<p>My DD is a rising senior. She goes to a large suburban, public high school. She is in the IB program and involved in many activities:
3 sport varsity athlete: XC, Swimming and Track
Top Band at School (Leadership Team)
All-State Band
School Mentoring Program
Model UN
Many Volunteer activites.
UW GPA: 3.5
Weighted GPA: 3.7
Class Rank: Top 20%
ACT: 29
She isn't sure of a major but has expressed some interest in studying Political Science. She would like to participate in XC and track but probably not swimming. Probably only good enough to play Division III or less competitive Division II. She wants a smaller school (less than 6,000). Because of travel costs, we've concentrated our search in the midwest. We have budgeted up to $25,000 to spend for her education each year. Any more would have to come from merit scholarships or loans. We haven't qualified for need based aid with our S. Don't know if it will be different when we have two in school at the same time.</p>
<p>Her top two schools are WashU and Macalester. She has decided that she will also apply to St. Olaf, Gustavus Adolphus, St. Benedict, Truman State and SLU.
I know Wash U is a huge reach. My S goes there. Macalester is probably a big reach for her too. I see St. Olaf as a slight reach but it doesn't look like they give much merit aid so that may not be a very realistic choice either. The problem is that she doesn't seem to be that excited about the schools that I think she'll have a reasonable possibility of getting into and that we will have the financial means to afford. Does anyone know of any other safeties that aren't currently on our radar that might work?</p>
<p>I think she can make St. Olaf. I don't know much about the merit aid, but (I may be wrong) I THINK they may give music scholarships? I would look into that, especially because of your daughter's All-State status and etc.</p>
<p>Sorry. Polisci really isn't my area. I just know a lot of people from our school who attend/will attend St. Olaf - so that's the extent of my meager "advice" :)</p>
<p>I agree that she can probably get into St. Olaf (disclosure--I went to St. Olaf and majored in political science before going to law school). I would expect that she would have a pretty good chance of getting into either St. Olaf or Macalester with her qualifications.</p>
<p>As for finances, I do know that St. Olaf offers some specialized scholarships (music, academic, first-generation college student), and also promises to cover every-student's financial need (don't know how that is defined--no doubt includes loans).</p>
<p>She probably would enjoy Division III Athletics at St. Olaf--they compete in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference against other regional schools of similar size.</p>
<p>I admit that it might be better to study political science in a larger city (Macalester is in the state capital, while St. Olaf is in a small town), but St. Olaf has a 4-1-4 calendar and a good study abroad program that gives students many off-campus opportunities. Politically, Macalaster is a lot more liberal than St. Olaf, if that is important to you.</p>
<p>You listed a number of schools in both large cities and small towns. I would recommend visiting all the listed schools, because you really need to check out the atmosphere and environment of each. Good luck.</p>
<p>The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Minnesota State University-Mankato are both good safety schools.... they are a bit bigger than you are looking for but they are both solid schools with good support and great college towns. (PS- I am pretty sure your daughter would be automatically accepted into Mankato, making it the perfect choice for a safety school) </p>
<p>However, I don't think your daughter will need a safety school. Her GPA and ACT scores are above average and her activities would make any school happy to accept her. </p>
<p>Also, I want to make a plug for Gustavus (full disclosure: I am a current Gustavus student). Gustavus has an incredibly strong Poli Sci department with some of the best profs in the field. If thats what she wants to do, she'll be more than happy with it. And though I might agree with John2698 that it might be beneficial to study political science in a big city, Gustavus has a ridiculous amount of students who work in the state capital following graduation and is the alma mater of Speaker of the (MN) House Margaret Kelliher. We also play a big role in elections in the area (both the College Republicans and College Democrats have a strong presence on campus, though on the whole the campus leans democrat, but possibly not as much as Macalester or St Olaf). Otherwise, Gustavus has a number of other great department that she might find interest in. I originally was going to study Philosophy and Poli Sci but found my place in the Religion department, and the way that Gustavus structures their program makes it very easy to make such a switch (which many students do). Gustavus is also a Division III school, and plays in the same conference as St. Olaf (PS- The MIAC is made up of mostly small, private schools, but it is still a very competitive conference).</p>
<p>Gustavus also offers merit scholarships and specialized scholarships for a number of things (music included). Our financial aid office also does a great job of helping out new students figure out college finances. </p>
<p>Like John2698 said, no matter what you do you should visit the schools you are applying to. My visit to Gustavus got me to love this school from the day I came to campus.</p>