Help my friend find some liberal arts colleges

College Search & Selection
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<p>FYI, this post is via my friend who doesn't have an account and doesn't want to make one for just ONE thread...</p>

<p>Hey everybody, I hope you guys can help me out. I live in Michigan and am going to be a senior this year. So far, the college search has given me two good options for my school but I'm hoping to expand that number. I am seriously considering both Kalamazoo College and Hope College right now and I think they'd be good fits for me. But before I apply to a measly 2 colleges, I was wondering if there were any important ones I'd missed.</p>

<p>Location: I'd really like one in the Midwest area because I don't want to be too far from my family.</p>

<p>Size: I've pretty much decided on going to a small liberal arts college. Nothing too big, small, discussion-based classes, teachers who genuinely care (real professors, not graduate assistants)</p>

<p>Majors: I'm not fully decided yet but I am pretty sure that I would like to major in something in the sciences (and of course continue on to grad school). I'd really like a school with good science programs (hopefully one involving undergraduate research) and a high grad school acceptance rate.</p>

<p>About me: Well, I've got a 35 (35, 35, 35, 36) on the ACT, 2240 on the SAT (800 writing, 740 math, 700 reading), and many extracurriculars. Among these, Quiz Bowl (co-captain), Science Olympiad, lots of involvement at church Youth Group (including two terms on Youth Group Council), a large amount of volunteer work (leader of one involving a nursing home, far over 300 hours, I'd assume), NHS, various other awards (Young Citizen of the Year finalist, etc.). I am a white male so that won't be doing me any favors. Also, my family would likely not qualify for much need-based financial aid so I'd like a college with decent merit-based aid programs.</p>

<p>So far, I plan to apply to Kalamazoo and Hope. Are there any others I should take a look at? Thanks in advance.</p>

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<p>Check out the link:
<a href="http://apps.carleton.edu/news/?content=content&module=&id=296333%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://apps.carleton.edu/news/?content=content&module=&id=296333&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Academic Quiz Bowl Team Takes National Title</p>

<p>2007 Quiz Bowl National Champions</p>

<p>For the second time in eight years, the Carleton College academic quiz bowl team won the National Academic Quiz Tournament Undergraduate Intercollegiate Championship. Patrick Hope '07 (Dickinson, N.D.), John Morse '07 (Springfield, Ill.), Max Parrish '07 (Rockford, Ill.) and Garrett Ryan '09 (Mokena, Ill.) defeated Harvard in the undergraduate final, 305-205, to clinch the national title.</p>

<p>This year's tournament was held at the University of Minnesota.</p>

<p>Eric Hillemann, Carleton's coach, reports the team won ten matches en route to the national title, defeating Oklahoma State, Michigan, Stanford, Virginia, Florida, Grinnell, Amherst, Rutgers and UCLA to reach the finals. Due to a better record to that point, Carleton entered the final with a one-game advantage over Harvard, meaning the Crimson needed to win twice in order to take the undergraduate championship, while Carleton needed to win only once.</p>

<p>Carleton sounds like a great fit for you. Not just because of quiz bowling, but because of the school's incredible strength in the sciences (probably best reflected in their production of more PhD's per capita than any other liberal arts college, just lagging in university rankings behind MIT and Caltech). Elsewhere in the Midwest, I'd look at Oberlin and Grinnell. Both will offer strong programs as well with (primarily) Ginnell offering up enticements in the form of academic scholarships.</p>

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<p>gpa? /**********/</p>

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<p>4.0; tied for first out of about 600.</p>

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<p>Do yourself a favor and explore Carleton, Grinnell, Oberlin, and Macalester. Please. Maybe Knox and Beloit too.</p>

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<p>Reed College, in Oregon. It's kind of far away, but I've heard it's a great Liberal Arts college. It's been on all the "Top College" lists I've seen.</p>

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<p>Hmm...well you're probably in at about any LAC you can imagine, which just makes it a matter of finding the right school. </p>

<p>Since you obviously want a good school in the midwest, I'll reiterate and add to the list of proposed schools:</p>

<p>Carleton, Grinnell, Oberlin, Macalester, Kenyon, DePauw, Wabash, Denison.</p>

<p>Swarthmore, Haverford if you're willing to stretch a little further from home.</p>

<p>With stats like yours, I personally wouldn't be looking beyond Macalester in terms of prestige. You should have several very good colleges to pick from that will fit your criteria come decision time.</p>

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<p>no chance at any LAC in the midwest. Only a 35? Please. You need at least a 36 and you should probably retake to improve that 2240. No chance as of right now.</p>

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<p>lobgent,</p>

<p>Your friend may want to consider Colorado College (in Colorado Springs) - but make sure he checks out the block system and see whether he minds it or not. Solid academics.</p>

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<p>Yeah, um, completely ignore phoenix. A 35 on the ACT is a godly score, and 2240 isn't too bad either.</p>

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<p>Along with the schools other people are listing, I'd recommend Davidson. They've got some merit aid (though it can be hard to come by) and an amazing grant only, no-loans need based aid program. Basically, they meet 100% of your need and instead of just giving you a bunch of loans, they give you money you never have to pay back.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all the helpful suggestions! </p>

<p>By the way, phoenix is a friend of mine and was just joking. I think.</p>

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<p>well if Reed gets a plug......</p>

<p>Majors: I'm not fully decided yet but I am pretty sure that I would like to major in something in the sciences (and of course continue on to grad school). I'd really like a school with good science programs (hopefully one involving undergraduate research) and a high grad school acceptance rate.</p>

<p>Harvey Mudd College-
-top notch science/engineering/math programs all around
-highest number of graduates to move onto get PhDs for LACs, 2nd overall only to Caltech (<a href="http://www.earlham.edu/%7Eir/bac_origins_report/sci_eng.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.earlham.edu/~ir/bac_origins_report/sci_eng.html&lt;/a&gt;)
-if you could increase your SAT score in math by a measly 10 pts you would get a full 10$ off PER YEAR. On top of that the school is really good with financial aid.
-A couple years ago I read in the school newspaper about how when Mudd joined the Claremont team they were able together to beat Stanford and Caltech but I dont remember if it was any big thing. </p>

<p>Now true it is not in the midwest but in sunny Socal. However in all honest whether its Carleton or HMC, its all one plane ride away (which mostly consists of actually getting to the plane anyways).</p>

<p>Id say visit the campus if u could in anyways, it seems prefect for you. plus the WEATHER man, THE WEATHER!</p>

<p>If not, Carleton seems good, maybe Rose Hulman IT.</p>

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<p>Carleton, Grinnell, Macalester, WashU, Northwestern, Oberlin, Michigan are the best of the midwest.</p>

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<p>Slight correction to Seiken's observations on Mudd, to reflect the fact that it now accepts the ACT. Your friend could get 10,000 a year merit from mudd if he takes SAT II's and does well enough to meet the following:</p>

<pre><code>* ACT English Score: 32 or above
* ACT Writing Score: 32 or above
* ACT Math Score: 33 or above
* SAT Math 2 Subject Exam Score: 750 or above
* High school rank within the top 10%*
</code></pre>

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<p>If you're not at all interested in a fairly religious/conservative environment, then disregard this suggestion of a Christian LAC.</p>

<p>Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI) - <a href="http://www.calvin.edu%5B/url%5D%5B/b%5D"&gt;www.calvin.edu</a></p>

<p>A good friend of mine just graduated from Calvin and it sounds like you two have a lot of criteria in common. </p>

<p>Location: Grand Rapids, MI. Also has strong Dutch ties and roots, like Hope College.</p>

<p>Size: Just over 4,000. Larger LAC. </p>

<p>Major: My friend double-majored in chemistry and engineering (which was Calvin's way of saying "chemical engineering"). She felt very challenged by the department, gave great reviews to her professors, had nice internships (including one with Pfizer...the world's largest research-based pharmaceutical company), and was accepted (all expenses paid + teaching stipend) to Michigan State for grad school (which she turned down due to a last-minute need to be back home in CA, so she'll be applying to Stanford and Cal for the coming year). Also, for what it's worth, the school waives most GE requirements for engineering majors so that they're definitely able to graduate in 4 years (even as a double major, apparently).</p>

<p>So, for better or for worse, all I have here is anecdotal evidence. Calvin might seem like a strange suggestion given that it has a 98-99% acceptance rate and average SATs well below your own, but I do know that my friend paid no attention to names and rankings, went to Calvin because it felt right to her, and absolutely loved it. This girl was as strong a student as it looks like you are: NM finalist, school recipient of the Bank of America plaque for math and science, ranked #2 in her class at a very rigorous HS, old SAT 1440/1600 (PSAT writing score was 80), varsity athlete, etc. She never would have enjoyed a college that didn't challenge her. With only merit-based aid (automatic b/c of NM, I believe), Calvin was cheaper than her in-state public. </p>

<p>The reason for all of my anecdotal details is just that I think Calvin is an easy school to overlook based on its admissions criteria, but it seems like a place with a lot to offer strong students. The school also has rolling admissions, so would act as a definite safety for you if you were interested. FYI, the other school that this girl considered was Hillsdale College, which I know nothing about but mention b/c, like I said, a lot of your criteria seems similar.</p>

<p>Good luck :)</p>

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<p>Be sure to check out the College of Wooster in Ohio also--I know many, many happy students who have gone there--there is a nice article about it in Colleges that Change Lives by Loren Pope--I also agree that Oberlin would be a good match--as long as you are fairly liberal and progressive in your thinking.</p>

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<p>Kalamazoo is a great fit for what your friend wants, and with those qualities he's likely to get a very good merit aid package. In the midwest, other excellent colleges outside Michigan that are strong in the sciences and give very good merit aid include Lawrence, Beloit, Knox and Earlham. Grinnell and Carleton are great schools, too, but as I understand it they are likely to provide less merit aid than the others listed. Macalester is also a great school, but known more for the humanities than the sciences. Not that that should necessarily stop him. My son is a humanities kid going to Kalamazoo, which is probably known more for its science curriculum.</p>

<p>The bottom line is that there is a really good group of strong LACs in the midwest that would fit your friend's parameters.</p>