<p>Looking for a school for S that has the following characteristics:</p>
<p>Size: 5000 - 10,000 range
Admit rate: 30% to 55% range
Location: Anywhere in U.S.
Culture: Liberal leaning, with either no or very little greek presence, can be religiously affiliated but not heavy-handed in this regard. Says he's looking for something "not too geeky and not too preppy."
Academic interest: Math or pre-med
Financial aid: Generous package of merit- and need-based very important</p>
<p>So far Rice has appealed to us the most but worry about chances of getting in. S has great academic stats but no earth-shattering hooks. Notre Dame and Villanova also are somewhat appealing but have read that students tend to look down on you if you are NOT a conservative catholic with money. </p>
<p>I have never heard about the looking down on anyone if they are not Catholic in either of the schools you mentioned. In fact I have the complete opposite. If you don’t mind me acking where did you hear that?</p>
<p>Some very good students from our high school have had trouble getting into ND in the past few years. And I have a friend whose son got in last year (the friend was a ND athlete back when he was in college), but friend could not afford the tuition so I think his son did not go So I think of them as a difficult admit AND not so good with the financial aid (at least with grants and merit aid). I also believe that odds of admission are better for Catholics, regardless of whether there is any issue with students perceptions on campus.</p>
<p>I was going to suggest Grinnell College, but they’re around 1700 I believe. Great school, though, with good merit aid and a relatively large endowment, 30% or so admit rate, excellent academics, socially liberal- not too geeky or preppy.</p>
<p>I have not heard that about Notre Dame or Villanova either. What I have heard is that the culture can be a bit offsetting if you are not catholic. It is a social issue, not necessarily a religious one. As for the economic factor…more private tier one schools are committed to meeting 100% of demonstrated need than many state universities, making them more financially affordable IF students are offered admission. Students that haven’t grown up with a silver spoon are hardly the outliers anymore. Perhaps the opinions you are hearing are those of a parents remember their experience 25-30yrs ago, not what is currently happening on campus?</p>
<p>NOTE: I would agree that being catholic is a plus in admissions. This should be noted in the Common Data Set. I believe the same is true for BC.</p>
<p>my thoughts
places with a strong math program are going to have a certain cohort of “geeky”.
SOme of these places are also going to have greeks- I don’t think the frats are as much of an issue as what their focus is.</p>
<p>Most colleges/universities are going to have a liberal focus- that is the nature of the beast- those who choose teaching as their career often are liberal & those who are in their early 20’s - late teens can be described as such as well.</p>
<p>Using " anywhere" as location, IMO is naive. Different regions of the country have individual flavors and should be taken into consideration.</p>
<p>Financial package- gets into the nitty gritty- off hand not knowing anything about stats or recommendations, I would look at instate universities- & suggest that you determine what your family can afford in terms of loans/savings/current income, then start looking at schools- because merit aid I expect will be getting quite competitive and a school that may not offer much merit, but has a strong program and is less expensive, may be a more suitable choice, than one that is more expensive and offers merit aid. ( because merit aid is often- * not* for all 4 years*.</p>
<p>U of Vermont (a little too easy to get into), Syracuse (a little too big)
SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Binghamton (a little too big), George Washington
Tulane, U of Rochester (a little too small), Vassar (too small, but big for an LAC)
Carnegie Mellon (geeky, but has a big artsy crowd), Brandeis, Vanderbilt (too Greek?), U of Chicago (probably now too hard to get into except EA - didn’t seem overly geeky to us)</p>
<p>I’d take another close look at Villanova. My understanding is that it is not nearly conservative as many other Catholic colleges. They emphasize service not dogma. You have to take religion classes, but not necessarily Catholic religious classes. They promote the study of St. Augustine, who is considered to have an influence on the later development of Protestant religions.</p>
<p>I’d also suggest American University. Their merit aid is mainly aimed towards the top 15% of their applicant pool. It is reportedly one of the more politically liberal and active campuses in the northeast.</p>
<p>Neither of these colleges can afford to be as generous with financial aid as some of their richer cousins, but they still have tens of millions of aid dollars available.</p>
<p>In answer to your question, Villanova has fraternities and sororities, but they operate from the dorms, not their own houses.</p>
<p>I suggest not being too quick to wanting to avoid all fraternities and sororites. Yes, some can be obnoxious and pretentious, but there might be others where you are very comfortable.</p>
<p>St. Olaf College! Great financial aid–lots and lots of merit aid, great math program ansd simply the most stunning Science building I have ever seen on a college campus (I’m a scientist so I always look at the labs)! Also, they have broken ground on a new building in collaboration with Mayo Clinic on St. Olaf property that will have additional research opportunities. Great vibe among the students–DD has never been so happy in her otherwise very happy life!</p>
<p>Wow is St. Olaf that big now? Great school and was on my list back in the day but I guess I remember it from the 70s…I’ll have to look at it for 3 as both bros are at 2500 student colleges and S3 wants that mid-size school, too.</p>
<p>UM is awesome. (I’m from Miami myself) It has a beautiful campus, beautiful weather. Freshman/athletic dorms could be a little nicer but the party life is pretty awesome, and if you’re a good enough student, they’ll throw tons of money at you. </p>
<p>Also, the Canes ain’t so bad and they’ve got tons of school spirit.</p>
So I think of them as a difficult admit AND not so good with the financial aid (at least with grants and merit aid). I also believe that odds of admission are better for Catholics, regardless of whether there is any issue with students perceptions on campus.</p>