I hope you are right. I do think things will likely improve. But I don’t want to stand in his way. First semester fresh year can be bumpy, but he has done ALL the right things, and he keeps doing them. I would love for things to change and have him be happy where he is. But he’s pretty self-aware and I think one thing I can do to support him is to allow him to make a change if he thinks that is the best thing for him. Thank you!
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I wondered why Caleton was not on the list. he likes the cold, but I’m not sure he could manage Minn. I do think he’d like a larger school as well. It sounds like an awesome place. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Oh wow. Thank you so much!
This type of info is regularly put out there. Avg family salary of schools. Not sure the time frame. The three st the bottom were there. I didn’t add them. I found a 2020 article with the same info so it’s likely then.
I’m thinking - except for the urban part - Rochester checks some boxes. Vandy likes transfers. Check Rice but it’s not cold or Chicago. But I wonder - why does it have to be elite ?
Median family income:
- Colorado College ($277,500)
- WashU ($272,000)
- Colgate ($270,200)
- Washington and Lee ($261,000)
- Trinity College ($257,100)
- Middlebury ($244,300)
- Colby ($236,100)
- Georgetown ($229,100)
- Bates ($226,500)
- Tufts ($224,800)
- Wake Forest ($221,500)
- Pitzer ($216, 600)
- Davidson ($213,900)
- Kenyon ($213,500)
- Franklin & Marshall ($212,100)
- Skidmore ($208, 700)
- Hamilton ($208,600)
- Elon ($208,300)
- Lafayette ($205,600)
- Vanderbile ($204,500)
- Bucknell ($204,200)
- Brown ($204,200)
- Claremont McKenna ($201,300)
- Dartmouth ($200,400)
- Southern Methodist ($198,900)
Not sure why the next 3 show 26-28. They are #53, 69 and 161. Fixed now.
- Carleton ($172,400)
- USC ($161,400)
- Pepperdine ($128,700)
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It doesn’t need to be elite and I don’t want to sound elitist. He is just a dude who really enjoys academic rigor and a lot of social opportunities as well. I think a medium to large university probably in a city would be ideal. I’m not sure about anything colder than Boston.
Merit aid to me just means a bit more economic diversity.
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Wow! I had no idea such a list existed. I’m not quite sure what I’ll do with it. But it is a reminder of many great Universities. Thank you
I think you want to avoid those with the wealthiest. WUSTL has taken steps to reduce their ‘family wealth’ but it’s never easy. You might want to avoid need aware too. That’s the difference with Tufts - that he was full pay could be considered vs a need blind school - as WUSTL is today and many top schools are. So what you say about Tufts makes sense - on paper anyway.
If you think Boston - is Brandeis too small ? BU or NEU too big ?
Rochester to me fits except it’s outside the city as is Tufts but it’s a smaller city. Has an intl population too at the school.
GW or American ? American may fit size wise ? W&M but doesn’t have city. Case Western ?
I think TO will hurt at some of the prominent names. Definitely check the transfer policy. Vandy takes. U Chicago ? Emory ?
You said journalism. How about Syracuse ? SMU ?
I don’t have all the transfer policies - but these are good journalism names as are bigger schools like UNC, Indiana, Kansas, Mizzou. Some have fine Honors Colleges.
Hopefully Tufts grows on him but if not, wish him luck - well either way.
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This is interesting. Thanks for sharing. I wonder if things have changed at USC following the scandal?
I just read a review from a student at USC describing the matcha and the amazing poke bowls! That’s just one voice but it made me giggle. Not that my kid doesn’t like both of those things. But is feeds the stereotype of USC
A lot of great info and suggestions here. Thank you for so much to ponder. I appreciate the info and the well wishes!
Academic rigor perception first semester freshman year can be all over the board at the same school. If the student was well prepared and taking similar classes to what they had in HS, it can be “easy”. For others it can be really rough. That tends to even out over time. I think my current senior has a different opinion on his college rigor now then first year. Also, if he is interested in law, be careful with too much rigor. Law Schools like very high GPA’s. Every A- hurts.
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I don’t think this is accurate actually. At Tufts there are no merit scholarships so it’s pretty much pay it all or get big financial aid. I was certain we would be eligible for some financial aid but we were not.
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Ahhhh, that makes sense. He just loves to learn and is not feeling challenged in most courses. I too suspect that might change. If he had a peer group or close friends it would make other things much more manageable. He’s a sweet kid and just feeling lonely. That intensifies everything else.
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I’m happy to answer questions about USC. However, it seems that OP has some pre-conceived ideas that will be difficult to overcome.
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I sent you a DM. Let me know if you have trouble accessing it. You can find it by looking for the envelope icon next to your avatar in the upper right of the screen.
@KarenKaren BC. Right down the road, bigger school, D1 sports(although they have been terrible for several years), Wall Street feeder and a good social environment for a social kid. I am a grad and I have tons of friends with kids there now and they all seem to love it. Tons of CA kids as well. It is about 10K total undergrad and a cross between a college and university. Carrol School of management is top ten under grad biz.
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But that doesn’t necessarily improve the economic diversity of the student body. I think wash U is great, but I think of it as “preppier” than Tufts. Both are extremely popular with east coast prep school kids.
Honestly, as far as economic diversity goes, I think few schools are doing as well as Amherst, even though it’s small. This is something they have been extremely committed to in the last few years.
I don’t think OP would find Georgetown (suggested above) any better.
What about Emory? It’s a school of the same caliber but I think more diverse, partly because it incorporates its Oxford campus students after the first two years. I believe they have a pretty robust transfer program.
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Added some more private schools mentioned so far:
| School | % Pell | % any financial aid | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tufts | 12% | 46% | College Navigator - Tufts University |
| USC | 25% | 76% | College Navigator - University of Southern California |
| WUStL | 17% | 50% | College Navigator - Washington University in St Louis |
| Brown | 14% | 55% | College Navigator - Brown University |
| Boston College | 14% | 53% | College Navigator - Boston College |
| Georgetown | 9% | 45% | College Navigator - Georgetown University |
| Amherst | 22% | 66% | College Navigator - Amherst College |
| Emory | 18% | 56% | College Navigator - Emory University |
It looks like USC is the least skewed toward wealthy families out of the above list.
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I went to grad school at USC and found my fellow students bright, normal and down to earth. Disappointingly, I didn’t share the classroom with kids of anyone famous. That was in the late '80s, though. I’m in the Bay Area and occasionally run into recent USC grads, and they also seem bright, normal and down to earth. Please don’t fall for the false stereotypes. Oh, and the neighborhood isn’t nearly as bad as people say, either.
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@ucbalumnus Not only is Tufts not economically diverse, it is also relatively samll with about 6500 undergrad. Amherst is tiny and interestingly enough those were the two schools on our Ma tour where we did not do much more than a drive by tour and ruled out. The smaller the school the harder it can be to find “your people” If I were a high stats social kid from california it would be hard to turn down USC.
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