<p>We will be doing a college trip to the Midwest this summer from the Pacific Northwest, flying into Chicago. S will need financial aid, and wants to play D3 basketball. He will be a rising junior this fall and so far he has kept up his end of the bargain and has a 4.0 with the most rigorous courseload, and did well on the PSAT. Due to the financial aid need, we have mainly reaches to visit, but we're looking for any other suggestions, especially matches or safeties that may provide aid and basketball. </p>
<p>On the visit list so far:</p>
<p>University of Chicago
Washington University in St. Louis
Grinnell College
Carleton College
Macalester College</p>
<p>Any other suggestions? He needs as much driving practice as possible, so we are open to any states around Illinois. Ohio may be too far for this trip, but maybe a possibility in the future. </p>
<p>I know nothing about their FA or basketball status, but other interesting Midwestern colleges for good students might include St. Olaf (very near Carleton), Earlham, and the Ohio LACs (Oberlin, Denison, Kenyon, College of Wooster). From the sound of it, all of those except for Oberlin would be either outright safeties or solid/low matches for your S.</p>
<p>If he’s going to be in Chicago anyway, why not take a look at Northwestern? Sure, he wouldn’t be playing basketball for them, but it could be that he would love it and could play at the club level. Some other schools to consider in this regard are the U of W in Madison, and U of M in Ann Arbor.</p>
<p>FWIW, Carleton is “need aware” and the U of C is not reknowned for its great FA. A lot depends on how much you need and whether you are self-employed, have assets they will look at, etc.</p>
<p>Northwestern, a little north of Chicago, but it’s not a safety. Notre Dame (Indiana) isn’t a safety, either, but meets full need and is big on sports. It could conceivably be a match depending on his scores, though a lot of people don’t like a Catholic atmosphere.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions; Ohio may be another trip in the future if we can swing it. I did not know that U of C and Carleton weren’t need blind, and that U of C wasn’t known for its financial aid. On paper it doesn’t look like a good fit anyway; Northwestern sounds more like S, even if he wouldn’t be able to play basketball there. I haven’t heard of Luther, Coe, or Earlham, but will definitely look into those, along with St. Olaf. As to Wisconsin and Michigan, I can’t imagine that we could afford those being out of state. </p>
<p>How about Kalamazoo or Lawrence? I know they are in CTCL. Is Lawrence mostly music-oriented?(music not an interest, though I gave it a good try when he was younger)</p>
<p>Google “Iowa Private College Week” for the link to the dates for this year. All of the private colleges and universities will have daily open information sessions and tours. If you visit a certain number, application to any of them will be free.</p>
<p>Beloit College. In CTCL. New President who is dynamic and energetic. Awesome student body and truly caring and supportive student body. Great place for a student athlete who truly wants to be both!</p>
<p>happymomof1-thanks for the info. I never would have guessed that there were so many colleges in Iowa.</p>
<p>hilldweller-Beloit sounds great, though I wonder about the small size of that and Earlham; it is definitely on our list now, though, especially since it is on the way back from Minneapolis to Chicago. Maybe I can go see Whaddya Know? I swear some of my fascination with the Midwest is due to my Saturdays listening to Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, Whaddya Know?, and A Prarie Home Companion. </p>
<p>PRJ- You may have singlehandedly gotten my son interested in Grinnell. He had no interest in visiting a small college in the middle of Iowa in the middle of nowhere, but the good basketball team and their offense really got him interested. Thank you, as this would be great because of their financial aid.</p>
<p>DePauw and Wabash (especially for sports) would be safeties to explore. Wabash meets 100% need and has a lot of merit aid. It is an all-male college, so it is not for everyone, but most of the guys that attend never saw themselves at an school full of guys either.</p>
woohoo! my friends in the admissions office will be very happy with me
full disclosure: I’m a passionate alum who has completely failed to interest either of my Ds in Grinnell, so I love to suggest the school to others. and honestly, your quest for a school with good financial aid and basketball (combined with your S’s impressive academic qualifications) made the suggestion a no-brainer. enjoy your summer trip.</p>
<p>You asked about Kalamazoo. My D and I took a trip there this past fall. it is a wonderful school, and the campus is lovely. I understand they do okay with aid (I don’t know anything about their basketball program, however). I made a note to myself, when studying schools, that Kzoo would be the kind of place that a kid could put on his or her list as a match or safety and be thrilled to get into. We visited Lawrence as well; it’s not on my D’s list, but I will say the campus is nicely situated in an attractive part of town. Beloit College is worth the trip; the campus is comfortable and has a really nice feel to it. But both Appleton and Kalamazoo beat out the town of Beloit by a country mile.</p>
<p>Carleton is 95% need-blind. That means that the last few students, plus waitlist students, are not admitted on a need-blind basis. However, the majority are and the school meets demonstrated need.</p>
<p>If you or your son have any questions about Carleton, I’d be happy to help!</p>
<p>Thanks again for the suggestions and information. </p>
<p>Mizzbee-I was wondering about Depauw, as it is a little bigger. Thanks for bringing it up. I can’t imagine, though, trying to sell S an all boys’ school; he would think life would be over!</p>
<p>absweetmarie-Kalamazoo is definitely on our list; plus it looks like it is in a really cool area. Thanks for the info. </p>
<p>reesezpiecez103-Thanks for the offer of answering questions! S won’t have time to begin researching this growing list for a few weeks, but I am sure we will have some. Its good to know that Carleton is needblind for most. </p>
<p>It seems that every area of the country has some regional gems; this is almost like a treasure hunt. It is so nice to see information about great schools getting out there.</p>
<p>If you use the search feature on CC, you can learn a lot about each of the schools suggested here. Try “school X and school y” to see comparisons by people who have visited both.</p>
<p>You’ll be amazed by Grinnell - the money in that school is INCREDIBLE for a school that’s literally in the middle of cornfields. </p>
<p>We visited Lawrence almost on a whim (we were vacationing in Wisconsin and were using it as a general introduction to the concept of visiting colleges) and were very favorably impressed. No, I don’t think it’s too music-oriented for a non-music student.</p>
<p>I think a student who is looking at / in the ballpark for Chicago, Wash U, Grinnell, Carleton, Macalester doesn’t really need to look at Iowa. Presumably the student has his own state university that will serve the same purpose.</p>
