I dunno. I think I detect a slight shift in attitude over the space of the last 24 hours. At some point, upstream you let it be known that you would be happier at a larger school. That would eliminate almost all the best-known LACs except for the Claremonts which are a group of little colleges all bunched together. You might actually like attending one of them, but with names like Pomona, Claremont, Pitzer and Scripps, they wouldn’t pass your parents’ sniff test.
On a more serious note, there are so many mid-sized universities out there with lots of kids from upper-middle-class homes just like yours who have similar problems with their parents that coming up with a list of seven or eight that meet your needs, is affordable and can withstand any scrutiny from your parents shouldn’t be a problem.
I’ve actually looked into them and I like them a lot. The women’s college seems like I could maybe get a scholarship and it looks really cool. But it’s a women’s liberal arts college in california. The others are still liberal arts colleges in california. But, if I explain things using a lot of helpful things people have described it in this thread, it may work.
It won’t help you regarding money limitations, but it’s rather hilarious that your dad thinks Claremont McKenna is liberal. It’s well known as one of the most politically conservative liberal arts colleges in the US—especially the faculty!
Fascinating thread. In a post-Dobbs world, I would think that a female student might have more concerns about where she might be able to decide her own future after a rape (which does happen at campuses from Stanford to Columbia, and everywhere in between) than about the tenor of political conversations.
Fascinating how some people are so detached from the reality that the most important question is whether your parents are willing and able to pay for you to go to college.
Your parents might also go for a college with the name Harvey Mudd but I don’t think it would be a realistic choice for you. I like your approach, though.
For kids with pro-life parents, this is even more of a reason to choose conservative states. They feel a life is a life and don’t differentiate by how that life is conceived.
The OP is fortunate (maybe) that her parents seem to be willing to consider a secular college. Some students only have options for conservative religious schools. (Some students choose those schools for themselves too, of course, but sometimes it’s mom/dad setting their limits even if the student would prefer elsewhere.)
Some parents are ok with college only if the student lives at home.
Some parents feel only their sons should go to college.
Some parents feel no one should be going to college.
Some parents feel kids need to pay for college on their own if they want to go.
If you talk to your parents a lot about what you want to do with your career when you get out of college and ignore the liberal/conservative issue, you can focus the discussion on which colleges will best prepare you for your chosen career - strictly as an academic matter. This will inevitably bring the conversation around to where you can get admitted and what you can afford. Hopefully those factors drive the conversation and put your parents in the position of explaining why they don’t want you to go to the college where you can get the best preparation for your future.
To put the shoe on the opposite foot, my child is applying to schools only in the south. We live in the NE and my child is non binary, which is perfectly acceptable where we live. I have concerns that they will live and go to school in a state that is actively passing laws to diminish them, and as a biological female will restrict and regulate their personal healthcare and choices. For me, it’s not a philosophical or political difference, but one that can impact their civil rights, legal rights and physical health.
But that’s what my kid wants, and I am sure they will find many friends and be able to be accepted for the great person they are. You are going to be exposed to many different perspectives and viewpoints no matter if you go to a liberal or conservative college. From what I have seen very few students make their school choices based on political ideology unless they choose to go to someplace like Liberty or the like.
Maybe you can explore the clubs offered and reassure them that your values won’t be influenced or incompatible with where you attend.
Yes, but unless I’m mistaken, Berea carefully vets it’s applicants to ensure accepted students have high financial need.
Here’s a quote on Berea’s website from an article discussing its inclusion on the P Reviews list: “Berea’s students mostly come from families making an average of $29,000 and are the first in their families to attend college.”
With at least one parent who is a lawyer, it doesn’t sound like the OP is likely to be accepted at Berea.
EDIT: Although, not accepting students solely because their families have too much money may not be legal. Maybe those stats are because the applicant pool is self-selected and reflects those stats.
The existence of income-based programs such as Prep for Prep and Questbridge suggests it is legal to screen recipients by family income. Or even programs directly administered by the government, like Pell grants and direct subsidized loans.
You might consider religiously-affiliated LACs. Keep open mind, many are not heavy-handed at all and attract students who are not religious and are definitely LGBTQ-friendly. My daughter went to St. Olaf, a Lutheran affiliated LAC south of Minneapolis. Great school with strong sciences, great study abroad programs, and famously musical (so many choirs!). Most of the students in the choirs, orchestras, etc are not music majors but other majors. St Olaf offers great merit aid to student with strong academics. My daughter was a math/physic major and not religious at all (atheist).
Anyhow these types of LACs is something to keep in mind, if you decide you want a LAC experience. They might be a good option in your “portfolio” of applications if merit aid needs to be in the mix.
Here is a link to a post of mind from last year about the St Olaf “vibe” along with a link to a “vibe report” that I wrote when my D returned home after freshman year: