Opinions on my College List?

College Search & Selection
1

Hello!

I’m a current high school junior (almost done!) applying to college in the fall, and right now I’m working on creating a list in order to begin working on essays this summer. It’d be great if I could get college suggestions or an opinion on the current list.

Relevant info (in order of importance):

Merit: my parents can afford to pay ~27k/yr but we will not qualify for need-based aid. They’ve mentioned potentially stretching for a school, but they wouldn’t do so if it wasn’t close to home (New Jersey.) This is the most important criteria; I’ve had to drop a lot of schools because of financial viability. I’m not looking for schools whose merit aid tops out at 20k/yr. It just won’t be enough.

LGBT Community: I’m gay, and am looking for a strong LGBT community (ie. not one GSA for 20k students.)

Size/Location: LACs and mid-size universities are great. I’m ambivalent about going larger but I did like GW when I visited, which surprised me. I also prefer a more defined campus (again, weird that I liked GW.) Location-wise, I prefer to look at schools on the east coast at this point. The schools that will give me enough merit in order to be affordable are, in my parent’s eyes, not worth traveling for when I have affordable safeties much closer to home that are of similar or greater quality. Realistically, I’m not the sort of applicant to get merit from top schools. No preference re: urban/rural/etc.

Campus “feel”: Work hard, play hard is absolutely fine. Not really looking for a “party school”. No Greek life preferred, but I don’t really care as long as it’s not a dominant part of social life. I love learning for the sake of learning, but I have no clue what I’d like to do, so strong career services would be nice.

Intended major: sociology, but I’m looking at social sciences/humanities in general.

–

Stats:

SAT: 2270 (750 CR/770 M/750 W)

SAT 2: Waiting on scores for US History, Literature, and Spanish

GPA: anywhere from 3.83-3.87UW depending on how this year ends.

AP: APUSH and Lang this year. No one takes APs before junior year, and no one in my grade has taken more than 4.
Senior year courseload: AP Stats, AP Lit, AP Calc AB, AP Spanish, Peers, Physics, Journalism/Film, US Foreign Policy H (required history class post-APUSH)

Rigor: Solid, but certainly not most rigorous. Mostly honors and AP, but one or two regular classes a year.

Major awards: National Spanish Exam Gold (x2), Scholastic Gold Key, NCTE Achievement Award in Writing (national in scope, though not as prestigious as Scholastic medals or YoungArts, imo), local science fair + writing awards. Nat’l Merit Commended (maybe a semi-finalist, but not likely.) Attending the New Jersey Scholars Program this summer (not an award, but only ~14% of applicants get in. Alumni are known for getting into HYPSM et al.)

Extracurriculars:
School plays/musicals (techie + actor 9-12)
One Acts Festival (actor 9-10, director 11)
Gay-Straight Alliance (9-11, President 12)
Gender Equality Club (9-11, President 12)
Teen PEP (sex education group that presents informational outreaches to middle and high school kids. Rising juniors apply + are selected, 11)
Peers (group of seniors that are selected to help the freshman adjust to high school life, 12)

Work Experience:
Worked at a lab summer before junior year (~100 hrs). Incidentally, I discovered during that time that I was not cut out for a career in research.

Schools:
WashU (absurd reach, but it’s the parent’s pick and I like everything I’ve heard about the school.)
Grinnell
Kenyon
George Washington
American
Brandeis (?)
Case Western (?)
Clark (?)
Bryn Mawr
Rutgers (in-state, already affordable)
TCNJ (ditto)

I’m incredibly fortunate to be in a position where my worst-case scenario is attending my state university. I’d just like to keep my options open.

Any suggestions/thoughts? Thank you in advance for your time!

2

Have you run the net price calculator to see if the private schools are affordable? or if you might qualify for merit aid? Muhlenberg may be worth considering as it is good for merit aid. Also SUNY schools are good deals even OOS so consider SUNY Geneseo which is mid-sized state school with strong academics (SUNY Binghamton is also excellent but is larger). An unexpected idea might be Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus.

3

@happy1 The private schools won’t be affordable sans merit aid, but I believe all of them offer enough merit aid to come down to an affordable cost. The question is whether or nor I’ll get it. Thank you for the suggestions! I hadn’t considered SUNY schools.

4

Consider Lawrence University in WI and Denison in OH. Both give solid merit aid and are easier to get into than schools like Kenyon and Grinnell which have become increasingly competitive in the past 2-3 years. Both are very solid academically.

5

Your current, excellent test score puts you at just the 75%ile for last year’s class for Grinnell. That might get you some merit aid but it’s unlikely to be near to what you need. As @doschichos said, Kenyon and Grinnell are getting more competitive every year.

Suggestions: (1) Train for the next sitting of the SAT to get your score as high as you can. (2) Write an essay that knocks it out of the park. (3) I love your list of schools but keep looking for more gems.

6

Tulane should be a good match for you- it gives good merit aid and has a large LGBT presence. Although it has a party school reputation, the students definitely work hard too.

7

hmmm just wonder if you are aware that TCNJ academically is right there with GW, American --actually excels more
in terms of certain disciplines. I suggest if you haven’t, to visit as it might turn out to be much more than you assume.

8

How about Temple? Smith though might not be enough merit - Mt Holyoke might be better chance for higher merit aid.

9

You would be a contender for the LEEP full-tuition scholarship at Clark and your intended studies fit into their curriculum. Its definitely an academic safety but that’s why you might qualify for LEEP and that’s where the most merit is likely to come from, same with the schools below.

Also take a look at University of Scranton and Providence College if you don’t mind Jesuit schools. They both offer good merit aid for scores in your range. Look at Simmons College (all girls) in Boston as well.

Sorry but I can’t comment on how LGBT-friendly any of my suggestions are.

10

Denison is worth a good look, especially if you already have Kenyon and Grinnell on the list since you are willing to consider Ohio and Iowa. Denison is a surprisingly diverse community, in terms of racial/ethnic and socio-economic background, and uses generous merit aid to attract highly desirable candidates. The President has been emphasizing the importance of being an inclusive community, not just a nominally diverse community. Visual and performing arts are very strong, they are building/renovating the music and theater facilities which will be ready in fall '18, I think. Career services seems very strong, starting to work with students as freshman, and alums include Steve Carrell, Jennifer Garner and the former/current presidents of ESPN and Walt Disney. Columbus is less than 30 minutes away, with strong arts and internship opportunities there. Looking at quality of faculty – in terms of the quality of their Ph.D. programs and continuing scholarship – we did not find major differences among schools in the top 50-60 or so spots on USNews rankings. In terms of a student’s day-to-day experience in the classroom, we were more than satisfied that a Denison student would be well-taught from highly qualified and caring faculty.

All that being said, Bryn Mawr would also be a terrific spot as well. Good luck, you’ve been very thoughtful and methodical (in a good way) in crafting your list.

11

@doschicos @Midwestmomofboys My parents would probably be reluctant to consider Denison and/or Lawrence just because of the distance coupled with their rankings. They’re not obsessed with prestige by any means, but they’d rather have me on the east coast and I don’t think they’d consider either school “worth it.”

@Otterma I’m well aware of my odds, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I think I’m done with standardized tests, unless I need to retake subject tests. I really wanted to focus on other things this summer. That being said, I’m a fairly strong writer and I plan to spend a lot of time focusing on essays.

12

@limitdoesntexist I’m a little apprehensive about applying given what I’ve heard about the partying, but it might be worth a shot. I also don’t know if I’m competitive for the kind of merit I need.

@stones3 Good to know! I don’t think I’m visiting before applying because I don’t need to determine whether or not I’m sending in an application; I’m sure that I am. It’s a serious contender at this point.

@Dolemite Temple might be too large and urban for me. Smith only offers up to 25k/yr unfortunately, but I’ll look into Holyoke.

@NEPatsGirl Re: the LEEP scholarship: that’s the goal! :slight_smile: I’ll look into all those schools!

Thank you all for your advice and encouragement!

13

"My parents would probably be reluctant to consider Denison and/or Lawrence just because of the distance coupled with their rankings. They’re not obsessed with prestige by any means, but they’d rather have me on the east coast and I don’t think they’d consider either school “worth it.”

@merething I understand they might think that, but considering you need a good chunk of merit aid, I think you would be doing yourself and your family’s finances a disservice to not look at schools such as Denison and Lawrence. Many east coast schools, especially those highly ranked, either don’t give merit aid, don’t give the amounts you seem to be looking for, or what they give is extremely competitive. WUSTL for example. Their merit aid is extremely hard to get. If you want a private school, you’ll be looking at needing $30-40K in merit aid per year. If you are fine staying in state, that is one thing. If not, you need to add some more schools with generous merit aid.

14

@doschicos I’m absolutely fine staying in-state, which is why I don’t mind being a little more optimistic about my chances. I know I’d be incredibly happy at either Rutgers or TCNJ, so if any other school becomes an option it’ll be a nice surprise rather than a necessity, per se. I’m not one of those Jersey kids hell-bent on leaving the state. :slight_smile:

15

As long as OP continues to be happy with in-state safeties as she progresses through the process this fall, then no need to look any further. However, If the OP’s views about in-state safeties change or if she wants some smaller school options, I would encourage keeping an open mind about Denison – which has higher admitted student stats than American (from common data set) and about the same as GW, offers substantial merit awards, and has strong emphasis on diversity, inclusion, career exploration and preparation, and offers the Lugar program in Poli Sci (as the interest in American and GW suggests that might be relevant consideration). If the OP’s family were to visit Kenyon, Denison is 30 miles away so feasible to visit both in a single day.

We have spent a lot of time at Kenyon/Oberlin/Grinnell as well as Denison, Dickinson, Lawrence, Earlham etc. In the face of family skepticism in our house about the quality of academic programs below a certain ranking, I researched faculty in core humanities/social sciences departments at these (and many others), and realized there is not much difference among them. Specific departments may be a little stronger, or weaker, at certain schools, but broadly, the quality of faculty – in terms of where they did their Ph.D. and how active they are in scholarship and research – is quite similar. As a faculty family, our focus is on what happens in the classroom and among students and faculty beyond the classroom, not the acceptance rate. So, if someone were willing to travel to Gambier, Ohio or Grinnell, Iowa, and needs merit award to make college affordable, a look at Denison (or Lawrence) could be a good strategy.

Good luck to the OP as she and her family move through this process.

16

You may want to check out Goucher. They can be very generous with merit aid and have many of the qualities that you mention.
Did you mention if you gender-identify as male or female?
If female, you may want to seriously consider the women’s colleges, specifically Bryn Mawr and Mt. Holyoke.
Simmons (mentioned above) in Boston is a wonderful option for social sciences, but it’s small so you may want to check it out.
I also think that Clark (also mentioned above) could be a great choice, particularly when coupled with their accelerated 4+1 BA/MA ‘fifth year free’ programs. The MBTA now runs a Commuter Rail from Boston, so transportation in and out of town is much easier.

17

@Midwestmomofboys Thank you for the advice! I’ll definitely use the comparison to GW and American; that’ll put Denison into perspective. I’ve skimmed through the student life pages on their website and have so far liked what I’ve seen. I’ll do a little more research then pitch the idea.

@hop Thank you! I’m looking at Bryn Mawr and considering Holyoke! I looked at Goucher’s common data set, and I’m a little concerned about how I compare to their student profile.

18

@merething – I remember one of your earlier posts about your search process, and I was impressed on how you were focusing on fit and programs, and not prestige. If I am recalling correctly that your family was thinking more about prestige – and if you are the eldest kid and therefore the first time they are going through this – then your family may not appreciate how dramatically different the landscape is than when some of us parents went through this. For perspective, when I applied to college from the east coast, Bowdoin and Middlebury were for good but not the best students, Bryn Mawr was considered a “better” school than Haverford (co-education changed that), and Bates, Hamilton and Colby were considered mid-range schools. For parents who grew up in that landscape, it is hard to accept that the “tiers” go much deeper now, because of the increase in applicant pools and increasing difficulty of predicting admissions. Parents who would never have considered schools such as Conn Coll, St Lawrence or Denison for themselves back when we were teenagers, now realize these, and others, can be terrific schools with great opportunities. Keep an open mind, and happy researching!

19

Other schools you might want to consider (to improve your odds for adequate merit aid):
Davidson
URichmond
Agnes Scott
St. Lawrence
College of Wooster
Centre
http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=lib_arts

20

I would second or third Denison & Mount Holyoke. I have similar interests to you (but slightly lower stats) and received full tuition scholarships to both schools. Great communities for LGBTQ students.