<p>Hello everyone!! We are new to this forum.<br>
Our daughter is a senior in H.S. Her current GPA is a 4.0, unweighted. Her ACT is a 26. She will be taking it again.
We expect her to do better. She is also taking the SAT. We live in Ohio, but she is mostly looking at eastern schools.
Her first two years were spent at a Catholic high school. We are not Catholic and the combination of the rigid discipline and the theology classes brought her average down. She had a 3.4 average for her first two years.
Since we moved again, she is back in public school. Her extra curricular activities at both schools include:
Senior Class Secretary, volunteer fundraiser for Relay for Life, radio and television station reporter, yearbook staff, Key Club and a volunteer work at an art museum
She was in two AP classes: Literature and American Government last year. This year she is in AP Physics, and Language (English), US History. She wants to major in Political Science.
She likes the idea of a slightly non-traditional college with a socially and politically left of center climate and students.
She is not interested in sororities, college sports, etc. She does not want a party school, but she wants a school with a healthy social life.<br>
Her brother attends Marlboro College and it is a little too non-traditional and intense for her. She also wants a larger school without the presence of her brother, however, she would like being within 2 hours of him.
Colleges on her radar right now include Hampshire College, Bard, Bennington, Clark University, Wheaton (Ma.), Skidmore and Mount Holyoke although she is unsure about the single sex environment. </p>
<p>Can anyone add any other solid choices, reaches and safety schools. Does anyone know of any colleges that will especially appreciate her upward trend from freshman and sophomore to junior and senior years. Thank you.</p>
<p>Bard was my first thought as I read your post. My middle daughter had a wonderful experience there, and got merit aid even though her standardized test scores were not as terrific as she would have liked. </p>
<p>I can’t tell what her actual unweighted GPA for her full high school years is from your post. Almost all colleges will calculate her average over the full four years. What is her GPA if you calculate it (I know she went to more than one high school)?</p>
<p>Also, has she visited Mt. Holyoke? Both my kids weren’t so sure about the single sex environment either, but both really liked MH when they visited, applied, and were accepted.</p>
<p>What about Dickinson? Doesn’t really meet all the criteria on your list (size/location), but neither do some of the other colleges on your current list. Good Political Science, relatively left of center, something of a reach for her (but they are test optional). One of my kids went there (not interested in Greek life, not interested in sports, and had a great experience).</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply. We really don’t know her GPA, but will try to calculate it. Of the woman’s colleges she is
most receptive to Mt. Holyoke since is in the 5 college consortium and is only about an hour from her brother. We might look into Dickinson which is a little more traditional than she wants, but is not out of the realm of possibility.</p>
<p>Money is not an issue. We are looking for a good fit for our daughter. If money were an issue, we would have posted that question separately. Thanks for your concern.</p>
<p>I think your list is a good one. Maybe also check out Dickinson. As reaches (if her standardized tests go up) you can look at schools such as Wesleyan, Vassar, Oberlin, and Kenyon. As safetys maybe Goucher and Sarah Lawrence.</p>
<p>easy, Dad, I’m not interested in your income. I was trying to narrow things down from the 3000 schools that offer PoliSci.</p>
<p>reach schools: Haverford, Tufts, Boston College, Brandeis, Franklin & Marshall
matches: Bryn Mawr, Muhlenberg, George Washington, Trinity College, Boston U
safeties: OSU, Ohio, Miami</p>
<p>Don’t worry, dad is easy going. Thanks for your response. I think B.C. is too conservative for her. Her 2 yrs. in Catholic school have rendered her frightened of overly religious or even moderately conservative schools so we are in essence looking towards the left. She wants to speak her mind and not have to censor herself. At times in her Midwestern H.S. she feels she must do just that. All of your matches are good fits. We are also a Lutheran-Jewish family so Muhlenberg is a perfect fit. As far a safeties, Miami is too conservative, Osu too large. Maybe Ohio doesn’t have the prestige she is looking for, but it could be a good back-up. Thank you for your time.</p>
<p>Since you mentioned Wesleyan it is interesting since it is my wife’s choice reach school for her. What do you think the chances are for her? Would being from the Midwest help in the matter of geographic diversity? Our daughter was adopted from Korea at 4 months. We have heard that there is discrimination against Asians in the Northeast, but she was raised in a Caucasian family and has not played the violin since she was age 5. I’ll put it this way, we are not a Stem family. Our degrees are in the social sciences and it seems that she is following in our footsteps.</p>
<p>Any others ideas for reaches, safeties and solid choices? Also, do you think that Trinity is too conservative?
Any opinions on Union, Connecticut or Simmons? As we stated in our last post, she was adopted from Korea at 4 months, will being Asian hurt her? Will geographic diversity help her since she is from the Midwest? Thanks to all who participated.</p>
<p>Any others ideas for reaches, safeties and solid choices? Also, do you think that Trinity is too conservative?
Any opinions on Union, Connecticut or Simmons? As we stated in our last post, she was adopted from Korea at 4 months, will being Asian hurt her? Will geographic diversity help her since she is from the Midwest? Thanks to all who participated.</p>
<p>I don’t think her Asian heritage will hurt her at any of the colleges on her list, including Wesleyan. It tends to be more of an issue with the Ivies and very top universities. Most of her list are LACs, so don’t worry about that. Yes, geographic diversity may help at some of the schools on your list. I am pretty sure it helped my D at Dickinson (I think it helped boost the merit aid she received). We are from MN.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about Simmons, but Union has a reputation as pretty hard partying. Connecticut College is quite preppy.</p>
<p>Don’t take offense at the net price calculator question. For 99% of the students/parents out here, finances are a very critical part of building the college list. No point in building a list the student can’t afford, and it is important to know if merit money is an essential criteria. Good for your family that cost is not an issue – but if it was, honestly, a separate thread would not be the way to go.</p>
<p>Regarding her chances at Wesleyan, the 25%-75% range of ACT scores at Wes is 29-33. But… Wesleyan also just announced this spring that they are going score optional, so you don’t HAVE to send her scores in. However, a high GPA is best if you choose not to send scores, and I am guessing hers might be around a 3.5/3.6 given what you have said. A 26 isn’t going to get her in without some kind of hook (athlete, legacy, etc.). She needs to raise her score quite a bit – if she can get to a 30, she has a chance, 31 or 32 would help a lot more. Wesleyan does get applications from nationwide, not sure her geographic diversity will help very much there. Has she taken the SAT? Some students do better on it, might be worth a try.</p>
<p>Being full pay may help at some of her schools. I don’t think any of the schools on her list are not need-blind (so if you need financial aid, your chances go down a bit for admission). (Although that need-blind status can change form year to year, so you may want to check the schools’ websites). It isn’t usually a huge boost, but can help a bit. </p>
<p>When we visited F&M we found it a little too pre-business and fratty. What about Ursinus College as a safety? As far as women’s colleges, I attended one and will say that I loved it but it is not for everyone. I would suggest an overnight before committing. </p>
<p>I think the options she is considering are well-thought-out. Unfortunately, unless she brings up her test scores (maybe she should try the SAT instead of the ACT?) I don’t think she has a chance at most of the reaches mentioned above.</p>
<p>I know a girl who got into George Washington with a 26 ACT…maybe look at American as well? She may have to give up on the idea of being two hours or less from her brother. I can’t imagine they’d see much of each other anyway.</p>
<p>Has she visited Hampshire? it seems like it is a niche type school for the very motivated student with less than stellar stats (especially if you are full pay, they are not need blind). My D visited and it turned out to not be what she was looking for in a college but we were both impressed that Hampshire seemed to offer an interesting alternative approach to the college academic experience- immersive and focused. Students were definitely left of center. just saying, if she hasn’t already been to the area, a visit to both Mt Holyoke and Hampshire could be worth your time as she could get a feel for two very different schools (yet in the same consortium).</p>
<p>University of Rochester does not party much. Somewhat left of center. But about 5 hours from Marlboro.</p>
<p>St. Lawrence University (not Catholic nor religious) is also about 5 hours away in Canton NY, and fairly left leaning. Can’t address the party issue. </p>
<p>Maybe look at Colby College, and College of the Atlantic; both in Maine.</p>
<p>If she has any interest in staying in Ohio, then Ohio Wesleyan is an excellent choice with great scholarships.</p>
<p>By the way, congratulations on the son attending Marlboro. Amazing school!</p>
<p>I think she’d love Simmons. Also, check out the options in Washington, DC. She might love going to college in that area, but not sure which school would be a good match (American, GWU mentioned above ^). </p>