<p>It is okay for your D to mention being sick on the day of the SAT if the GC has already written her rec, mentioning illnesses but not that specific instance.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>How about the University of Rochester? Merit money can be very good there, and I know the school is trying to promote diversity. I think it would be a match school for your daughter or a slight reach (the way things are going this year). Open curriculum, strong sciences, nice size with about 6,000 undergrads, kids seemed down to earth and normal. Campus is compact but nice. U of R also has a med school, and I imagine that the health services for kids is more than competent. We visited and liked it a lot, but daughter ended up going elsewhere.</p>
<p>My daughter goes to Cornell, as a potential math major. She tool a high level math as a freshman where there were over 150 kids, but dropped down to 50 at the end. She got an A on her first test with a curve, but by the time it was down to 50 kids, it was a B with a curve. Cornell is known for grade deflation, and pre-med kids are also known to be cut throat. But she loves the schoool and think kids are great.</p>
<p>Have you looked into Trinity College in Hartford. It's a lovely LAC with great placement to medical schools. Last year when our daughter was applying to school, they were looking for URM with good stats. They offer both need/merit scholarships. It appears to be a very nurturing schools, put great emphasis on advising. At Cornell, you could get Ds a few times or miss most of your classes, and you would not get a call from your advisor.</p>
<p>I wanted to tell you how she did in case anyone's interested. We're a bit stunned at all her good news. </p>
<p>In the end, one more set of SATs came in and they went up a bit (not dramatically) and she applied to:</p>
<p>Dream schools:
Amherst ED- deferred/ rejected
Tufts - rejected </p>
<p>Wesleyan- accepted, early write
Vassar- accepted
Hamilton- accepted
Bowdoin- accepted
Colby- accepted
Bates- accepted
Skidmore-accepted
UVA OOS- accepted</p>
<p>Plus: Case - accepted with merit $, UMd- honors, UCT- still haven't heard back and she applied before 12/1 !!! </p>
<p>She said she would be happy at a bunch of these schools and she asked me to please get input from you because she has no idea how to decide. I think the unis (Case, UMd and UVA) are out because of size. I think the top 4 are: Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Vassar and Hamilton</p>
<p>Please give us your insight about any of these schools and please realize that there are no <em>real</em> negatives to any of these schools, I'm just wondering out loud as we try to make a decision.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Bowdoin- pro: I just loved this school, great kids, great faculty, she just seemed to fit right in, great academics, etc, etc
negative: a little far from home (9 hours versus 6 for most of the schools), not much of a town but a nice town, a little less well-known (compared to Wes and Vassar) so we're having a bit more trouble gathering info</p></li>
<li><p>Vassar- pro: open curriculum, 2 hours from relatives, 3 day weekends, wonderful pre-medical office; negative: Poughkeepsie, How much of a dating life will a heterosexual black girl have there? (Please don't take offense at this. It's just that with the male-female ratio of 40-60, the supposed presence of a sizeable gay male population, the lack of black men and the fact that, in general, white men are less likely to date black girls, I just want to know if she can have a dating life.)</p></li>
<li><p>Wes- we haven't seen it; pro- we've heard great things of this school and they really seem to want her, negative- We know it's liberal but is it 'co-ed showers liberal' and/or do you HAVE to be politically active to fit in? </p></li>
<li><p>Hamilton- open curriculum, beautiful facilities and the labs are incredible, nice people, nice little town; negatives: the graduation rate is a little lower than the other 3, the school is a little more remote, the school is a little less well-known, the entering student stats are a touch lower, the graduation rate a bit lower-- Does this mean it's not as good academically?, Is it a heavy drinking/drugs school? (I only ask because one student we met kept mentioning partying and Greek life.)</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>Other schools:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>UVA- a lot of people are pushing UVA, the biggest negative is it seemed a little racially segregated to us, it's also bigger than she wanted and a little more Greek than we would like</p></li>
<li><p>Colby- We saw this school late on night and she liked it more than I did so... positive: nice people, remote but she thought it was ok, one student told us she was having trouble in calculus and the professor arranged to tutor her weekly for free! (wow!), negative: furthest from home, Is it as strong as Bowdoin?, a little remote, nothing within walking distance</p></li>
<li><p>Bates- very, very nice to her but I think she's ruled it out-- didn't like Lewiston or honors thesis</p></li>
<li><p>Skidmore has the best town but we're not sure the science program is as rigorous as her other choices</p></li>
</ul>