Need help tweaking the list?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi CC!

I need a little help tweaking my list–further suggestions are welcome as well.

What I want out of a school: peers who are interested in learning/highly motivated, collaborative atmosphere, politically active student body/students interested in social justice, generally left leaning student body (or at least a decent presence on campus), good opportunities for outdoorsy activities (close proximity to nat’l parks/mountain ranges is ideal, but I’d be fine if there was at least an active outings club with ample opportunities for overnight/weekend trips etc), strong humanities program, nonexistent or small/non-dominating greek life presence, good fin-aid programs (potential for merit scholarships?), no religious affiliation…

Interested in majoring in History and/or Philosophy (considering a minor/certificate/concentration in Portuguese, where available)

Stats:
ACT: 35C (36 English, 34 Math, 36 Reading, 35 Science, 12 Writing)
(took twice, but only reporting the 35C to schools with score choice. Other test is a 34 composite).
APS: 5s on Microecon, US Gov, Eng Lang, US History, and Bio
Taking 6 AP classes this year (Euro History, Comp Gov, Eng Lit, APES, Calc BC, Art History)
GPA: 4.0 UW, ~4.6 W
Competitive public school, top 5% of ~650
Honors/Awards: a few school awards, AP Scholar w/Distinction, participated in selective/free summer program

ECs/Activities:
Aforementioned summer program
Pres of Young Democrats club
Pres of LGBTQ Group (also involved in school’s GSA)
Editor of school’s Literary Journal (involved heavily in the Creative Writing Club)
Involved in school’s Outdoors club
Tutor (ACT and math, through Mu Alpha Theta)
Babysitting (lol)

Super High Reaches:
Harvard (SCEA)
Dartmouth (not a fan of Greek life, but…)
Yale (not so outdoorsy, but very strong in humanities & I’m in love with the directed studies program)
Columbia (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Core Curriculum…but, like Yale, CU is not so outdoorsy)

Stanford (?) (as a prospective humanities major I am weary about the STEM emphasis)
Duke (?)

Mid/High Reaches:

Pomona
Davidson
Williams
Hamilton
Pitzer (?)
Kenyon (?)

High (?) matches:
Scripps
Whitman
Smith

Safeties: Already accepted to & fine with my safety school. Not looking for anymore safeties.

2

Vassar, Oberlin
Bates, Colby

Cross out Dartmouth, it doesn’t match your optimal college fit.

3

Pomona sounds like a great fit for you. Bowdoin? Middlebury? Cornell? Colorado College?

4

@MYOS1634 Thanks!! Yeah I’m not too keen on the idea of Dartmouth, I just really like NH. Lol.

@GMC2918 Awesome, yeah, I really like Pomona. I’m interested Bowdoin, not so much Cornell or CC. I heard Midd is very white upper-class/very preppy, not really into that?

5

@valkyries, I think Bowdoin would be a great addition based on your criteria. It would be a super high reach for all given acceptance rate and student profile.

6

@Chembiodad super high? Idk. I have pretty competitive stats, I feel like Harvard (my super reach) is a lot more of a reach than it (larger applicant pool, 1/3 the acceptance rate) and I feel like I have a larger chance of acceptance at Bowdoin? But okay.

7

@valkyries, got to remember that Bowdoin only accepts 13.5% of 7250 applicants, a relatively small number as it doesn’t try to capture a ton of applicants to drive down the acceptance rate. In addition ~45% are accepted through ED with likely ~60% of those being hooked applicants as 36% are URM, 14% are First-Gen (understanding there are overlaps with URM), 10% are recruited athletes and 8-10% are Legacy. As a result, I do believe that a small LAC with an overall acceptance rate of 13% is a high reach for anyone; I would put Amherst, Pomona, Swarthmore and Williams in the same category.

8

Brandeis University sounds like it would be a good fit for you

9

Grinnell would be worth serious consideration. It checks many of your boxes.

10

@Ohioann @bookmama22 I’ll definitely look into them, thanks.

11

Grinnell has a $1.9B endowment, which is one of the 10 largest endowments per student in the country, so it’s resources are amazing. Great school to consider!

12

@Chembiodad thanks! and sorry if my response earlier seemed over confident (?) I just feel like I have a ~decent shot at Bowdoin bc of fit…LOL. Just had a look at Grinnell’s student groups and very impressed… (also, wow, that endowment).

13

@valkyries, understand, just need to remember that the RD acceptance rate at Bowdoin is below 10% - around 8%.

14

You need to research if they offer merit aid but Reed may be another option worth checking out.

15

@Chembiodad yep!
@happy1 Will definitely look into Reed. I know they don’t have merit aid, though.

16

@valkyries, given that you mentioned that financial aid is important, you can easily cross reference the ~40 schools that are need blind and meet 100% of demonstrated need with those that have the largest endowment per student and, as expected, you’ll see lots of matches. Then when cross referencing that with the highly selective school category you are focused on, you’ll likely end up with a great list of choices.

17

Realistically, it may be important for you to make distinctions between various types of country settings. Kenyon, for example, would offer you reasonable access to the mountains of West Virginia, while the options from Grinnell would seem to be less varied.

Based on your general criteria, Vassar probably belongs on your list.

Wherever you attend, Hamilton’s Adirondack semester might appeal to you:

https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/offcampusstudy/adk

18

What state are you from? You may have better shots at certain reaches if you are geographically underrepresented.

19

Could you remind us where you stand on need-based aid? Have you run the net price calculators for the schools that are need-only (which is the majority of your list)? There’s a big difference between “merit money would be nice” to “need merit money to make it work.” If it’s the latter, then you need to take a step back for a more realistic look at the need-only schools on your list.

Overall, your list seems to have become less not more focused. My opinion: lose Dartmouth, Columbia and Stanford. Two super reach, need-only schools are enough.

If you can live with need-based aid add Middlebury, Bowdoin. Generally speaking, the student bodies are indistinguishable from Williams, Pomona and Hamilton. I like Kenyon (though I’m not so sure about its proximately to the West Virginia mountains, or any mountains), Grinnell, Colorado College, Smith, Scripps, Pitzer and Whitman. I’m less enthusiastic about Davidson and Duke for you.

20

@citymama9 definitely not hooked geographically, unfortunately.

@momrath yeah, my list has devolved a bit—hence my thread. But I do qualify for a substantial amount of need based aid, which is why I have so many need-only schools on my list; I’m just also interested in merit scholarships where available. Thanks!

As for Davidson—why are you less enthusiastic about it?