<p>Cangel - Carleton does not have anywhere near as many international students as Macalester. And in the midwest, Grinnell is spending a ton of money to attract internationals, so Carleton is in a tough spot. All three schools do attract a national U.S. student body, and I would be surprised if Carleton has more midwesterners than the average northeastern LAC has northeasteners; certainly not an overwhelming number. Plus, we midwesterners try not to be too overwhelming.</p>
<p>SBMom - I think you have a good handle on the schools for your D. The three top choices were three of my nephew's top four choices last year; we both liked them a lot. </p>
<p>I might suggest Lawrence as a slightly better fit for your D than Kenyon though, simply due to the greek presence at Kenyon and a lot of high verbals running around. I like Earlham for a possible safety, too, as it definitely has that "gentle and welcoming" feel your D likes at Haverford. And I apologize for being redundant, but I believe that tennis could make an admission difference at several of the more selective schools you are looking at. The top two Minnesota or Maine tennis players may be able to play with top five California players, but #10 in both states would have trouble getting by the #50 California player.</p>
<p>When my D was ranked (she stopped playing USTA matches due to other ECs so lost ranking) it was top 100 in So. Calif. I'm guessing that the top 50-60 players at least are D1 level. I am confident that on a D3 team that was ranked below 20 nationally, she'd be a real asset (the further below, the more of an asset). Above 20, she'd be qualified, but maybe not a coach's "must have." </p>
<p>Re: Kenyon-- her V is 700, sort of middle for Kenyon I think... no?</p>
<p>Her academics are solid, but not world-beating; if she is admitted to a top school, it is because tennis & music (along with her leadership in both and deep, long committment to both) play a role. Hopefully some of these aspects will be appealing to a college, and her academic record & scores will show that she is solidly "median"-- qualified & able to do the work, while also contributing more strongly in other areas. Obviously some kids with her stats are admitted, though I imagine many are URMs, legacies, development admits, etc. And others with these stats are not admitted. I am realistic.</p>
<p>My D doesn't care about being on a "prestige" team, she wants to play tennis & have fun & learn; luckily there seem to be matches & safetys that fit this bill. BTW she's applying EA to a few schools in this tier just to take some pressure off.</p>
<p>With her tennis and HS record your D is an strong candidate at all the schools on her list - and it's a fine list of schools. If I jumped back in a time machine Haverford would be at the top of my list. Good luck to your D.</p>
<p>I agree with Reidm. And I too like Havorford very much. I think Gettysburg, Ursinus, Susquehanna are less selective schools that are somewhat similar.</p>
<p>SBMom, my son really liked Kenyon. He liked the kids, the ambience, the course catalog, and the adcom was very supportive. It's a beautiful campus, among the more isolated, but the surrounding country side is lovely. Although he ended up at another small, rural school, Kenyon is really, really out there. Within walking distance there's the general store, 1 or 2 cafes and that's about it. He also liked Hamilton, which I think is a possibility for your daughter. Skidmore seems right, so it's too bad about your daughter's experience. Maybe an overnight would be in order? Saratoga Springs is a great town. Someone earlier on mentioned Furman. A wonderful school that leans toward the more socially conservative.</p>
<p>700V is VERY GOOD so don't be intimidated by all the super scorers that you read about on this board.</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement! I know she's a great kid and will wind up being admitted somewhere she will love; thanks to many great ideas we do have a good, broad list. </p>
<p>I have stopped looking at "Chances" posts because they're all:</p>
<p>1600 SAT
17 AP classes, all 5's
4.47 GPA
Cured Cancer
1st Violin in London Philharmonic
Olympic swimmer
Starred in major motion picture
...Do I have a <em>chance</em>?!?!!!!</p>
<p>I really think this forum is great because a nervous mother like me can spin her wheels and keep researching ideas and getting feedback without driving my kid absolutely bonkers. I also hate to talk to friends about it because I don't want to get personal about their kid's scores, GPA, etc, and yet it is such a pressing topic on my mind this fall!</p>
<p>Again, thanks for the support. I will keep you posted on what happens.</p>
<p>SBmom, completely empathize in terms of the talking with friends part of this. My son's 2 best friends' moms are my best friends. We have shared everything the last 10+ years, especially important in supporting one another with teenagers, etc. Surrounding this topic, however, I have noted a definite shift in our communication. We are mindful of each other's concerns and try to provide helpful information when asked, but we are not discussing the nitty gritty as we do on many other topics. Two of the boys have similar profiles and might be applying to a few of the same schools, if their ED aspirations don't work out. Naturally, I am hoping it won't happen- for many reasons. </p>
<p>Good luck with your daughter, there are so many appealing schools out there that the final decision, at least for my son, was not an easy one. By the way, just was "chatting" with my son at Grinnell, everyone there very excited about their women's tennis team at the moment...</p>
<p>"It is disturbingly true how influential the tour guide can be!!" Ain't that the truth! At one school we visited, nearly the first thing the tour guide told us, when asked how she liked the school, was "The food's okay so it's not too bad." That clipped our enthusiasm pretty quickly, even though we had read and kept repeating to ourselves like a mantra, "Do not judge a school by one student or one adcom or one tour guide."</p>
<p>What about Bryn Mawr? It's right next to Haverford, and she could take classes there. Bryn Mawr and Haverford share a music program, and I'm sure that she could negotiate with the Haverford coach to let her play, or at least try out for their team.</p>
<p>"Have heard that Allegheny recently became stronger in the sciences but weaker in the humanities"</p>
<p>Allegheny is strong in the social sciences, English, and has a pretty decent religion department. It is a good place for people interested in music although I wouldn't recommend it if you are really performance oriented. (The exception being piano - they have fabulous piano teacher in Alex Chin, their artist in residence.) Their other humanities departments are ok but not great. On the other hand, not many schools are great at everything.</p>
<p>With a risk of mentioning them too often...check the Ohio Five Consortium Schools: Kenyon, Denison, Ohio Wesleyan, Oberlin and Wooster. Most of them were suggested here anyway.</p>
<p>If your daughter is looking for LACs with good music programs in which she can participate extracirricularly, here are a few. I am also into music (however I would never major in it) and I looked at LACs as well and some of the ones I liked do indeed have excellent music programs...
Bucknell University
The College of New Jersey
One other college that I would like to add, although not technically an LAC but with an extremely LAC 'feel' is the University of Rochester... It has a extremely small undergrad and gives you the liberal arts education and it has the best music program in the world (actually its Eastman School of music does, but you can go to Eastman for free lessons)
Good luck!</p>
<p>Some other east coast matches and safeties would be Union Franklin & Marshall, Gettysburg, hobart William SmithSt Lawrence, Ursinus, Susquenhanna,Hartwick, Wells. Some easy on the budget LACs are Mary Washington, St Mary's of Md, and UNC Ahseville. Richmond, Wells, Agnes Scott are alos goo deals. For Ohio and the midwest, I like the 3 W's of Wooster, Wittenberg, and Ohio Wesleyan and Lake Forest. THere is a great write up on Juniata College on this site and Wash & Jefferson competes directly with Allegheny College, but W&J gives some nice merit money. The bar will be a bit higher for girls at these schools as a rule, with the former all female schools giving some latitude to the males. It seems to me that you have a great start on this process.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. All apps are in for us but the suggestions may help others looking for similar schools. My D has been accepted to her 3 EA choices: Beloit, Lawrence, & Allegheny. She got a merit scholarship at Allegheny of $50K. We await the rest of the results!</p>
<p>SBmom - Congratulations to your daughter. She already has some fine acceptances and I suspect she will soon have many others. I am curious to see where she ends up!</p>