Now for the male twin!

Parents Forum
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<p>For those of you who responded about my D, now here's her twin!</p>

<p>Similar stats, a bit lower: GPA 3.65 UW, 4.1 W, a bit less rigorous on honors / AP's (focused in English, history, languages, not so much in math/ science), top 12%
Expected AP 29 (I think he needs to crank on this one and up it considerably - will have multiple chances to take) ... Took 1 AP (max allowed by school) as a soph and got 5, taking 3 AP's currently as junior
Male, white, suburban public school, no FA considerations, we are more than happy to leverage ED/EA as needed.
Personality: Somewhat marches to beat of different drummer, but very adaptable to all environments. Real passion for history, international relations, government, philosophical bent. Likes outdoors activities and beautiful scenery but could be fine with a more city campus if enables opps (such as DC). The kind who does things "in his own time," not high pressure kid / environment at all. Not interested in prestige for prestige's sake. EC's focus on some film-making and teaching / tutoring, humane society work, plus some work dealing with a consulate. Will interview like a charm; very kind, "old soul" type. </p>

<p>High reach: Georgetown (dream opportunities with SFS)
Reach: Grinnell.
Low reach: Macalester
Low reach: Brandeis (relevant given Jewish interests)
High match: George Washington U, Kenyon, Whitman College (I could so see him at Whitman)
Match: American U
Likely: Clark U (I don't know a lot about this?), St. Olaf</p>

<p>I like the schools on here a lot, but I don't feel he has enough on the lower end. Thoughts, comments? There's sort of 3 different themes going on. One is the DC contingent (Gtown, GWU, AU), one is the "Jewish contingent" (Brandeis) and then there's an LAC contingent. </p>

<p>He'll be visiting every place his sister looks, though, except of course for the women's colleges :-) </p>

<p>Any fresh eyes on this set? Thanks so much! He will be the type where a place is either "his people" or it isn't, if that makes sense.</p>

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<p>New College of Florida might suit him.</p>

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<p>Pizzagirl, I assume the “29” refers to ACT?</p>

<p>I think that IIRC you are from the Midwest, that coupled with the Jewish background could well represent some of the diversity that Whitman is looking for.</p>

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<p>My daughter looked at Georgetown for languages and international studies (not necessarily SFS), but ended up at Pitt, which has many of the majors your son is looking for. The Hillel is quite large in Pittsburgh as well and it seems to be a friendly city. The professor my daughter interviewed with at Georgetown recommended that she apply to the college instead of SFS because the professor found the SFS students particularly full of themselves (I don’t make this stuff up).</p>

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<p>What is SFS? Is that a college within the business school or something with languages? (I’m out of it…LOL )</p>

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<p>If the DC theme = politics, then consider Willamette U. in Salem, OR. It would be a match. The campus is located right across the street from the Capitol, and policy and politics minded students often do internships in the state government.</p>

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<p>School of foreign service. </p>

<p>That’s a great suggestion, coureur–I know little about it but will have him investigate.</p>

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<p>SFS = School of Foreign Service</p>

<p>Macalester…already on your list…seems like a great fit.</p>

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<p>My nephew’s at Whitman. Really smart kid but sort of quirky. My sister seems to think it’s a perfect fit for him. Also, it’s supposedly a very beautiful place.</p>

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<p>pizzagirl:</p>

<p>Clark is located in Worcester, MA, about one hour from Boston. It is a former industrial town that has been declining. However, it is home to several colleges: Holy Cross, WPI among them.
I visited Clark about twenty years ago, so cannot recall my impressions. Its main strengths are geography and psychology. It does have several very interesting programs, especially for someone interested in advocacy and activism and it has some truly excellent faculty. It might prove a good fit for your son.</p>

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<p>any school with an 40/60 boy-girl ratio, which could be just about any LAC.</p>

<p>For curiousity, did one twin have any say in where the other twin goes?</p>

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<p>Is W & M of any interest? Strong history, IR, and government depts.; beautiful scenery both on campus and in the surrounding area (and less than an hour to the ocean); lots of different drummer kids who do very diverse service and outdoor activities. It’s no more high pressure in terms of workload than Gtown, Grinnell, or Macalester (I imagine). Great faculty committed to undergrad teaching; nice rep that helps w/internships and employment. Not for everyone, but I always like to suggest it for quirky, history-loving kids. He’d offer the school some nice geographic diversity, and if you’re OOS, it helps to be male.</p>

<p>He has a great list - wish I could come up with a few more safety suggestions, but I’m sure you’ll get some good ones here. :)</p>

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<p>No, each twin is doing the list independently but all of us will visit each school.
I like W&M a lot – neither kid seemed to bite; don’t you think it’s too reachy given his stats?</p>

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<p>Stats are a very good fit for colleges in the Patriot League: </p>

<p>[Patriot</a> League Official Athletic Site](<a href=“http://www.patriotleague.org/]Patriot”>http://www.patriotleague.org/)</p>

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<p>W & M’s 25th/75th ACT percentiles were 27/32 last year, so he’d be in the middle there. 4.1 weighted GPA sounds good as well. I know W & M has the reputation of being super-selective based on stats alone, but I really think the admissions process there looks more at the whole kid. If he doesn’t like what he’s heard, though, I wouldn’t drag him down to Williamsburg, since he has so many really good options on the list already. Gettysburg? Pretty school, great history dept. from what I’ve been told, and they have an International Affairs double major.</p>

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<p>Is my classification reasonable or off base?</p>

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<p>I’d have to say W&M is a little bit of a reach. Only 35% of applicants get accepted and being OOS you would generally need stats at the higher end of the spectrum.</p>

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<p>G’town seems uber-reach. It’s a personality thing I guess. My kids crossed off uber-reaches; some thing nothing wrong with trying.</p>

<p>Yes, really good list, but as you say, more needed at the lower end.</p>

<p>And with three relevant “themes” as you point out, it makes safety schools hard to come up with. The “suitor” schools are attractive, each for its own reasons, but the safety schools are more “niche” fillers. So, it might be helpful to have a better idea of what is most important to him, even though he is so adaptable.</p>

<p>He sounds like a great kid who’ll have plenty of interesting choices.</p>

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<p>Dickinson, maybe?
I like Macalester for him.</p>

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<p>I would second Dickinson.
My son–similar stats–is at American and loves it. Even tho it was a match, it was his clear first choice, so he applied ED there so he could enjoy the rest of his senior year. However, he really liked Dickinson as well, but decided he wanted DC. And a real campus. (and a substantial Jewish presence, as well).</p>