Narrowing down the TOP 100 LAC's

College Search & Selection
1

<li>Williams College (MA) 0</li>
<li>Amherst College (MA) 0</li>
<li>Swarthmore College¶ 0</li>
<li>Wellesley College(MA) 0</li>
<li>Middlebury College(VT) 3</li>
<li>Carleton College(MN) -1</li>
<li>Bowdoin College(ME) -1</li>
<li>Pomona College(CA) -1</li>
<li>Haverford College¶ -1</li>
<li>Davidson College(NC) 0</li>
<li>Wesleyan University(CT) 2</li>
<li>Vassar College(NY) 1</li>
<li>Claremont McKenna College(CA) -2</li>
<li>Grinnell College(IA) 1</li>
<li>Harvey Mudd College(CA) 4</li>
<li>Colgate University(NY) -1</li>
<li>Hamilton College(NY) -2</li>
<li>Washington and Lee University(VA) -3</li>
<li>Smith College(MA) 0 </li>
<li>Colby College(ME) 0</li>
<li>Bryn Mawr College¶ 1</li>
<li>Oberlin College(OH) 1</li>
<li>Bates College(ME) -2</li>
<li>Macalester College(MN) -1 </li>
<li>Mount Holyoke College(MA) -1 </li>
<li>Barnard College(NY) 1</li>
<li>Colorado College 1</li>
<li>Scripps College(CA) 1 </li>
<li>Bucknell University¶ -2 </li>
<li>Trinity College(CT) -5</li>
<li>Lafayette College¶ -3 </li>
<li>Kenyon College(OH) 0</li>
<li>College of the Holy Cross(MA) 0</li>
<li>University of Richmond(VA) 0</li>
<li>Sewanee?€”University of the South(TN) 0</li>
<li>Bard College(NY) 3</li>
<li>Occidental College(CA) 5</li>
<li>Whitman College(WA) 0 </li>
<li>Connecticut College -3</li>
<li>Union College(NY) -3</li>
<li>Dickinson College¶ 4</li>
<li>Furman University(SC) 0</li>
<li>Franklin and Marshall College¶ -2</li>
<li>Centre College(KY) -3</li>
<li>Sarah Lawrence College(NY) 4</li>
<li>Rhodes College(TN) 0</li>
<li>Gettysburg College¶ -2</li>
<li>Skidmore College(NY) -7</li>
<li>DePauw University(IN) 1</li>
<li>Denison University(OH) 3</li>
<li>Wabash College(IN) 0</li>
<li>Pitzer College(CA) 2</li>
<li>Lawrence University(WI) 0</li>
<li>Reed College(OR) -5 </li>
<li>St. Olaf College(MN) 0</li>
<li>Wheaton College(MA) 11</li>
<li>Kalamazoo College(MI) -2</li>
<li>Southwestern University(TX) 4 </li>
<li>Wofford College(SC) -2</li>
<li>St. Lawrence University(NY) 4</li>
<li>Beloit College(WI) 0</li>
<li>Wheaton College(IL) -6</li>
<li>Illinois Wesleyan University -6</li>
<li>Agnes Scott College(GA) -6 </li>
<li>Earlham College(IN) 4</li>
<li>Willamette University(OR) -4</li>
<li>College of Wooster(OH) 1</li>
<li>Hobart and William Smith Col.(NY) -6</li>
<li>St. John’s University(MN) 0</li>
<li>Hendrix College(AR) 4</li>
<li>Ursinus College¶ 2</li>
<li>Drew University(NJ) -3</li>
<li>Thomas Aquinas College(CA) 15</li>
<li>Muhlenberg College¶ -1</li>
<li>Austin College(TX) -1</li>
<li>Spelman College(GA) -1</li>
<li>Birmingham - Southern College(AL) 14</li>
<li>Sweet Briar College(VA) -3</li>
<li>Gustavus Adolphus College(MN) -6</li>
<li>Knox College(IL) -6</li>
<li>Lewis and Clark College(OR) 2 </li>
<li>Millsaps College(MS) -1</li>
<li>Mills College(CA) -9</li>
<li>University of Puget Sound(WA) -1</li>
<li>Allegheny College¶ 6</li>
<li>Randolph - Macon Woman’s College(VA) -2</li>
<li>Virginia Military Institute * -13</li>
<li>Hanover College(IN) 8</li>
<li>Principia College(IL) -2</li>
<li>New College of Florida * -2 </li>
<li>Goucher College(MD) 3</li>
<li>Bennington College(VT) 9</li>
<li>Albion College(MI) -7</li>
<li>Hampshire College(MA) 13</li>
<li>St. Mary’s College of Maryland * -11</li>
<li>Hope College(MI) -1</li>
<li>College of St. Benedict(MN) -13</li>
<li>Ohio Wesleyan University 5</li>
<li>Transylvania University(KY) 9</li>
<li>Lake Forest College(IL) <em>NEW</em></li>
<li>Luther College(IA) <em>NEW</em></li>
<li>Coe College(IA) <em>NEW</em></li>
<li>Juniata College¶ 5</li>
<li>Washington and Jefferson Col.¶ -10</li>
<li>Susquehanna University¶ <em>NEW</em></li>
<li>Hampden - Sydney College(VA) 0 </li>
<li>Augustana College(IL) -10</li>
<li>Randolph - Macon College(VA) 0</li>
<li>Westmont College(CA) 0</li>
<li>Hollins University(VA) -16</li>
</ol>

<p>now i need to get rid of the womens colleges, historically black colleges, all male colleges, colleges at the top way out of my league, and then eventually ill be forced to narrow by region or something drastic. </p>

<p>other than looking them all up individually, i dont know an easy way to find out which of these are the all male/female, etc. so if you know them off the top of your head then that would be very helpful. </p>

<p>as for getting rid of the top several that are way out of my league:</p>

<p>3.4 gpa max
NMF potentially
2200 SAT max
33 ACT max
7 AP’s max
EC’s great</p>

<p>the gpa alone should kill off the first 20 or so…and if they are more than $30k might as well eliminate any reaches and high matches. </p>

<p>unfortunately with all of this i still might be left with a list of 60+ :(</p>

<p>…and thats assuming there arn’t any good colleges just outside the top 100 i would be interested in. That of course is a huge assumption since my probable stats will look more like this: </p>

<p>3.1 gpa
nm commended
2100 SAT
32 ACT
6 AP’s
good EC’s</p>

<p>…and im hoping for merit scholarships.</p>

<p>then i have to consider other ranking lists, such as washington monthly, in the top 30 liberal arts colleges, of them 4 didnt even make the top 100 of usnews rankings:</p>

<p>tougaloo college - 18
presbyterion college - 21
Fisk university - 27
Wells College - 30</p>

<p>and who knows how many others would appear if the washington list was extrapolated to top 100 as well. </p>

<p>heck i might as well start with all LAC’s in the country and start from there…(how many are there anyways?)</p>

<p>NOTE: i am not trying to pawn off all my research on you guys, im simply making it available for you to use your current memory to quickly eliminate some colleges that might have otherwise taken me significant time to research. thanks for any help you may offer.</p>

2

<p>Why would you eliminate womens colleges? ...</p>

3

<p>Well, you've done a pretty good job already since thre are only 200 genuine LACs in the whole country to begin with. Btw, I wouldn't start chopping off the top twenty or so until you have an actual FA offer in front of you; you should never be thrown by the sticker price on any of these schools. Also, if region is inevitably going to be a factor, why not start with that?</p>

4

<p>Thomas Aquinas is moving up the list, I see...</p>

5

<p>The OP late in the post states that the GPA will likely be 3.1 not 3.4. That likely eliminates the top 30 or so. My S was admitted to Dickinson (4 years ago) with a similar GPA but he was a recruited athlete. If the OP is male he might have a shot at schools looking for males such as Wheaton (Ma). St. Lawrence and Hobart have admitted students with stats similar to OP.</p>

6

<p>I suggest drawing up a list of preferences first. Do you want to be near a big city or in the boondocks? Do you want guaranteed housing for four years? Is cost a big factor? Would you prefer a core or open curriculum?</p>

<p>Have you visited anywhere yet? There's a huge difference between Earlham and BSC or Hampshire and Furman; visiting a couple of colleges might give you a better idea of what you want.</p>

7

<p>GPA is low, but the anticipated SATs and ACTs are good enough to merit a look at the colleges ranked 30-60 on your list. Take a look at their websites and see if they fit your requirements for cost, location and academics. </p>

<p>BTW, if you attend a school with a tough grading policy, where you would be in the top 20% of your grade with a 3.1, you'll benefit from applying to schools close enough to be familiar with that aspect of your high school.</p>

8

<p>“Why would you eliminate womens colleges? ...”</p>

<p>Because I am male?</p>

<p>I forgot to mention that I can’t visit any schools until I am admitted to them. And I’m not close to any LAC’s or even a college of small size. </p>

<p>My gpa is in the 40th (100 = high) percentile at my school, so no it really is just plain rubbish. </p>

<p>Unfortunately I cant really select by cost right now until I see the MA & FA packages. And i don’t exactly want to start making sweeping cuts with regional selections. I mean California is nice, which is basically only Pitzer for me, but I don’t want to rule out the northeast or even Iowa, ya know?</p>

<p>UGH and I just had my counselor meeting and she urged me to apply to some super-reaches hoping they would love my essays + scores + rec and look past the gpa. Which means she wants me to apply to Deep springs, Grinnell, and Reed.</p>

9

<p>ok how about this...what are the colleges from this list that are significantly different then your average LAC. for what ever reason some feature or quality of these colleges are not so typical:</p>

<p>reed
new college of fl
hampshire
grinnell
colorado college
cornell college
st. johns</p>

<p>what am i missing?</p>

10

<p>The US News list is basically crap, putting Reed at 53.</p>

11

<p>The OP's chances are very low at Grinnell, Reed, and Colorado College, at least. </p>

<p>US News places Reed at 53 because Reed refuses to submit the information necessary to rank it. Were Reed ranked correctly, it would at least be a top 20 LAC.</p>

12

<p>I just want to say that I can't believe Trinity is ranked where it is. It is a much stronger school than that. Its academics are being underrated constantly, whether it be in the Fiske guide, US News, etc. It's in the top 50 (43rd) of all the schools in the country in terms of getting kids into top-flight graduate schools. And it's below Colorado and Bates? I think Macalester also deserves to get a spot or two higher. Bates over Macalester? How? Colorado over Trinity? HOW?
KENYON BELOW LAFAYETTE AND BUCKNELL?</p>

<p>bleh. rankings.</p>

13

<p>Collegeboard.com has a college preference thingie. You put in your scores, your preferences regarding part of the country, any other features important to you -- eg, sports, band -- and it spits out a list. Have you tried that??</p>

14

<p>
[quote]
what are the colleges from this list that are significantly different then your average LAC. for what ever reason some feature or quality of these colleges are not so typical:</p>

<p>reed

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Reed is one of the future PhD leaders, with 70% going on to grad school and 25% earning PhDs; it features a huge mandatory freshman reading list, junior qualifying exam, and senior thesis. As one example, if your goal is to do biology research, Reed is number one in the country for percentage of graduates who go on to earn a PhD in biological sciences.</p>

15

<p>You're lucky your g/c has even heard of deep springs.</p>

16

<p>Deep Springs is all male, something you said you didn't want. Your stats are well below what they usually accept there, and they take only about 13 students per year.</p>

<p>Unless you go to an elite private school, your GPA will eliminate you from many pools. Your SATs are high, and may be attractive to some schools where that would put you above the 75th percentile. If you have a rising trend or can explain away your relatively weak GPA, you may have a chance in those places.</p>

<p>Let's eliminate girls' and boys' schools:</p>

<p>Wellesley
Smith
Bryn Mawr
Mount Holyoke
Barnard
Scripps
Agnes Scott
Spelman
Sweet Briar
Mills
Randolph Macon Women's College (allowing men for the first time this year)
Hollins University
VMI
Hampden-Sydney</p>

<p>Probably out of your league (but one can never be sure)</p>

<p>I'd start looking down the list right around Dickinson (which is a good school, but your SATs are a great deal higher than the average there). Leave out Reed, where they are gonig to look at your grades and wonder why you would want to attend a school known for pushing students hard.</p>

17

<p>"You're lucky your g/c has even heard of deep springs."</p>

<p>actually i told her about it. but i no longer wish to apply knowing my chances are miserable. And about it being all male, i was willing to make an exception for DS knowing that i would transfer to a co-ed 4 yr after i was done.</p>

<p>tarhunt, are you saying 1-40 are super-reaches for me? my GC reccomended hamilton, colby, oberlin, kenyon, whitman, and connecticut in addition to grinnell and colorado college. I wouldn't mind whisking away several more colleges from my list. </p>

<p>also i can eliminate any colleges with religious affiliations and/or conservative tendencies.</p>

18

<p>Is your GPA "rubbish" because you were lazy, or because you [insert addendum-worthy, valid excuse here]? If the latter, it puts you in a significantly different position. If the former, it can actually look worse than if you had the same GPA with lower test scores because it can reflect a lack of effort, lack of dedication, etc. (whether a school actually chooses to care is beyond me. I've heard that it's "fishy" from some fairly reliable sources, but never directly from an admissions officer). Regardless, hopefully you have SOME sort of explanation for your GPA and test scores being out of line with one another.</p>

<p>Good luck narrowing down your list!</p>

19

<p>the reason my gpa sucks is because i am lazy and just dont do things i dont like to. however, i do have a 504 for a learning disorder caused by a few different things. it makes certain tasks extremely tedious or difficult which in turn causes extreme dislike, hence all the laziness. My GC can hopefully write a really good letter of rec and mention my challenges.</p>

<p>laziness of course, while probably excusable for certain things, remains a negative trait for colleges. they obviously want you to succeed and need proof that you are capable. i think the A's in the classes that i like and subjects i plan to major in will help supply the proof necessary to convince the colleges that i can succeed.</p>

20

<p>whatismouse:</p>

<p>I can't say, for sure, that you can't get into any of the schools above where I placed a somewhat arbitrary cutoff. No one can know that for sure. It's all going to depend on how a particular school looks at it. You could get lucky.</p>

<p>Having said that, take a look at the numbers for most of those schools and you will find that they admit very, very few students below the top 50% of their classes. I think you can assume that practically all of the ones below the top 50% either have very, very strong hooks (like athletics) or went to stunningly competitive high schools.</p>

<p>As another poster said, the fact that your scores are so strong and your gpa is weak is going to count against you. If one or the other has to be weak, most colleges would prefer that the scores be weak. The learning disability will count in your favor. How they will look at the fact that you got As in things you like and didn't in things you don't like is not certain. I'm afraid, though, that most will ask the question, "How likely is he to succeed here if he isn't willing to overcome his disability and work at things he doesn't immediately like?"</p>

<p>One thing I might do is narrow this list down to schools that have few or no required courses. That would mean that the admissions dept. won't have to worry how you'll do in core subjects or distribution requirements.</p>

<p>Your scores are very strong. That's in your favor. If I were you, I would go to princetonreview.com and check out how various schools weight admissions factors. All of them weight your high school record very highly. Some weight test scores very highly. You might want to zero in on those.</p>