American is a very good fit although a university. Both it and GW are common safeties for kids interested in politics because of the opportunities in the DC area for internships.
I need to mention another highly selective school: Colby. Very, very nice kids, studious, not a party atmosphere.
I don’t know your son’s grades but if he’s competitive for some of the schools on the list, he should be competitive for Bowdoin and Colby. Remember that it’s an advantage to be a male applying to most LACs (especially lower than the top tier).
Also consider College of William and Mary. It has an excellent reputation in politics. I’ve never heard too much about partying but it is worth considering.
Grinnell seems like an option. If you want an easier school to get in, with great money but strong academics, look at Truman State. Or consider other Public Liberal Arts colleges–NCF is another of these.
Thank you for all of these great suggestions. I was up late last night with my Fiske guide reading about schools like Clark and Wooster. As a west coaster many of these schools are not familiar. Tufts has always been on DS’s radar, and we had a fantastic visit despite numerous feet of snow in the great snowfall of Feb 2015. I think he is concerned about too many schools on his with <20% admissions. I’m not sure what the ideal number of applications is but we are shooting for no more than 12. What is the best ratio? 5 reach, 5 match and 2 safety?
I’ve suggested American to him as a safety b/c he really likes DC. I’m not sure he felt it was for him.
I think when it comes down to moving across the country, and paying for private, it will have to be a pretty special place or fantastic opportunity. One of his teacher’s used a phrase about him once that has really stuck in my mind. She said with DS “his boat rises with a rising tide”. He thrives in an environment with similar kids. He loves an intellectual environment and it energises and motivates him. He didn’t feel that at American. But it is awfully hard to know in these short visits.
Well, the number of schools and categories (safety, reach, match) depends on his grades, finances and what he brings to the table. What are the grades like? What is his course load and from what kind of high school? Does he have any hooks or things that make him unusual (is he from Wyoming or CA, for ex)? And what is the financial situation?
American, GW and even Tufts are more preprofessional than the lacs on this list I’m more familiar with.
Tufts is obviously the most selective and a very nice size. (One of my kids loved it.) The primary advantage to the other two schools is the ability to do political internships and graduate with a resume. But you’re right, they’re more preprofessional than a place where students stay up all night discussing theories.
He has taken the most rigorous course load from a small, rigorous school. He has no hooks. We will be paying and I doubt we will get any aid. His grades are within range from his school for these schools. He is high on the range for his HS for schools like Grinnell, American, Clark and Kenyon but low on the range for Williams and Pomona.
His ACT score, if it matters was very high (35) in math and science, lower in reading (33) and math (30). Not sure if this matters. He has taken one subject test (710 USH) and has two more to take this fall. He didn’t study for the subject test. He will be for the tests this fall. His school does not teach to the AP curriculum, but considers all courses at the honors level. He took several AP tests and passed all. He did not study for them. He has many volunteer hours and decent EC. He is not your typical CC super-motivated, high achiever. He is quiet, smart and motivated more by learning than getting A’s or top scores (again, won’t take ACT again). His legacy schools are a large public school and a HYPS school that is of no interest to him.
I’ll assume he is not from an underrepresented state. If that’s the case, he has a very good shot at Kenyon because they need males and you’re likely full pay. Leveraging those two factors will be his best bet to get into reaches. (In other words, if his profile is a bit low for Tufts and Bowdoin, he is more likely to be accepted into Tufts, which is need-aware, than Bowdoin.) Look for schools that are need aware or have fewer applicants from males. If you’re looking at Naviance, you should assume the lower scores to the lacs were hooked: urms, alumni’s kids, athletes or even more than one category.
American does take interest into account but also has merit money. It may end up being an attractive option.
I would second American as a backup if he’s gunning for Georgetown. Their SIS school and poli sci programs are top notch, and he would find many students like himself. As others keep saying, show interest!! Many kids like your son were rejected or waitlisted last cycle b/c they were just using for safety (or that was AU’s impression).
For some schools that are less competitive than his top choices, look at Gettysburg and Dickinson. My S also really liked Skidmore, but not sure about their offerings in his area of interest.
As another match/reach, check out Wake Forest. Only about 4,500 UGs but it is known to be a serious school dedicated to learning.
Cameron, many of the selective NE lacs are need blind. Being full-pay won’t help at those top lacs (like Williams and Bowdoin) but I just saw that Colby, like Tufts, is need aware-- so it would help there.
I think the OP said her kid wasn’t too impressed with his American visit. My kid who went to Dickinson had the same experience – the Poli Sci class she sat in on at American lacked rigor, in her opinion. She happened to have done the reading in high school that the class was discussing, and it appeared several of the students hadn’t even read the material. She came away less than wowed, and dropped it from her list.
I third the recommendation for Macalester, it sounds exactly like what he wants.
Tufts may be a bit big but fits with many of his criteria, too.
I second Dickinson and Kenyon for moderate environments with good opportunities
either in politics or international study (esp. Dickinson), studious students, no pot fog
and nowhere-near-nationally-ranked parties.
All good advice and appreciated. I hadn’t thought of the full pay and being male as giving a slight advantage for LAC’s. Yes, I need to explore more from him why Georgetown and not American. I do believe the SFS is liberal arts based program and the size is similar (SFS, not Georgetown) to a liberal arts school. He absolutely loves DC and did a study program at Georgetown so he has lived there. Demonstrating interest isn’t prioritized there. But I do think his application strategy will reflect his desire to go there. He really ought to ED at one of the other schools, but I think he still plans to EA at GT. This may mean he will want to look more closely at schools that have ED II in case he doesn’t get in to Georgetown. Any concerns on the fit socially for him there?
I haven’t hear d about G-town being good with financial aid. If he likes skiing, then why not focus on LACs in Midwest etc? Carleton, and so many others.
I understand why someone would like Georgetown more than American. Georgetown is more rigorous, more prestigious and has a more international student body (the king of Spain was just in DC-- he actually graduated from Georgetown and, at the time, roomed with a cousin of his who I believe was Greek royalty). Georgetown has gothic architecture, is an enclosed campus and is Jesuit-- so they are all about discussion and philosophy. (I believe they still have a philosophy/ religion/ ethics requirement for graduation.) American is an enclosed campus but doesn’t have that ‘old’ feeling to it-- the architecture is more modern. Its School of International Service is its most rigorous college but he would be housed with students from other, less rigorous colleges within the university. (Note: Political science is not a major within SIS. SIS students are stronger and I doubt he would have found a class where students hadn’t done their reading.) What AU offers that many of the other schools don’t is the likelihood of a merit scholarship at a solid program and an opportunity to get excellent internships in DC (non-profits, congressional offices, etc.) which he could parlay into a job upon graduation. That’s it. Right now, it may not look attractive but he doesn’t have his admissions in and he doesn’t know if he will get any merit money. That said, if he is likely to change his major, AU’s attractiveness decreases significantly for him.