Match D24 - “Average Excellent” Artsy Classics + Anthropology major for mid-sized Northeastern schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Re: The Best Colleges with an Open Curriculum - College Transitions

University of Rochester (listed in the linked page) may market itself as open curriculum, but it really is not. Degree Requirements (BA and BS) : Advising Handbook : College Center for Advising Services : University of Rochester says that “Students must complete one divisional cluster in each of the two divisions outside the area of the major with an average grade of “C” or better.” The clusters are basically breadth requirements, described at Clusters : Advising Handbook : College Center for Advising Services : University of Rochester .

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Many posters assume that a person looking for liberal/queer-friendly is going to stay clear of colleges located in states which are restricting access to women’s health, legislating how a doctor can treat a teenager, or otherwise marginalizing people who are not presenting as straight women/men consistent with their birth-anatomy.

The OP can correct us if that is not the case for the D- in which case Emory might be a fine choice.

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For engineering - you need one cluster and 2 other classes. It is EXTREMELY flexible and 5 non-engineering classes is significantly more flexible than most breadth requirements at other Universities we looked at in detail. No foreign language requirement, no random history class requirement, no taking 7 classes in 7 different areas. For someone seeking flexibility, it absolutely should be considered.

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OP -on stats vs Calculus, I’m sure she’s getting good advising at her private school, but we were told multiple times that AOs like to see the rigor of Calc even if the student ultimately pursues a field where stats will be more useful. AP Stats is EXTREMELY basic.

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The OP student is not likely to be an engineering major, so she will need a science cluster if she does one humanities major (classics) and one social science major (anthropology).

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There is a thread in the political forum to discussion abortion laws. Please let’s not discuss that here.

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What about Hamilton? I applied as a Anthropology major with interests in art, languages, literature, etc. to many very similar schools (Vassar, Brandeis, Connecticut College, URochester, Amherst, Brown) and am currently a student at Hamilton!

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I’d definitely visit both Davidson and Emory. Neither felt like a traditional “southern” school to me. Amazing schools with equally amazing campuses.

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Wow! I am so grateful and encouraged by all of this feedback! Thank you! I will try to address the points/questions raised so far.

@blossom her counselor says that, while Tufts is a reach, she thinks she is a strong applicant for ED. A student with a lower academic profile and similar EC was admitted TO this year (ED2) so that is encouraging. Our school is so small that admissions results really are anecdotal, not data, for most schools.

@merc81 thank you for the links! Yes, we looked at those when started our research and many of the schools she is interested in we found through those lists. Some others have recommended Sarah Lawrence, so perhaps she should visit when in NYC this summer.

@CFP and @Thorsmom66 thank you for sharing that D24s profile is similar to that of students who have gotten in to Tufts. That is encouraging!

@thumper yes, Northeastern and Swarthmore both are schools that have bounced on and off her lists, and both check a lot of boxes for her. We visited Swarthmore and there were lots of things she loved, but she loved Vassar and Tufts more, so with Swarthmore being a high reach, she probably isn’t going to apply because she already loves a lot of reaches. With Northeastern, we haven’t toured, but worry it’s more pre-professional and less quirky? Also, we hear it really favors ED and it is unlikely to be an ED choice.

@rosenstock I will take another look at Trinity. I am not as familiar with it.

@compmom for art, she mostly paints in acrylic, but also enjoys sketching, pen and ink, charcoal, mixed media, and even digital art. She has a lot of portraits in her portfolio and particularly enjoys illustration. She is definitely considering applying for the Tufts BA + BFA dual degree with SMFA, but she is not certain she wants the BFA.

@ucbalumnus thank you so much for that information about Rochester! A cluster in natural sciences would be very unappealing to her. It was mostly on her list due to its reputation for a flexible curriculum

@inflorescent yes Hamilton is a wonderful school and there is a lot she likes about it on paper but we haven’t visited. Currently, it is not on the list due to location, but it certainly checks a lot of boxes. I will give it another look. I think it is one that is hard for us to travel to, which is an important factor

@Darcy123 I share your concern about rigor and Calc/Stat and her counselor also has indicated the choice could be problematic. I know D24 emailed her Tufts admissions rep to ask about this specifically but has not heard back. She just really doesn’t want to do Calculus and I am not going to force her into it. I hope one class is not a dealbreaker, but if it is for some reaches, I hope some other schools will see her rigor in humanities.

Several have asked why not the South. Yes, politics is a factor, and so is the weather. Also, her very best friend is going to school in Boston next year and several other good friends are in the 5 college consortium, giving those extra appeal. I know she will make new friends, etc., but geography is helpful in narrowing her search.

Some have commented her list is too long. Yes, it probably is. We will cut more over the summer and that’s part of why I wanted to do a match thread to help refine our list. The comments and ideas all are very helpful.

Thank you!

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In our experience, calculus is not necessary as long as there are other strong factors in the application.PM’ing you.

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I think you have a really great list so far and I also think that your D has a good shot at Tufts with an ED app. Has your D considered Smith at all? The curriculum seems pretty open and that it would meld well with her interests in foreign languages & classics as well as anthropology.

The one area of concern I have with your list is the likelies section. I think they’re all likely, but seem to be much larger than the other schools on her list which are mostly small to medium in size. If those were her only options, how would she feel? Based on the rest of her list, I’d be inclined to have at least one likely school that is smaller. I like the Sarah Lawrence suggestion from earlier. If she’s willing to a little further out, perhaps Drew which is a 45m ride to NYC? @beebee3’s kid recently visited and I think liked it.

I’ll think some more as well.

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FWIW, I agree that Calc isn’t absolutely necessary for a non-STEM kid who is strong in other areas. My math-averse, humanities-all-the-way D22 took Stats instead of Calc AB and was still admitted to two T25 schools.

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Agreed. My D23 (also math-averse) took AP Stats instead of calc and APES instead of physics (both of which makes perfect sense for her, as some of her main areas of interests are in environmental studies and politics) and still got into several schools with 10-20% admit rates. Her strengths are in humanities and social sciences and she loaded up on APs in those areas.

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Agree with @AustenNut about Smith.

Would you consider Hampshire? Very quirky. In the Five College Consortium.

I’m a Northeastern Alum. It was pre-professional years ago. May be different now, but it’s never going to be a SLAC feel.

Suffolk is trying to make itself into a liberal arts college and it’s in downtown Boston. So is Emerson.

Was Bard on the list?

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Many thanks to everyone for the thoughts, suggestions, and encouragement! I appreciate the perspectives on Calc/Stats for humanities kids and rigor. It appears Calc is more rigorous but doing Stats instead isn’t necessarily a deal breaker. I’m encouraging D to BE HAPPY and pursue her interests, telling her there is no point over-thinking/second-guessing everything.

So, a general thought on some suggestions. We do not care about rankings, generally, and would much rather pursue fit than prestige. However, we have loosely incorporated Niche grades into our thought process. Generally, if a school has a A grade or thereabouts on Niche, we feel comfortable that the school is broadly considered to be good, and there are a few on the list with a B+ Niche grade. Some of the suggestions are graded B- and that gives me pause. Am I foolish to consider these Niche grades? They aren’t a hill we are dying on, but a tool that we have considered as a preliminary piece of information on schools we otherwise don’t know much about.

@AustenNut you are right that our Likelies are larger than she would prefer. We hope that her majors are smaller groups within the schools. We are continuing to look for wonderful likelies that are a little smaller. I do agree she would like Smith, and it is probably going back on the “big list.”

@randommom1 thank you for your perspective. Yes, we considered Hampshirite and think it is too small and TOO quirky. She actually has a friend who is a freshman there and loving it, but D likely wants to go to graduate school and some of the quirkiness in the curriculum is concerning. We did look at Emerson on paper and it seems very cool, but doesn’t offer Classics or Anthropology. It appears to be more of an art/film/creative writing school. Bard is a great suggestion that I’ll look into further. This could be a really nice Target!

If anyone has insights on Connecticut College I would love to hear more about that one. I really like it on paper and will try to take D to visit in the Fall when we visit Wesleyan (a strong ED2 contender). Is D24 very likely to get in RD? Is it likely she might receive a merit scholarship? Is it well respected? (As a born and raised Southerner, I’ve discovered there are lots of incredible schools I’ve never heard of, but lack of familiarity with Northeastern schools makes this harder for me).

I’m also relieved our list generally looks ok and are Targets and Likelies seem reasonable. I think I’ve read too many sad stories on CC about aiming too high and do not want that to happen to D24.

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Lots of excellent schools on that list. My D just graduated UMass ‘22 with dual Anthropology (cultural) and Poly Sci degrees so felt I should chime in. She loved the Anthropology courses and noted that the professors in that department were the best of any of her courses at UMass, even more so than the consortium classes she traveled to. If your D gets into honors college that’s would help make a fairly large school smaller and surrounded by other top students. CHC is one of the best honors colleges in the nation.

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You have a good list, though it needs to be pared down over the summer. It includes several colleges D22 applied to or considered, even though her interests were somewhat different.

Why subfield of anthropology is your daughter interested in?

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Conn College is a lovely and well respected school, and I am convinced that if it were closer to either NY or Boston it would be twice as hard to be admitted as it is right now!

It is in New London, which used to be a major whaling/maritime city (there is still some maritime industry in the area, Coast Guard Academy, etc.) but is now a small New England industrial city. The college sits on top of a hill overlooking the town.

It attracts a sort of brainy/artsy kind of student. Sort of the opposite of pre-professional.

It is convenient to visit from Wesleyan so your plan is a good one!

Give us an example of a few B minus schools that seem appealing to you and we can help you parse what it means. Sometimes the rankings are really helpful and sometimes they are not. I just did a quick glance at the Niche site and wow- they really ding the HBCU’s as a group which I don’t think is justified at all. And there are a bunch of B minus schools on the list which i think are terrific options for a local kid who might not be ready to go 1,000 miles away (needs more family support, has been used to a lot of scaffolding in HS) but which just don’t seem “worth it” for a kid out of the region…

So it’s a YMMV situation for sure.

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Note that students from distant states such as California (5th most represented) and Florida (6th most represented) are fairly common at Hamilton. And considered purely
on academics, Hamilton might be perfect for your daughter. With respect to admission, Hamilton, notably for an LAC, reports a higher acceptance rate for females (13% one year ago) than males (11%).

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You may want to consider that Niche awards an A+ grade to 82 schools. This places even A-graded schools fairly far down on a national scale by the site’s criteria.