<p>Here's my list so far.
I am interested in English, Intl Studies, French, Poli Sci, Government, International Relations, Anthropology, Leaning non-romance languages. I want to double major in French and something else. I especially like the idea of an open curriculum.
Cost is an issue because I'm the upper middle class income bracket where I need money, but am that the most in need of money.
I would like a lot of interaction with professors and discussion type classes.
I'd be happy to share my resumee info through a private email if anyone is interested in reccommending schools I could get into.
so here goes</p>
<p>Brown
Amherst-first choice
Williams
Vassar
Haverford
Smith
Wellesley
Bryn Mawr
Hamilton
University of Rochester-amazing poli sci!
Drew
Rutgers New Brunswick (in state)
possibly skidmore, college of william and mary</p>
<p>Sorry for going on a tangent, but does anybody else find it odd that a liberal arts college would have an open curriculum when a liberal arts education, in its classical meaning, is supposed to be extremely-well rounded, thus requiring a core?</p>
<p>It's a good list. However, if you need money, you need to look for schools that offer merit aid, and apply to them. To get the aid, you need to be a very desirable candidate for the school- usually in the top 20 to 25%. This means that you need to apply to some schools that are a little less competitive relative to your statistics- not all dream reach schools. Luckily, quite a few LACs offer good aid. You should be able to find some good schools that offer aid and fulfill your expectation.</p>
<p>If merit money is a requirement you will need to do some serious tinkering with your list. Amherst, Williams, Brown, and Haverford do not provide merit aid (at least in principal). Skidmore, rochester, vassar provide limited merit aid and you have to be in the upper quartile to have a shot. The good news for you is that the combination of majors you are thinking about pursuing can be found in many schools and that, with a little research, you can find quality in lesser known places at the right price. Since you know that French will be one of your majors why not look for schools that have aspects of a French major that will be important to you. These might include the number of faculty versus the number of majors, a well established study abroad program in France, maybe whether the school has a "french" house where the students live but only speak French to each other while in the house, and a record of interdisciplinary research and collaboration between the French department and other departments you are interested in--e.g. a tie to a history of poly sci professor who might be doing work in french speaking african nations. Depending on your qualifications this kind of legwork could not only lead to a very happy and productive undergraduate experience, but one done with little debt coming out of school. Since you mentioned rochester a school where you might get lots of merit aid and have some of the aspects mentioned above is Nazareth college of rochester. good luck.</p>
<p>thanks for all the great advice
merit aid is not a requirement, i should get some needbased FA according to the online calculators and will apply for and hopefully get a lot of outside scholarships</p>
<p>the french offering at smith is "french studies" (there is a language requirement) rather than "french language and literature". They do offer a french speaking house though. I understand there is a relevent difference between the two offerings but as I would plan on using my skills in a non-teaching setting, ie being a translator or using the language as a job skill, do you think this is important for me to consider.</p>
<p>ps smith does give some merit aid, urochester gives a lot, rutgers would be almost free (i'd get awards towards tuition and room and board), hamilton (which i'm considering but is not on my list) gives some aid.
basically i want a couple of schools to consider with merit aid within a 4-5 hr ride of nj.
thanks again</p>
<p>Since you say you should get at least some need-based aid, I wouldn't be too concerned. Top schools often have huge endowments and generally aren't stingy with financial aid. Even people in the upper middle class income bracket can't afford $45,000 a year. (Honestly, I don't understand how ANYONE can afford paying full price!)</p>
<p>I would throw a few more safeties and matches into the mix... Although I don't know your stats, Gettysburg, Richmond, and Franklin and Marshall fit your distance-from-NJ criteria and aren't quite as competitive as a lot of the other schools you're applying too.</p>
<p>should i post my stats? i'll pm them to anyone who's interested. here's how i rank the difficulty of getting admitted
amherst, brown, williams- reach
haverford, vassar, wellesley- high match
smith, bryn mawr, urochester-low match
rutgers-safety</p>
<p>as for washington and lee, that seems a little too conservative for me. also it's a little bit farther than i wanted to go.</p>
<p>another of my preferences- i like the idea of cross registration with other schools, like the five college consortium that would include smith and amherst, and the tri college consortium which includes bryn mawr and haverford</p>