Looking for Good Liberal Arts School...Help Appreciated

College Search & Selection
1

<p>What I want:
A fairly prestigious college located in New England or the Middle (Eastern) States although I am not opposed to Midwest or upper South.
100% demonstrated need guaranteed to be met.
Not too concerned about what majors are offered...should I be? I mean I'll probably end up going liberal arts, maybe law, maybe politics, maybe business - science and med are definitely out.
Suburban is preferred. I mean I don't want to live on a farm for 4 years of my life (though I happily would if I was offered a full ride to said farm =)), and I don't really want an urban campus, with the DC area as an exception. </p>

<p>What I have so far:
Princeton University
Amherst College
Williams College
Northwestern University
The George Washington University
Johns Hopkins University
University of Pennsylvania
Georgetown</p>

<p>I posted my resume at <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=4297885#post4297885%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?p=4297885#post4297885&lt;/a> but looking back it seems a better idea to get a more permanent list of colleges together before I look to seriously at my chances. </p>

<p>Princeton seems great, though it might be a high reach for me?
Amherst also has 100% need and it'd be my second choice right now.
Also, any thoughts on Duke? I've heard great and terrible things about it.
And lastly, anymore suggestions to add to this list? I know none of these are safetys and I need some...</p>

<p>Thanks guys!</p>

2

<p>Centre College (Danville, Kentucky) is very nice, has good academics, and an impressive cultural scene. Plus, they have a well-regarded self-designed major program.</p>

3

<p>if you are looking at amherst, you might want to check out its fellow nescac schools (middlebury, colby, bowdoin, bates, hamilton, etc)</p>

<p>some are closer to civilization than others but they are all great schools and worth perusing!</p>

4

<p>Hmm well a quick glance at Centre makes it look like a safety for me, though Kentucky is a little farther than I was looking =/</p>

<p>Umm I'm kind of worried about using internet search programs...had fastweb accidentally delete my account...twice. Also, I'm a little suspicious since this was your first post. Can anyone vouch for that website? </p>

<p>And yeah, those all sound like great schools. Aside from location does one really excel over the others in any particular major?</p>

<p>Thanks for the feedback guys! Keep it coming please! =)</p>

5

<p>check out Colorado College (I always recommend it since I live next door -- it is a great school). If you have the stats to put you in reach at Princeton and Amherst, it might be a good match/low reach school -- and it is a top 25 LAC.</p>

6

<p>Check out Rhodes College in Memphis. It might be a little too south for you, but it is urban.</p>

<p>Hamilton and Colgate are good choices, but they are somewhat isolated. Also Haverford and Macalester.</p>

7

<p>Davidson? Its in the south but not too overwhelmingly southern. They meet 100% of demonstrated needs with no loans.</p>

8

<p>University of Chicago, Vanderbilt</p>

9

<p>I'd say you look like a pretty fantastic candidate overall and should get into at least one or two (if not more) of the schools you already have on your list. In particular George Washington University you could consider a "likely." </p>

<p>Here, however, are some more suggestions. Some of these schools you might find to be too "rural" for your taste... I personally found Amherst and Williams both to be pretty rural, myself, so I'm listing the following colleges regardless of their surroundings because the concept of what one would consider "rural" seems to be pretty subjective...</p>

<p>REACH: Brown University (RI), Duke University (NC), Harvard College (MA), Yale University (CT)</p>

<p>SEMI-REACH: Cornell University (NY), Dartmouth College (NH), Swarthmore College (PA), Washington University in St. Louis (MO)</p>

<p>GOOD FIT: Bowdoin College (ME), Carleton College (MN), Carnegie Mellon University (PA), Grinnell College (IA), Hamilton College (NY), Haverford College (PA), Middlebury College (VT), Oberlin College (OH), Tufts University (MA), University of Notre Dame (IN), Vassar College (NY), Wesleyan University (CT)</p>

<p>LIKELY: Bard College (NY) Bates College (ME), Boston College (MA), Brandeis University (MA), Bucknell University (PA), Colby College (ME), Colgate University (NY), Connecticut College (CT), Davidson College (NC), Kenyon College (OH), Macalester College (MN), Trinity College (CT), University of Rochester (NY), Villanova University (PA), Wake Forest University (NC), Washington & Lee University (VA)</p>

<p>SAFETY: College of the Holy Cross (MA), Denison University (OH), Dickinson College (PA), Franklin & Marshall College (PA), Gettysburg College (PA), Lafayette College (PA), Lehigh University (PA), Sarah Lawrence College (NY), Skidmore College (NY), Union College (NY), University of Richmond (VA), Ursinus College (PA), Wheaton College (MA)</p>

10

<p>Dartmouth! Its literally a total hybrid between Princeton and Amherst. Location-wise its rural but amazingly quaint and beautiful rural. Also, the local area does have about 75K people so its not totally in the middle of nowhere.</p>

<p>I'd also look into Brown and Pomona.</p>

11

<p>Apply to Reed. Its an amazing LAC that is completely underrated and may be a good match/safety for you.</p>

12

<p>Duke would be great if you wouldn't mind reaching to the south a little. I will be a freshman next year and all the people I've talked to have been nothing short of amazing. It's got a beautiful campus with access to Chapel Hill and Raleigh.</p>

<p>Another great fit for you I think would be Tufts. It's a university, but a very small personalized one and while extremely close to Boston, it has an actual campus and the area is more suburban.</p>

<p>Both are excellent in political science/pre law. Duke is heavily recruited by I-Banking if you're talking that end of business.</p>

13

<p>Color, Your grades/scores are strong enough to get you into any college on your list. Your demographic group puts you at a disadvantage. Your ECs as listed appear weak, but I think the presentation of your interests and activities could be enhanced and enlarged to counter this.</p>

<p>Some other ideas on less selectives: Hamilton, Bucknell, Sarah Lawrence, Colby, Conn college, Grinnell, Macalester, Kenyon. A lot of the good LACs (Williams for example) ARE located in rural environments and some of the best are in the Midwest. Visit and make a decision whether or not they are right for you. If not, then you may as well eliminate them right off as all the financial aid in the world won't reverse a bad fit.</p>

<p>If your family qualifies for need based aid, most of the colleges on your list will be generous. Please be aware that what the colleges think you need may not be what you think you need, so there is often a range in financial offers. </p>

<p>Many second tier colleges and universities also offer merit aid. Take a look at the thread on top of the Parents board for some ideas.</p>

14

<p>St. John's College- one of the most prestigous schools in the nation! It sends its 4 year-graduates (survivors- its attrition rate is amazing) to graduate schools (90%+). "Great Books" curriculum- small, but VERY close-knit. All discussion/essay- NO TESTS!!! (and hidden grades- unless you want to glimpse them).</p>

<p>Very upper-level schools accept St. John's graduates- they know it is one of the toughest curriculums out there. (Established three centuries ago by the way- in the 17th cent. I believe) </p>

<p>There is a campus in Santa Fe, California and Annapolis, Maryland (the flagship school). Very high-level alumni as well- watch the video :-D</p>

<p>I had the pleasure of meeting an alumnus and also being highly acquainted with an admittee. (good discussions on life and the disconnection of body and spirit- and the naked Stoics :-D) - the alumnus was an actor who got a job RIGHT out of college. He swore his job on his St. John's education- I hold high respect for him :-D</p>

15

<p>Vassar
Muhlenberg
University of Rochester</p>

16

<p>Oh wow! You guys are amazing! You've given me so much to look through! Thanks so much!</p>

17

<p>dont go to Georgetown unless u are intersted in IR - the other departments lack. Amherst is a good LAC!!!!</p>

18

<p>Holy Cross-Top30 LAC in mid-size city, 1 hour from Boston.</p>

19

<p>You also might want to look into Wesleyan's college of social studies.</p>