Liberal Arts Colleges

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So, I'm going to be a senior this school year, and I figure it's time to really narrow down my list of colleges. Lately I've been looking into Liberal Arts colleges. So far I've visited Kenyon, Oberlin, and Denison, and I liked all three. I'm also especially interested in Grinnell, Macalaster, Reed, and Colorado College, though I'm open to other suggestions.</p>

<p>I would like to visit the other colleges that I'm interested in, but I will be really busy my first semester this year and I know that I won't have the time to visit all of them. So, I would like to get others' opinions on which schools sound best for me (I have done some of my own research as well and plan to do more, but I would like opinions from people who know these schools well as a starting point).</p>

<p>Anyways, here's some of the criteria that I'm specifically looking at:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I plan to major in English and either major or minor in History, and I would like to study some Foreign Languages (specifically Japanese) as well. So, I'm looking for a school that's strong in these three areas.</p></li>
<li><p>I want to go to a school that has a strong "geek" culture. I do have intellectual interests (literature, history, etc.), but I also have some "nerdy" ones like anime and videogames and Harry Potter. I don't want to go to a school where everyone is solely interested in academics and academic subjects. </p></li>
<li><p>I am looking for difficult academics, but not to the point that I'll literally have no time for any extracurriculars or free time. I want to have the time to meet and make new friends and also keep up with my old friends and family.</p></li>
<li><p>I would prefer to go to a school that has economic diversity. I go to a high school where many of the kids are upper middle class, and I often feel like one of the only ones that can't just toss around money. I would prefer to go to a school with at least some students who are more conscientious about money and have had to grow up in slightly more difficult circumstances. </p></li>
<li><p>I'm going to probably need a merit-based scholarship wherever I go. Money isn't a gigantic issue in my family, but affording $50,000+ a year for college would definitely be difficult. We're in the middle of the middle class in terms of money, so I don't think that I will be receiving a lot of need-based aid. In all, I'm looking to have less than $20,000 in debt after college if at all possible. I consider myself a fairly strong merit scholarship candidate (I have a 4.2 GPA weighted/4.0 unweighted, 35 on the ACT and 2280 on the SAT, along with extracurriculars and leadership positions).</p></li>
<li><p>I definitely want to go on a study abroad at some point, so I'm looking for schools that have strong study abroad programs, specifically in the UK, Iceland, Australia/New Zealand, and Japan.</p></li>
<li><p>I don't want to be totally cut off from the rest of the world. I'd like to be within an hour of a major city. However, I also really like nature, so I'd like to be near forests or mountains as well. </p></li>
<li><p>I would prefer to go to college either in the West or the Midwest, though if there's a school that fits all the prior criteria along the East Coast or in the South, then I'll definitely consider it.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Anyways, if you could just let me know which Liberal Arts schools fit my criteria well, that would be excellent. Thank you very much! :)</p>

2

<p>It isn’t a LAC but Trinity University in Texas would fit most of your criteria (2,400 students) and they have a self instruction program for japanese [Trinity</a> University](<a href=“Trinity University - San Antonio, Texas”>Trinity University - San Antonio, Texas)</p>

3

<p>For Merit Aid you might consider University of Puget Sound and Willamette (has a very strong Japanese program and great merit aid). Also St. Olaf. Those were all top choices of my daughter’s. The Claremont Colleges in the LA area are also great with generally good aid - but some don’t do merit aid.</p>

4

<p>Hamilton College</p>

<ul>
<li>Among the very best, if not the best, writing/English educations available anywhere</li>
<li>Fairly well-balanced student body: not too liberal, not too conservative – plenty of variety. Generally a happy student body.</li>
<li>Strong academics overall, but not to the point that you’ll have no time for ECs/fun.</li>
<li>Hamilton is one of the 60ish US schools that claim to meet 100% of demonstrated need. </li>
<li>Hamilton is a bit of a hike (3-4 hrs by car) from NYC and, I think, Boston – but it’s not far at all from Syracuse and just 10-15 minutes from a nice mall. It is relatively close to Toronto and Montreal too… nice weekend trip.</li>
<li>You can judge with your own eyes, but several posters on this site have mentioned Hamilton’s beauty. Aside from the beauty of the campus, per se, the school is very close to the Adirondacks.</li>
<li>Roughly half of Hamilton students study abroad. (there are other schools with stronger study abroad programs, but HC is decent… will certainly meet your needs)</li>
<li>Hamilton offers Japanese as well</li>
</ul>

<p>And here is a link to their History department:
[Departments</a> - Overview - Hamilton College](<a href=“Academics - Academics - Hamilton College”>Areas of Study - Hamilton College)</p>

<p>To me, no education you will receive will be more important than that which will teach you how to write. If you are also focused thusly, Hamilton is a strong option.</p>

<p>(and no, I didn’t go to Hamilton – but i’ve been looking at LACs for the past month or two, and Hamilton is among my all-around favorites. #2, actually, behind Haverford. But that’s a different discussion…)</p>

5

<p>Middlebury! This will be a perfect LAC school.
But wait, I don’t know what you have there… If you are considering Grinnel, Reed, etc as your safety/match, you might aim for Middlebury but if not just forget my comment here.</p>

<p>Good luck with your search bud.</p>

6

<p>^^^^^^^^^^</p>

<p>Middlebury would also be an excellent choice. Maybe not quite as good with English as Hamilton is, but it is much closer to Montreal. It also has a beautiful campus, or so CCers say, and is not in the “no free time” zone.</p>

7

<p>Grinnell meets some, but not all of your criteria: No mountains and forests in that part of Iowa (lovely prairie and rolling farmland instead). Des Moines and Iowa City may not meet your criteria for being near a ‘major city’ either - about an hr away. They offer 2 years of Japanese, but it’s not a major, so I wouldn’t consider it ‘strong’ in that area. [Chinese</a> and Japanese - Chinese and Japanese | Grinnell College](<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/chinese/]Chinese”>Chinese and Japanese | Grinnell College)</p>

<p>The rest of it fits esp. the merit aid, which Grinnell is especially well known for because their endowment is enormous, and the Trustee Scholarships are up to $15k p.a. Your grades and test scores would appear to make you a potential candidate.</p>

<p>As for study abroad, all of these schools have extensive study abroad programs - often they have contracted with the same schools internationally, which cater to US students.</p>

8

<p>If being close to a major city is really important, Kenyon is NOT for you. It is an amazing school with arguably the prettiest campus in the country, but it is in the middle of nowhere. The nearest WalMart is about 50 minutes ago, just to give you an idea. Just my 2 cents</p>

9

<p>Based on your interests, you should look into Willamette.</p>

10

<p>Reed seems to fit very well!</p>

11

<p>I don’t think you’re going to get any MERIT aid at either Hamilton or Middlebury. Good need based aid, though. If you’re not sure how much you’re eligible for ask your parents to use an on-line calculator to determine whether it’s workable for you. You may be surprised. </p>

<p>Eligibility for need-based aid would definitely widen your list. Merit is tougher, but not impossible. If you are female, look at Smith.</p>

<p>Also, don’t worry too much about study abroad. Most schools recognize a long list of programs, all over the world. They don’t have to be administered by the school you’re attending.</p>

12

<p>Middlebury does not give merit aid.</p>

<p>Many small colleges don’t offer too many Japanese courses, so look closely at the catalog listings if that is a definite interest.</p>

13

<p>I hope that when you visited Oberlin you checked out the Oberlin Shansi programs. They offer fabulous study and living abroad programs in Asia.</p>

<p>[Oberlin</a> Shansi](<a href=“http://shansi.org/]Oberlin”>http://shansi.org/)</p>

14

<p>Look at Dickinson College ¶ and I strongly second researching Hamilton College (NY).</p>

15

<p>If you go to a LAC with a consortium agreement (The Five Colleges in Massachusetts, The Claremont Colleges in California) you will be able to take some of your courses at other schools, which could help with your desire for taking Japanese classes. </p>

<p>Definitely look into the Claremont schools for meeting pretty much all of your criteria. And don’t forget, if you apply for scholarships throughout your senior year, the merit aid requirement may become less important. Especially with your stats, I would think you can pick up a few.</p>

16

<p>Speaking of consortiums, another is the Quaker Consortium:</p>

<p>Penn
Swarthmore
Haverford
Bryn Mawr</p>

<p>I’m not sure if Swat/Ford/BM offer Japanese, but you can bet that Penn does. </p>

<p>The former three are all top-notch LACs. Get into one, you can take classes,at the other two. And you can take classes at Ivy League UPenn.</p>

<p>(Not new info for most; figured I’d mention it)</p>

17

<p>Other colleges to consider are Earlham and Beloit. You can look up the percentage of students with pell grants for some economic diversity. The list isn’t the most recent data. Look up the common data set to see how much merit is awarded. </p>

<p>% Freshman with pell grants
Grinnell College 20
Denison University 17
Reed College 15
Macalester College 14
Oberlin College 10
Colorado College 9
Kenyon College 8</p>

18

<p>Reed only gives $2K to NMFs, no other merit aid. Good need based aid though. Consider Lewis and Clark college. They have some full and half tuition scholarships. My DD is high on geekness and attends there. She also takes Japanese and took a semester abroad to Japan.</p>

19

<p>I think that you need to explore the FA question further, especially since you have stats that make you a realistic candidate at the deep-pockets, need-only schools. When you say that your family is in the middle of the middle class, what exactly does that mean? The median household income in the US is probably about $55K. That income would get you a lot of FA at Dartmouth (in many ways really a large LAC), which would be excellent fit for you in most ways: strong English, History, languages, and outstanding study abroad opportunities including Japan. It would also get you good FA at the elite, deep-pockets LACs such as Pomona, Bowdoin, Amherst, Williams, and Swarthmore. Because of their generous FA, you will find kids from families with a broad range of incomes. If your family income is around $100K, you still might do better with need-based aid from those schools than you would with merit aid from schools with less money to give. Run some FA calculators online and see what you come up with. Don’t make assumptions at this stage of the game. </p>

<p>In the end, casting a wide net with a mixture of need and merit schools will probably be your best bet.</p>

20

<p>I would also look on the Common Data set to see the percentage of students who apply for and get need-based aid, not only the Pell grants.</p>