, extracurricular options, etc that were listed, but you’ll need to look at the exact list for those.
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Here are a couple more programs that might be worth a look:
Lehigh’s Integrated Degree in Engineering, Arts, and Sciences (IDEAS)
U. of Maryland’s new initiative to integrate arts with science and technology, including a new program in Immersive Media and Design
Rutgers – New Brunswick: You may want to see what its new partnership for integrating arts and scientific research is playing out and whether it interests your daughter.
U. of Baltimore’s degree in Integrated Arts
Here is a list of the best schools for Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies at the Bachelor’s level. James Madison, UVA, William & Mary all made the list here (as examples of Virgina in-states).
This is a list of colleges with top integrative studies programs, so majors that allow students to engage in multidisciplinary and interdisplinary learning as part of their major. I know little about the list apart that its methodology was influenced by the U. of Redlands’ Johnson Center for Integrative Studies. But three Virginia publics made the list’s top 35: George Mason, Radford, and Norfolk State.
I would pay little attention to the rankings on the lists, but I would see which schools’ names are popping up more frequently on lists. Also, as your daughter gets a better sense of what she is interested in in a college (i.e. big college or small, how far away from home does she want to go, etc) then looking for colleges that meet those criteria among the various lists will help to hone down the schools to research further.
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I would add Wesleyan’s Integrated Design Engineering and Applied Science minor (NEW!)
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Thank you guys so much! I am new here but I feel like a little overwhelmed by your resourcefulness and kindness. I think I’ve got enough home work for myself now. Also thank you for reminding me to manage expectations!
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Good idea. Maybe I’ll do that later.
Our counsellor said the same thing!
For some more Likely schools, if she is interested in a women’s college she could check out Agnes Scott and Hollins. I loved both of them. She would definitely get big merit at them (I think they both come with around $25k merit, but she might get much more.)
She is a great candidate for UVA, W&M, Va Tech, and is a shoo-in at VCU. We loved Richmond and thought VCU seemed very cool.
Make sure to apply Early Action to as many schools as you can and stay in contact with them and show them some love, especially the LACs. You can search on “Common Data Set” and the name of the school and you should get a document that shows what kind of value the different schools put on Demonstrated Interest.
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To everyone who helped me a year ago with suggestions and information, I just wanted to update you with my daughter’s admission results to close my question. She aimed to get into Brown but was rejected, should have done ED. Nonetheless she got accepted at a few SLACs and W&M (Monroe Scholar) in RD, and she’s pretty much decided to attend Pomona College for an interdisciplinary environmental analysis program. Thanks again for your help in the beginning of the journey.
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Pomona is an amazing acceptance! congratulations to you both
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Congrats! The EA department at Pomona is wonderful; my daughter had the kindest and most inspiring faculty mentors there, who went above and beyond to support the students through the pandemic and make remote learning so much better than it might otherwise have been.
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Thank you. Good to know this.