If you are looking at Union you may want to try to visit Skidmore as well. They are close by. Our impression was that Union is very STEM oriented while Skidmore is more humanities oriented.
By emphasizing an urban location, you might be drifting away from Reed. Schools that appear in the original post that seem to share the most overall aspects with Reed include Williams, Hamilton and Vassar (the latter of which you’ve maintained). I’m not specifically suggesting you reconsider the former two schools, but I recommend you exercise caution with respect to alternative options that might fit your daughter’s preferences in one area (location in a large city) but not others (academics, campus atmosphere, etc.).
I second @Dustyfeathers’ suggestion above. Rhodes College, Memphis, TN. A truly beautiful campus with stone buildings that will remind you of gothic northeast campuses. Has a city. Not northeast. I know kids that got excellent merit aid (possibly full tuition), though I suspect that their ACT scores were higher than 34. Worth considering.
Simmons University in Boston. Merit aid likely.
@JSchaaf: Please do not drop Williams College from your list. There are several reasons why Williams College, Amherst, Swarthmore & Wellesley dominate the US News rankings year after year.
A beautiful rural atmosphere is fine if surrounded by highly intelligent, hard working, motivated, well rounded individuals. Maybe you & your student will love it, maybe not–but at least you will know.
One reason students work so hard in high school is to get the opportunity to be a serious candidate for admission to a top elite college or university. Employers know the difference.
Conn College (recommended by @Dustyfeathers in post #5) was a great suggestion, and it’s very good for botany.
SUNY ESF in Syracuse (~1700 undergrads) is an excellent in-state option, but its course offerings are more narrowly focused than at most LACs.
If she’s open to universities, Duke and Wash U are the standout options for ecology and plant science among the highly selective private universities. Wash U is probably the better fit if she likes Reed, and the Missouri Botanical Garden is less than 15 minutes from campus.
https://biology.duke.edu/undergraduate/major/concentrations/ecology
https://biology.duke.edu/undergraduate/major/concentrations/plant-biology
https://sites.nicholas.duke.edu/undergrad/
https://nicholas.duke.edu/marinelab/programs/undergraduate
https://wubio.wustl.edu/undergraduate/major/ecology-and-evolution-track
https://wubio.wustl.edu/undergraduate/major/environmental
https://enst.wustl.edu/
Cornell is also excellent for ecology and plant science (and she’d get discounted tuition in CALS) but noticeably more rural than Duke and WUStL.
Barnard?
Are you aware that merit aid will - in most cases - reduce your need for need-based financial aid? Unless the merit is substantial (e.g., full tuition or full ride scholarships – both of which are hard to come by) or you’re targeting an OOS public that charges in-state tuition for high-stats students), your EFC is not going to change much,
For example, if your D attends a meets-full-need school with COA of $70K and you have an EFC of $42K, you’ll get $28K in need-based aid (which, depending on the school, might include work/study and/or loans); your family will be on the hook for $42K.
If that same school offers $20K in merit, but doesn’t allow it to stack with FA, you will receive $20K in merit, but only $8K in need-based aid (as you will be perceived as having less need). You’ll still be on the hook for $42K.
It’s not much, but you might want to search “15 Best Value Small Colleges for a Chemistry Degree,” in which schools such as Union, Swarthmore and Barnard appear.
It’s worth checking to see the academic atmosphere at each school.
Union is a great school, but dominated by (IMHO) bro/male Greek culture more than the others. It’s one of the few LACs that are not woman heavy. And it shows.
Swarthmore is a great school, but from one Swatty I spoke with who was a chem major, they started in Chapter 3 of the chem text, the professor breezily saying that they should have had the first three chapters in high school. She hadn’t and neither had a few others in the classroom, and she was lost from the beginning. There’s a reason why its nickname is “Sweatmore”.Some people thrive in ths sort of push-forward academic atmosphere. Others do not.
Barnard – you get two choices of departments to take classes – barnard’s and CU’s departments. They have distinct personalities and she can choose
Again, there’s nothing wrong with any of these things. The thing that makes one person thrive may make the next person unhappy. But it’s important to understand the cultures of the schools and how you may fit into them.
Mac, also. The sort of place where college profs send their kids. Urban, but benign, without being sequestered.
Swarthmore is a tier up in academic intensity and accomplishment. More in yer face SJW’s. Setting is very nice, but suburban.
S1 looked into and visited both schools. He would have gone to either, but ultimately chose another school. He did find the politic correctness at Swarthmore to be OTT, but if your daughter likes Reed then maybe not a problem?
Due to it’s endowment, Swarthmore’s COA tends to be lower than most other top tier LAC’s. Trick is getting in. Very selective.
I wrote a really long post on a similar topic a couple of years ago. Some people liked it. Some people thought it was somewhat useful but too long. Some thought I was an idiot. If you search for the word “Rumpus” you’ll find it.
My kid picked University of Puget Sound in the city of Tacoma. We are still pleased with the choice.
One thing I’d change, if I were writing that post again, is my crticism of Amherst. I hadn’t been there since the 1980s when I wrote my post. The town is much more interesting than it was back then, Northampton seems more accessible than it did back then, and the student body seems more diverse than it did back then. It isn’t urban, but it isn’t as dull as a typical New England suburb.
One other point:. If you aren’t acared of flying, colleges in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Tennessee and even Washington and Oregon aren’t all that hard to get to. Flying is expensive but tuition may be cheap compard to East Coast tuition, especially if your kid gets a scholarship (merit based or otherwise).
Lewis and Clark is definitely a beautiful campus. But both EFC and merit numbers for L&C just don’t pencil out compared to other schools for any tests I’ve run.
Willamette tends to outshine them. I was told that my student would qualify for both merit and need based aid. It is not as lovely as a campus as Reed or LC but it is pleasant and there are pretty parts. The chemistry wing looked pretty high-tech to this non-science girl. I also liked how there were study tables next to the professors’ offices, complete with one of the prof’s dogs taking a nap there. Students write a thesis for each major they complete, so it is a little more rigorous than some schools.
Willamette is a train or bus ride up to Portland (one hour). Have a fun outdoors program that is for beginners too. Love it that it is literally (not figuratively) across the street from the state capitol buildings, with internships for state agencies (like forestry, state parks, education, etc)
Other options out west: consider Occidental College in Los Angeles or University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. A tier down, University of Portland still has a campus feel, and although a little larger, has no Greek life and has been ranked as one of the happiest colleges in America; known for their great study abroad program in Salzburg. UP is almost entirely merit-based.
I don’t know what your D’s definition of small is but Case Western might be of interest. It is in Ohio, which is more midwest than east, but not that far west. It might be larger than your D wants but it isn’t large (5K undergrads). It is in a city (Cleveland). My oldest graduated from Case ('16) and married another Case graduate ('16). Case offers good merit aid which helped us because we are a full pay family.
My other son attends Haverford which is mentioned in this thread. Haverford is near Philly and the train is easily accessible to students but it really isn’t urban. My son does go into the city although he says some students stay in Haverford/Ardmore all the time.
Swarthmore, Haverford and Bryn Mawr are all close to each other. There is a bus that goes between Bryn Mawr and Haverford making it easy for students to take classes on either campus. My son has not taken a class at Bryn Mawr yet but he intends to do that during college.
“Swat is a comfortable Uber ride to a large airport for longer trips. However the city is not really something students use for “just going to for some fun” on a regular basis. If she really wants to be in a city, this isn’t it. But maybe she’ll change her mind. BM and Haverford would be similar in that sense.”
It certainly varies by student. The Haverford students I personally know do utilize the city of Philly quite regularly - museums and art scene, excellent dining scene, and frequent outings to concerts at the wide range of music venues Philly offers. I’m sure some students stick close to campus but many do not.
When I read the original post, my first thought was Haverford and Bryn Mawr - strong in sciences and academics across the board, benefit of the co-college relationship between the two schools plus the Quaker Consortium which includes Swarthmore and UPenn. Both are bucolic campuses with easy 20 minute commuter rail access to the city. IMO, it’s really the best of both worlds. Plus they are in nice, leafy suburbs with easy access to a wide range of shops, grocery stores, and cafes and restaurants. Students can walk or bike to bagel stores, all kinds of restaurants (brunch places, bagel shops, fine dining, Thai, Indian, BBQ, sandwich shops) etc. For when they are older, one of the best small batch breweries in the country is just down the street. Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s clothing stores, etc.
In addition to strong academics, both Haverford and Bryn Mawr offer a very good quality of life for students looking for a smaller college experience.
Haverford is all need based. Bryn Mawr offers some merit aid. Both campuses are very nice but Bryn Mawr is one of the prettiest in the country, IMO.
@JSchaaf What did your daughter decide? We are in similar situation with lower GPA. Especially curious about your reaction to Drew University. Thanks!
If she likes the vibe of Reed, Bard, Sarah Lawrence, Vassar, BMC, Wesleyan, and Oberlin might all occupy the same space.
Tufts could be another glass slipper. If she likes Boston, there are schools that are more urban but are a little less contained (Northeastern comes to mind.)
If it’s urban you’re after, most of those in the first paragraph come off the list. (Bard is easily coupled with a visit to Union, which is a terrific school but with an entirely different feel to it.)
If you’re going to visit UMass Amherst - Check out Smith College too. Both schools are members of the five college consortium (Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the UMass Amherst). They are geographically close to one another and are linked by frequent bus service which operates between the campuses during the school year. Students can easily register to take courses at the other campuses and its a vibrant area.