Need more options in the Midwest, but don't know where to start.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello all, I am a senior this year in the middle of the college app process. I have come to realize that I need more options closer to my home in the Midwest. I live in Minnesota, but am open to traveling quite the distance. Please give me any suggestions of universities I might like! I plan on majoring in international relations, or something similar. </p>

<p>Here are my stats:
-31 ACT
-4.0 GPA
-Top 5% of class
ECs- 2 time cross country captain; 2 time track captain; Student council president and former secretary; NHS VP; concert band member; jazz band; concert choir; chamber choir; class board member; fall production stage manager; heavily involved in the Relay for Life and have held many leadership roles; heavily involved in community service and my church.
-I have worked 2 jobs through high school
-I am a cancer survivor which has given me an interesting pull to write admissions essays on</p>

<p>In general, I am looking for a college that may be slightly more conservative (either religious or socially). I have zero interest in the party scene. I would like somewhere with some prestige and rigor. Also, it would be nice to go somewhere with good merit scholarships or financial aid.</p>

<p>Personality wise, I am friendly, easy to get along with, and outgoing. I would say I am an average person who gets along with both the jocks and the nerds with ease. </p>

<p>Please give me any and all suggestions and information you have! Thank you!</p>

<p>Also, do you think I would be out of place at Carleton or the University of Minnesota's honor program?</p>

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<p>macalester</p>

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<p>First, you should definitely apply to your state U’s honors program. Second, you are lucky to have a trio of first-class private LACs in your home state: Macalester, Carleton and St. Olaf. Use those school in-service days and plan ahead. Ideally try to sit in on a class or do an overnight if you can. </p>

<p>For a school with intellectual rigor and prestige and minimal party scene, the obvious reach school for you is University of Chicago. </p>

<p>Also more generally in the Midwest, many Catholic universities might be a better fit for your religious views. Wheaton College in Illinois is considered to be an excellent Christian college and is said to be quite socially conservative.</p>

<p>To confirm financial aid for any US College, check their websites and do a search for “net price calculator.” Sometimes these are not easy to find but every college must have a calculator; it’s the law. Then punch in your family’s numbers. That will be more accurate for your family’s situation. Merit, you will need to also check each school’s websites to see what benchmarks you would generally need. </p>

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<p>I can see you getting substantial merit aid from Gustavus Adolphus College, an evangelical Lutheran liberal arts college in MN. Much more middle of the road politically than some of the other MN LACs. The financial aid will not be as strong as what’s offered by Carleton though. </p>

<p>According to the University of St. Thomas’ net price calculator, you would receive about $25,000/ yr in merit aid for your stats alone. If you also have high financial need (for the purposes of the calculator I pretended your parents made $1,000,000/ yr), you would likely receive a preferential aid package. It’s a good urban school with a much less pronounced party scene than many rural colleges.</p>

<p>Neighboring WI has more private college offerings, along with the traditional larger state schools which offer tuition reciprocity for MN residents. If you’re interested in going to college in the state, here are some suggestions. </p>

<p>Lawrence University is a liberal, although not terribly so, liberal arts college with a strong focus on music but also excellent academics in fields ranging from physics to government. However, it only has 1,500 students so if you’re not into a smaller school, look elsewhere. </p>

<p>If you like the idea of UST, a midsized, urban Catholic (although not exceedingly so, still very welcoming to Protestant branches of Christianity) university. also consider Marquette which tends to give better aid than St. Thomas although you would likely only receive $11,000 in merit aid with the current stats. </p>

<p>Here are some Iowa suggestions that offer good merit and/or financial aid.
-Grinnell College, a very selective rural school with an enormous endowment. According to past postings from students with serious financial need it typically is one of their least expensive options. The rural atmosphere might limit opportunities for listening to guest speakers discuss various policy issues.
-Drake University is a mid sized suburban campus in Des Moine, IA. In addition to having a smattering of language offerings, as well as majors in both international relations and international business, it also offers a January Term in which students are encouraged to study abroad for a short period and the Principal Financial Group Center for Global Citizenship</p>

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<p>As the parent of a student at Grinnell, I need to correct when hen’s perception about speakers on campus: the school brings a great variety of speakers to campus. Here’s one program it has for this:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/academics/offices/rosenfield”>http://www.grinnell.edu/academics/offices/rosenfield&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Politically, Grinnell is very liberal. But, the campus is very supportive of religious practice (i know this firsthand from my son’s experience). Here are some links to information about religion at Grinnell:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/campus-life/spiritual-religion”>http://www.grinnell.edu/campus-life/spiritual-religion&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“Center for Religion, Spirituality, and Social Justice (CRSSJ) | Grinnell College”>http://www.grinnell.edu/about/offices-services/crssj&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The information on religious activities doesn’t seem to be completely updated (as often happens with websites) – i know that there are plenty of events that aren’t on there. Also, the people in the Chaplain’s office are WONDERFUL and the school supports individual initiative and ideas from students to create and develop activities of interest.</p>

<p>The school definitely has a party scene, but what’s important to know is that it doesn’t have the pressure to conform. Plenty of sub-free students on campus. </p>

<p>The best description I’ve read of the school is that the students have a “come as you are” attitude, meaning to feel free to express yourself in whatever way you feel comfortable. It doesn’t mean that all students are unusual or “out there,” but that individuals are supported in being whoever they want to be. I will say that the one caveat to that is probably political expression, especially when it comes to human rights and personal dignity (which is a way of saying that if a student is opposed to gay marriage, for example, then, no, they probably won’t find a very welcoming place…). </p>

<p>I would really encourage you to visit the school, and if you do, see if you can schedule an appointment with one of the Chaplains and talk to them about whether it might be a fit. They want students who will be happy on campus, so I can’t imagine they would try to sell you a bill of goods. They might also have some students for you to talk to about their experience. Or, you could also email the Chaplains to discuss the school before deciding if it is a place you’d like to visit and consider. </p>

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<p>St. Olaf is considered more conservative of a student base than Carleton and Macalester. Definately apply there. Also, yes, you’d fit in nicely at U of MN - honors. Make sure you apply there by 12/15 deadline. Within a couple weeks of your acceptance (likely shorter), you will hear about your acceptance to honors. You don’t apply, they automatically consider you.</p>

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<p>You might want to take a look at Hillsdale College in Michigan. It is conservative and though not affiliated with a particular religion many of the students have a religious background that fits with the conservative nature of the school. It is strong in the humanities and is known to be academically rigorous. They also have a very active music program if you are interested in continuing your musical activities. It has a lower overall cost than many private colleges and is generous with merit aid. The campus is quite rural so that is a consideration.</p>

8

<p>The U of Saint Thomas is infamous in its neighborhood for its party scene. Like Macalester, it is located in a nice residential area but the Macalester neighbors seem to have less to complain about.</p>

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<p>Have you run the Net Price Calculator for Carleton yet? Carleton only offers merit of $2K for NMFs. Everything else is FA. If you’re not low income that may not work.</p>

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<p>With your stats check out Wheaton College <a href=“http://www.wheaton.edu/”>http://www.wheaton.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>@CheddarcheeseMN‌ virtually every student review I’ve read of the school indicates that the party scene is considerably subdued especially when compared with parties at the University of Minnesota. </p>

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<p>Look at Marquette for nearby. Further away, Texas A&M, Baylor, Pepperdine and maybe Vanderbilt.</p>

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<p>If you want smaller, excellent LACs in Ohio, you might consider: Denison, Kenyon, Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan, and Wooster. </p>

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<p>If you want a bit of a more conservative (but not at all stifling) environment you may want to look at some of the Jesuit colleges in the area (where you could well qualify for merit aid or perhaps even an honors program) such as Marquette, Loyola-Chicago, Xavier, Creighton. Certainly the honors college of your state flagship should be considered. Carleton and other LACs mentioned above could work as well – I visited a bunch of LACs on the east coast with my D and each school seemed to have unique a “personality” or “vibe” so you should visit and see if you feel Carleton is a good fit for you. Good luck.</p>

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<p>Your stats are awesome so you probably won’t have a super hard time getting into most schools. Definitely consider the U’s honors college. I would also say look at the Jesuits - Catholic, but not extremely so, mostly middle of the road politically. The person above gave some good examples of these which I would all look at but also consider St Louis U. Notre Dame and the University of Dayton (also Catholic, but not Jesuit) would be good to look at. I think you would fit in at Carleton well, and consider Gustavus, St. Olaf and Macalester as well, though Macalester is known for being very liberal. Good luck! </p>