LACs or research unis for good student, possibility of merit aid, and what level to shoot for?

College Search & Selection
1

Wow this turned out long; can read TLDR and skip to bottom if needed.
TLDR:

3.96 UW, 35 ACT, SAT bio-800, math2-incoming, decent ECs (music, sports, boy scouts, environmental club)

Stats:
Domestic applicant: Washington, white, middle-class male.
UW GPA: 3.94, school does not weight, but highest course rigor at school
ACT: 35
SAT: 1470, not submitting
SAT II: Biology E-800, Math 2-TBD, expecting 750-800
Class rank: School goes by deciles, top 10%

APs + college:
5s:6, 4s:1, 3s:1
Junior: Multivariable calc (A), linear algebra and difeqs (A)

ECs:
Music: 1st clarinet, 2x superior solo and ensemble contest, all-conference orchestra, all state band, band letters 10, 11, (12)
Sports: 9th: Soccer, lettered ski + track
10th: track, lettered Cross Country and ski
11th: track, varsity Cross Country
Assistant for grade school track camp, paid for track camp (separate weeks)
Boy Scouts: Eagle scout, 4 eagle palms, 300 hour environmental eagle project, senior patrol leader
Research assistant at hospital, will not have published research by college applications. 2 months long, will continue into school year, about 200 hours so far.
Cancer fundraising team leader, organized group to fundraise, been doing for 10ish years
Environmental Outlooks Club - Fundraise, hoping to complete project with school by application season, 2 years

Awards (not included elsewhere):
NHS (lol) - 10,11,12
National merit commended
Book award (from random school)
Ap scholar w/ distinction
Junior high award for “leadership and character”, grade 9

Essays:
I have started the process of brainstorming these. I expect them to be good but not outstanding; I have a college consultant to read them, along with a great english teacher who has offered to help me.

Letters of rec:

Haven't read, but I expect them to be good; my teachers like me.

What I wish to accomplish at college:
Hoping to go into biology (Not as a medicine-doctor. Yes, I am aware the extreme difficulty in getting a tenure-track position in biology, the expectation of a couple of years of post-doctoral experience, the minimum requirement of a PhD), or another STEM field if I lose my interest in biology.

Personal wants (fall on a scale of what I would like):
Small to medium-large size
Middle of nowhere to larger suburban location
Don’t care in the slightest about the weather, architecture (so long as the entire campus isn’t brutalist), athletics teams
Prefer not to have massive greek life (e.g. dartmouth type)

Financial need:
parents make $150k, $1-2m in assets
2 in college for 2 years, 1 for 2 years
Would like some colleges with competitive merit scholarships, but my parents have told me that they will want to pay full-tuition for a top tier college rather than me go to a safety. I doubt I will get need-based financial aid at any schools other than the insane ones (if then).

It would be great if someone would be able to suggest a few LACs with an intellectual (or just not preprofessional) feel to them. I would also like to know what types of schools are safety, match, reach; I am unsure about where the line for match and reach is drawn as my stats are good, but I’m not dumb enough to think something with <20% acceptance rate is a match. My top schools would be princeton, brown, pomona, and carleton, but these are all reaches for me, so I was wondering if anyone had a few more colleges in the “reach” category and the “match” category with similarities to these. I have double legacy at a safety school that is financially safe, and that I would not mind to attend, so my list is going to tend to be reach heavy.

2

For several reasons inherent in your post, you seem to be heading in the right direction. Based on aspects you’ve mentioned – including the schools you named as already under consideration – you might also want to consider Reed, Williams, Vassar, Hamilton, Swarthmore, Haverford, Wesleyan, Kenyon and the University of Rochester. With a well-considered application, it appears you would have a good chance of admission to even colleges with acceptance rates in the ~20% range.

3

Thanks for the response. Some of those colleges look like exactly what I’m going for. If anyone else has other colleges similar to these, or any others based on my profile that would be great.

4

Congrats on your great success and hard work in high school!

I think @merc81 provided some great LAC suggestions. What about UChicago? Has the intellectual vibe I think you’re looking for. WashU is also worth a look – they have Greek but I don’t get the impression it’s as big a focus there as, for example, Duke. Rice is another mid-sized suggestion w/o Greek.

Don’t forget to start showing demonstrated interest soon by signing up for emails, attending college fairs in your area, meeting with any reps from your colleges who come to your HS, requesting an interview, etc.

And once you come up with your top choices try to visit as the vibe at these colleges will vary a lot. And don’t forget a solid safety.

Finally, if you have a strong 1st choice and your parents are really okay with full pay, consider ED. It makes a big difference at a lot of colleges in terms of acceptance rate.

I predict you’ll have many great options! Good luck!

5

UChicago’s pretty urban, but yeah, good fit otherwise.

6

Lafayette College in PA offers merit aid and has good science programs. My oldest D had a good experience at U Richmond as a biochem/CS double major. She was well prepared, had great multiple offers for PhD biomedical science programs, and is attending UVA. She was never interested in medical school, has always wanted to do research. UR offers 25 full ride scholarships to freshmen each year, and guarantees that all students interested in a research or internship experience will receive a $4K stipend. About 1/3 of students are involved in greek life, but there are no greek residences, and greek parties are open to all students. My D was not in a sorority and still had plenty to do and lots of nice friends, some involved in greek life, and some who were not. Her UR professors were excellent, her advisors were great, and she was able to start doing science research during her freshman year.

7

@JimothyCC, You sound like an excellent fit for Williams. They like the trifecta of academics, arts/music, sports/outdoorsy activity. (My son joked that Williamstown must have more Eagle Scouts per square foot than anywhere else in the country.) An energetic, talented, intellectually engaged student body.

Williams has terrific academics and an outstanding biology program. There are many music performance opportunities even for non-majors. https://music.williams.edu/category/ensembles/

You should submit a music performance supplement, even if you don’t intend to major in music.

Because of its mountain village environment, Williams kids participate in a wide range of outdoorsy activities – hiking, camping, climbing, skiing/boarding. The Outing Club is strongly supported. No fraternities.

Williams doesn’t offer merit, but they are generous with financial aid. Run the NCP and see how you do. If you can afford it, ED is a strong option for Williams.

Others in similar ambiance/culture that I would recommend: Hamilton, Bowdoin, Kenyon.

8

I’ll suggest two of my usual three for someone with your requests… (research, etc). The University of Rochester and Case Western and of those the University of Rochester fits the best as Case Western is likely to urban for you. Pittsburgh is the other one folks generally consider with higher stats and similar wants academically, but they are much larger, have the rah rah sports teams, and are urban meaning it often doesn’t appeal to those who don’t want those factors.

9

How about Grinnell? You stated being ok with remote locations.

10

High reach: Brown, Princeton

Low Reach: Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Swarthmore, Pomona, Carleton, (Cornell if not too large for you)

High Match: Vassar, Grinnell, Middlebury, Hamilton (Hamilton has some Greek life but it is nonresidential and less of a presence than elsewhere), Bates, Colby, Haverford, Kenyon (some Greek life), Colorado College, (Colgate or Davidson if not too much Greek life for you)

Low Match/Likely: Brandeis, Skidmore, Connecticut College, Bard, University of Rochester, Dickinson, Reed, Whitman (maybe Lafayette or Franklin and Marshall, although these have some Greek life; Rochester and Dickinson also have some, but less impact)

(Note re: merit: Brandeis, U of Rochester, Connecticut, Lafayette and Skidmore are top colleges that do offer some merit; Skidmore has a good merit option for science majors.)

Good safeties: Clark University, Wheaton College (the Wheaton in Massachusetts- NOT the one in Illinois), (maybe Muhlenberg)
Clark offers generous merit aid.

11

Your stats, your ECs, and your college needs/wants look crazy similar to our S19’s. His list includes many of the schools suggested here. Williams, Bowdoin, Carleton, Grinnell, Kenyon, Denison (safe), Davidson, Hamilton, Lafayette, Dickinson (safe), but he also really liked William and Mary so that’s on the list as well. We are not VA residents but we visited W&M while down that way for our Davidson visit. He’s still toying with the idea of a few other schools but these are on the list for sure. You can PM me if you have any specific questions. We have not visited all but have seen Grinnell, Kenyon, Carleton, Denison, Davidson, W&M, and Bowdoin.

Honestly, many of these schools offer what you want and S19 is very open to any of them. He’s decided that they all seem fairly similar in everything they offer and that the biggest difference is location. He likes the “bubble” mentality of a LAC and really likes nature so he’s ruled out more urban schools. All of his schools would be considered rural or suburban. Ideally, his campus would have a small town very near campus where he could walk to restaurants, etc. Some of these campuses have better towns than others. Some are more secluded. I won’t know how the “town aspect” will affect his decision yet. He will see where the chips fall in the spring, go to accepted students days in April, and figure it out. :slight_smile:

12

@homerdog – Great to your son’s updated list! Looks like it’s shaping up really well!

@JimothyCC – My D is starting Davidson (this week!) so let me know if you have any questions about it - here or PM.

13

@AlmostThere2018 Davidson still a strong contender for him and he’s already finished the application even though he will apply RD. Just waiting on all of the stuff from school (transcripts, recommendations, etc.). Wish us luck! :wink: