This is my first time posting here but everybody seems really helpful so why not? I’m a junior from a small town in the midwest and I am trying to narrow down my college list. I want a liberal arts education and I’m open to attending a LAC in either the midwest or the east coast. I’ve pulled a lot of good colleges from college lists and I’m really unsure, however, how I would fit into some of these with my personality. My parents told me that I need to narrow the list, apply to a max of 10, and visit the ones I get accepted to. If anybody could perhaps lend their opinion on which colleges would suit me better that would be much appreciated.
I want a college with an amazing creative writing program as well as a good language program–it would be plus if they had a good psychology program also. It’s not a really big deal to me if the location is in a city or rural area as long as there are things to do! I want to have a variety of things whether its concerts, plays, parties–I just want there to be options. I actually like a little bit of sports culture but I am also okay if it’s more artsy focused. Also, I don’t want the academics to be too overwhelming; I want the balance between challenging academics and a life outside of classwork. The last one is probably the most important: I don’t want to go to a college where people are really competitive and cut-throat, I want a college that’s relaxed with people who don’t take themselves too seriously.
The List:
(* indicates ones I really like)
Wesleyan University
Bowdoin College
Bates College
Amherst College
Wellesley College
Smith College
Hampshire College
Vassar College
Barnard College
Skidmore College
Bard College
Sarah Lawrence College
Hamilton College
Swarthmore College
Haverford College
Bucknell College
Bryn Mawr
Middlebury College*
Whitman College
Kenyon College*
Oberlin College
College of Wooster
Carleton College
Macalester College
Kalamazoo College
Beloit College
Can you give us an idea of your stats? Grades, rank, test scores? Are there ECs you want to be involved in or particular sports? It will help in making suggestions to a well rounded list. You seem to like an artsy vibe? How do you feel about a preppy scene? Hipster? What I call “crunchy granola”? I’ve actually visited 20 of the colleges on your list with at least one of my kids and 13 were on one of their final lists.
Agree with the questions above. We have been to 15 of them, and my kids applied to and were accepted to half a dozen.
Also, if possible, do some visiting before applying. Every school on this list notifies student of admission in late March and wants an answer by May 1. One month isn’t enough time to visit more than a few, and it will be very stressful if you take this approach. If you can’t visit many, pick matches and safeties to visit, as you are much more likely to have them as actual choices in the end.
@doschicos I have a 32 ACT (not planning on taking the SAT) and a 3.786 GPA. My school is really small so we dont offer AP/IB/Honors courses but we do allow two college courses per semester which I have been doing since sophomore year (I’m hoping the fact that we don’t have AP/IB courses doesn’t hurt me!). I’m taking the most rigorous courses we have, it’s just frustrating we don’t have these classes as AP.
EC’s:
basketball – four years
volleyball – four years
track – four years
speech – four years
class secretary – two years
started a program to teach kids in the community basic spanish
(hopefully–I put in my applications and fingers are crossed) Iowa Young Writer’s Studio
Awards:
I’ve done well in a variety of essay and creative writing contests.
Gathered some awards in speech.
Community Service:
Volunteering at a women’s shelter
Handful of random services
Work:
Worked as a waitress – three years
Barnes and Noble – a summer
I know that my stats aren’t the greatest but I hoping after raising my GPA a bit, I may stand a chance at some of them.
Also, as far as the atmosphere goes. I spent the majority of high school playing sports and I don’t think I want to keep playing them; yet, I still want to watch them and be at a college where quite a few people come to games and have school spirt!
@intparent I think I will be able to visit some of the midwestern LAC’s like Kenyon, Beloit, Carleton, and Macalester–maybe a couple others also. However, my parents do not want to visit the east coast LAC’s at all unless I am by chance accepted. I’ll keep talking to them, though!
I went to Barnard, and am very proud of the fact, but I doubt that it meets your criteria in terms of environment. It is very urban, with a characteristically “New York,” “Type-A” vibe to it. Will finances be an issue? Some colleges will be very generous with merit aid, others not so much. I’m surprised that Reed isn’t on your list, since Whitman (also in Northwest) is. Goucher would be a match for you, and they have a strong Creative Writing program.
Your stats are great for many of those colleges. Just look at the Common Data Sets for each so you can realistically see what your chances might be. And talk to your guidance counselor. Middlebury, Amherst, Bowdoin, etc are going to be a reach for many applicants.
Kenyon has a wonderful English Dept, but it has gotten much more competitive for admission recently so merit aid might be slim. The guidebooks like Fiske aren’t always on top of how competitive things have become. Campus visit days can yield really valuable information in this respect. With your stats at Wooster or Beloit, you might get very good merit aid. Wooster has its well-known senior independent study. You can write a novel.
At the womens colleges you would get a phenomenal education (and your competition for admission would be cut in half).
There is really no substitute for visiting. From your list, D & I visited Oberlin, Wooster, Kenyon, Skidmore & Hamilton. Though there are similarities on paper, in many respects they are different as night and day.
@woogzmama Barnard is actually one that I’ve spent a lot of time researching! I really like that it has all the elements of a LAC with the resources of a research university It does somewhat intimidate me because it’s in NY and I’m from a small town in the Midwest but I’ve always wanted to try living in the city! Also, as far as Reed, I had heard somewhere that the academic program is so intense that there is no time for a social life (of course this could be completely wrong! ) so I crossed it off early in the list. Goucher didn’t really come up but I’ll look in it!
@MidwestDad3 I’ll definitely try to visit Beloit and Wooster (writing a novel does sound appealing ) and I Also what where some of the main differences between Oberlin, Wooster, Kenyon, Skidmore, and Hamilton that you noticed when you visited?
Of the group you mentioned, Hamilton is probably best known for their writing program. I forget who did the ranking, but they were ranked 2 (behind Emory) in terms of writing. Also, if cost is not an issue, I would encourage you to visit schools in the east and west coasts. Given that you are from the midwest you stand a better shot at admission at one of these schools than at midwest schools such as Oberlin, Grinnell or Carleton.
Are you interested in overseas programs? I’ll throw in a good word for Kalamazoo College. You can do a 6 or even 9 month overseas program (as 85% of their students do) and still graduate in four years. I wouldn’t call it laid back in the sense that it’s not rigorous…it is…but the students are friendly and easy going.
I don;t see any info on your financial situation. Do you know about the net price calculators each college has on their financial aid website page? You need to run these with your parents and see what they think about the cost of attendance at them. Note that if your parents have a small business, rental property, any trusts, or you have divorced parents, the results are probably not going to be accurate (you will get less aid than it shows). If you already know something about your financial situation, let us know, that can help with suggestions.
Also, I don’t see any of these (honestly) has having much school spirit and sports attendance (maybe someone can speak to Bucknell, I am not sure about them).
Wellesley and Amherst are both pretty intense academically – I am not sure they would be the best choices on your list (and your stats are low as well). Since you have some other women’s colleges on the list, you should take a look at Mount Holyoke. My daughters’ favorite women’s college. Both applied and were accepted, but made a different decision in the end. But we kind of have a soft spot for them. Lovely campus, serious but not cutthroat academics, has the advantage of the 5 college consortium.
@akin99 I’m definitely interested in schools on the east coast but I haven’t really looked at many from west coast. Any suggestions of LAC’s with good writing programs on the west coast?
@onceuponamom I’ve heard Kalamazoo has an amazing study abroad program! I am really curious about Kalamazoo as I haven’t really heard much about it–can you tell me anything more about its atmosphere and the type of people it attracts?
@intparent my mom has a stable income but really doesn’t make that much. My father is a farmer with a pretty big operation but–from how it sounds–he took a large loss this year. I guess you could say my financial situation is a little messy ~X( I’m definitely going to need some finanical aid yet I have no idea what I could get due to my situation.
Also, I understand that these LAC’s won’t have as big of a sports culture as big universities but some spirit would be nice. Of course, this isn’t a huge thing for me but would be nice.
You have additionally voiced my concerns about Amherst and Wellesley. I am concerned that my high school has not prepared me for such really rigorous schools. This is part of the reason that I started this thread because I feel like there is a fine line between a challenging college and one that could overwhelm a person. Before I posted this, I had considered removing these exact two schools as I heard that they were very “cut-throat” in academics which intimidated me a little bit. Yet, I wanted other people’s opinions before I removed those colleges. What would you say would be a better schools for me that offer challenging academics but are still fairly relaxed about it?
Well… honestly, most LACs are seriously lacking in spirit for most sports. Sorry… both my kids are LAC kids, and I don’t think either of their schools has a lot in the way of school spirit when it comes to athletics.
Also, my guess is that you are going to have a difficult time with finances. Unfortunately, the assets of a large farming operation could count against you in the financial aid arena. Also, if his income is volatile, you can’t count on a good aid package continuing through college if his income goes up after a bad initial year or two. Honestly… I think you should focus on safeties that you know you can afford before spending too much time on this list (sorry – but we do recommend that students spend more time identifying safeties they would want to attend and they know they can afford before starting lists of schools that are possibly unaffordable). One thing you need to do is get your parents to commit to how much they think they can pay for your college. Do they have college savings for you? Do you have other siblings who also will need help with college?
What is your home state? I am guessing you are in the Iowa/Minnesota/WIsconsin area.
@intparent I am from Iowa and I do have one safety: University of Iowa. I don’t know if I would like how big it is or the fact that most classes are taught by TA’s but, from merit aid, it’ll probably be pretty close to free. I am dragging my feet, however, because I would much rather go to a LAC. I am by far the oldest–i have a younger sister who is 11 years younger than me so she won’t be going to college until a long time from now. We do have some savings but I’m not sure at all how much it is. I suppose I’m making this list because I want to find a LAC that I would fit into then pray I get decent aid. If all else fails, I suppose, Iowa is there.
