LACs for a homeschooled student studying anthropology?

College Search & Selection
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hi everyone! i’ve been lurking on here for a while but am in need of advice/direction.

i’m a homeschooled senior that is currently applying to schools for Fall 2021 matriculation and am currently looking for LACs with good anthropology (mainly focusing on cultural anthro) programs. i also plan on attending graduate school after my 4 years of college, so any colleges that are known for sending anthro students to grad school would definitely be good for me!

my gpa is a 3.7 UW and i’ve never taken any form of standardized test.
i plan on taking out loans and my family is unable to pay more than 20-25k (out of pocket) a year.

i would PREFER colleges in states that are on the coast- as being in the midwest seems kind of mundane/claustrophobic to me. they DON’T have to be right by the beach, but i would prefer states along the coasts. however, i would definitely reconsider if some midwest/non coastal schools have exceptionally good anthropology programs!

i would also prefer if the schools were OR above 30-40% acceptance rate. i feel like it would be a waste of time to apply to schools under that as they seem like crapshoots. though, if the application is free or waived for this cycle, i would not mind applying to lower acceptance colleges.

i am also trans, so the college environment/student body is a huge factor for me. i would rather be at a college where i will be accepted for who i am and in an environment that is not hostile towards LGBT+ students :slight_smile:

my current list is just university of puget sound and a local state university as a safety.

any help or recommendations would be extremely helpful!

thank you!

1 Like
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https://www.beloit.edu/academics/anthropology/

Well checks most of your boxes… Lol… It is by a river that students Kayak in…

Strong anthropology program and kids go on to phds. They have a connection with Wisconsins PhD program and others. You can be who you are there. Great professors with small discussion based classes. They are doing something new this year about costs. It’s an interesting idea and might work out for you.

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I was also going to recommend Beloit. Well-regarded Anthro department.

With your finances, will your family qualify for financial aid?

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My daughter just graduated from there. Checks all the boxes but not by an ocean… Lol. The river is actually beautiful and areas to go hiking etc. Nice community and safe.

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You will probably need a lot of money. Your GPA isn’t so high that you are going to get merit awards at the most selective colleges, which don’t tend to give merit awards anyway. You don’t mention if you or your parents have run the net price calculator, but do that first for colleges of interest. You will only be allowed to take out $5500 in your first year, and in total, $27k.

Assuming you won’t get enough financial aid, you have to look at less selective colleges where 1) you might be offered merit, and 2) that aren’t super expensive to begin with. Though when you need to come up with $30k, it’s still a lot of money. I think you are going to need to consider colleges that accept at least 60%-70% of students.

Check out the Colleges That Change Lives. https://ctcl.org/

Here is another good list: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges/a-plus

You might have to forget about geographic considerations when you are looking for a lot of cash. Most LACs will have good anthropology programs. In general, the majority of LACs tend to be socially liberal, so if you start narrowing down more, come back and ask for feedback on certain schools.

You don’t say what state you are in. Tell us, we might be able to help you come up with in state options. Are you URM or first generation? That might help a little.

Run the NPC on more selective schools, say those with acceptance rates in the 30-40% range, and see if you will get enough FA to cover what you and your parents can’t pay. You could try Dickinson, Union, Connecticut College, and Occidental.

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Many LACs offer a good array of courses for the OP’s interest in cultural and social anthropology. Fewer colleges, however, offer comparably extensive courses in linguistic and biological anthropology, and perhaps fewer still offer an archaeology concentration. In general, colleges with distinct anthropology departments will be stronger in anthropology than colleges at which anthropology and sociology appear under a single department. Colleges with an available linguistics major or minor may also be preferred.

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Beloit has a new program this year something like they will meet their instate school tuition of their flagship… So it’s worth looking into. Plus her 3.7 might gain some merit. FYI

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not to bash you, but you should probably refrain from using a gender specific pronoun if we don’t know OPs gender, especially considering they are trans

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i think so, my parents were never married (they are separated) and my mom receives child support. also my household income is around 50k.

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correction, my GPA is a 3.9/4.0 UW, just checked today. sorry for the inaccuracy.
also should i be looking for colleges that give need-based aid? my family definitely is unable to pay full price for college.

I live in Delaware, and i will be applying to UDel as a backup, but i would prefer to go to an LAC as large student bodies can seem overwhelming and i would rather not be seen as a ‘number’ to a college.

also, i am not sure if this link says “B students” metaphorically, but my lowest grade in high school was a 91.

however, thank you for the list of colleges i will look into them!

i added two more colleges to my list:

Whitman and Bard (in addition to the others)

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thank you! i will definitely look into Beloit! also when i said coastal i did not mean the college has to be right by the ocean, i would just prefer living in a state that is on the west/east coast

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For a list of 20 schools to consider, search “The Best Small Colleges for a Sociology and Anthropology Degree.”

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Oops… Sorry… My daughter’s gay and has worked with the trans community in Chicago… I am still a work in progress…

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I suggested the list because the higher your GPA and the less selective the college, the more likely it is that you will be offered substantial merit aid. 3.9 is a great GPA, but for LACs that offer merit aid, the very best ones give it out like gold dust. But try looking at Kenyon, an amazing LAC, which should fit much of your criteria. Maybe you will have a chance at merit awards there.

Both parents’ income is considered when awarding FA. If your father is at all in the picture, you will need his financial information. I am not an expert on FA. We need more details though. I suggest you post in the FA forum, stating exactly how much money both of your parents make each year. With 50k as an annual income, you should qualify for a lot of need based aid, but that’s only half the picture. Who is the rest of your family? Is it your dad? How can your mom pay nearly half of her annual income for you to attend college?

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thank you for the helpful response! it’s been hard doing this myself as my homeschool GC isn’t always available.

my father will be completely unreliable in regards to paying for my college, i am very doubtful he will help. i live at home with my mother and grandmother, my grandmother helps out at home financially so my mom is willing to put out money for my college. in addition, her income is commissioned based, so it varies by year (corona is not helping lol).

i filled out the NPC for occidental and my final tuition price was under 20k.

i will look into kenyon! thanks!

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Make sure you include the child support your dad pays to your mom when doing NPCs.

Because your dad is in your life (paying child support), schools that require CSS Profile (many private schools) will likely require your dad’s financial info. It is unlikely you will qualify for a non-custodial parent waiver. Do you have a sense for his income level?

Will his child support payments stop when you turn 18? If so, perhaps ask if he can continue the same payments so that you can use those $ for college.

If he can not/will not contribute for college, I encourage you to apply to FAFSA only schools as opposed to ones that also require CSS Profile. FAFSA only schools will only require your mom’s financial info (and yours).

Beloit, mentioned above, is a FAFSA only school, as are most public colleges.

NPCs for Profile schools (like Oxy) are not going to give you a good estimate unless your dad’s financials are also included.

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[quote=my father will be completely unreliable in regards to paying for my college, i am very doubtful he will help. i live at home with my mother and grandmother, my grandmother helps out at home financially so my mom is willing to put out money for my college. in addition, her income is commissioned based, so it varies by year (corona is not helping lol).

i filled out the NPC for occidental and my final tuition price was under 20k.

i will look into kenyon! thanks!
[/quote]

For divorced/ separated parents, the NPC can be inaccurate. Did you include your dad’s income in the NPC for Occidental? It doesn’t matter if he will be unreliable, the college will include it unfortunately.

Schools use FAFSA or CSS Profile for calculating need. FAFSA only schools usually don’t meet the full need of applicants, but do NOT include non custodial parent info. CSS schools are usually more generous with aid, but DO require the non custodial parent info. There are a couple of exceptions to these rules (Vandy, Chicago…)

The only way to not include the non custodial parent info on the CSS aid application is to be given a waiver from each school. You will need to apply for a waiver for each separate college. Waivers are usually only given in cases where there is and has not been ANY contact between the child and the non custodial parent.

The other issue is that your dad will need to fill out his portion of the CSS profile. Will he do that?

Occidental uses the CSS Profile and so will need your dad’s info. I would run the NPC again and include his details, even if just a rough estimate. This will give you a more accurate aid result.

If it is looking too expensive, you may need to re-think your application strategy to schools with assured merit aid for your stats, plus in state public colleges that are affordable for you/your mom only, or that you can commute to.

Posters on here can help you strategize but it’s useful to know how much aid is really going to be offered to you.

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yes, i included the child support in the NPCs i have filled out!

his income level is significantly higher than my mother’s, however he will refuse to support me.

there is also no official custody agreement.

yes, the child support payments stop when i turn 18. after, i don’t expect him to support me financially for college.

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You will have to focus on FAFSA only schools then. CSS Profile schools will want your dad’s financials, and it’s unlikely you will qualify for a non-custodial parent waiver.

So for example, Occidental requires CSS profile and your dad’s financial info, and hence won’t be affordable if he doesn’t contribute what Oxy believes he should.

FAFSA only schools mentioned so far include U Delaware, U Puget Sound, and Beloit. Perhaps consider U Dayton, Allegheny, Susquehanna, Juniata…I believe they are all FAFSA only as well (but double check on their websites).

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no, I did not use his financial information for the NPC as it did not ask for it. The NPC asked for the oldest living parent in which you primarily live with so I put my mom’s information.

I also filled out NPCs for Bard and University of Puget Sound, and both were under 22k final price. I also filled out Beloit’s NPC and got 15k-17k

I do not know how much my father makes, however I only know he makes a lot more than my mother. I do not see my father often so getting information/filling out FASFA/CSS will be difficult. additionally, my mother works two jobs so it’s difficult to have her sit down with me and fill out NPCs, FASFA, CSS, etc.

this might sound like a silly question, but if I am only able to get 5,500 from FASFA my first year, why should I ‘avoid’ CSS schools if they are more generous with aid? chances are, wouldn’t I be getting more than 5,500 from CSS?

yes, I will try to get him to fill out his portion of the CSS before November.

I appreciate all of the help, thank you. i will try to sit down with my mother sometime soon and fill out the FASFA.