I know what I want in a college...so help me find it?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a junior girl from western Washington State, desperate to get away from home for college. But this of course means college visits aren't easy. So I have to find other ways to figure out which colleges might be a fit for me. So I was thinking I should take suggestions. These are the things I'm looking for (in no particular order):</p>

<p>Liberal arts college or at the VERY least a liberal arts curriculum style</p>

<p>Quality academics and intelligent students - I learn a LOT through my peers</p>

<p>Active theatre program that I could act in without necessarily majoring in theatre</p>

<p>Thriving campus life. I like the campus community feel, I don't want a college like NYU where the campus just sort of blends in with the rest of the city</p>

<p>Supportive of atheism, whether that means nonreligious or not strictly religious</p>

<p>Good aid - my family is somewhere in the 70-90 thousand per year range, I will need aid</p>

<p>Not tooooooo much of an "out there" student body. I consider myself politically liberal but I'm also pretty straightedge. I'm not really an outdoorsy hippy type, I wash my clothes every time I wear them, I don't smoke, I shop at the mall, that kind of stuff. I'm afraid of being too "normal" at some of the LACs I've looked at (ie Hampshire, but that's an extreme). I also don't drink.</p>

<p>I don't get along well with girls, and I want to easily maintain a large group of close guy friends like I have in high school. If you think I can do that at whatever all-girls school you're thinking of, please feel free to suggest it.</p>

<p>I'm not picky about geographic location, every part of the country has its ups and downs to me</p>

<p>I want to live in a cute college area, not right in a big city. I'm afraid I would go broke really fast living in the heart of somewhere like New York or Chicago or even Seattle. </p>

<p>I want to study abroad</p>

<p>I need to be at least 3 hrs away from Seattle</p>

<p>My major is undecided. I love theatre but I know it's impractical, I'm also very interested in sciences, english, philosophy, history, poly sci, and lotttts of other things. Hence the desire for a LAC.</p>

<p>oh and QUICK STATS so you know what's a match, etc.
GPA 3.92 UW (unranked) Full IB diploma candidate (5/6 classes honors/IB every year, the 6th class is always theatre, one of my biggest passions)
SAT:2120 ACT: 34 (no subject tests yet)
ECs at a glance: Huge commitment to theatre, part time restaurant job, XC, Track, frisbee, hosted exchange students in the past, volunteering with local community theatres and with 826 Valencia.</p>

<p>Please suggest anything from a reach to a safety. Specify if you think I could get a large amount of merit aid from any safety schools, I'm very interested in that</p>

<p>Thanks SO much! :) If you have anything else you'd like me to clarify, please let me know</p>

2

<p>not sure if it’s 3 hours from Seattle or not but Whitman College. The theatre program there is great and it’s a great liberal arts college with a great small college community.</p>

3

<p>I’m not sure about theatre, but check out the Claremont Colleges (Pomona, Scripps,etc). Some of them are quite generous with aid for middle class to upper middle class students. Pomona is need-blind; if they take you, you will get good financial aid,
Great study abroad options. They are in a cute college town. They are more than three hours away…</p>

<p>Chapman University in Orange California. Good theatre program from what I hear (friend’s daughter goes there, for musical theatre), as well as other performing arts. May be more of a safety with your scores. Orange is a cute town also. Supposedly, good merit aid. This I don’t know.</p>

<p>Also, are your parents willing to pay anything at all? If they aren’t, you may want to look at the threads for schools that provide full rides. Some of these are larger colleges, but they may have smaller honors colleges within them. </p>

<p>Best of luck and have fun with the search! Make sure to pull the parents in at some point with regard to this process if they are expected to pay any part of it so that you know where they stand.</p>

4

<p>the Claremont Colleges and Brown University are two recommendations. Brown is politically active from what I heard though.</p>

5

<p>My parents have some money saved up through the GET program for my younger brother and myself but most likely my brother will just be going to a state school or CC. My mom and dad have told me they’re willing to help out as much as they reasonably can, and my grandparents on both sides can make some contributions as well. So my financial situation is not HORRIBLE, but I definitely can’t attend a school where I won’t get at least SOME need based aid.</p>

6

<p>I thought I read that Davidson has the best aid of the top LACs. Check it out—I don’t know too much. Middlebury meets a lot of your criteria. The theater program seems good but not something they are especially famous for—there have been a lot of reviews recently on the Middblog about end of year performances if you want to get a sense of the types of things students produce. You might be more likely to get merit aid in the next tier of LACs—Hamilton, Trinity, Connecticut College.</p>

7

<p>

Theatre at Davidson is quite good and has very close ties with the Royal Shakespeare Company.</p>

<p>[Here’s</a> a good article on theatre and facilities at Davidson.](<a href=“http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/Documents/OfficesServices/CollegeRelations/CollegeCommunications/Winter08DJ_theatre.pdf]Here’s”>http://www3.davidson.edu/cms/Documents/OfficesServices/CollegeRelations/CollegeCommunications/Winter08DJ_theatre.pdf)</p>

<p>Davidson meets almost all of the OP’s criteria except perhaps the “cute college area.” I absolutely love Davidson and think it’s an awesome little town, but many think it’s too small.</p>

8

<p>I would have to second Whitman. You’ve described it pretty much spot on, excellent theatre (it’s the only school on the west coast listed in the Princeton Review top 20 for best theatre programs), 4.5 hrs from Seattle, and they offer merit aid. Keep in mind travel expenses when thinking of colleges a plane ride away. At least for the first year you will need to get to school, round trip for Thanksgiving break, round trip for winter break, round trip for spring break, and then home at the end.</p>

9

<p>Let me preface my remarks by mentioning that I know very little about Liberal Arts Colleges, so I will limit my suggestions to the realm of universities. The three schools that immediately stuck out in my mind when I read your criteria are Tufts, Brown, and Yale. I will go through each of your bullet points and discuss to the best of my ability whether the school would be a good match.</p>

<ol>
<li>Liberal arts college or at the VERY least a liberal arts curriculum style</li>
</ol>

<p>All three schools will give you a liberal arts style curriculum.</p>

<ol>
<li>Quality academics and intelligent students - I learn a LOT through my peers</li>
</ol>

<p>Yet again, all three schools have extremely intelligent student bodies. Additionally, instead of being “pre-professional” (although I hate the term because I do not believe any school actually fulfills the intellectual or pre-professional steriotypes), Brown and Yale (I am not sure about Tufts, but I believe the same applies) are known for their intellectual environments.</p>

<ol>
<li> Active theatre program that I could act in without necessarily majoring in theatre</li>
</ol>

<p>Again, all three schools are known for performance arts, particularly Yale.</p>

<ol>
<li> Thriving campus life. I like the campus community feel, I don’t want a college like NYU where the campus just sort of blends in with the rest of the city</li>
</ol>

<p>Tufts is the only school I mentioned that loses some of its campus community feel to Boston, but I hear that most of the social life remains on campus, and students only occasionally travel to Boston. Yale’s campus community is particularly strong, insomuch as New Haven, although it is a nicer (and safer) city than most people give it credit for, is not the most “hopping” place; as a result, students tend to stay on campus and only utilize the city for its excellent restaraunts.</p>

<ol>
<li> Supportive of atheism, whether that means nonreligious or not strictly religious</li>
</ol>

<p>Can’t help you with this one, but everyone at these school’s is very open, so I assume it should not be an issue.</p>

<ol>
<li> Good aid - my family is somewhere in the 70-90 thousand per year range, I will need aid</li>
</ol>

<p>You won’t be receiving merit aid, but their financial aid program’s are fairly good. Yale’s FA is excellent (considering they are the 2nd richest college)</p>

<ol>
<li> Not tooooooo much of an “out there” student body. I consider myself politically liberal but I’m also pretty straightedge. I’m not really an outdoorsy hippy type, I wash my clothes every time I wear them, I don’t smoke, I shop at the mall, that kind of stuff. I’m afraid of being too “normal” at some of the LACs I’ve looked at (ie Hampshire, but that’s an extreme). I also don’t drink.</li>
</ol>

<p>Brown, of the three, is known for being the most “out there”, but you will find many “normal” people there as well. It should not be a problem at Tufts or Yale, but I will warn you that most college students, no matter where you go, will drink.</p>

<ol>
<li>I don’t get along well with girls, and I want to easily maintain a large group of close guy friends like I have in high school. If you think I can do that at whatever all-girls school you’re thinking of, please feel free to suggest it.</li>
</ol>

<p>This should not be a problem anywhere.</p>

<ol>
<li>I want to live in a cute college area, not right in a big city. I’m afraid I would go broke really fast living in the heart of somewhere like New York or Chicago or even Seattle. </li>
</ol>

<p>Tufts is very close to Boston, but Medford is far from a big city. Providence and New Haven aren’t tiny, but they don’t have a big city feel. However, I doubt many people would consider New Haven a “cute college area”, although I happen to like the area immediately around campus.</p>

<ol>
<li>I want to study abroad</li>
</ol>

<p>All of the schools have excellent study abroad programs.</p>

<ol>
<li>I need to be at least 3 hrs away from Seattle</li>
</ol>

<p>No problems there, whether you are talking about 3 hrs driving or flying distance.</p>

<ol>
<li> My major is undecided. I love theatre but I know it’s impractical, I’m also very interested in sciences, english, philosophy, history, poly sci, and lotttts of other things. Hence the desire for a LAC.</li>
</ol>

<p>Yale’s theater, english, philosophy, and history departments are particularly strong (arguably the best in the world). Tufts is very good for poly sci/ International Relations (take a look at the Fletcher school). I don’t know about Brown’s programs.</p>

<p>Sorry if I made a lot of spelling errors - I’m exhausted. Also, I know there are a lot more schools that fit your criteria; I chose these simply because I knew more about them than most other schools. Finally, good luck!</p>

10

<p>How about Smith College, great aid, amazing study abroad (is one of the colleges thats ends a lot of students abroad) and cute college town (Northampton).
Amherst College could be another possibility, same with mount holyoke, bryn mawr, Vassar and scripps.
While Mt. Holyoke, Smith, Bryn Mawr and Scripps would be all girls colleges they are all in a consortium so you can easily make guy friends.
Macalester and Bates should be a good option as well.</p>

11

<p>It’s in the middle of Houston (though you honestly wouldn’t know it), but I think Rice would be a good fit, especially on the theatre/performing arts front. I know a great number of people who’ve been involved in the numerous productions on campus. The last play I saw was Tom Stoppard’s Rock ‘n’ Roll. I’ve also seen As You Like It (Shakespeare), Company (Sondheim), and The Importance of Being Earnest (Wilde), and there’s all kinds of other performance groups here from light opera to dance to improv if you can’t get enough theatre.</p>

<p>Rice is also really good with financial aid. My family has about the same income as yours, and my tuition is pretty much all paid for. It’s definitely not a safety school, and I hesitate to call it a match for anyone but I really think you would fit in here. Msg me with any questions you have.</p>

12

<p>With your ACT 34, you should be a desirable candidate at some good LACs. </p>

<p>Be sure to apply to a range of LACs and med-sized privates (including some mid-tiers) that will help you financially otherwise you could end up with schools that either gap or won’t give you the aid you need. </p>

<p>Within your list of schools, you need to include some that will give big merit for your stats as your financial safety schools. Since many schools don’t meet need, you need to include some that will give huge merit for your stats. Then, your family’s contribution can make up the difference.</p>

<p>Try to get a firm amount from your family that they can pay each year so that you’ll know what you’re dealing with. A family with that approx income might end up with an expected family contribution that is higher than they can afford. And some schools do not give more just because a sibling starts school later.</p>

<p>I would also consider … Santa Clara, USC, Loyola Marymount, UPortland…</p>

<p>how far are you willing to go? there are some midwest LACs that might work for you. Do you need to be within driving distance?</p>

13

<p>Many of your requirements/characteristics are a fit with Wellesley College (which was curiously not mentioned in the Smith/Mt. Holyoke list). In general, take a serious look at the all-women LACs, even if you think you wouldn’t be interested.</p>

14

<p>Grinnell might be a great fit</p>

15

<p>I second Grinnell. It meets all of your criteria AND they offer generous financial and merit aid.</p>

16

<p>I was thinking of Grinnell, too.</p>

17

<p>I would think that any of the NESCAC schools would be suitable for you.
(some of these might be reaches for you).</p>

<p>[New</a> England Small College Athletic Conference - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NESCAC]New”>New England Small College Athletic Conference - Wikipedia)</p>

18

<p>Don’t know about quality of the theatre programs, but the following LACs come to mind and have not yet been mentioned:</p>

<p>Macalester College (probably a match)
Carleton College (probably a match?)
College of Wooster (academic safety)
Lawrence University (academic safety)
Kalamazoo College (academic safety)
Allegheney College (academic safety)</p>

<p>You’re likely (but not assured) to get decent merit aid from Wooster, Kalamazoo, and Allegheny based on your stats. But I believe you’d still find the student body at these places to be high enough quality for learning from your peers.</p>

<p>Then there are also the LAC-like universities like William&Mary (reach/match for OOS female with your stats) and Rice that you might want to look at too.</p>

19

<p>Theatre is one of the more important factors. I’m willing to go very far away, in fact that’s what I want :slight_smile: I’m sick of the town I grew up in</p>

20

<p>Georgetown University</p>