<p>Re: post #13: “NOT Macalaster, Oberlin, Bard, Vassar, or Carlton.”
My own kid, when we lived in the midwest, applied to three out of four of those schools, and attended one. It’s about fit, but whether you fit will depend on more on who you are, and less on where you happen to hail from.</p>
<p>In general, the OP’s son would be a great fit at a great many Eastern schools, just as Senator Specter from PA was when he came from Kansas to attend school in the East. Without knowing his GPA and SAT/ACT, talking of specific schools is premature. Yes, some Eastern kids are snobby–a trait I have also seen in Southerners, Westerners and Midwesterners. And yes, they gravitate towards some schools more than others–also a fact in other parts of the country.
Having traveled all over the country for business over more than 3 decades, I learned that when someone from another region attributes a negative characteristic to a different part of the country, they are usually either elying on stereotypes or guilty of that trait themselves.
I wish we could get past stereotypes of pushy Easterners; narrowminded Midwesterners; shallow Westerners; bigoted Southerners; etc and deal with people as individuals.</p>
<p>Definitely look at Whitman. Music department is much loved and the science seems great. They just got some fabulous grant for some major research equipment almost never available to undergrads. The school gets undervalued due to its more remote location but it has a great community where he would definitely find friends.</p>
<p>Thanks to all respondents, you’ve given me much food for thought. I was relieved to see you list colleges that we were already considering, plus a few more! I should mention that I myself attended Yale as an undergrad and a Kansas girl. My experience in general was very good, and I echo comments that it is valuable to attend school in a different region and experience a different part of the country. My son, however, is more socially inept than I was (though cares less about what others think!). So I am wary of places in which athletics and the Greek system play a big part of the social scene. With his grades, activities, recommendations, and probably scores (he just got PSAT back, and he’ll probably be a semi-finalist), he should be able to get into fairly selective schools.</p>
<p>Not an LAC, I know, but sounds like U Chicago to me. Wash U was also getting some really great (and nice) kids from there, when I was around. NMSF might get some merit $$ from Carleton, Macalester and Oberlin, FWIW. (And a free ride to KU !!).</p>
<p>Given the PSAT score, he will have a ton of good options. I know Haverford well and it sounds like an excellent fit. Swarthmore and Brandeis also come to mind quickly. I do not know the many fine schools outside the East very well.</p>
<p>He would also have a very good chance at serious merit money from the next highest tier in selectivity. </p>
<p>Outside the LAC category, as a Yalie, you know the plusses and minuses of the Ivies for your son. Carnegie Mellon adn Chicago might be fine choices.</p>
<p>Lots of good advice here, but some schools have been lumped together that may be very different on the hipster/chill/politically left scale (as discussed recently in another thread). Oberlin and Bowdoin or Macalaster and Carlton may be quite different in this sense and that should be considered as well.</p>
<p>FWIW, Carleton U only offers $2K for NMF, no major merit scholarships. If you are interested in some good schools with merit aid for NMFs go to the financial aid forum and look for Keilexandra’s thread on NMF scholarships.</p>
<p>"Oberlin and Bowdoin or Macalaster and Carlton may be quite different in this sense and that should be considered as well. "</p>
<p>They may be, but D1 thought three of the 4 were sufficiently close in this regard that she applied to all of them. There is a range, but only Bowdoin seems the real outlier here. To me.</p>
<p>“FWIW, Carleton U only offers $2K for NMF, no major merit scholarships.”</p>
<p>I think they did a little more than this when D1 was applying. For some reason $5k is sticking in my mind. But that was a while ago, and it’s true that their awards were somewhat nominal in the big scheme of things. </p>
<p>Macalester did a little better than this, for D1 anyway. Some people here have reported getting all sorts of merit awards from Oberlin, but D1s was purely nominal.</p>
<p>Might want to look at Holy Cross-good LAC near Boston. HC is a Jesuit school but not that religious. Holy Cross has strong science program and also offers 4 year music scholarship. HC offers small class size with no grad student professors. Also unlike most LAC’s the school is not in the middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>Could you give me more of a sense of how he might fit in at various places? We already have a lengthy list of places where I think he would do well and be challenged academically. Financial aid will not be the determining factor. But I want him to be at a place where he’ll feel comfortable socially. He absolutely loved a summer writing camp at Kenyon, where he felt amongst kindred spirits. I don’t think he’ll be “eaten alive” on the East coast, as one writer put it, but I wish for him a welcoming, friendly academic environment.
Can you tell he’s my first kid to go to college, ha, ha?</p>
<p>I think that the best way to find if he thinks he will fit in to visit the campus while students are there. LACs tend to each have their own flavor - what appeals to one person will not appeal to another. I do think that smaller midwestern schools tend to be welcoming overall. I live in WI and have never heard anyone complain about a lack of a friendly atmosphere at any of the LACs in the upper midwest. That being said, different things are more important at some schools than others. Some have Greek, others eschew them. Some are into sports, others couldn’t care less about them. Some emphasize community service while at others don’t. Doing an overnight with a student and attending classes can be helpful to discovering the character of the school, but realize that if you get a bad host, it can color your view.</p>
<p>kansasmom, My son visited quite a few LACs, aside from Kenyon mostly on the Eastcoast. I can’t think of any that *wasn’t *friendly. The atmospheres were quiet different (eg Williams is different from Swarthmore; Amherst is different from Wesleyan) but I got the impression that all of them were full of friendly supportive kids plus friendly supportive professors.</p>
<p>I agree wholeheartedly with what shennie wrote. The differences tend to be what kids do when they’re not in class other than hanging out with friends which is fairly universal. How do they fill up their time? Sports, music, art, theater, political organizing, Greek based social events, video games, role playing, outdoorsy activities, brooding? Once he starts visiting he’ll just know where he fits.</p>
<p>Kansasmom, Knox has an annual tradition on the day before classes begin called Pumphandle, in which everyone at the school (starting with the president) shakes hands with everyone else at the school. I went through Pumphandle my freshman year with a Michael Moorcock book sticking out of my jacket pocket and met some fellow geeks (and future roommates) before our first classes.</p>
<p>Freshmen are also required to take a multidisciplinary signature course in the Fall in which each small section (12-15 students) studies the same material and has papers due on the same subjects on the same deadlines. It’s a great way for freshmen to meet other freshmen because they all have this in common. Knox also has one of the best undergraduate creative writing programs in the country if your son is pursuing those lines.</p>
<p>All those schools you’re already considering will obviously offer academic challenge and at least a selection of students on campus with whom he could bond as “kindred spirits.” But if you’re looking for a best fit scenario where the college’s culture best parallels what you describe I’d personally suggest closest looks at:</p>
<p>Thank you, all. We are planning our first big look over spring break, to campuses that are still in session. I really appreciate all of your advice. Final question I have a very strong anti-Greek bias (partly because of the partying, partly because of the tendency to stereotype). Any defenders want to weigh in? Would a nerdy guy like my son benefit from one? Are the non-residential ones better than the residential? Any schools you would eliminate based on this?</p>
I have a very strong anti-Greek bias (partly because of the partying, partly because of the tendency to stereotype). Any defenders want to weigh in? Would a nerdy guy like my son benefit from one? Are the non-residential ones better than the residential? Any schools you would eliminate based on this?</p>