Thank you for the advice! I think I will stay with Princeton REA then since its NPC showed it as being by far the most affordable so far, and I’ve spent a lot of time on the campus and two of my childhood friends (my dad’s roommate’s daughters) are sophomores and from what they’ve said, programs like the Humanities Sequence would be incredible to be part of.
The programs at Washington & Lee sound really cool as well, my only concern is that it doesn’t seem very diverse. I do like that it has a lot of Jewish students and a scholarship specifically for them, but it’s more than 75% white, and looking at student responses on Niche, the majority of the student body tends to be heavily conservative, which makes me nervous about how I would be treated as a non-white queer girl. Compared to Hollins, which is the second least-diverse school on my list with a 59% white student body and a reportedly very accepting campus environment, I’m not totally sure that W&L would be the most accepting place for me to study. I will definitely look at honors colleges/merit scholarships at other schools though!
Also, I love your username – do you have a favorite book? I’ve read them all, and still love Pride and Prejudice the best, but I always enjoy Persuasion as well.
I would definitely recommend showing Occidental demonstrated interest if you have it as a likely - they have a Junior Preview Day coming up: Visit & Explore Campus. They offer interviews as well. They can give decent merit aid as well for top candidates, but the word on the street is that they are uninterested in being someone’s “safety”.
Occidental is definitely not just a safety for me. I honestly have their Diplomatic and Global Affairs major near the top of my list, because they have a program where students can intern at the UN and similar global organizations while living and working in NYC. They also have a fund for undergraduate research, and I’m excited at the possibility of getting to continue or perhaps go even deeper into the research I’m doing this summer.
I probably can’t go to their Preview Day because I live 6+ hours away, but do you think going on virtual tours or attending webinars would help as well?
I don’t know my weighted GPA yet (first semester grades are in, but transcripts aren’t out yet and my grade portal only shows my UW GPA right now), but the other stats you listed are correct.
The accelerated math program became very toxic this year – there were only five girls in my class, and I was the only one in the entire class who wasn’t white or East Asian. After I was seated at a table of students who kept making racist “jokes” about Indian and Mexican people, and the teacher refused to move me after I explained what was happening, I dropped the class, which was called Precalc Honors but was really a mix of precalc and Calc AB and instead took Calculus I (equivalent of AB but in one semester rather than one year) at a community college. Expecting to finish Calc II at the same college this semester, so according to my counselor I’ll have completed the equivalent of the highest level math offered at my school a year early.
Next year I’m taking three APs at school (Lit, Art History, Physics), Advanced Journalism (required to be EIC), and Gov/Econ (a mandatory class). I received special permission from my counselor and the principal to only take 5 classes in school so I can take two DE courses, one for Statistics and another for either Arabic or Middle Eastern culture in the 17th century. I’m also considering taking Arabic 1 as an online DE class this summer, then taking Arabic 2 (fall semester) and Arabic 3 (spring semester) during the school year.
Since you will have completed calculus 1 and 2, you may want to look into whether a calculus-based introductory statistics course is available (although that is not common at community colleges).
I am so sorry that happened to you. I think you might want to consider asking your counselor to briefly explain the reasons you had to drop that class/course track in their letter. Your DE courses in calc are great but I still think it is helpful for schools to understand why you had to shift away from the HS’s calculus program.
Keep your grades high and start your essays early so you have plenty of time to do a thorough job.
There’s no course like that, but there is a class called “Calculus for the Business World” which seemed interesting, although it will probably be a repeat of Calc I again with slightly different concepts/problems.
Thank you! I think you’re the first student who has commented on my username! Pride and Prejudice is also my favorite book with Mansfield Park my second favorite. During Pride Month I changed my avatar to this image and for Christmas received a pouch with the same print. My friends and family know that I’m a fan.
I appreciate you sharing your perspective. Although I’ve been to Maryland a number of times (have family there), I have not visited McDaniel. I do wonder (truly wonder, not meant as an accusation) whether geographic familiarity breeds a certain degree of skepticism toward programs that are not so illustrious. I live in close proximity to multiple universities, some of which get a lot of mentions on CC. My initial reactions to seeing the praise and/or demand for some of them was really astonishment, as I had no real clue as to what outsiders thought of them. Not that they were bad universities, but they were just universities and likely overpriced.
One of the books I saw recommended on CC when I first joined was Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL) by former New York Times education editor Loren Pope. In it he profiled 40 different colleges that were schools that “work their magic on B and C students as well as on A students,” and were “chosen for their proven ability to develop potential, values, initiative, and risk-taking in a wide range of students,” (from the back of the book). This was someone who was visiting the campuses, talking with the students, seeing their work, and thought that these were valuable schools. Although the schools have since banded together and formed their own association named after the book (ctcl.org), I put a fair bit of faith in the schools that were selected, with McDaniel being one of them.
On McDaniel’s CTCL page (here) it indicates that there have been nine Fulbright scholars in the last five years, which seems like pretty good numbers for a school with about 1800 undergrads. As OP included smaller schools like Hollins (about 700 undergrads), I didn’t think that the population size would be an issue. As she prefers a diverse campus, the fact that McDaniel is 45% nonwhite (3% Asian, 25% Black, 10% Hispanic, 4% 2+ races, and 3% unknown) seemed like a plus.
It’s not that I think McDaniel would be a replacement for Princeton REA. Just that if she wanted another or a different school she was extremely likely to be accepted to, that McDaniel was a possibility. I think that OP is a strong candidate with a very interesting profile. I wish her the best and think there is a distinct possibility she gets into her top school or others on her list. But many of them are so extremely rejective that I always want to make sure students have “safeties” that they’d be happy to attend, particularly if it comes with big $ and they have plans for expensive grad school.
I don’t doubt that McDaniel does a good job for the kids that are there but it is a school for B students (50 percent Sat is 1030 to 1250) who will benefit from the small environment. The acceptance rate is close to 90 percent and the four year grad rate is below 60. I just don’t think it would provide the best peer group and challenge for op.
Interesting, I always found it a little hard to enjoy Mansfield Park – not because of Fanny, who IMO gets too much hate from Austen fans just because she’s not as extroverted or witty as some other heroines, but because (to me) Edward seems like the human version of a wet blanket, and treats Fanny like a consolation prize when she was deeply in love with him. My main issue with it is every time I read it, I always start rooting for Henry Crawford’s redemption arc and then feel so let down by the ending. He visits her family like a perfect gentleman, apparently loves her like no other girl, and just when she starts showing actual interest in him he impulsively runs away with Maria?! I just wish he was a true ‘reformed rake’ and took her away from the Bertrams for good.
Mansfield Park plot complaints aside, while it sounds McDaniel may not be the best fit for me based on what @Baltmom23 has said, I will definitely look at ctcl.org, because it sounds like a valuable tool to find schools with great merit aid that also provide their students with lots of opportunities and access to resources.
I think in an earlier reply I listed my preferred major for each school. At many schools that don’t have a Middle East Studies major, it’s offered as a concentration or minor for Global Studies, International Relations, and/or Political Science majors. For almost every school aside from Hollins (which has a renowned comparative literature program) I plan on either majoring, double majoring, or concentrating/minoring in Middle East Studies/Arabic Language & Culture Studies.
Edward’s not my favorite male, but I think I like the fact that even though Fanny is overlooked, and feels plain and slow and any number of other less-than-positive characteristics, that in the end her worth is seen and valued by others.
Good luck with your college search. I hope you will continue to give us updates. I’ll be rooting for you!
Thank you! I wrote this post thinking that I would hear that I should take out all my reaches or hear some harsh truth about the ‘real world’ of college apps, but hearing from you that I actually have a shot at my reach schools was really encouraging and made me feel a bit better.
I genuinely had no idea if my application was any good, so I have really appreciated hearing your thoughts as well as everyone else’s on this thread. If there’s anything you (or anyone else) add – advice, thoughts on chancing, suggestions, whatever – please know it’s all super helpful and I truly appreciate what everyone on this thread has said so far.
That’s where the youngest kid of our family friend just got accepted ED! I’ll add it to my list, plus I can ask him why he chose Hamilton specifically to get an idea if I’m a good fit. Their program looks amazing though, so that’s already a good sign.
