<p>Describe to me the person applying to these schools ... feel free to have a little fun!</p>
<p>Pomona
Northwestern
Wesleyan
Vassar</p>
<p>Bard
Skidmore
Bryn Mawr
Scripps
Macalaster
Pitzer</p>
<p>Smith
Mount Holyoke</p>
<p>Do you have a child considering the same grouping or a variation on this theme? What is the variation?</p>
<p>?? Well, obviously female, with a liberal political/social orientation. </p>
<p>The only outlier among the group seems to be Northwestern -- all of the other schools are LACs that would tend to have a lot of overlap in applications.</p>
<p>Nw and the others could indicate a theater orientation, possibly a future actor or "communicator" in some other medium.</p>
<p>Sounds a lot like my D. Liberal/left, politically active, vegan, strong on humanities, OK on math/science but not so interested in them.</p>
<p>From your list I'd drop Northwestern and Macalester (D wants to get out of the Midwest), probably drop Bard, Skidmore & Mt. Holyoke (too remote/rural), and add Brown, possibly Cornell, possibly Barnard/Columbia, possibly Wellesley, possibly Haverford or Swarthmore. I guess it ends up a quite different list, but with a similar feel.</p>
<p>Doesn't feel so necessarily left to me, just female and non-sciency.</p>
<p>Mt. Holyoke isn't really remote or rural (and certainly not by comparison with Cornell). Bard is, although it's reachable by the Hudson Line. This list doesn't read like the list of someone who feels confident that she would be a strong candidate for Brown, Cornell, Swarthmore, etc. I have a sense that Pomona and Northwestern are the big reaches. (Why Northwestern?)</p>
<p>Since she obviously likes 5-college consortia, I think Hampshire probably belongs on the list, too. I'd look into Wheaton (MA), Connecticut College, and Goucher, too.</p>
<p>My guess: Legacy at Northwestern
Second guess: Went to a summer program at Northwestern or otherwise spent time on the Northwestern campus and liked the feel of it</p>
<p>This is great! Thank you. She is a theater kid who loves to write and is interested in film (communicator).</p>
<p>... from CA going to a boarding school in the NE ...</p>
<p>looks like johnwesley won by a comfortable margin. :) </p>
<p>for those who are wondering about northwestern, although it's much larger than LACs, the school of communications provides more intimate environment than one may think. it's a small school within a bigger university. they even have their own alum association and the network is said to be stronger than the university overall. in LA/NYC, there's a thing called "Northwestern Mafia". looking back the list in OP, it's interesting to see it's this "outlier" that provides the strongest clue.</p>
<p>She has never visited NW but there is something about the proximity to Chi, the upbeat feel of the school and the highly regarded communication's dept that appeals to her ... it also feels like a "western" school ... a bit of the edge of the frontier feeling ... she is many generations from CA.</p>
<p>I think you forgot Reed.</p>