<p>I am a junior and am beginning the college search. I have decided that I probably want a smallish LAC because of the sense of community, professors that love teaching, etc.</p>
<p>first, just to give you an idea about myself here are a few things about me
-from ohio, competitive catholic school
-SAT 1500 (verbal + math)
-somewhat shy
-loves science
-liberal, but not to the extreme</p>
<p>Here is my list of desirable qualities in a college:
-friendly students
-good science program, esp. chem
-not an urban campus (ok if its near a city though)
-students who love to learn but are not cutthroat
-politically/socially/environmentally active students
-respected by grad/med schools
-study abroad program
-merit aid available for someone like me
-little pressure to drink/other activities besides parties
-good professors
-probably in midwest or west (not a big fan of south or NE)</p>
<p>Hmm…are you entirely sure that you want to rule out New England? There’s a hub of great LAC’s in the northeast that I bet you would like, and fit your stats well (i.e. Middlebury, Vassar, Hamilton, etc.).</p>
<p>I had similar interests, but the problem I ran into was meshing small/not urban with little pressure to drink. At most of these schools, especially ones in rural areas, drinking is the culture.</p>
<p>Some schools that I liked, though, were Carleton, Grinnel, Macalaster, and in NE Wesleyan, Bowdoin Middlebury and Williams</p>
<p>You went to a religious HS…have you thought about your take on religious colleges? </p>
<p>Perhaps Wheaton College (IL), it would fit your price, its near Chicago, depending on your GPA it could be a backup</p>
<p>I’m not ruling out NE, as long as the students are friendly and not competitive! Pomona looks like heaven especially because I have relatives in SoCal, but I am not sure I could get in, and I wouldn’t get any money. Carleton also looks awesome but has the same problem. Any suggestions of schools like these where I could get enough merit aid so that cost of attendance would be < 35,000/year?</p>
<p>Religious question- not especially interested in catholic schools, but would consider them if they happened to meet the criteria</p>
<p>Pomona and Carleton are strong in sciences but don’t give merit aid (although both are fairly generous with fin. aid). What about Oberlin, Grinnell, Scripps (if you are female), macalester, whitman, reed, or willamette? All offer merit aid.</p>
<p>Eie, Grinnell sounds exactly like what you are looking for. S is a chem major and raves about his professors -their accessibility, teaching skills and expertise. Grinnell has a huge endowment compared to most other LACs, which translates into beautiful, new facilities, lots of money and opportunities for student research, the smallest intro classes of any LAC (no more than 25, even in Chem and Bio), merit aid for top students (which it sounds like you are) and very good food. S says drinking is not an issue socially. You can if you want to, but lots of people don’t-and during the week, its a really bad idea because the academics are too demanding for it. The school is one of the top producers of Phds which I think indicates how many students like learning for its own sake and means its well known and well respected by grad schools. The school is rural but its an hour from Des Moines and from Iowa City, if you need a urban fix ocassionally and S has done road trips to Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis and other places-a few were sponsored by the school-but often with friends whose homes he stayed in. And finally, with reference to study abroad, catering to American students who want to study overseas is a big industry. There are hundreds of programs which are recognized by all the LACs (for example, University of Melbourne in Austrailia is well known for its study abroad for kids interested in sciences-and it has a relationship with many US LACs).</p>
<p>Eie, you just described my alma mater to a T.</p>
<p>Knox College is about 1300 students in a small town in Illinois. I was a chem major there and now teach chemistry at a major state university. Knox is one of the CTCL.</p>
<p>Two Knox traditions in particular might be of interest to you: on the day before classes start, they hold what’s called Pumphandle, in which everybody in the school shakes hands with everybody else in the school. I met one of my best college friends there before classes ever started. Then there’s Flunk Day in the spring, when classes are cancelled at 5:am and a gigantic campus-wide party/carnival ensues.</p>
<p>Check out Lewis and Clark in Portland. Not too liberal, you’re likely to be eligible for merit aid, it has an excellent science program and also emphasizes study abroad.</p>
<p>Also St. Olaf in Northfield–you can visit Carleton on the same day. Friendly students, good science program (new science building), small town near Minneapolis, active students, respected by med/grad schools, one of the highest percentage study-abroad rates in the country, about 30% receive merit aid averaging more than $10,000/yr (and with your stats you’d have a good shot), not a big drinking school, good professors.</p>
<p>I’ll second St. Olaf. Also Hope College in Holland MI. Doesn’t get a lot of play here on CC but has strong sciense programs and a good record with grad school placement.</p>
<p>Many good suggestions above. One I did not see mentioned is Colorado College. Beautiful setting but not rural and isolated. Very selective but less so than the top NE schools. Unusual, one-course-at-a-time “block plan”. Merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Among the others, given your specific preferences (merit aid, etc.), I especially like (from less to more selective) Earlham, St. Olaf, Macalester/Grinnell/Oberlin. Carleton and Pomona are excellent, but your chances of merit aid (if not admissions) diminish there.</p>
<p>If you don’t mind staying in Ohio, have you considered Kenyon? It is rural but has all the other attributes you are looking for. I will also second St. Olaf and Carleton.</p>
<p>Check out Grinnell in Iowa…Great science programs, campus and offer wonderful merit aid and have wonderful financial aid(huge endowment)…</p>
<p>St. Olaf is another good choice.</p>
<p>Both have very accepting campuses especially for someone who may not be the most outgoing. </p>
<p>Some of the others that people listed do not offer much if any merit aid. Pomona and Carleton give very little merit aid. Both are great schools, but offer little in comparison to others mentioned.</p>