<p>I am having a lot of trouble selecting schools to apply to or ones that I even like! I am junior, african american, 30-32ACT range, have not taken SATIIs yet, unsure of what to major in, good ECs/activities. But I would like to go to a small LAC, rural/suburban area, part of the country doesn't matter.</p>
<p>I would love a school with intense academics, focus on study abroad, more conservative, less of a party school. I really like St. Olaf, Swarthmore, Furman, Earlham, and Juniata but I'm still not sure of even those. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated and much needed. Thanks!</p>
<p>There are a couple dozen of these schools worth exploring. It’s hard to say what might work for you without knowing more about your interests. What do you want to study?</p>
<p>For starters, check out Claremont McKenna. Its focus is on government, international relations, and economics. It is said to be relatively conservative compared to most other selective LACs.</p>
<p>It is interesting that you have both St Olaf and Furman on your list because that was our D’s 2 finalists. D chose Furman, which we supported, but we leaned a little more towards St Olaf. St Olaf has a tremendous study abroad program and we loved the campus and the friendly kids. Their new science building is amazing. It is also a dry campus.</p>
<p>Furman has a beautiful campus and they are known for their academic intensity. They also have a dry policy regarding alcohol on campus but that is changing this year for certain living residences. Both schools are great but very different.</p>
<p>Please note, however, that neither one has a tremendous amount of campus diversity. I am not sure what your GPA is but assuming it is at the similar level of your ACT, you should not have a problem being accepted to any of your choices with the possible exception of Swarthmore, which is at a different level.</p>
<p>My unweighted GPA is in the 3.8-3.9 range, but I wont be sure till after this semester. Oh yes, that was another thing I should have mentioned–I do want to go to a school with more diversity, but I really loved St. Olaf.</p>
<p>My interests keep changing! I think I may want to go pre-med, with my interests ranging from gov/poli sci, international relations, chemistry, biochem, social work. I really loved Lehigh’s IDEAS program, but not really Lehigh’s environment.</p>
<p>FrenchSilkPie–I’m nearly positive you’re the slightly more conservative, african-american version of me, lol.</p>
<p>Anyways, from your list of schools, I assume you’ve at least checked out some of the College that Change Lives schools. I would check out Lawrence, in Appleton, WI. I’m visiting there in a couple of weeks and I can give you a report of my observations if you want</p>
<p>Be aware that Swarthmore is in a very different league than the other schools you mentioned as far as admissions difficulty goes. It would be a reach for you (as it would be for most people).</p>
<p>WiscoKid–that would be great Yes I have looked at some and I love some of them, but I need to apply to more competitive schools and more reach schools (like Swarthmore).</p>
<p>soze- Thanks, it’s on my reach list just kind of clumped all the potential schools together</p>
<p>My personal opinion is you shouldn’t apply to a reach school unless you absolutely love it. I don’t see any point of putting effort into applying just because you feel like you should. I’m not saying that you are btw, this is more of a general statement. </p>
<p>Reed is basically the west coast version of Swarthmore, and less selective. You should also look into Middlebury, Bowdoin, Williams, Amherst, and maybe Carleton</p>
<p>^ Reed is not much, if at all, less selective than Swat. DD1 was waitlisted there (it was her first choice) with a 34 ACT and a 3.92 UW GPA with the hardest classes chosen. Reed is also hardly conservative or “not a party school”. However they do focus on their academics. </p>
<p>Yes, I would consider Reed liberal, I just wanted to give another option to Swarthmore in terms of academics.</p>
<p>And in terms of % admitted, Reed is less selective, but they focus more on the the person rather than numbers. I believe I read somewhere that grades and test scores only make up 20% of the criteria which they consider</p>
<p>College of the Holy Cross gets rated a 98 for academics by the Princeton Review, has 3000 students and one hour west of Boston and reputable premed program. Also look into Colgate and Bucknell.</p>
<p>Ha, Kenyon as “less of a party school”? Not so much. It is very focused on academics though, and it’s rural and has a good study abroad program. But man, there is some serious drinking there. It was at the top of my list until I did an overnight & felt very uncomfortable with the amount of discussion of partying and hooking up. That was just my experience though, and I LOVED everything else about the place though, so…</p>
<p>Definitely keep St. Olaf on your list. It sounds perfect for you (AMAZING study abroad, more conservative, definitely less of a party atmosphere, good academics) as long as you are okay being in the definite minority with regard to skin color. I visited multiple times (and will be attending this fall ) and the people there are sooo nice (staff, professors, students, parents, everyone), and there are a ton of different majors for the undecided. Their strongest majors are the sciences and math (great med school acceptance rate), and they also have great social work and nursing programs. I am completely in love with St. Olaf, and I’ll be able to tell you more about campus life this fall!!! </p>
<p>There is a lot of overlap between St. Olaf and Lawrence, so if you like one, keep the other in mind.</p>
<p>I think Smith could also fit what you are looking for but it is fairly liberal, Wellesley is the more conservative of the women’s colleges. Have you considered Amherst and Willians?</p>
<p>From your original post about the type of environment you are looking for, Wellesley seems like a terrific fit. Of the womens colleges, probably a better fit than Smith. Both colleges would provide the rigor you are looking for and are absolutely beautiful campuses, but agree that Wellesley is the more conservative of the two.</p>
<p>William F Buckley once said, “anyone who doesn’t believe there is a good Conservative school to send your kid to, has never heard of Hillsdale College.”</p>
Yes I have looked at some and I love some of them, but I need to apply to more competitive schools and more reach schools (like Swarthmore).</p>