<p>Hi, I'm looking for advice for my daughter. She is at a highly competitive private school. Her interests are political science, fine art (painting & drawing) and creative writing. SAT's are V 770 M 630. Her GPA (not weighted) is 3.67, but she has always taken an extra course in fine arts. By the time she applies to college, she will have taken 5 AP courses. NYU Gallatin has been suggested, but I don't know much about their admissions standards. She does not want a rural school. Looking at Georgetown and Sarah Lawrence among others. Any other suggestions?</p>
<p>Macalester, Bard</p>
<p>Reed, Lewis and Clark, UChicago (not LAC), Swarthmore, and Haverford might be good.</p>
<p>Would you count small towns are rural?</p>
<p>Small towns are ok, hopefully with a bit of interest and character. thanks for the earlier suggestions, tho'</p>
<p>Hmm, Lewis and Clark and U of Chicago, I hadn't thought of those, I'll give them both a look. thanks again</p>
<p>Smith might be a good choice if your D would not mind an all-women's college. It is in Northampton, which is a wonderful town, and it is surrounded by four other colleges. It is one of the larger LACs (~3000 students), and it is about two hours from Boston.</p>
<p>Do you know much about Bard, atmosphere etc? I know approximately where it is and really just the broad brush stuff, liberal, small school. thanks</p>
<p>Unfortunately she is pretty resistant to an all-womens school. Sometimes I think she is more traditional that her parents are! Thanks for the suggestion though.</p>
<p>I would consider Bard rural, there's no real surrounding city. It is a beautiful area around the Catskills though. It's a liberal school and the academics are top notch.</p>
<p>How about Boston College?</p>
<p>We'll definitely take a look at Bard and environs when we drive down for March visits. BC is frankly a little to close to home for my D. Sigh, so many choices, one can really go bonkers.</p>
<p>If California isn't too far, Occidental and the Claremont Schools, all in the LA area,(specifically Claremont McKenna and Pomona) would also be excellent choices for her interests. The Claremont Schools are a group of 5 colleges located next to each other - students can cross-register so they get the benefits of both a small school and a larger school.</p>
<p>Closer to home, Haverford and Swarthmore near Philadelphia might be worth looking at - also Wesleyan in CT. Skidmore might be worth a look as well - less isolated than Bard. A good safety for her might be Goucher which is just outside of Baltimore.</p>
<p>Your D may want to look at Oberlin. It appears that her interests and abilities may mesh quite well with Oberlin. Oberlin is located in a small town of 8,000, but is only about 35 miles outside Cleveland.</p>
<p>Echo Carolyn, especially Claremont McKenna in Ca., great school for that interest.There are 5 schools where one can take classes as well,</p>
<p>Look at Vassar! Not only is it a great school, its a great academic atmosphere and she has a good shot. Chicago is a very unusual place, I spent all weekend with a buddy who went there. He said literally there was almost no social life.</p>
<p>Might try Holy Cross or Trinity.</p>
<p>Look at Macalester, I have a friend that goes there now that really likes it.</p>
<p>Also, look at Grinnell (great town, excellent college), and other east-coast schools like William & Mary, washington & Lee, and so on. Your D has great stats, but for a safety I would recommend looking at either Santa Clara or St. Mary's College of California (both bay area) Both are located in quieter suburbs with easy, easy access to San Francisco (and San Jose, but who'd want to go there). St. Mary's offers some great scholarships and has an incredible program for advanced/honors students, which your D has a good chance of being there.
Might also want to look at Carleton (great school) and I too recommend Oberlin (one of my top choices right now).</p>
<p>My son is interested in Art studio and Art history so we looked at quite a few colleges that have good art departments. I'd suggest Wesleyan, Skidmore, Conn College and Brown. Tufts has a tie-in with the Boston Museum of Fine Art. If she reconsiders the no-rural restriction, then add Hamilton, Kenyon and Williams.</p>
<p>If she wants to major in Political Science or English/Writing, I recommend the following schools. they are all within her reach given her unweighed GPA and her SATs and they are all located in nice areas:</p>
<p>Amherst College
Claremont McKenna College
Columbia University
Havereford College
Macalester College
Pomona College
Reed College
Swarthmore College
University of Chicago
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Wisconsin-Madison</p>