@AirMetro Congratulations on Tufts! I sent you a DM.
@premed_equestrian Congratulations on Northeastern! I appreciate your perspective and it sounds like perhaps it is a better fit for D24 than I thought. The location and programs certainly are wonderful. And congratulations on UVM merit too. I think UVM looks like a great place and I would be thrilled for D24 to go there. I recently was talking to a parent whose kid turned down Tufts to go to UVM. If D24 nds up with choices like yours we will be ecstatic.
Oh, thank you! I have a thread as well that details my admissions process- and if you have any questions about NEU, please feel free to DM me! /happily
Can anyone comment on type of kids that go to Wheaton (MA)? I like it on paper but there’s not a lot of info available. Is it more quirky, artsy, preppy, athletic, etc? I’m guessing pretty mainstream as it seems to be pre professional focus, but not sure
Re: the “chance me” aspect of your post, my D23 had a very similar application profile - including liberal arts major and strength in studio art. She applied to many of the same schools and if it helps you, she was accepted to Tufts, Wesleyan, UVM, Hamilton, NYU, BU, UVM, ND, W&M, and Fordham. Rejected by Vassar. She did take Calc AB and BC. Essay seem super important at Tufts, so if she nails those, I think she has an excellent shot. Feel free to PM for details and good luck!
Honestly, I don’t know much about the student population but my D23 had her indoor track meets there. It is in a very suburban town with not much really close by. Not sure if that is a deal breaker but it was for my D23.
I asked this upstream…but what colleges on this list are just about sure things for admission? I don’t see any…I would suggest finding two of those (nice to have choices if it comes to these), where your daughter would be happy to attend, and that are affordable?
What schools are on her application list that fulfill the sure thing category? Find those first.
I’d say it is a mix (I have a rising junior there and have been on campus myself several times each of the past few years). There are mainstream kids, yes, but there are a lot of quirky kids, too…overall a very inclusive be-who-you-are-vibe. I would not say preppy for the predominant vibe at all. Lots of kids with pastel dyed hair, an active queer community, no football, no Greek life (party scene is at the theme houses), and used to be a women’s college - these things all impact campus culture.
I remember this thread from a month ago and wasn’t going to bump it until the OP had a chance to visit Wesleyan University; it could be a key ED2 or even ED1 chess piece since it occupies that niche between a popular NESCAC college and the roll-of-the-dice odds at Brown: Brown
When I met with her school college counselor, she felt extremely confident D24 would get into Mount Holyoke and Connecticut College, and I think she probably would be happy to attend those. Her school has a strong track record at Holyoke and has applicants accepted every year, so that is the one she feels most confident about. Her counselor also feels very good about U Vermont, UMass, and UConn, but I’m less confident she would be happy to attend those. Unfortunately her school is so small that there isn’t enough SCOIR data for any of the schools she is interested in. We are going to work on giving ED1 at Tufts her best effort and cast a wide net if that doesn’t work out.
On the Stats/Calculus question, D24 emailed the Tufts AO responsible for her region, and the AO responded that she had a “compelling reason” for choosing Stat and it will not hurt her chances in light of her other advanced coursework.
D23 had a lot of cross over with your D24’s list. She will be attending Mt. Holyoke. Think your CC is right about all of those admissions. Even though we are MA residents her school had very limited data on Mt Holyoke and Smith (she was waitlisted at Smith) but of the few applicants there were no admits. We would have classified both as reaches (my husband worked in Admissions for years). I do recommend she do the interviews for Mt. Holyoke and Smith. She interviewed at Mt. Holyoke but not Smith. Not sure if it would have made a difference but you never know. Daughter was also accepted to UMASS Amherst Honors College and UCONN no honors. D23 had no interest in UMASS but we insisted she apply because it is our state flagship and we based our entire budget on full pay instate tuition. UMASS may have been considered more if she didn’t get into Mt. Holyoke. With the consortium she can take classes at UMASS or Smith, use her dining card at UMASS (best college food in in country). She did receive a very good scholarship at Mt. Holyoke and financial aid which brought it to our instate tuition cost. UCONN came out a few thousand more than UMASS. Based on your D24’s profile and interests I don’t think UCONN would be the best fit.
If you want to look into a couple more MA schools that would appear to be a good fit for your D24 look into Clark University. D23 was also accepted there with an excellent scholarship and it seems to tick some of your D24’s boxes. Nice to have options. Unfortunately Clark was a little too local for her. If D24 isn’t opposed to applying to a Jesuit school College of the Holy Cross has one of the best classics departments in the US. Both are located in Worcester, MA a city of about 200,000 about 45 miles west of Boston.
D23 did tour Connecticut College just not the right vibe for her and didn’t apply. Wished she would have toured Wesleyan. My husband lived in Middletown, CT the year before got married and we loved the campus would have enjoyed going back for a visit.
Wishing her the best with her ED1 for Tufts. I wouldn’t worry much about the Stats/Calculus issue. D23 had a similar situation with taking AP Physics vs. Honors. Her CC (former admissions officer at top school) assured us one class wouldn’t make a difference.
So interested in this conversation. I’d love to know what aspects of Tufts she loves. My S24 and I visited and I really liked it but he was meh. So many love it. It seems like Tufts as an ED is going to work out just fine for her.
And my C21 is a junior at Bryn Mawr and it seems like it would be a good fit for your D24. My C21 loves it. They went in as a potential classics major, and ended up being an English major with possibly a classics minor or a theater minor. They loves all the profs, fellow students, theater program, environment, proximity to Philly. And they got a presidential scholarship which amounted to an over half tuition scholarship. They also got substantial merit aid at Mount Holyoke, Smith, and Sarah Lawrence. They applied during the pandemic so couldn’t visit, and had a 3.9 UW gpa (school doesn’t weight) and a 34 ACT (taken one time).
lmk if you have any questions, feel free to dm. good luck, sounds like a fantastic student!
Re: Tufts – that was the only school my S21 didn’t like. He couldn’t articulate why (and it seemed great to me!). Because it was the outlier, and he liked every other school, we had to respect his opinion.
My daughter currently is on vacation with Holyoke friends . One just finished her freshman year and had a great experience and the other will be in your D’s class! My D is excited to tour Holyoke in the Fall and definitely will plan to interview. She loves interviews. I will look into Clark. Holy Cross likely is not a good fit. Wesleyan is one that is a strong ED2 contender if Tufts is a no. She hasn’t seen Wes yet, but our online research indicates it would be a good fit. Vassar is another possible ED2 contender.
Wes is indeed a good one to look at if Tufts doesn’t work out. If you’re looking at Vassar, it could be worth your while to check out Bard as well. Very interesting place and a relatively easier admit than the others.
Bard is gorgeous and has some great programs. It is also pretty isolated compared with the other schools on the list. If that isn’t an issue - I would highly recommend it.
That’s wonderful to hear your C21 loves Bryn Mayr! Sounds like they got lots of impressive merit offers. I agree with you that my D also would thrive at BM, but she prefers Boston/Massachusetts
Why Tufts? Great question. In the past year I’ve toured 10 colleges with D24 and her twin brother and done drive through of several others and my conclusion is that teenagers have odd reasons for wanting or not wanting to attend a college. My S24 liked his tour of Tulane but thought the condition of the roads in New Orleans was unacceptable. D24 loved the info session at Swarthmore but thought some buildings were too modern. Weird.
So, our Tufts tour just hit all he right notes. The tour guide was very artsy and cool and she and D24 had a good connection. We saw a rabbit on our tour and that was exciting. She likes the curriculum/distribution requirements. She likes that it has a traditional quad with an interesting mix of architecture. She loved that it overlooks the city and is accessible by public transportation. She likes that they have. 4+1 Masters in Classics. She likes the painting the cannon tradition and some of their quirky clubs. She likes their affiliation with art school. She especially likes that her BFF will start there next year. So, lots to like, but also things that exist at other places.
Sometimes it’s just a college’s “time”. The name has become familiar; people are more accepting of architecture that doesn’t match; it’s in Boston. And the market for stylish, Eastern colleges has only grown over the past twenty years. IOW, not everyone can squeeze into the same eight colleges.
