Thank you! Williams was on the list until we arrived in the town of Amherst and she thought it was too hard to get to a major city. So, based on her reaction to one of the coolest small towns I’ve seen, we are moving away from admittedly wonderful schools, like Williams, that are do not have easy public transportation to cities.
Yes, Gallatin is the NYU school that interests her most! I think her dad will take her to tour in November. I find NYU a bit daunting, but if she loves it I’m good with it. I do like smaller schools within a big school, and it has many things on her wish list.
I love all the Maine schools and toured them all back in my day (then ultimately I got scared of the winters). Kids are so quirky but, she is allergic to lobster and has declared she cannot go to school in Maine because, in her mind, if she doesn’t eat lobster she doesn’t belong in Maine! It’s silly, and partly she is joking, of course, but she mostly likes easy transportation to a big city from a mid sized school with a nice campus, small classes, and good anthropology/classics/art programs. Most of the Maine schools are a bit small and a bit too far from Boston to be ideal for her, but there have a lot to recommend them and are not off the table. Sometimes it seems she is looking for a unicorn school, I know.
Lafayette might be worth considering. Larger LAC in terms of enrollment with engineering. It is the kind of school where you can find a Theatre Arts major with a Chemistry minor or one of our son’s friends with an Engineering major and a music minor. They emphasize collaborative learning across several disciplines. Plus, it has the classic quad and a more traditional campus layout. Not that easy access to a city about 90 minutes from NYC and 75 to Philly.
Another vote for Macalester. For a true safety in a very cool city, also check out Lewis and Clark (though Portland, OR is not East Coast which you had specified as a preference). East Coast and very cool city (but academically not much like Brown) would be McGill in Montreal. Could be close to a safety/sure thing depending on grades and test scores (including APs) since they use objective admission criteria without considering essays or extracurriculars or teacher recs. If what she liked about Brown was an artsy/global vibe within the student body, I think that would be easy to find at McGill (among a subset of the student body).
My daughter is at one of the three schools in the title. She wanted an open curriculum and a collaborative (not competitive), inclusive and intellectually curious student body. After thorough research and going on tours, she thought Brandeis met those requirements. And she likely would have applied to Brandeis if she did not get in ED1 at her first choice.
Re NYU, which on the face if it doesn’t sound like what your D is looking for (my D is there and hated Brandeis on sight fwiw, but I digress) but because you’ve stated it as an option - I don’t know anything about the anthro department but you can certainly make NYU feel smaller through a LLC and/or a smaller department like liberal studies (max class size is 25 students) or Gallatin. Not sure how LS would fit her intended major (it might do it pretty well, she should take a look at the LS core curriculum) but Gallatin is pretty much a design-your-own-curriculum school and that might work very well for her by the sounds of things.
Applying to LS or - with an especially carefully crafted why NYU essay - to Gallatin - could also make NYU more of a target than a reach school. (While CAS has a 7% admit rate, LS is thought to be in the 20s, and Gallatin will be very dependent on how well she shows them she’ll use the individualized curriculum.)
@Midwestmom2022 first, congratulations on an ED1 acceptance! That’s the dream path for D24, too! Your comment about Brandeis is so helpful and the type of opinion I was hoping for. It is definitely on our list to consider seriously.
@SJ2727 yes, Gallatin is the NYU school she is considering. It will be an interesting tour, I expect, and maybe she will think it is a great option, maybe not. NYU is definitely bigger than what currently seems ideal, but she hasn’t looked at a big school yet. I am glad she is willing to start early and consider diverse options
@southernfemmom There’s a really nice article in the New York Times today that made me think of your post. It’s about a Maya site called Sak Tz’i’ in Chiapas, Mexico and features archaeologists from both Brown and Brandeis, two of the universities you mentioned. Maybe your daughter would enjoy reading it.
@Pier thank you! How incredibly thoughtful to recommend that article! I shared it with my daughter and just finished reading it myself, too, and it was fascinating! I truly appreciate you bringing it to our attention!