My son’s two main interests are music (B.A. In theory/composition rather than B.M. Performance track) and East Asian Studies–particularly Japanese language & culture. He left his competitive public magnet school (think Stuyvesant) with a 3.4 GPA but has since been doing dual-enrollment classes (as a homeschooler) at the local community college and currently has a 4.0 there after 3 semesters. We’re still waiting on SAT scores but based on how he’s done on the PSAT I think the current short list of schools is a good (but I’m starting to gather–small) collection that runs the gamut from reach to safety. Some comments here have me worried about programming or culture for some of the schools. Here’s his list:
Bard (the original dream school but after some research it’s seeming out of reach financially as I understand they don’t tend to offer much aid and we have a high need–I’m a single Mom and public school teacher).
Colorado College (current top choice but low acceptance rate is worrisome)
Oberlin --my son is not competitive to apply to the conservatories at any of these schools as he is largely self-taught and nervous about auditioning. Still, it would be nice to have access to top notch music faculty (I understand Oberlin offers a BA in musical studies but I honestly have reservations about the extreme political culture there even though we are very liberal)
Lawrence University --I love a lot about this place…the retreat in the woods with the Scandinavian name, the music program looks amazing and yet much more laid back than Bard or Oberlin. That said, the culture seems a bit…I won’t say conservative but…not nerdy enough? My son is not a hipster but I could see him maybe becoming one in college. Ha. He’s got shaggy hair, built his own computer, he’s in to Japanese animation etc. Lawrence just seems a little Bla or sporty/traditional. I’d love to hear that I’m wrong because is some ways this place seems like a good choice for him.
Beloit–seems more liberal than Lawrence and a good mix of what he’s looking for but nothing really stands out.
Earlham - On the “safety” side…town seems a little blasé but the Japanese and Asian studies options look great. Bonus points for Japanese theme housing, also offered at Colorado and…
Whitman – we’re in Texas and this is reeeeeaaaly far away but it looks great because my son is VERY in to the outdoors and could benefit from a formal program. He’s an introvert so something like this would get him out of his room, for sure. I’m concerned that I read they are " not strong" in music and read the same things about Earlham. Yet Whitman is one of only a few I found that offered a BA with a composition focus. I’m trying not to get too attached to this one because we have no choice but to apply RD since they don’t offer EA & we need aid.
Any others I should check out?! Do we really need to apply to 10 or 12 schools?! Back in the old days they always told us 5 or 6. He’s planning to really be invested in the supplemental writing samples. It can be so draining. Thanks in advance for your input…
Keep Bard. They do try to give good aid for students they want (my wife’s nephew attends with a kluge of scholarships and his mom is a single parent teacher).
What about some large public Us that might offer merit like Ohio State?
Lawrence, Hamilton and Williams founded Associated Colleges in China (a program currently administered by Hamilton). As this may be an indicator of a commitment to East Asian Studies, you may want to keep Lawrence on your list and possibly add Hamilton. In terms of opportunities in music and the outdoors, Hamilton is certainly not lacking. URochester may be another school to consider.
As with your current choices, the suitability of applications to these colleges will partly be determined by testing. The recent 4.0 certainly looks promising, however.
Thanks for the input! I really think my oldest son (i.e. The student in question) would do better in a more intimate setting. I think a state school would be overwhelming for him as he’s a bit spectrum-y. I seem to recall Carleton having a fantastic Asian studies program but we took it off the list…maybe because the music program required an audition and they only offered a Bachelor of Music? I can’t remember. Indeed–the test scores are the big question mark although they are optional at Bard and Lawrence. He’s a very strong writer and has some other unique things to list in his application so I feel like these schools are a good fit --like I said…with a range. Colorado may be a reach based on acceptance rate but I think that must be misleading. Are they really that much more selective than Oberlin or Bard…or do they simply have an enormous number of underqualified applicants who want to ski all the time & take advantage of the recreational marijuana laws (or lack thereof)? Thinking out loud here…
I will look at Hamilton, thanks for the heads up. Bard is staying because “you never know.” We’ll be visiting the Midwestern schools in a few weeks…
Earlham 's Japanese department is supposed to be very good, and good students get good merit aid, so keep it on the list! Richmond is sleepy but the community is very friendly. DS ran into some of the same kids there that he saw at the Bard revisit, so there seems to be some overlap.
Did you look at Denison and Kenyon? We weren’t looking at music programs but got the sense that both were well resourced for those so inclined.
A list such as this will help you make selectivity inferences beyond acceptance rate: “The 610 Smartest Colleges,” Business Insider. However, beyond a certain point, an acceptance can be so low that in and of itself it can be a significant barrier. Consideration of an ED application may be advisable in these cases.
I think you have to clarify your financials first. Many small LACs, including the most selective, are quite generous with need-based aid. Many LACs promise to meet full demonstrated need, which means they will cover all expenses over your Estimated Family Contribution (as determined by them). Bard, as far as I can tell, doesn’t guarantee to meet full need, but I don’t think you should eliminate it yet if other factors are appealing.
You should run a few of the college’s net price calculators to get an idea of how much need-based aid your family would be eligible for. If your EFC works for you, then, fine, your son can put together a wide list.
If, on the other hand, you will require merit aid, he will need to look for colleges that offer it, which tend to be a different list from need only schools.
It’s hard to predict how college’s will view your son’s academic record. LAC admissions is holistic and he seems to have quite a few strong positives, so he should include a few reaches as well. If appropriate, he should submit a performance supplement with his application.
I would suggest that your son look at Wesleyan which is very strong in both music and East Asian studies, and seems to fit the culture that he’s attracted to. Also, Williams, though it’s highly selective. Williams has an excellent music department and an excellent East Asian program. It’s not hipster, but has a pervasive outdoorsy culture.
For a slightly less selective option (and with a chance for merit money) consider Willamette in Salem, OR. Strong in music and Asian studies. Excellent school with interesting opportunities.
I second Willamette, it has strong ties to Japan with lots of student/cultural exchanging going on. It also is good with merit aid and is small. There is an outdoor program with some fabulous outdoors nearby. We know kids who have really enjoyed it.
Willamette is co-located w Tokyo Int’l University of America. Plus Willamette is immediately across the street from the state capital bldg, so ideally located for gov’t internships.
Temple University has a campus is Tokyo. It’s tbe oldest & largest foreign university in Japan.
My D just finished her first year at Earlham, which she was attracted to because of its Japanese program. During her search in high school, we learned that many small LACs with “Asian Studies” were dropping or decreasing their commitment to Japanese in favor of Chinese. Some, such as Wittenberg, hadn’t updated their website to reflect that fact so make sure that you ask each and every school about that. Another college we looked at for Japanese was Ohio Wesleyan and Elizabethtown (PA), although I know nothing about their music programs (and its too bad about Witt because I believe that they do have both a good music program and generous financial aid although their endowment is small and thus worrisome). Earlham has a good music program for a small college although I don’t know any particulars about music theory and comp classes. But they certainly have a wonderful choir program for such a small college. The town is eh, although there are important stores within walking distance of campus (supermarket, CVS, a few restaurants) and my D has discovered a more interesting downtown while working there this summer. And she loves the student-run coffee house on campus (that was one of our town metrics - must have a coffee house - ever since she did a summer program at an Ohio U that only offered McDonalds for coffee!).
Since I brought up Ohio Wesleyan above, I do want to add that my D, when visiting, talked with faculty about her interest in Japanese, was told by the faculty member, “Go to Earlham.”
I think you should look at Grinnell. He sounds like a perfect fit!
The school offers music composition and Japanese – even if the offerings are not as extensive as some other schools, Grinnell provides plenty of opportunities for individual study in close collaboration with professors, such as this: http://www.grinnell.edu/academics/arc/academic-affairs/map
For someone like your son, who has multiple interests and seems to like to follow his own creative and intellectual path, he will really be able to take advantage of a wide range of opportunities. They have a really good Computer Science department, which sounds like he might enjoy.
He may even end up taking a different path than what he expects now. THAT is the beauty of a Liberal Arts education! This is an example of what i’m talking about – http://www.grinnell.edu/news/scoop-shovel-knight
I would encourage you not to only look at the college websites, but talk directly to the departments and the schools to delve in deeper into the reality. I think that there are a lot of very good and very creative musicians and writers who flourish at Grinnell – as at many other schools that may not be evident from the website / catalogue itself…
@merc81 I have since seen URochester name-dropped many times elsewhere as well as Willamette above & elsewhere (thanks all!) so I will definitely follow up in those 2. Being from the south, the names are very unfamiliar but I feel like that’s what we need. It has occurred to me that he should have 1 “name brand” school on the list because of the fantastic need based aid, but I have looked at Amherst Et al but somehow I think he’d feel like a fish out of water on the east coast surrounded by the country club set…also…honestly, I’ve had a hard time finding the unique combo he needs at any of the big name schools. This is a real puzzle, isn’t it?
Btw Rochester is a bit bigger than the ideal and so is Wesleyan, but it occurred to me that we might as well add the latter to our list, so thanks for confirming that suspicion.
Earlham & Denison both gave my D excellent financial aid including unexpected merit scholarships. She was looking for Japanese but we can’t speak to music. She was also looking for the small scale & intimacy factors you mention. Not necessarily a precedent but she was not accepted at Carleton and Grinnell, waitlisted at Oberlin. YMMV, some students get exact opposite results.
