Yes. Would look for environmental policy/studies where being a good writer will be a tremendous asset.
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What’s your budget?
Encourage her go to a liberal arts school with an undeclared major, and focus her studies on the humanities she is good at. She can intern, volunteer and work in the summer and her employment opportunities will be fine.
The prestige issue will vanish once on campus but with her verbal abilities, she can try some of the schools suggested.
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I have not looked at the Brown application, but I bet if carofowo’s daughter does then she might realize that it is not a fit and that realization is much more valuable coming from her than it would be if it was a directive coming from mom and dad. She needs to be the one to find the place that is right for her, not her peers at school, and not her parents beyond paying for it, of course.
I have a D22 going through this right now also. She has been talking about lots of different schools for the past couple of years. For awhile there she was sure she wanted to go to the UK to school. As her parents we didn’t stomp down that idea and squash it. We were fully supportive. I told her to research it and see if she thought the UK was a good fit and which schools in particular. For almost a solid year she was super focused on going to university in the UK and we learned a ton about how their system differs from ours, how much it would cost, what kinds of scores she would need, etc, but after she had been back ‘in’ high school for a few weeks this year she took a deep look inside herself and at the schools she was considering in the UK and decided against it. I think it was MUCH better that she made that decision herself than if I made it for her. I had reservations all along, but I didn’t want to hold her back. If she could get it together to do it then more power to her. We renewed her passport and were prepared to go to the UK to look at schools except COVID got in the way.
She is 17, almost 18. My job is not to pick out the direction of her life. My job now is to support her as she makes her own decisions and finds her own way, so I say let carofowo’s daughter take a stab at the app for Brown if she’s that motivated. Chances are if she gets into the app and it starts to seem really hairy she will have a rethink. If she plows on, then good on her. She will learn some stuff about herself and maybe get some good essay ideas for other schools. As long as she knows Brown is a reach for every student no matter their grades and scores and she understands she’s not likely to get in, I don’t see the harm. If she does get in it might be great for her.
@carofowo I would really encourage you to cram in as many college visits as you can this fall while students are on campus. That is what did the trick for my D22. Like I said she had huge dreams about the UK and was really focused on that for almost a year, then she started looking at schools in the Midwest and we were on the verge of planning a trip to see them next month, but last Friday we went to see Warren Wilson College near Asheville and UNC-Asheville and she just fell in love <3 with Warren Wilson. It was seeing the kids on campus that did it for her.
Just wanted to reiterate what I wrote in earlier posts. I’m not saying only apply to reach schools. I’m saying as long as you have some solid safeties that she loves then let her apply to the reaches:
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I would agree with others that you might be trying to fit a square peg into a round hole as far as Engineering is concerned. While there is quite an admissions advantage for women going into certain types of Engineering(not Evironmental, which has a surplus of Females), you must be very comfortable with Maths and Science if you are going to go into even a top 50 Engineering school.
I get confused when people mention “prestige”. Does that mean a school that your daughter can brag about going to to her friends? IMO, it’s time to leave all that behind after HS, and go do what you really were meant to do, and not worry about what others think.
For reference, one BIL is an Engineer who transferred out of GTech(back then it was a terrible weedout school) for the “easier” UIUC. Another got his PHD from UIUC Engineering. Another went to U of Toronto Engineering(very rigorous). Friend (woman) transferred out of U of Toronto Engineering into a non ENG faculty…she went into ENG because her beloved father was an Engineer. My son wants to go into Engineering, even though I was a complete idiot in Maths and Sciences, and was a Performing Arts guy. He is looking at some top, or near top Engineering schools, but he is leaning towards the local State, non prestigious, flagship, because it is such a good fit. My wife went to a middle of the road, solid but not anything special midwest LAC, excelled there, and ended up going to a “prestigious” Medical school, but more by accident than intention.
My main point is that your daughter owes it to herself to find a school that fits her, rather than a school that impresses her friends.
St. Olaf was mentioned above. Good school, and shares the nice small town of Northfield with Carleton, a top 10 LAC, so a student is less isolated there than you might think. It Is also a 45 minute drive from the center of Minneapolis. Being from the South she would have to prepare for a very long and cold MN winter, though. It is colder than many parts of Canada.
I would like to hear more about what your daughter before I suggest any schools. My brother is a technical/add copy writer. Another complete incompetent when it comes to Math, but one of the smartest people I know. He makes a good living explaining really smart, but obtuse people and processes to investors, customers, governments, and the general public. He is a good writer, communicator, and has a curiousity about the world, and how things work.
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Looking at/filling out the Brown application is not going to indicate “not a fit” – but it is going to be a lot of work that could be better spent elsewhere.
@carofowo – one thing that might be helpful for your daughter is to look at the curriculum requirements for the various majors/programs that she is interested in, if she hasn’t already done so. Sometimes seeing requirements can be a real wake-up call, both in terms of “oh that is so interesting – I want to take all of those courses” vs “oh no – I don’t want to take those specific courses, that’s totally not for me”.
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@carofowo I don’t think you’ve listed her unweighted GPA or her AP courses or scores. Also her EC’s would be helpful. Its hard to give recommendations without those.
My S22 also started this process looking for prestige. He wanted to apply to BC, BU, Northeastern and Holy Cross just like most of his HS peers. We’ve been touring schools and he now has a great list of safety and match schools that he really likes. He’s not applying to any of the “prestige” schools that were on his original list and may not even apply to any real reach schools. He’s starting to realize there are so many great schools out there and HE’s the one that has to spend 4 years there, not his HS classmates, so why worry about what any of them think about his choice.
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Why aren’t you sharing her UW GPA? So many here want to help, but that is a big piece of the puzzle missing.
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Also missing is where they’ve toured and impressions.
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I found her unweighted GPA - It is 94. Weighted 4.35 , The plan was to go TO.
APs are History - 4, English -3, Psychology Did not take exam, currently taking Calculus B/C not A/B, computer science principles and microeconomics
Her school suggested Tulane, and Trinity Dublin. (She picked Vanderbilt and Brown.) They also picked Elon, Wofford, Furman, Univ of Richmond. I thought Elon was a fit for her personality but she did not think it was close enough to an interesting city. We have toured Tulane, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, and Rhodes. So far she has not connected with any of them that much. So an Elon vibe near a city like Nashville? Thanks again. You all have already been amazing so feel free to pass on this drama. 
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It sounds like you all have reached a good place!
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Sorry about that. I just found that info and posted it.
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Great idea! Thanks!
Yes! I agree. She needs to find the safety schools.
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These are exciting options! Thank you for sharing them! We will check them out…
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We are pretty wide open on the budget.
I thought she didn’t want Greek life? If so, Elon, Wofford, Furman, Rhodes, Richmond are all relatively Greek. If she wants Greek, DePauw would be a great match (low reach for Honors).
If she doesn’t want Greek, no wonder she didn’t connect. URichmond would be a good one to visitnevertheless, and what about UNC Asheville, College of Charleston, Southwestern- all in interesting towns?
Note that Elon, Wofford, Furman are all good matches. Richmond a definite reach.
Trinity Dublin requires a 29 ACT (one sitting) and is likely to require a high AP score in math, chemistry, and physics for the Engineering “course” (major) since the 1st semester courses seem to assume the equivalent of Calc BC, AP chem, and AP physics. Look into UCD, too - Maynooth if she wants to be near Dublin, U Galway, U Cork, U Limerick for safeties. In Scotland, U Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Stirling, Strathclyde, Herriot Watt, all offer solid programs (you apply to 5 through UCAS.)
By wide open, do you mean you could pay 50k a year out of pocket (from income and savings )?
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Yes, Elon is great, but not that close to a city. U Richmond I have heard great things about. What about College of Charleston? its in a city, near a beach. It would likely fit into “a safety”
My D is at Elon and is not in Greek life. She finds plenty to do there but does occasionally wish it had a city nearby. They go into Greensboro once in awhile but haven’t really found a lot to do there. But overall she really likes the school.
Would she be interested in any Catholic schools? A lot of them are in cities and have little or no Greek life. St Joseph’s, Fordham, Catholic Univ, Univ of Dayton, BC, Santa Clara, LMU, are some that come to mind but no idea if they have her majors.
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Catholic U and U of Dayton both have engineering as my S considered them.
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