Oxy, American, Tufts or another option (e.g. SeattleU possible full ride)

College Search & Selection
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My DS has one school left to hear from (Brown), but we’re starting to evaluate the rest of his options. He generally seems more interested in small liberal arts colleges and mid-sized privates (although he did apply to one in-state public and USC and Northeastern both made the list early, although ultimately decided neither one would be a great fit).

Overall, he’s a good candidate, but not crazy. He has strong extracurriculars (national honors, state-wide leadership, class president, performing arts, job), a rigorous courseload (15+ APs), and relatively high stats (3.96UW, 4.6W, Top 2% Class Rank, 1490 SAT). He’s interested in Political Science, Philosophy, and Economics right now, but that could change. We’re a full-pay family that is super fortunate that we can afford for DS to attend any of his options (without any impact on retirement, lifestyle, etc.). Having said that, we’re also pragmatic, and merit is something that is being considered.

He’s 100% not ranking-focused, and I would say his list was probably a little match/safety-heavy. He’s interested in a school where people are relaxed/not competitive, where he can participate in vocal music and performing arts as a hobby, where kids like to discuss political topics, where the student body leans liberal or at least balanced (he’s a self described socialist), where students aren’t focused on Greek Life or Sports. He’s always had a soft spot in his heart for Oxy and he loved American when we visited (did not like GWU or Georgetown, so didn’t even apply to those). He liked Tufts, but most of his experience was a quick visit on a day he was kind of sick and a few online sessions. He doesn’t know what he wants to do for a career, so I would love him to be somewhere that will help him in that journey. I attended CMC, and I think if he had gotten in there, that might have jumped to the top of his list, but it’s not an option. Below are all of his decisions (along with COA (direct) and merit).

Accepted
Occidental College - $62K (RD, $20K/yr merit)
American University - $56K (RD, $20k/yr merit, honors program)
Tufts - $82K (RD, full pay)
SeattleU - $41K (EA, $28K/yr merit; finalist for a full ride scholarship that he should hear about in next week or so)
Loyola Marymount - $59K (EA, $21K/yr merit)
Denison - $69K (RD, $10K/yr merit)
Willamette University - $31K (EA, $33K/yr merit)
University of Puget Sound - $45K (EA, $30K/yr merit)
Lewis & Clark - $41K (EA, $36K/yr merit)
USC - $88K (EA Deferred, Accepted RD, full pay) - no longer considering
University of Denver - $44K (EA, $33K/yr merit, honors) - no longer considering
CSU Fort Collins (EA, merit & honors) - no longer considering

Denied
Northeastern (EA Deferred, Denied in RD, he loved the area, but was concerned it was too big for what he was looking for)
Claremont McKenna (RD, I’m an alum, so he had legacy - this was probably the biggest bummer)

Waiting to Hear
Brown

Curious what folks think about his options? Are we crazy to think about turning down Tufts for Oxy or American? What if he gets the full ride at SeattleU (he liked the school and the kids he met, but it feels like a step below some of his other options)? This will (obviously) ultimately be his decision, but I told him I’d post and see if anyone has input that could be helpful in his decision process.

Thanks!

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As an editor I can help you trim down your post! The only points that are germane at this stage are:

With budget not an issue (always my #1 filter), he loves Oxy & AU. Go back for the re-visit days & tell him to go with his gut. If I were a betting person, I would guess it will end up Oxy (to me he sounds more like an Oxy kid than the more pre-professional AU*) but I am not a betting person especially when it comes to guessing what a young adult will choose!

Congrats to your son!

*surprised Vassar wasn’t on his list, as their is a decent amount of overlap with Brown, but with a meaningfully higher acceptance rate

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Thanks :slight_smile: I get this was long. It was a bit of a copy and paste from an email to a friend/college counselor who wanted all the details and I know I sometimes find it helpful to see results/stats. Unfortunately, too late to edit now

We’re definitely trying to make revisit days work for those two schools. As for Vassar, he looked at it briefly, but it just didn’t resonate.

Thank you so much for your reply!

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I get that! it’s a school that very much does…or doesn’t!

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I love @collegemom3717 analysis here. Don’t feel bad about the length of your post - this whole thing has become an insane, and at times a stressful, process. Talking/typing it out can be quite cathartic. :slight_smile:

I don’t care how favorable your financial situation is, $328k for 4 years of college is a tough nut to swallow, especially when you have impressive options at a lower cost. Obviously, everything here is subject to the Brown decision, but the one thing I will say is that you probably have the means to spend 2-3 days at Tufts with your DS. Make it a Thursday to Sunday trip - get a sense of the academic community during a given week as well as the weekend vibe. If, and only if, Tufts remains at the top of the non-Brown list, then you need to get on that campus and take Medford/Somerville, Mass for a test drive. We spent a Sunday/Monday there. There are places to go within a 10-minute walk of campus and a couple of coffee shops as well as a tasty pizza place with TVs in the middle of the town square (the walk back up the hill towards campus central is slightly more challenging.)

Also, I would speak with someone in admissions to get a complete understanding of what freshman housing is going to look like. They convinced us that the accommodations are “fine,” but fine is not the same for everyone. DEFINITELY look into this.

Those are the details; the big picture is that you’ve raised a kick-ass kid who has accomplished so much. Go to the greater Boston area, conduct your deep due diligence on your #1 college pick, but take a moment to celebrate all that you and your family have achieved.

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Hi @hoopsdad2000 - I would love to hear more about what you learned about freshman housing at Tufts. (I also sent you a private message if it would be better to respond there and not divert this topic.) Thanks in advance!

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No. Your son seems to be taking a mature approach based on an understanding what he is looking for in a college experience. Occidental seems to be a very good fit. (American may be a perfect fit as well, I just don’t know much about it.)

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This combination of interests represents the foundation of a public policy major. Options with with an available program in this area may merit additional consideration.

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I’m a full pay dad. I could have paid and still lived my life but i didn’t want to.

If he loves Tufts and you are willing to pay + yearly inflation, then it’s your money and go ahead.

Many do btw. Tufts is flat out a rich kids school. So you won’t be alone.

But given the majors - and an ample list of affordable (relative) in the PNW - I’d go to one of those - especially if you win a full ride. You can always gift him part later or pay for further schooling.

Seattle is Jesuit if that matters. And near the downtown action. Nothing wrong with a Willamette or L&C. I just personally don’t see the value in the others.

Ultimately your family has to make that decision.

In the end, the student will get out what they put in. My daughter takes advantage of her lesser pedigree offerings (also got into AU) and is having a wonderful experience including an upcoming DC semester. Like your son, career outcomes will be dicey. My son goes to class and not much else. He’s all set job wise but is an engineer. I don’t pay a lot but I could see doing so in his case as my return is more assured.

So it’s really a family call as to the value / worth of what you’ll spend.

But I promise you, if you decide to do so, people turn down Tufts for cheaper options every day. Per the last common data set (2 years old), their yield is a tad over 50%.

In the end you are somewhere for four years, day after day. So that matters too. Once you step on campus, the pedigree doesn’t matter. It’s a bummer but none of us can 109% choose the right school but with due diligence, most get lucky. Of course there are many schools kids can be happy at.

Good luck

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You should start a thread (or support group) for full pay parents whose children are socialists😀

I don’t want to jinx anything but as the parent of a student (capitalist) who attended Brown I think if accepted your son would find it to be a great fit.

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I am an Occidental alum. When I attended I was in the Republican club, 3 members lol😂.

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:rofl: Trust me - a common refrain between DH and I is that “it’s easy to be a socialist when you have well off parents paying for everything”

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My son is excited to be headed to Oxy this fall from the Northeast. He felt very welcomed there on a half-day visit with one of the sports teams (and not just by the athletes). The visit convinced him Oxy was the place for him, after he had been telling me he wanted to be in a large university “where I can go into the cafeteria and no one will recognize me.” He applied ED and I’m so thankful that he didn’t have to continue applying to colleges and isn’t concerned about whether another school might be better (Oxy made it affordable for us so I’m thankful to the college also). I’m convinced small will be better for him. Since money is not an issue, your son can decide based on his interests and gut feeling, and then start getting excited about this fall. It’s only 5 months away!

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No.

For American, it is difficult to get away from politics regardless of your major. It also seems more practical than theoretical politics. Some love that environment, others not so much. The politics will be at the other schools, but not likely 24/7.

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Plus location - some want to be where the federal action is !!

Campus is kind of a dump tho (I thought) - and at least a few years ago there was reports of rats and raw chicken (lots of kids at lots of schools claim this)

It’s old but I’d triple check. Kind of scared my daughter although at one time she declared it her top school although she chose Charleston over it.

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Was at AU a month ago and the campus was in excellent shape. The buildings aren’t always conventionally “collegiate” (as far as looks go, some may have the same architect as the FBI building’s :joy:) but it’s a very nice campus, large enough not to feel crowded/large enough to make you walk about, but compact enough that you can walk to class.
Oxy will be more liberal and more theoretical - readings, discussions, all the traditional intellectual college work with a strong political bend. IMHO Oxy is more of a “bubble” than AU, which can be good for undergrads sharpening their thinking.
American will have a variety of liberals, including “would-be republicans turned off by Trump but fiscally conservative” - but most will be into public policy and PPE matters, even those interested in Computational or Data science (they even created a double major between SIS and CAS mixing prelaw and CS). Informed discussions would be a given but quickly driven by experience (Internships would be big. )

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Great to have great choices. Money no object and kid who is still finding their way…and parents that want as broad an opportunity set? Of that group I would choose Tufts. Once you start bringing other variables, the answer or direction gets more nuanced. Occidental will feel smaller and likely more liberal than CMC as you don’t have all the other colleges to give the feel of a larger school.

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Great list. That’s crazy he didn’t get a spot at CMC given he got into Tufts and USC. (I’m a CMC alum too. My son’s college counselor told him his only path in at CMC is ED… which he didn’t want to do). My vote is to visit Tufts again to see if he can get a better sense of fit. If not Tufts, then Oxy.

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I’m a huge fan of this - reminds me of why my experience getting my MBA at a top business school after several years of consulting was valuable because so many class discussions were driven by the diverse experiences of my classmates

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Thanks for your input - I love Tufts too and I think it’s a top contender, but we’ve got lots of conversations to have. Also, wanted to mention that we totally get that he is in a super fortunate place to be able to make this decision without worrying about $$. All of this input is super valuable. I was an almost full financial aid kid at CMC in the early '90s and I’m 100% OK with the fact that now it’s my turn to be full pay.

I think legacy is helpful, but not huge at CMC, and while I wish that he would have considered ED, I don’t think he was ready to commit yet, so it wasn’t an option. My older DD did get admitted to CMC four years ago (with lower stats) but ended up turning it down because she was offered a full ride that required her to pick a school in CO. Most of my CMC friends haven’t had amazing luck with their kids getting in. I think DS did a good, but not great job on his application (his optional video was just OK, and he felt like his interview which was with a student didn’t go as well as he hoped). I also think he might have been hurt by his sister turning CMC down a few years ago. It was far and away her first choice, but the full ride was something we couldn’t turn down at that time financially (it’s a pretty prestigious scholarship in CO called Boettcher that affords her a ton of other opportunities too, but I have a feeling her admissions officer really went to bat for her and I wonder if it affected his app)

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