There is some wiggle room as to size, but to put it this way, he spends one day a week on the campus of a school of over 22,000 undergraduate students and lives in a town with a college of just over 1,000 undergrads. He isn’t interested in a large college and doesn’t want to go to a very small school. He’s aiming for the middle ground. Southern schools are out (we looked at Vandy and Florida would be a definite no).
And it’s not a ‘match’.
You can note the same about Emory.
Agreed, WashU is a reach. Emory won’t work because it’s in the south (although it does, like WashU (and unlike Vandy), have a pretty Northeast feel to it). WashU does have an ED2 option which would bring the odds up a bit.
There are only so many schools in that size range - and many of them will be “safeties” although that’s not really a term - it’s how people define it - and safety admission wise doesn’t mean “bad.”
But you’ve really put yourself into a box with the geographic and size limitation.
Another (safety) to look at - but it’s the other way - but if he’s interested in International Politics - would be U Denver.
But there are some schools that will fit in the NE but even those will have different environments and cultures. But how many will fit the need for -it sounds like “pedigree” - well I’ve given what I can think of.
Lehigh has a UN program; Rochester is just solid as are Wake and W&M. Elon and Charleston Fellows - they have the International Scholars too (my daughter is both) - could be worthy - given where my daughter is this semester interning, I think so.
I’ll leave you with one other thing - when you look at power brokers in DC, etc - of course you have your Gtown and Ivy and all that - but look at the congressional investgation into the former president - you had Chrstopher Newport (smaller, regional school in Virginia) at front and center with Cassidy Hubbard, Kent State with another witness - and the former president fired someone from my daughter’s school - Charleston - who was his schedule keeper - for being drunk and divulging too much info.
The point is - sometimes those safeties work out great - especially when they offer opportunities (like the Mroz Institute) or you are a hustler and just stand tall against the rest.
Good luck however you go…
Yeah, among the three schools I mentioned, their latest CDS-reported annual amount of non-need-based institutional grants were:
William & Mary $4,618,774
Wake Forest $7,512,682
Rochester $25,971,429 (although $7,664,903 is for the Eastman School of Music, leaving $18,306,526 for Arts & Sciences)
Exactly how that gets spread around is very complicated. But Rochester definitely has the most robust merit program of the three.
In fact, you can also get the number of students who had no financial need (aka “full pay” students), and got a non-need, non-athletic scholarship. You can also do a little math and figure out what percentage of full-pay students that was.
Like, Rochester had 312 such first-year students in Arts & Sciences. There were 1499 total first-years in Arts & Sciences, 752 of which were determined to have need, leaving 747 “full pay” (apparently 499 of those did not even apply for need, and then the others presumably were determined not to have need).
OK, so 312/747 means 41.7% of “full pay” Rochester students got a merit scholarship. Not bad!
Same math at Wake is only 114/994, 11.5%.
Finally William & Mary, 37/997, 3.7%.
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Coming in from Ky here. The question is are you good with 86K a year or do you want it almost free from UK?
I am in the loop with KY politics (very in the loop to quite frank) and while there are people who head off to Georgetown and other DC schools and come back to KY for politics, there are a lot more kids who go to UK, UL or even Western. I would bet my money on a UL McConnell scholar any day of the week.
I will also say, there are lots of kids around here with 35’s and we have 3 kids with 36 this year alone from our high school.
Getting in those reachy schools is a shot in the dark. I know KY kids who go to each of those reach schools but most are athletes. I know tippy top kids with breathtaking stats and EC’s who’ve been denied at all those schools in the last 2 years.
I would get on the American and GW tours immediately. I was certain those schools would be a good fit for my son but he didn’t like either one. American loves demonstrated interest.
I have also been on tours of 15 northeast schools in the past few years, and it is a different beast for a kid from KY. Some schools pull in primarily from the northeast, and your kid would need to be ok with being far from home.
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For softer reaches and targets for such kids, it is hard to beat the DC schools, and I would include William & Mary as a sort of DC-orbit school. Actually, state flagships and such also work if you are looking to get into politics in that state. But if you are hoping to move out of that state for a political career, the DC schools are usually great fits.
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Just since I am doing it . . . .
WUSTL also uses merit to woo high numbers kids from Coastal schools.
Their total institutional budget for such aid in the last CDS was $8,082,216, and 58/1023 full pay students got such merit aid (5.7%).
Edit: I thought I would add University of Denver, which I agree is a great choice for international politics.
$67,252,058 annual budget for institutional non-need aide. This is like an order of magnitude more than Wake, W&M, or WUSTL.
882/943 full pay students got institutional merit, 93.5%.
It is a very different world when you start getting serious about chasing merit.
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The only thing I would point out is you are lumping W&M in with private schools in terms of merit aid. While it is near impossible for an out of state student to get merit at W&M, the out of state tuition/cost of attendance there will run $20k to $25k lower than the full sticker price on the private universities like Wake and Wash U.
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We are good with him going wherever he feels most at home. UK is too close to home and he’s basically grown up on campus there, so it isn’t where he wants to go (his dad and I are alumni). UL’s McConnell scholar program is a terrific one, but after spending a week there last summer, he didn’t like it either. I realize that his top schools are very reachy, hence my post. We’ve toured many schools in the northeast and that’s where he most definitely wants to be. The child has been trying to get far away from home since before he was born (was a preemie 
). True about getting on American and GWU’s radar as they track demonstrated interest. Thanks!
I appreciate the merit tracking! Denver is the wrong direction though. WUSTL is on our radar!
Absolutely, and a great observation.
Among the “full pay” families I know cross-shopping these colleges, they basically joke (not joke) it is like everyone gets a $25K/year merit award at William & Mary.
Of course the implication here is William & Mary is functionally like these private colleges . . . and I for one completely believe that is true. Indeed, my S24 is looking at mostly private colleges, and scratched UVA off his list after visiting, but he really liked William & Mary.
So I for one would not at all mind if he ended up with that $25K/year “merit award” from William & Mary.
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I also want to add that I know of a good number of kids with 34-36 scores who applied to UK (or other state school) and reach schools. They all got shut out of reach schools and ended up at UK or similar.
What you need to find are some more realistic schools that he likes, and if those schools have a 11/15 EA deadline, get it in.
I would also convert UChicago to ED if that is your top choice. Also, come up with an ED2.
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WUSTL is the wrong way too.
The problem is you’re asking for matches - but then you add reaches.
If you truly want “matches” - then the WUSTL of the world don’t work.
That said, as long as you have one you can get into and afford and he’ll love - the rest aren’t relevant.
But when you add a WUSTL, Wake Forest, W&M, etc - you’re not adding any assurance and that was, I believe your goal, when you came here.
Others have already given you some great match options so I will answer this part instead.
How reachy these are depends heavily on the high school and his peers:
-has he taken the hardest classes in all core areas each year? This is highly school dependent, and is much deeper than how many APs. For example: do top students take a 6th core course as an elective in 10/11/12? Has he done that ? What are the hardest course options? Did he take all of these? I do not mean for you to answer here, just ponder them. He is in the top 10% for rank, but more importantly is he in the top 10% for rigor? This can be hard for a parent to know, but the kids generally all know who is taking what and what the hardest paths are.
-does this high school normally get 10%(35-40 kids) unhooked kids into Top-10s? Matriculation is not the same as admission but it is a good estimate. If so , and his rigor is in that top-10% group, he has a decent shot, probably around the average admission rate for each college, and better than the average if he is seen by his teachers as one of the top couple of kids in the grade.
-however: if only 3-4 (1%) unhooked kids per year get in to Top10 schools, then he would have to be among the top 3-4 kids in the grade on rigor, teacher recs, and probably rank though rank is the least important of these. If he is not in that group of kids, it is unlikely to happen and his chances are likely much lower than the published admit rate for each college.
-his school counselor or naviance or scoir should be able to shine a light on some of these important details to know what his chances are.
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Thanks for your input. I’m still all ears to other match school ideas!
I don’t see how WashU is the wrong way. I am simply suggesting schools that will create a more well-rounded list (including less reachy reaches), as well as potential ED2 schools. The OP might have come here looking for just more targets, but there’s no reason they can’t leave here with a better overall list.
The rest (outside safeties) are 100% relevant. There’s a reason you should create a balanced college list – to maximize your chances at getting into the schools you want to get into. There is no reason to knowingly create a list where there’s a high chance at ending up at a safety.
And the reality is that very few kids who have put in a ton of time and effort into their academics will be just as happy to go to a safety as a T30. I know rankings don’t matter and yadda yadda, but that’s the reality.
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So maybe not assurance in the likely sense, but I do think these are meaningfully distinct from the current reach list.
Just in terms of raw acceptance rates, WUSTL was 11.3% (at least better than Yale!), Wake was 21.4%, and William & Mary was 28% OOS.
For the OP’s kid, it is hard to know how that GPA/transcript will stack up, but a 35 ACT is at the 75th for WUSTL, and then above the 75th for Wake (34) and William & Mary (also 34, although that includes in-state).
So while I absolutely would not guarantee anything, I think applying to, say, all three of those colleges, with good thoughtful applications and essays and such, and possibly ED II, has a much better chance of working for at least one than applying to Yale, Penn, Brown, and Chicago.
By the way, Rochester had a 38.9% admissions rate, yet another 75th ACT of 34. I personally consider it at least an academic peer of Wake and William & Mary, and in fact also of, say, some Boston colleges with a much lower acceptance rate. But its location is such a hard sell for so many high numbers kids it is just easier for a high numbers kid to get admitted–and then also have a great shot at merit.
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Exactly. BTW, WashU has a RD admit rate of 9% and an overall ED admit rate of 27% (I’ll assume the ED2 admit rate is slighty lower), so while it’s still a reach, it’s much more likely to happen than a prayer to Yale.
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They want to go Chicago and East and both myself and @NiceUnparticularMan suggested Denver - and I noted it was the wrong way but it’s a fine school and really a safety.
Wrong way = directionally/geographically, not academically.
I think Lehigh might fit but not sure it’s a match - we’ll say low reach along with Rochester.
I think a Pitt fits great but OP will say too big.
Mass has none that fit - giving that Tufts isn’t a match.
I’m guessing U Maine is too - not ranked high enough.
Providence College is catholic/jesuit and likely too small. URI is small for a public - but likely too big - similar to a UVM although it’s close to the right size.
You can go through all states - you get a few in CT - Quinnipiac but again, likely not the “prestige”. Faifield is religious.
I do that in all states where they’re looking - but in Chicago for example, after NU and UChicago, and those are very different - then you’re out of Illinois schools.
NY has some but are Ithaca and Hofstra what OP is looking for? Perhaps there’s some SUNY.
NJ has Seton Hall (religious) and College of NJ.
Just having to find the population parameters is tough.
That’s all I’m saying…
Maybe UVM…