At his reaches, he won’t get any aid. At his matches, he has a good chance of merit aid with those scores, and at his safeties he’ll get merit aid if the school offers merit aid.
Georgetown SFS admissions are crazy competitive. He should not in any way expect to get in – great if he does, but he has to have matches he really likes, too.
Dickinson has EA – in addition to 2 ED rounds. Showing interest is important there. My D and another student with almost identical stats applied there from her high school. My D had visited, and interviewed when they came to our city. My D applied in the EA round and got in with a nice merit package. Her friend applied RD and did not get in.
“If he likes skiing, then why not focus on LACs in Midwest etc? Carleton, and so many others.”
Buck hill in the Minneapolis area has a 300 foot vertical drop. The highest vertical drop in MN is 800 feet at Lutsen which is a 4 1/2 hour drive from Carleton College. If he likes downhill skiing, it’s a good reason NOT to go to the midwest.
As soon as I started reading your post about your son’s personality, Haverford immediately popped into my head so I’m glad to see that it’s on his list. Not much is quirkier! You might consider Vassar though. Swarthmore is similar to Haverford, but it’s much more of a competitive feel. Maybe Oberlin? It’s kind of quirky but may be too politically correct. I like Tufts for him too so I second or third that suggestion as well. Colby and Bowdoin are great but may be too outdoorsy.
-intparent: agreed. He has no expectations just hopes. He has plenty of reach schools on his list and we are primarily trying to fill in his list with good match schools. Lots of great ideas given by all and this is greatly appreciated.
-Bouders: Carleton is high on his list, though we haven’t visited yet. Again, it is pretty selective so we are trying to round out his list with some additional schools that are not as selective.
megan12: Yes, Haverford really felt like a good fit. And we really loved Tufts when we visited. Admittedly it was the worst info session of the many schools we have visited. The admissions person was a horrible public speaker. The tour guide turned that tour around for us, as well an exuberant student who approached DS, spoke very highly of Tufts, and offered to take him to a class. There was a student walking on campus with a tail and horns. This is not the kind of ‘quirky’ I would descrive as my son. However, it didn’t phase DS in the slightest. Swarthmore is a stunningly beautiful place. However, something about it didn’t sit right with DS. It had an elitist or competitive air about it that just isn’t him. This is probably just the bad luck of the admissions speaker/tour guide he had, perhaps.
Anyone have more thoughs on Grinnell, Oberlin, Kenyon with regard to student culture and academics?
Thanks again!
I think you got the wrong impression about Swat! I’m an alum and my son is at Swat-- it is really not competitive in that way. Kids are earnest and really love to learn. They do work hard. Look into Hamilton; for my son Hamilton was a very attractive safety for him. I second Vassar as well. Have you thought of Wesleyan in CT?
I have/had kids at two of the schools you’re talking about, and they applied to/were accepted at/visited several of the others. I will PM you. 
Thanks donnaleighg. We haven’t considered Wesleyan. Hamilton has popped up recently as a suggestion by the counselor at DS’s HS. We will keep an open mind on Swat…again it is a highly selective school and he can only apply to so many of those. Vassar and Hamilton we need to take a closer look at. Vassar has come up on this thread as well. Thanks for your time!
Thank you Youdon’t say. Ugh…new to the forum. Not sure how to PM. I’ll figure it out…I hope…
Thank you Youdon’t say. Ugh…new to the forum. Not sure how to PM. I’ll figure it out…I hope…
Grab a cup of coffee … I’m still writing! I just hope they’ll let me send this whole thing in a single PM!
Carleton does sound perfect, except for the absence of downhill skiing. Would he do cross country ski? He could do it at the arboretum. It is a good place for a quirky, introverted kid to find a home.
Another vote to look into Macalester. It is more engaged with the larger world than some of the other LACs. A kid who wants to put policy into effect would like it there.
Oberlin may be too hippie.
OK, sent you the PM.
I agree that Macalester is a little less selective but might be a great fit. I know many politically interested kids who are happy there.
Most of the schools that popped into my head as I read your first post were already on your list: Haverford, Carleton, Tufts. I also think you should look at Macalester, which is probably a match school, and would seem to fit the bill perfectly. Bowdoin and Williams would both be great for him, but both are difficult admits these days.
Two schools that no one has mentioned that I think you should consider are Bates and Middlebury.
At Middlebury, December grads can ski to the podium to pick up their diploma!
Most of the colleges being suggested in the last few posts (Hamilton, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Vassar) are still pretty reachy IMO. Seems like he has plenty of those - OP stated they need more safeties/matches. I live in OH and I think Kenyon would be great. A good fried of D13 is a junior there and I would describe her as someone who is very bright, actively involved in many activities, academic pursuits, but also a bit quirky. Kenyon seems less hippyish than Oberlin. Kenyon is worth visiting though because it is really tiny and Gambier is practically non-existent. You have to be comfortable with this kind of environment. I say this as someone who went to Williams, and Williamstown is hardly a booming metropolis. Although Gambier is tiny, Kenyon is not far from other slightly larger towns like Mount Vernon and also Columbus/Ohio State. My D’s friends says students go off campus regularly and many students have cars (although she doesn’t and has been fine).
@intparent That’s funny, I was also going to suggest Reed. It does have that reputation as a school where a lot of pot smoking goes on, but my D attended there and in reality it didn’t end up being any better or worse than any other small LAC on that regard; some do, some don’t. But everything else that the OP mentioned does make Reed a possible good fit, and it was listed in that book of Colleges That Change Lives so maybe it’s at least worth a look?
We picked up a student paper while visiting Reed a couple years ago. They had a page of all the campus security activity for several weeks. It was just one big game of cat & mouse between security and pot smokers. “Report of cannibas smell at 3:30 pm in hall X. Nothing found, residents had no knowledge.” On loop, sometimes multiple times a day. A few laptop and bike thefts mixed in, but probably 80% of the camp sec reports were on pot smoking. Your D might not be bothered by the smoke, so it worked for her. That doesn’t sound like the case for the OP’s kid, though.
Reading the original post immediately made me think of the College of William and Mary. It meets many of his criteria, and has a great IR program with a DC program and travel opportunities. Definitely worth a look.
He would likely get merit money and an invitation to the honors college at American and I think IR there attracts a lot of bright kids. It’s about the same size as Georgetown. Though for some reason it feels smaller to me.
I’m pretty sure there was separate housing for honors students if they want it. And the take internships serious - as I recall few classes are scheduled one day a week so that it’s easy to arrange a once a week internship.