Help! Narrowing down schools (Stanford, Williams, Dartmouth, etc.)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Okay so in November I am able to visit 5 schools. I have 8 schools on my "I'm interested" list. These schools are....</p>

<p>-Stanford
-Pomona
-Claremont McKenna
-Pitzer
-Williams
-Lawrence University
-Dartmouth
-UC Boulder</p>

<p>I am visiting the Claremont consortium for sure (which will allow me to see Pomona, Claremont, and Pitzer in one day.) If I do that I can turn my list of 5 schools to visit into 7. But even then, I still can't visit one of these schools :(</p>

<p>Stanford- I really want to visit, but don't NEED to, although it is an entrepreneurial school, and I'm a future Entrepeneur.</p>

<p>Williams- Love the idea of the Oxford style tutorials. I love the fact that they are so content with their school. I don't NEED to visit this school.</p>

<p>Lawrence- I have already had an interview and a couple talks and it is an INCREDIBLE school, low selectivity but the educational quality matches that of the top 10 schools. This school is a must visit.</p>

<p>Dartmouth- I feel like the quintessential Dartmouth student: Athletic (play soccer, kicker for the football team, and a tennis player,) sociable (always with friends, don't let my studies get in the way too much,) and involved (play all those 3 sports, in student government, excellent grades, Have a job, near 100 hours of community service, and play 4 instruments.) I don't NEED to visit this school.</p>

<p>UC Boulder- Im sure this is a good school, but I'd rather leave this one out and visit the other 7. I'm kind of forced to visit this school. Maybe I could get out of it, should I try?</p>

<p>Which school should I not visit? (out of Stanford, Williams, Dartmouth, and maybe possibly Boulder.)</p>

<p>Thanks in advance---- all responses are greatly appreciated!</p>

2

<p>mm, five seems like an arbitrary number with such a wide geographic spread.
I would drop Stanford (from the visit list, not the apply list) because it is insanely selective and you don’t get a lot of demonstrated interest credit for a visit. You can visit after you get accepted.</p>

<p>I would definitely visit Lawrence. I suspect it’s your safety and I think it’s always a good idea to reaffirm your safety. Knowing that you’ve seen it and liked it provides a lot a security during the wait period. If Lawrence is not your safety, then you may need to add one.</p>

<p>I would try to visit Williams. My son’s a graduate and I have only good impressions, but the location and personality are not for everyone. Dartmouth is in the neighborhood, so that should be a natural tag-on.</p>

3

<p>I agree you can visit Williams and Dartmouth as they aren’t more than 4 hours apart</p>

4

<p>They are both long shots for most students too! Where do you live? What kind of expense?</p>

5

<p>I know that they are long shots but I have good credentials, and I can pull a few strings here and there. When I emailed Dartmouth, they said they don’t even let students visit a class, so obviously interest means nothing to them. Pomona is 6 hours from Stanford, and Dartmouth is 4 from Williams. So with knowing that, which is more worth my while?</p>

6

<p>What are your stats? This would help with this discussion. Also… I would not count on “pulling strings” in today’s admissions environment. There aren’t too many strings you can pull (relationships with congressmen, board members, etc. don’t go far these days). They might get you a “courtesy waitlist”, but not more. If you have a true hook, let us know.</p>

<p>Just want to make the point that it is MUCH harder to identify safeties that you really like vs. reaches. I encourage people to spend more time on their safety/match visits and research, as it is far more likely that you will end up at one of those schools than at a reach. Tons of people go about it the other way, then are stuck with safeties or matches that they don’t really want to attend (but they don’t figure that out until after the application period has passed).</p>

<p>Your school may have only a couple of match/safeties on it. If you don’t like the Claremont campus (some people don’t, I have been there) or the specific schools on that campus that you visit, then 2 of the easier acceptance schools are off your list. Lawrence has some good qualities, but it is small town Wisconsin (we just visited), and while they do a GREAT job of promoting themselves, I was not wildly impressed with our tour guide or the students I know from D’s high school who have gone there. It is on my D’s list as a safety, but last on her list of 12 schools… and primarily on the list because of strength in her primary academic interest. Just saying, you really have to go see it, on paper and via interviews is not sufficient. And it sounds like you are not truly interested in UC Boulder, but are being forced to apply (family pressure, I assume). It certainly is different from the rest of your list.</p>

7

<p>@intparent, Thank you for that insight. I have spent countless hours looking at schools, but 80% of it has been dedicated to reach schools, and about 20% on safety schools, so I know where I should probably spend my time. You’re right about me not wanting to go to Boulder. I think I’d be better off at a school with small classes (Lawrence or Williams) because I am always involved in discussions, debates, etc. Do you know of any schools like Lawrence and Williams (aka schools with oxford style tutorials) that aren’t as difficult as Williams in the admissions process (about as difficult as Lawrence, more or less?)</p>

8

<p>Dartmouth doesn’t care if you visit (look at C7 on the common data set <a href=“http://www.dartmouth.edu/~oir/pdfs/cds2011_2012_final_estimated.pdf[/url]”>This Page Has Moved), so if it’s inconvenient and you don’t need to visit for any particular reason (for example, you would need to visit if you were considering an ED application there), I would skip it.</p>

<p>U Colorado Boulder says it considers interest, but if you have strong stats and it’s far away from where you live, there is no need to visit–it won’t make a difference.</p>

<p>In terms of schools which offer tutorials, Bard offers a number of them. In terms of admissions, Bard would be more difficult to get into than Lawrence but less difficult than Williams.</p>

9

<p>By the way, Williams is less than 2.5 hours from Dartmouth. However, if you visit Williams and are looking for nearby small schools with small classes, consider the following, all of which are within a few hours of Williams: Union, Skidmore, Hamilton, Bard, Amherst, Tufts, Trinity, Wesleyan, Connecticut College, Sarah Lawrence, Holy Cross, Clark, among many others. There are more small liberal arts colleges in New England and the Middle Atlantic states than anywhere else.</p>

10

<p>Holy Cross and Clark are just 40 miles west of Boston and 40 miles north of Providence and more urban setting as compared to most LACs.</p>

11

<p>I would definitely visit the Claremont Colleges. Take a tour of Pomona and CMC (very different from each other) and then just walk thru the other campuses. They are all connected. If you get into one of those schools, you can take classes at the others, so it’s like getting 5 schools for the (very hefty) price of one.</p>

12

<p>

</p>

<p>If you are a Maryland resident and like LACs, then check out St. Mary’s College of Maryland (Maryland’s public “honors college”). For what you seem to want, it would make a more appropriate safety school than UC Boulder. For out-of-state students, Boulder costs over $40K. For Maryland residents, SMCM is under $30K. </p>

<p>If the Colorado location is driving a family interest in UC Boulder, then consider Colorado College (a selective LAC but not as hard to get in as Williams). For LACs comparable to Lawrence in selectivity, check out the Colleges that Change Lives list. Goucher and McDaniel are in Maryland; Juniata and Ursinus are in PA. However, you might not prefer them to St. Mary’s College of Md, especially considering costs (or SMCM’s waterfront location).</p>

13

<p>Don’t expect your strings or connections to go that far with the elite schools.</p>

<p>We don’t know what your family’s connections are, but here’s a couple who found that their connections didn’t help:</p>

<p>Case 1: Father and uncle both Princeton graduates. Both have earned unbelievable amounts of money (personal assets at least $50-million/$100-million) in the finance industry to the point where they both were able to retire before 40, and both are significant donors. Son SAT: 700CR/700M. All-state (populous state) in lacrosse. All county (densely-populated county) and feature back on a state-ranked football team that has sent players to the NFL, including a #1 draft pick. Rejected by Princeton.</p>

<p>Case 2: Father knows the governor of Virginia, and the applicant worked on the governor’s re-election campaign. SAT CR+M over 1400. Punter and placekicker who had attended the Princeton camps for the previous two years, and who eventually played for a Division 1 program. Letter from the governor to admissions. Rejected by Princeton.</p>

<p>Few people can get into the elite schools via connections. We don’t know you – perhaps you are the son of a senator, and that may get you a few points – but regardless, don’t count on family connections to get you in. Depend on your own merits, because it is extremely rare for the strings that you are able to pull to be that helpful with schools that have endowments that are larger than those of some small countries.</p>