Reed could be a tough environment in terms of finding a suitable religious club.
@doschicos I have! But I sat down, thought long and hard, and asked myself “Would I survive a Minnesota winter?” The answer was no. xD
That’s fair! You might consider the same about Rochester. 
http://goldensnowball.com
Average January Low Temperatures
Rochester: 18
.
.
.
Grinnell: 10
Hanover: 9
Northfield: 3
(Sperling’s.)
I was just comparing data on Areavibes (not sure how accurate and reliable it is), but it looked like Rochester was only 5-10 degrees colder in the winter than where I live now, Clinton (Hamilton) is about 10-15, and Northfield is 25-30. Hmmm I may have to try to plot the different colleges on one of weather.com’s average maps…
Also I looked more into Reed, and it does look like they have a Christian group on campus. I honestly don’t mind being a minority in that respect (most of my friends are atheist or non-religious) and I wish I could say going to a school that’s ‘anti-religion’ would be new for me. I tend to not be very outward with my faith (even when I attended a mostly-Catholic school), and all I really need is a church nearby lol (I actually found a Catholic church somewhat close to Reed that seems similar to the one I’ve grown up at, meaning they’re very open to LGBT+ people)
The advantage of somewhat colder temperatures than those which have become familiar to you is that for much of true winter you will experience fresh, clean snow.
Actually, when its really, really cold, there is less snow. Really cold equals dry air for the most part. In my neck of the woods, which can get very wintery, the old saying is “It’s too cold to snow” when the temp drops to low.
Pick your poison - really low temps or heavy snowfall. Both have their downside.
A more important criterion than cold can be sun and light. For most people, cold is cold - weather restricts out about the same and you don’t go outside very much when it’s 15,10,5, insulated 0, and you wear the same type of clothes. However, cold and gray vs. Cold and bright/sunny can make a lot if difference to your mood and well being.
Cold but bright and sunny with fresh, clean snow would, in my opinion, be preferable to grey with freezing rain and little snow.
Annual snowfall according to Sperling’s:
Rochester 86 inches
Grinnell 28 inches
Hanover 70 inches
Northfield 41 inches
Re #51, I’d say think about the reality of 15 degress though. As the difference between 70 and 55 degrees represents substantially different weather, so in many ways does the identical difference between 18 and 3 degrees.
If Carleton is too cold, then Grinnell is too cold. (I love both schools, but it would be an easy way to cut your list.)
“The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment, where is it to be found?”
–J. B. Priestley
Re: posts #39 and #40: my D’s bf was in a fraternity at MIT, and he mainly did it for the housing/dining. It was definitely not Animal House. My D lived at the fraternity house one summer while doing an internship in Boston.
Barnard most definitely allows gap years:
“Students are encouraged to explore opportunities that might enrich the experience they will have at Barnard.”
https://admissions.barnard.edu/apply-barnard/first-year-students/deferring-enrollment
Additional, the statement that the UCs don’t permit gap years is incorrect. I can’t speak to all of them but definitely check each school’s policies.
UC Berkeley allows a January start.
UC Davis allows a deferral for one year.
http://catalog.ucdavis.edu/admission/specialadmit.html
@MurphyBrown I don’t qualify as a NMF or for Questbridge. I think that most of the schools that will let students take a gap year have that stipulation that they can’t earn any college credits during the gap year. What do you think would be a ‘significant’ amount of money? Would something like “I made $10-12K (what working during this school year, over the summer, and full-time next fall would probably come out to) during 2017 but $6K went to volunteering in Cambodia for 6 months” be reasonable grounds for an appeal?
@Fangirl1999 There are ways to travel abroad at minimal cost without earning taxable income.
Look into NSLI-Y. Check out wwoofing, helpx, and workaway for programs that allow you to exchange work for free room and board. You could be an au pair abroad. Rotary has free/low cost youth exchanges in other countries. Many NGOs will offer free room and board for their volunteers. These are just off the top of my head and I know there are other programs out there including a few for profit companies that offer some limited need based or merit scholarships.
ETA: Both my kids did a full year abroad for no more than $6k including airfare in places more expensive than Cambodia, @Fangirl1999
I think I’ll cross of Temple, just because out of Rutgers, Alabama, and Temple, Temple’s probably the one I’m least interested in and Alabama and Rutgers are fine financial safeties.
So far I’ve crossed off:
Temple (don’t need the financial safety; will still visit)
Grinnell (too cold)
Kenyon (not enough CS offerings)
Scripps (doesn’t offer summer storage & I’d rather just try for Mudd)
Pomona (same as Scripps)
Dartmouth (too fratty; really only on my list because peers are obsessed with ivies)
And the ones on the “chopping block”:
Reed (not a lot of CS offerings, but expanding curriculum; need to reach out to them)
Sarah Lawrence (not a lot of CS offerings; will visit)
Whitman (same as Reed)
Haverford (need to look into more; will visit)
Johns Hopkins (need to look into more)
University of Rochester (need to look into more)
Swarthmore (need to look into more; will visit)
@Fangirl1999 So what are current definites on your list?
Maybe you can type up for us a definite list to go with your list above of schools still in the mix but on the “chopping block”.
@doschicos I’m applying to NSLI-Y, YES Abroad, CBYX, and ExCEL Abroad. I’ve looked on workaway, too, but I don’t think my parents would let me go to anything not with a big organization if that makes sense. If I don’t get into any of the scholarship programs, I’m mostly looking at IVHQ (they have some of the lowest cost programs out there), and a lot of the 24-week programs would be 2-3K plus flights, travel insurance, and living expenses. I still have to do more research into other programs though.
EDIT: What sort of things did your kids do?