Liberal Arts Safeties

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I noticed a severe lack of threads on this subject when I searched. Hopefully that doesn't mean such schools don't exist!</p>

<p>Criteria: must be on the east coast, must be strong in english/journalism/social sciences/history</p>

<p>To give you an idea of the sort of schools I'm looking for, my first choice/target is Bard. Other targets include Bennington, Sarah Lawrence, Eugene Lang (I'm super liberal, and basically I like the liberal/hippie/alternative vibe - call it what you will)</p>

<p>Grades
Unweighted GPA- 3.5
Weighted GPA- 3.66
Rank - Top 25%; not top 10% (2nd ranked public high school in the state - does ranking matter?)</p>

<p>Tests
SAT- 2100
CR- 800
Math- 580
W- 720
essay-11</p>

<p>SAT II
US History: 750
Literature: 800</p>

<p>I'll be taking the ACT in December, and I'll probably do decently.</p>

<p>AP
English Lit- 5
U.S. History- 5
This year I'll take English comp, and I'll probably get a 5, but I suppose that doesn't matter <a href="do%20colleges%20consider%20AP%20tests%20as%20part%20of%20admission?">b</a>**</p>

<p>AP/Hnrs classes I am taking this year:
AP English
Honors International Relations</p>

<p>EC
-Students for Social Justice - Vice President(10,11,12)
-After School Orchestra 2nd violin first chair (10,11)
-Project Venue President (a music organization for youth in my home town; I put a lot of time into this, am very passionate about it, and may be writing my essay on it.) (10,11,12)
-Employed at the local library - 7-15 hours/wk since sophomore year (10,11,12)
-Animal Rights Club Officer (10,11)
-Open Music club founder - a chance to play music for students with not enough formal training to play in an official school band/orchestra. (9,10,11,12)
-SKpades - I did sound for a pageant in 11th grade - intensive 4 week experience.
-I also won the battle of the bands at my school</p>

2

<p>Goucher should definitely be on your list. And Hampshire. Also, maybe Muhlenberg as well? It’s not quite as alternative in its vibe, but it has a lot of artsy students.</p>

3

<p>Many private LACs include “level of interest” in their admissions criteria (check their common data sets), presumably to reject those who appear to be using them as safeties but who are unlikely to attend, so that they can keep their yield rates up. So even one with low average stats among its students may not be a safety.</p>

<p>Sarah Lawrence College’s course offerings heavily emphasize visual arts and performing arts (music, dance, theater). It does a large course selection in a few other subjects like writing and history, but is otherwise rather limited. So check the course catalogs of all of the schools you are considering to make sure that they have enough for your possible interests.</p>

4

<p>Look at Hamilton, it is liberal and has a cool Senior year that is unique, you may like it. I know an interesting young man who went there, very smart alternative type guy, sort of a Renaissance man as well, who can work with his hands, but interested in social policy issues too and very well spoken and read. He mentioned that he also took classes in the consortium at other colleges, namely Smith College and UMass-Amherst.</p>

<p>Look at Colleges That Change Lives. There are a lot of them, maybe not so many in the NE, and each fairly unique so it will take a bit of time. Some make sure you get a year abroad. Opps here is the regional breakout and yep, there’s Hampshire.
[CTCL</a> Northeast Region | Colleges That Change Lives](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/northeast]CTCL”>http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/northeast)</p>

5

<p>Goucher, Warren Wilson, Marlboro, Hampshire would all be good safeties for you. Good luck with Bard or Sarah Lawrence —GREAT schools!</p>

6

<p>Can we assume your family is willing to pay up to $50K/year for your college?</p>

7

<p>Thank you to all who replied! You’ve given me valuable advice to consider.
@Erin’s Dad - my family hardly makes 50k in a year, I’m counting in financial aid/ scolarships, which generally seem to be pretty good among LACs.
If anyone has any experience with financial aid at Bard, please do tell, particularly if you come from a family with the same profile as mine (55k/yr, 3 kids, one parent who has gone to college, one who hasn’t). Would the fact that my brother is going to a 8k/yr private school right now affect financial aid at all?</p>

8

<p>Try putting “net price calculator” and “financial aid estimator” in each of the colleges’ web site search boxes.</p>

9

<p>OP, my S graduated from Bard last year. If it’s one of your top choices I recommend doing the “Immediate Decision Plan” for admission, if at all possible. It shows a lot of interest and will give you the best chance of admission. You will also know the decision by the fall, which is a bonus.
As far as FA at Bard goes, I think it’s a mixed bag. They are need blind with admissions but do not guarantee to meet full need. With that said I think they do the best they can to accommodate the accepted students.
Another school that you may want to check out is Clark. They are generous with aid.
Feel free to PM me if you have questions about Bard.</p>

10

<p>I believe IDP filled up weeks ago, tuftsalum12.
You have the stats to get into any of the schools mentioned. It’s just luck in being selected at this point. And affording it. If you are in NY, consider Purchase as a financial safety.</p>

11

<p>Reading threads, and plugging in my family’s stats, it pretty much seems like it will be out of our range, although I’ll obviously still apply. Why is it so hard for families on the low end of the middle class to go to college these days?</p>

<p>Regarding appealing, should I be accepted, (I might as well jump ahead a few months, just to be prepared), will an offer from a school like Sarah Lawrence, (the net price calculator for them says I would only be expected to pay around 2k/yr should I get accepted) be any sort of leverage?
What about the fact that we are sending my brother to a private school that eats away a good deal of out limited income?</p>

12

<p>New Paltz as safety too.</p>

13

<p>How did I miss New Paltz?? It looks awesome, thanks for the info! Usually the first ting I do is plug in a school name to studentreviews, and most of the lower tier schools do pretty badly, but New Paltz gets an A-. </p>

<p>Apparently the acceptance rate is 34% though - that doesn’t seem exactly like a safety…</p>

14

<p>“I like the liberal/hippie/alternative vibe.”</p>

<p>Sure you won’t consider some of the midwestern LACs? Could be a good fit, culturally.</p>

15

<p>I would love to; schools like Grinnel and Macalester look awesome, but I can’t afford the commute from Rhode Island.</p>

16

<p>^ You might get much better financial aid from Grinnell or Macalester than from some of the others mentioned here. Typically, the more selective the college, the better the need-based aid.</p>

<p>Princeton Review assigns schools a “financial aid rating”. Examples:
Grinnell: 98
Macalester: 98
Bard: 91
Hampshire: 90
Sarah Lawrence: 88
Bennington: 79
Warren Wilson: 77
Eugene Lang: 69</p>

<p>Also check out the Kiplinger site ([Best</a> Values in Private Colleges, 2010-11](<a href=“Kiplinger | Personal Finance News, Investing Advice, Business Forecasts”>Kiplinger | Personal Finance News, Investing Advice, Business Forecasts)). Bard is last on the list (at #100). Grinnell & Macalester are #15 and #19, respectively. None of the others make the list. Two others to consider: Colorado College (#11 on Kiplinger’s “Best Values”) and College of the Atlantic (#75). </p>

<p>Grinnell and Macalester are about as selective as Bard; Colorado College is slightly less so. With a well-prepared application, I think you’d have a shot at admission and decent aid from these schools.</p>

17

<p>Roundtrip airfare from Providence to Minneapolis and backl is around $260 over winter break if you book now (assuming you aren’t going on the cheapest flights that leave at 5am). Assuming you go home 4 times a year (Thanksgiving, Winter, Spring and Summer), we’re talking about just over $1,000 annually. Seems to me that the cost of the airfare would be more than offset by the superior financial aid.</p>

18

<p>I don’t think I really want to leave the east coast, and my parents seem to be pretty opposed to the idea as well (although I think they’d be fine with it, if I actually were to want to).</p>

<p>Opening this thread up again…are there any obvious ones I’m missing, or schools at which I’d get great financial aid?</p>

19

<p>Grinnell and Macalester would be outstanding, and as TK notes, they each have a tremendous aid program. Surely, if one of them came through with an outstanding aid package for you, the travel expenses wouldn’t be an issue.</p>

20

<p>Both look like great schools, but I’d like to stay on the east coast for reasons besides financial aid. Besides, neither of those are really safeties! :)</p>