<p>I have started this college process early for my 10th grader, while my older one is just getting ready to head off to college - with a lot of help from CC. Thank you once again. </p>
<p>This time my focus is on the Liberal Arts colleges. </p>
<p>the last time around, I found CC to be a huge help with the math and the science "type" of colleges. where should I start for the LAC's? I have found threads in a random search but am just trying to get my bearings right. </p>
<p>Continuing to add to my confusion, is that we are US citizens currently residing in India so our access to information is a bit difficult (no guidance counsellor and such)</p>
<p>we will be travelling in August so see D1 off to college and hope to make a few trips then (MA, CA, NY and NJ). in and around also perhaps?</p>
<p>please give me any ideas/thoughts/opinions. </p>
<p>I’m currently in India, too! (Chengelput, TN to be exact, and studying Tamil). My older d. attended Smith, I attended Williams, and know my share about LACs, so feel welcome to PM me.</p>
<p>apply, we are also American expats living in Asia. Our son (who graduated from Williams) was fortunate to have reasonably good counseling and very good role models at his highschool, but for sure, when you first start the process the LACs all sound and look alike (from afar at least). Hamilton / Hampshire / Haverford, etc, etc. :)</p>
<p>The good news is that LACs – especially those that are located in rural or midwestern environments – really like expat kids. And expat kids – especially those who haven’t lived in the US for some time – tend to do well at LACs.</p>
<p>There are dozens of good choices in the Northeast and a few in CA and the midwest. In order to narrow in on the search we’d need to get an idea of #2’s academic background, interests, talents and ideal social environment.</p>
<p>LACs tend to have distinctive personalities, but once you’ve identified a few favorites you can find others with the same ambience.</p>
<p>Coincidentally my son is in India this summer too (Bombay).</p>
<p>When I see people refer to LAC’s, frequently they only list the very top tier schools. My daughter looked at Swarthmore and loved it, she will apply there. However, her top choice school is Allegheny College in PA. She knows they have a wonderful reputation and feels that it would be a little less stressful even though their students say the work load is quite heavy. The campus is beautiful and the staff very welcoming and helpful. We loved our visit and they provide a personal touch. You may want to check this school out. It is one of the schools in Loren Pope’s book - Colleges That Change Lives, also sited in many other “best of” college books . Good luck.</p>
<p>Icebat, nice to know your daughter likes Allegheny. It keeps going on and off our list. My son loved his Swarthmore visit - fit right in - but is looking for similar schools without the cooker pressure feel (and easier to get in).</p>
<p>OP, it takes a long time to get a feel for the different personalities of each school. Does your 10th grader know what he/she wants/doesn’t want in a school? </p>
<p>Don’t discount schools in the midwest. Great options! Best wishes. Enjoy your visit.</p>
<p>As momrath said, the choices are many, so some idea of your 10th grader’s interests–both in the classroom and out–and likely academic stats (class rank if applicable, GPA, Course selection rigor, standardized test scores) would help narrow it down. And of course if your 10th grader is a female, there are also a number of excellent women’s colleges to consider.</p>
<p>I second the recommendation to read Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL). </p>
<p>There are many, many LACs. To me, CTCL helps most in getting the student to think about what they really want. </p>
<p>Some things to start considering:
Study Abroad</p>
<p>Choice of instructors/major - Some majors have a very small department. If your kid wants to have a variety of instructors then this should be a focus area.</p>
<p>Many LACs around us use merit money as tuition discounting. If money is an issue, you may want to dig a better deeper to see the % of students who get aid, etc.</p>
<p>Room & Board - At this early stage this is minor, but as you move on through the process checking dining hall hours to sport practice times may be warranted.</p>
<p>If you anticipate still being abroad when your child is in college, you may want to think about the ease of travel to/from school. If the student needs to get there on his/her own (for example, returning after a break) will they be able to manage on their own?</p>
<p>Some schools seem like they would be difficult to manage without access to a car. May not be an issue for you, but just something to think about.</p>
<p>Is 10th grader male or female? Some LAC’s have a better admit rate for males. For females, there are also the womens colleges to consider.</p>
<p>While predictions of test scores and grades can be wildly inaccurate…do you have anything you might use to predict HS grades, course difficulty, and standardized test scores? </p>
<p>Is is presumptuous to assume that financial aid is not an issue?</p>
<p>Answers may help us guide you to a couple of places to look at in MA, CT, NY, & NJ.</p>
<p>In addition to academic interests, does your younger one want to be near a big city or in the suburbs/country? Near other schools (as in a consortium) or by itself? Near cultural institutions? Sports? Bodies of water? Info might help as well.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your responses!!
I have been away almost two weeks I think - crazed between work, a houseful of visitors last week and just getting ready for for our trip ( in 11 days now!!)
some additional info about D2:</p>
<p>*Loves writing
*think her interests could be Psychology, sociology, Literature, (definitely) journalism.
*Female
*I would put her in the top middle of her class. HATES Science ad Math, brings her overall down.
*has been school captain in 9th grade - this year will be boards, We change schools for the next two years (11th and X11th grade) and X11 is a board exam again.
*has some guitar (will go back to formal lessons when back from the US in September)
*this year have moved to the semester system from one board exam at the end of the year. so lot of unknowns.
*D1 is already far away - so I have made my peace (trying to!!) with the distance. lots of family NJ NY CA.
*the plan is to move back to US once D2 is there - we’ll see how that goes. </p>
<p>orientation for D1 from aug31 to sept 2nd.
we will be in Boston from the 22nd to the 30th - want to make use of the time to visit colleges for D2.
she absolutely loves Brown - crazy about it!1
definite Dream school for her.
Mount Holyoke - have a cousin there and could visit.
please suggest others. will drive/train others.</p>
<p>aug 17 to 22nd in the SFO area. Anything worth visiting or are they all more in LA?</p>
<p>On your tight travel schedule this time, I’m not sure it makes sense to toss out names of Midwest or non-coastal/non-metro area LAC’s. But I think your search should consider some. So I’ll toss a few names.</p>
<p>Based on how she viewed Brown, here’s a handful that I think span the academic spectrum. Maybe look at their websites. If some are on her list, your next visit stateside might stop in on one or two of what she favors by website. </p>
<p>Grinnell, Carleton, Earlham, Oberlin, Kenyon< Macalestar, Smith. In upstate NY: Vassar, Bard, Skidmore. Reed (Pacific Northwest), Bates (Maine), Wesleyan (in Connecticut). I thought about UChicago here but not sure she’d go for it with her feelings about math/sciences. With her overseas experience, a small university with an LAC feel is Brandeis U. </p>
<p>This visit, when you’re in Massachusetts, a pop-in to one or several of these schools could be managed as daytrips within a 2-hour range from Boston: Brandeis, Wesleyan, Smith, Mt. Holyoke. (Maybe Bates or Colby in Maine, too. but I haven’t checked those driving times from Boston). That’d give her some LAC’s to start her thinkng. </p>
<p>As far as Brown the Dream School, keep in mind that sometimes the first college you see is an instant/automatic crush, simply because it IS a college. That’s why your search process will help her.</p>
<p>@little mother: need to have a conversation about what her preference is. In terms of adaptability, I think she will be happy once she decides on something. but I will have to make this an evolutionary exercise for her. </p>
<p>@payinf3Tuitions: Thank you!! yes - i had not consciously considered the midwest -because our travels were not taking us that side. we will do more online research for these. will definitely try to make it to the MA and surrounding colleges. hopefully these trips will also help her understand that Match/science is not going away anywhere. she has to deal with the SAT’s.;)</p>
<p>@2boysima: Female. they have only been exposed to co-ed schools. Elementary in the US and then 3rd grade on in India. I went to an all girls convent (K -Xth) and thought it was great. She did ask "what’s up with the all girls thing’ and I am trying to come up with answeres apart from the historical ones. As mentioned we are India so HS course work is intensive. The Board has just migrated to a semester system 9 pt grading scale so i would put her at a B+. Standardized test - no idea. she has not done a full lenght practice test yet. we will apply for aid - will not be able to afford the full cost with no assistance. </p>
<p>@college_Query: She will stay on campus and will not have a car.</p>
<p>@Longhaul: she would like study abroad. I ahve given her a list of majors/areas of study and am asking her to strike out areas “she is not interested in” That should be a good starting point I think.</p>
<p>@Consolation: Thanks!! I have written to the points that you have raised. any help appreciated.</p>
<p>@lisabees: She sort of knows that she does not want core sciences but likes Biology. I need to figure that out. was asking me questions about sociology last week. she walks to her own drummer and is a bit scary an idea for me. Also very deep. so i am figuring things as i go along. hopefully i have started this well in advance. I will not rule out the midwest.</p>
<p>@icebat: I was telling my husband about allegheny college and we will visit from NJ, I am hoping. I hope my previous posts will give you an indication of who d2 is. As an aside - she is the admin of a HP page, 16000+ fans and does all kinds of cool stuff, like online quizzes etc with a world wide audience. this was totally her thing and now is bigger than her and i actually quite angry - security and stuff. But that is who she is - very independent - but if i can make a case, she will listen - grudgingly. Being in India, it is difficult to experience all of the ambience, etc. and no guidance counsellor whatsoever. just my husband and I. Hope your son is having fun in BOmbay (mumbai). Both H and I grew up/schooled in Bombay - love the city!!</p>
<p>this is a flood after a drought - thanks for your patience reading this.
this keeps me busy while I DONT think about how i will cope without D1 but there will be time to deal with that. </p>
<p>Loren Pope also wrote a book called “Beyond the Ivies” which has a lot of info on LAC’s.</p>
<p>I would add Clark University in Worcester MA (good for psychology), Sarah Lawrence outside of NYC (great for writing), maybe Bennington in VT (also great for writing, literature, humanites and arts), and Hampshire in MA (independent work last 2 years), if she likes the freedom of Brown.</p>
<p>There are so many others. Other info could narrow down: city or country etc. that others have asked about.</p>
<p>Be careful with the interest in Brown. I don’t have enough of a feel for your daughter’s abilities and interests, but Brown is very hard to get into and admissions are kind of quirky in some ways. Since she is being exposed to the whole college thing pretty early, I would help her avoid being fixed on any one school, especially one so selective, so maybe start now by saying go ahead and apply, but don’t expect to get in. Much easier later if the expectation is low rather than high in terms of acceptance at top schools.</p>
<p>If you are going to be in Boston and want to visit a women’s college, it makes a lot more sense to start with Wellesley than to trek out to the middle of the state to visit Smith and Mount Holyoke. (Not that they aren’t great schools, too, and perhaps more realistic admits. Smith may be a better fit for her in general than either W or MHC.)</p>
<p>She sounds like a very interesting girl, but what you’ve said about her likely GPA and class rank makes Brown seem like a super reach. But you never know. </p>
<p>It sounds to me as if a school like Bard or Sarah Lawrence would suit her to a T. I agree that Bennington and Hampshire are good possibilities, too. Kenyon (Ohio–probably out this trip) is a school known for its writing program. Of the somewhat more difficult admits, Carleton (Minnesota, also probably out for this trip) is excellent and prides itself on its quirkiness. Goucher (MD, maybe?) is a less reachy possibililty for a creative, writerly type. St. Mary’s College of MD (non-sectarian, despite the name) is supposed to have a gorgeous campus and be very interesting. If you are swinging down that way, Bryn Mawr and Haverford would be worth a look.</p>
<p>There are other schools that might suit her well in the midwest, such as Earlham or Macalester or Beloit, and in the west, such as Lewis & Clark, but it doesn’t sound as if you would be visiting them on this trip.</p>
<p>@lasMas: Thanks - been hearing about this book from many people have been on the site and am reading. Did not find the book in the couple of stores I went to yesterday will buy it when we are there. @compmom: the colleges you mention we will try to visit as many as we can in the NE. Brown is definite dream will keep expectations low with that one. There is a mystique that fascinates her. @Consolation: yes will do Wellesley. I know now that with a few truckloads of luck Brown might happen. But I am also not focusing on one school there are so many out there. The goal of this trip is to get her to understand the expectations of the real world she needs to try harder at the math/science. Will visit Bryn Mawr/Allegheny while in NY.
MW is out of question this time. We have a trip out west but SFO region only 4 days. Any that side.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your help you are all wonderful people!!!
a</p>
<p>When you’re in San Fran, not sure how far you want to travel out of the city…but UC Santa Cruz might be an interesting place to look at. Very different feel from the East Coast schools…but I’ve known liberal arts “types” who have gone to school there and really enjoyed it. Also Mills College in Oakland - another all women’s school.</p>
<p>In New England…another vote for Clark. Although some have said you don’t need to travel out to Western Mass, if you know someone at Mount Holyoke, it would be worth looking at that 5 college area (although…not sure they’ll be in session when you’re there.) In CT, consider Conn College in New London and Trinity in Hartford. Not sure how far you want to travel from NYC…but might want to consider Lafayette, Franklin and Marshall, Bucknell, and Dickinson in PA.</p>
but there will be time to deal with that. </p>
Smith may be a better fit for her in general than either W or MHC.)</p>