<p>Well, they do have a [nuclear</a> reactor](<a href=“http://reactor.reed.edu/]nuclear”>http://reactor.reed.edu/) at Reed.</p>
<p>I guess that is pretty cool.</p>
<p>Of the schools listed on this: [KNAC:</a> Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium](<a href=“http://astro.swarthmore.edu/knac/]KNAC:”>KNAC: Keck Northeast Astronomy Consortium)</p>
<p>Which ones can I expect to get into, or have the highest chances? Most of them seem very appealing to me, except Wellesly of course.</p>
<p>All of the schools in the KNAC are fairly selective, with Williams and Swartmore being the most selective, and I’d guess Vassar the least (especially for males). The rest are more or less the same in selectivity, and would have to be considered reaches. </p>
<p>Your grades and scores will not keep you out of any of these schools. What will get you in will be your essays, recommendations and how you present your interests and ECs in your application. LACs take a holistic approach to admissions so it’s important to provide information that lets them know who you are and what you can contribute to the campus community.</p>
<p>First, you should definitely submit a music supplement. Figure out a way to convey that you compose as well – maybe in a music resume or an additional recommendation from a mentor or an instructor. Your music involvement will be a boost at Williams and Wesleyan for sure, maybe others as well. Indicate that you will continue to participate, even if you don’t intend to major in music. Every college, especially small ones, needs band members!</p>
<p>Secondly, you should include a separate astronomy “package” which would include a resume of your accomplishments, courses, awards etc. and an additional recommendation from a mentor or instructor. Your essay should highlight (indirectly) your passion and involvement. You say you are “avid.” What you need to do is get that across in your application.</p>
<p>Third, be sure to demonstrate interest. Visit, interview on campus.</p>
<p>I’m still not clear on your financials. I don’t think any of these schools offer merit aid. Can you get by on need based aid?</p>
<p>I’ll talk to my mom about doing some of these calculators tomorrow, so hopefully I can get some answers on that. I don’t mind continuing being in band, I have a lot of good things to say about that .</p>
<p>You may or may not have misinterpreted by my astronomy interest, or maybe I’m misinterpreting your misinterpretation (that’s a handful.) By being an avid casual astronomer, I have owned a telescope for several years, have done a lot of reading with astronomy books and I am a member with my city’s astronomy club (Saint Louis Astronomical Society), I’ve gone to a few of their meetings. Is that sufficient to be worth talking about? I have also emailed the president of the SLAS in seeing if I can be more involved in the organization, since I do have some background knowledge. I’ve also contacted the Saint Louis Science Center to see if they have any involvement opportunities, preferably in the planetarium, but I have yet to hear from them.</p>
<p>I don’t really have any accomplishments or awards in the subject, but I did take a course on Astronomy & Meteorology.</p>
<p>For Physics, lots of schools will be great. Carleton as an ED, if you can swing that, could be a good choice. Grinnell, Macalester too.</p>
<p>Wish I could edit post. My mom makes around 60k/year, (dad doesnt contribute, divorce) but that’s all the info I have right now. Is there any general realm of how much I could potentially get, and if it would fall in my budget? I can get more detailed info soon when I do some of those calculators</p>
<p>The problem is that your father’s income will be counted at most schools that use institutional methodology for calculating EFC. So if it is non-trivial, it may result in an EFC significantly greater than the AFC your mother will contribute, so if your father does not contribute, need-based financial aid alone will not be sufficient.</p>
<p>Schools which use federal methodology to calculate EFC will only count the custodial parent if your parents are divorced.</p>
<p>What you want to do is run the net price calculators on various schools of interest; if the net prices are not affordable, you need to look for large-enough merit scholarships at those schools and other schools. For example:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-18.html#post15895768[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-18.html#post15895768</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-2.html#post15889078[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-2.html#post15889078</a></p>
<p>If by non-trivial you mean he makes a decent load, he doesn’t really make much, less than 40k.</p>
<p>However, the $40,000 difference between your mother’s $60,000 and both parents’ $100,000 can have significant financial aid ramifications. It may raise EFC by $8,000 or $9,000 for example (though other variations in federal versus institutional methodology may also cause changes).</p>
<p>Well that’s too bad. Luckily in the case I don’t have a route to getting aid I have safeties to help remedy that. But nothing’s concrete, I’ll see what type of information I can get from the calculators.</p>
<p>Hey again guys, I’ve been searching a bit more. While I have been given a lot of options, I’m having a lot of trouble differentiating the qualities of each college. Can anyone give me a more in-depth insight on different things about the school? (student life, surrounding area etc. what it’s like there)</p>
<p>-Swarthmore
-Colgate
-Williams
-Haverford
-Wesleyan</p>
<p>I’ve also done some more research, and I’d like to know what you guys think of these</p>
<p>-Drury University
-Elon Univeristy</p>
<p>They seem more affordable.</p>
<p>I am bumping this Thread.!!!@</p>
<p>Hey guys. I’d like to revive this thread because I would like some more possibilities regarding LACS - most of the ones I’ve been presented with this thread are very selective and the percentiles for ACT/GPA are higher than what I have. What would be some less selective LACs that offer physics majors (with an astronomy emphasis/minor) that I’d have a higher possibility of getting into? Thanks :)</p>
<p>@ctesiphon - I know your request here for more information on lacs that are (were) a good fit for you, and realize reviving this may be too late - so was wondering if you are still needing help here? Where did you end up deciding to apply & where are you going to go? If you are still wanting help, there are more schools to recommend, but that like if you are still looking, like if you are doing a gap year or something & applying for the next year…</p>
<p>Oh - I’m only a junior. Won’t be applying until next year. Any more suggestions are still greatly appreciated. I’ve sort of knocked most of those off on my list. I am still not entirely sure of what my financial situation will be. I have several safeties that I am financially capable of paying for (due to a reduced cost at a certain school because of a connection, and a full tuition scholarships for my statistics), so I am just looking for other schools, which I will find out later if I can afford or not. My favorite LACs thus far are Reed & Grinnell, also had a recommendation for Lawrence because they apparently have a physics program and are less selective.</p>