Help needed with Target college recos for rising Senior

College Search & Selection
1

Hi,
D23 is having a difficult time finding Target schools (between 20-50% acceptance rate) for her list that will match her criteria. For a major, she thinks she will end up in a STEM, but will be applying as Undecided. We live outside of Philadelphia and she wants to go away for school (Villanova , Lehigh way too close for her).

Medium size (4K-14K undergrads)
Vibe: welcoming, friendly, collaborative or supporting
Strong academics, advising/mentoring, career center, active alumini network
Location: Northeast, maybe Mid-Atlantic
Suburban or college town (not rural or urban) with access to nature for hiking
Moderately liberal. She is open minded but not militant about it.
Some diversity and international students on campus
Does not want Athletics or Greek life to dominate the school culture.
Nice campus
It would be a bonus if she could continue playing classical Piano, not as a Minor but as an EC or taking lessons.
Cost is not a consideration. The emphasis is quality and fit.

She did eliminate Skidmore,Brandeis, Providence, Vassar (Reach), Wesleyan (Reach) for different reasons. She will not consider a Women’s college as she currently goes to an all girls school (too bad because I read good things about Mount- Holoyke and Wellesley but I get that).

She has identified her “Reach” (Tufts) and her “Likely” (UVM) but she needs schools in the middle. She visited both campuses and towns and liked both, though different. She likes having access to a town to explore things to do and have different things to eat.

For college size, she may consider a LAC on the larger size >2600, if it met most of her other criteria. Her fixation on size originates from the fact that she has always attended a small private school, her class is 63 students and her entire school is about 650. Now, she’s ready to bust out.

I read about Holy Cross in Worcester and wondering whether it would be at match. Though a catholic college, wondering how pervasive religion is in their culture or is the culture is more about values than religion (which would be acceptable for D23).
Thank you in advance for your help. Looking forward to hearing your recos.

2

Rochester?

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The University of Rochester was my first thought as well.

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If she likes Tufts, she might also like Holy Cross. AFAIK, it is no more religious than Georgetown.

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Case Western

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American University (but would need to show a lot of interest or apply ED)

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In addition to U of Rochester, she should check out Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). We recently visited and there’s an awesome vibe there. As far as career guidance goes, they have a well-established co-op program from which many students receive offers for employment after graduation. Very nice balance between STEM and the arts - there is a big investment in performing arts specifically targeting non majors. Greek life is a small fraction of the student population, and we were told that the hiking club is fantastic!

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Has your family thought about College of New Jersey (about 6800 undergrads), Marist (about 5k undergrads), or Binghamton (about 14k undergrads), or Fairfield (4500ish undergrads)?

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Other great suggestions. Adding William & Mary.

Honestly Rochester, as others mentioned, seems a fit.

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She may attend the very same private school that I attended, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

I went to Lehigh, which clearly is not an option, given proximity and some other conditions. However, can you clarify on the STEM - some of the options do not have engineering. If she goes the STEM route, what sorts of STEM are in play?

I saw American mentioned here. I have a kid who went to American, and it was great for her and the majors that she pursued. However, she told me multiple times that it was weak in STEM. She does not consider herself strong in STEM, and those math and science courses that she took (which, though low level courses, were considered the most rigorous versions) were a joke.

Can you give us a little more information, perhaps the math and science courses she has taken, and perhaps test scores? I assume that she has taken the PSAT, given the sort of school she currently attends.

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We visited Marist when we visited Vassar. She did not like Poughkeepsie. I just came across Fairfield and added it to her list.

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12

Great suggestion. Thank you!

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Thank you!

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Elon, Ithaca, UNH or U Conn.

15

Definitely Rochester. Also, Boston College and Ithaca.

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I don’t know which of her requirements are deal breakers. WPI and Richmond both offer a lot of what she wants, but both also have significant Greek life. Just to note that Richmond has about 3200 undergrads but 4000 total with grad students, and a majority of the students (55%) are from states north of VA and only a quarter are from the South. WPI is not just engineering. It is strong in STEM but actually offers 50 majors.

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Syracuse? Fordham is in NYC but has a defined campus. Maybe Richmond?

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Hi, D23 originally wanted to major in Biology or in a Life Science program. Then, decided to keep her options open for now and apply Undecided. Most of her peers in her grade seem to have their future majors, colleges and careers all planned out. My hubby & I reassure her that she is well within the norm at 17 year old not to have everything figured out. Her entire HS caree,r she has taken Honors in Math, in the Sciences ( Physics, Chemistry and will have 2 years of Biology by the time she graduates) and in French. Her unweighted GPA is 3.97. there are no APs at her school. She is not a natural standardized test taker and has a SAT score of 1380 and plans to retake at the end of August.

I suggested she look into both U of Rochester and RIT , HC and Fairfied. She has eliminated many target schools because their Greek life culture is very dominant (Richmond, Wake Forest) and to be honest she’s loves the seasons and snow and access to nature.

Thank you so much for the great recos!

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Can you articulate what she didn’t like about Brandeis? Seems like the vibe (especially not dominated by a fratty culture) would be exactly what she’s looking for…

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Hi, I cannot say specifically because my husband toured Brandeis with her. I believe she found the people welcoming but was left somewhat indifferent by the campus. At the end of the day, nothing is officially off the list. She has to apply to more than 2 schools. Parents have told me that their student toured a school and hated it or was indifferent, applied anyway (for various reasons), got admitted and returned for the admitted students weekend and loved it. Who knows.