Help with son's college list; thanks!

Parents Forum
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<p>Longtime lurking mom checking in to ask for advice of the knowledgeable parents here while S continues to ponder formation of “the list” as junior year comes to a close and application season looms. I’d love your suggestions as my head is spinning :-) .</p>

<p>About S: he has a 3.7 UW GPA which could tick up slightly by the time the year is over (his small school doesn’t weight or rank), slight upward trend (a couple of BB+ over the first two years, but likely all A-A this year); has taken all honors courses; school offers only AP Calc which he will take next year. Takes 2 foreign languages where only one required. Lots of varied ECs both in and out of school but no awards, hooks, etc. I think his GC and teacher recs will be great; in a small school, they really know and get him. March SAT was 2300 (740M, 760W, 800R). Taking Lit and MathI SAT IIs in June and should be over 700 in each. To be honest, we're from a NY suburb where a lot of applicants will look like him.</p>

<p>In a sentence, he’s a liberal arts kid without an ounce of “artsy” in him. He has absolutely no clue as to what he sees for himself professionally. He looks forward to studying English, History, Poli Sci and is sorry that more schools don’t have a core curriculum :-) . </p>

<p>So far he’s visited and liked Vassar, Haverford and Connecticut College as well as Tufts and Brandeis. He also liked Penn, Brown, and Columbia but realizes these are what we’ve been calling “lottery” schools for him. He did not care for Wesleyan, Swarthmore or Amherst.</p>

<p>He does not want a school that is very big, fratty, and/or rah rah, nor does he want to be in a remote/rural/cold location. For now at least, he’d like to be within driving distance of NY, maybe 4 hours tops. So the following schools were never on the list: Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, Hamilton, Colgate, Bucknell, F&M, Lehigh, Lafayette. For some reason that he hasn’t articulated very well he doesn’t want to go to school in Washington, DC. so GWU, GU, and American never had a chance either. </p>

<p>Schools still on the list to look at: Johns Hopkins, Skidmore. I’m also concerned that there are no safeties on the list. </p>

<p>Please, your thoughts and ideas would be welcomed and appreciated!</p>

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<p>You might look into Muhlenberg, Moravian, and Ursinus. Small schools, all within 2-3 hours of NYC, each with a different vibe.</p>

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<p>Safeties- Fordham, Holy Cross, Binghamton, Maryland, Rutgers, Muhlenberg.</p>

<p>What did he not like about Wesleyan, Swat or Amherst?</p>

<p>And what are your financial constraints?</p>

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<p>Marist as a safety?</p>

<p>Trinity College? Villanova? Hamilton? </p>

<p>Too bad he’s ruled out Lafayette, Bucknell, and Lehigh. They would offer the liberal arts core, plus career programs when he figures out what he wants to do. </p>

<p>Good luck! :)</p>

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<p>Thank you all for such prompt and helpful responses.</p>

<p>The geographic limitation takes some really nice possibilities off the list. He doesn’t want a big state school with tens of thousands of kids, which I get. It’s the frat thing that seems the most vague; I wish he would loosen up on that. There’s frat life that dominates the culture at some schools, but at other schools it’s just one of many social choices. That kind of data is so much more anecdotal and feels harder to get a firm grip on. So he’s using another (familiar) website that “grades” the frat scene and taking the info he finds at face value for better or worse.</p>

<p>mrsref, Muhlenberg is a great idea and I’ll look into the other two PA schools you mentioned.</p>

<p>blossom, re: his dislikes, at Wesleyan the arty vibe came across very strong (it didn’t at Vassar and that might just be the difference between two tours/info sessions), at Swarthmore we saw a lot of kids walking around alone, bent over under theweight of huge backpacks, and Amherst seemed too small. These would make great entries for the “Schools My Kid Eliminated from the List”, huh :slight_smile: ?</p>

<p>As for financial considerations, H and I have saved enough to send him retail to any school, though the idea of cleaning out the fund with nothing left for grad school gives me the willies. H disagrees, and so far, that’s where we are. We are in a better financial place than many, I feel lucky for that.</p>

<p>DougBetsy, my sense from friends whose kids are there is that Bucknell, Lehigh, and Lafayette are in fact heavy duty Greek schools. Your thoughts?</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>

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<p>You’re right. Bucknell, Lehigh, and Lafayette are rather fratty. Scratch that suggestion.</p>

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<p>Did you say he had “not cold” on his list? :)</p>

<p>You didn’t mention the specific geographic parameters, but what about the southern schools that don’t have strong fraternities, like William and Mary, Davidson, Emory or Rice?</p>

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<p>UVa, so far he says wants be within a 4 hour drive of NYC.</p>

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<p>Dickinson. Also gives decent merit aid. Although they have frats, D1 is a junior there and it is definitely not “fratty” per her experience.</p>

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<p>Clark University as a safety? (merit dollars also possible)</p>

<p>University of Rochester? (although it is more like 5 1/2 hours from NYC and is cold - but it will be difficult to escape the cold if he stays within 4 hours of NYC…)</p>

<p>Maybe Goucher?</p>

<p>He is obviously very bright, so it would be great if he would consider some schools that don’t meet his current requirements, especially in terms of the distance from NYC (like maybe Oberlin?)</p>

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<p>Okay, so this isn’t 4 hours from NYC, but Kenyon sounds like a really good fit for him. Haverford also sounds perfect for him. Use the Peterson’s Guide search tool as well as CC’s just to confirm that you have found all the schools that meet his criteria. Also, I may have missed it in your post, but what SAT II subject tests is he taking? Not to scare you but S1 has very similar stats to yours (2300 SAT, 800 R, 790 W, 710 M) and about the same GPA --he was denied at Vassar as well as Brown. Just making sure your S knows that the most selective LAC’s are also “lottery” acceptance rates. If he really loves a school and you can afford it, apply Early Decision would be my advice.</p>

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<p>Kenyon is definitely in a remote, rural location which is not acceptable to the OP’s son.</p>

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<p>fendrock, see my comment above about my spinning head :slight_smile: . He has truly narrowed things down with his several somewhat contradictory criteria. </p>

<p>Is Oberlin too arty for him? Probably. He went to the “Eight of the Best Colleges” presentation (ostensibly to show the love to Haverford and ConnColl, already on his list) and liked what he heard about Kenyon. Then he mapped its location and … It’s truly the definition of a rural school…</p>

<p>I’m trying to sell him on U Maryland’s honors college. Geneseo is his best academic SUNY match but another remote one…He’s actually taking a summer school class at CUNY Hunter this summer and wonder if that will disabuse him of the focus he’s taken on urban and near-urban schools or if he’ll end up wanting to apply to Macauley Honors College! We shall see…</p>

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<p>jkiwmom, would you be willing to share where your son was accepted? And where he applied as safeties with those terrific stats? Vassar is no sure thing, of course, but I’m surprised that a boy with those stats was turned away. Sigh, this only gets harder next year, doesn’t it?</p>

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<p>Have you considered Drew (in Madison, NJ) as a safety?
<a href=“http://www.drew.edu/ThinkBeyond/PoliticalScience.aspx[/url]”>http://www.drew.edu/ThinkBeyond/PoliticalScience.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Look at the Jesuit schools for not-fratty.
<a href=“http://www.ajcunet.edu/Map[/url]”>http://www.ajcunet.edu/Map&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Mutti, if he liked Vassar and Connecticut College, I think Oberlin is worth considering although obviously it is not in a metropolitan area. (Of course, I would also think Wesleyan was a great match, but oh well…)</p>

<p>LACs in a metropolitan area are surprisingly hard to find, by the way.</p>

<p>What about Bard? It is true that it is in a village, but it is close to NYC.</p>

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<p>Richmond is a private school with business, law and leadership graduate schools. Richmond might fit the bill of being about 4 hr from NYC and in a warmer climate. The campus is beautiful and the academic programs sound really interesting (a lot of interdisciplinary programs).</p>

<p>The schools has frats, but I don’t think it’s overly fratty. However, I only know from my own research and campus visit.</p>

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<p>Richmond is about a 6 1/2 hour drive from NYC.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I guess I underestimated how close Richmond is to NYC. I was thinking more in terms of not rural/warmer/smallish school (~3000 UG).</p>

<p>With DC off the table and anything further south basically too far, sounds like Baltimore or Philly are going to be better bets.</p>

<p>How about Loyola in Md as a safety? You could check that out if you visit Hopkins.</p>

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<p>Take a look at Fordham, St. Johns in Annapolis and Marist in Poughkeepsie</p>