My older child is heading off to college this month so it’s now time to turn my energy to my D20. I’m not even sure where to start. Her criteria is very different from her sister so all but one of the schools we dragged her along to are not of interest. She is interested in studying media/communications and a must have is either (although both would be great) fencing and playing in an orchestra (club and non-audition). She’s looking for a bigger school (5K +) with some school spirit. Seems open to location but we would like to be w/in a 6 hour drive of NYC. Grades are B/B+ w/ some honors and AP. Based on PSAT, expect her standardized test scores to be below average. We have money saved so cost is not an issue, but with two kids in college would be happy to find a cheaper alternative.
So far we have on our list: U Del, Pitt, UVM, Ithaca, Syracuse, James Madison, Denison (doesn’t fit the mold but visited with her sister and liked it)
Looking for any and all suggestions to expand the universe a bit. Thanks!
Just want to share this list of schools that don’t require, or don’t emphasize, test scores. For merit aid, some will require scores but is that is not an issue, this list has a range of schools including tippy top.
Seems limiting to seek a non-audition orchestra. Would she reconsider and do auditions? Also, it is always possible that there might be fencing in the community as an EC.
Maybe BU (has a School of Communications). Emerson for media/communications but it is small, no orchestra. Check out the Colleges that Change Lives website. Clark U. has an interesting major in her area of interest. Any SUNY’s, like Purchase?
I’ll also plug SUNY New Paltz. <2 hrs by train from GCT. I know some professors there, mainly in social sciences. I’ve visited as well. I also know some who graduated from there and went on to become famous in their research fields (after earning PhD elsewhere).
On terms of orchestra…Boston University has an orchestra for non-majors. Look for Boston University Music Organizations.
Our kid also wanted to play in an orchestra in college. This was THE hardest criteria for her to fulfill. But she wanted to play in the college ensemble. If your daughter wants to play in an orchestra of some type…she could consider places with community orchestras. There are lots of those. If she wants to play at the college, I would urge her to contact the had of the music department at her schools of interest, and inquire about opportunities for non-majors. We found these folks to be both informative, and helpful.
Thanks all for the helpful suggestions and tips. I plan to add New Paltz and will research some of the others.
@privatebanker Would be thrilled if her SAT hits 1100. She is not strong in math but school offers some cheap test prep weekend classes that might be a good idea for her.
@thumper1 thanks for the idea to call about music opportunities. We will call around and see what we find.
Well 1100 isn’t that bad these tests can be tough for some. There are some test optional schools but lots of others that would be a good match for her. It will be ok. Especially the folks on here who really can give you a lot of help and advice. It’s amazing.
You might check out Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond. It is best known for art and communications. It also has a med school and is good for pre-med. Richmond (RVA) is totally transformed from a few decades ago and is a “hot” city, very popular with students and young professionals. It has a nice parks system featuring the James River. The nightlife/restaurant district, the Fan, is very near campus.
We’ve known several local students who’ve had terrific experiences there the last few years. It has an urban campus. I note that several schools on your list are urban, so maybe that will work. Fair warning, the campus does not impress on first blush. We have good friends whose youngest kid is a student there and loving it. The first time they visited, the kid did not even want to get out of the car. But they did, and liked it better than they thought. It ended up being their top choice, and, as I said, they completely love it now. We know another neighborhood kid who was voted the top art student at our very large suburban public high school. They are at VCU Arts and also loving it.
Take a look at Towson, they seem to have both majors, offer a Large Ensemble Recruitment Scholarship for non- music majors (basically music classes at music major prices) so it looks like they are open to non-music majors. No fencing on campus, but Baltimore Fencing Center is about 10 miles away if she wants to take classes.
It doesn’t sound like she’s a recruitable athlete for D-1 fencing, so you may want to look for schools that have fencing clubs rather than fencing teams.
One of my kids fenced with a club throughout college. He loved it, and it was really important to him, socially as well as athletically. There were kids in the club with national rankings, and kids (like him) who had never even seen the equipment before college. They pooled money and got donations to buy equipment and to hire a coach, practiced four days a week, and had an active competition schedule on weekends against club teams at other colleges from late autumn through the national club championships in the spring.