<p>Rejected or waitlisted: oberlin, jhu, rice, cmc, pitzer, w&u
That leaves me with:</p>
<p>Bard - no FA so far
Reed - they dont give merit aid
Hampshire - a puny 10k per year
Drew - 16k per year
lewis & clark: no FA so far</p>
<p>It seems like, especially if l&c isnt giving iad, that it's down to Bard and Reed. Anyone feel like giving me the "rundown"? I still have yet to visit any of these colleges. It sounds like Reed will be the best fit for me, especially since I heard Bard is super liberal. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Reed is not a second tier liberal arts school. They choose not to cooperate with USN&WR. I’d say it is definitely a cut above the other schools on your list of acceptances, academically.</p>
<p>It is impossible to figure out which would be the best fit for you without more information about you. I doubt that Bard is more “liberal” than Oberlin or Reed, and certainly not more than Hampshire! You have a strange list if your goal was to avoid “liberal” schools! :)</p>
<p>Reed has the reputation of being a highly intellectual school. Bard is perhaps artsier. Both attract edgy students.</p>
<p>Wow. I think Bard and Reed are both amazing colleges with strong personalities. It really depends on what kind of atmosphere you are looking for and where you feel most comfortable. Also, do you have any idea about your major? I suggest that you visit both schools before making a decision:)</p>
<p>Well I am a libertarian and philosophical anarchist. Now heck, I love myself a good argument with any liberal or conservative but I wouldn’t want to go to the “2nd most liberal school” in the country. But, you know, I really don’t see it being that big of a problem, as I have NO PROBLEM disagreeing with people and hopefully I can always change a few minds. Sometimes it’s helpful to be different.
I was also really excited to find out I got into Bard because I found out that I hadn’t submtited the payment on commonapp properly, but I guess they still reviewed it anyway. I was pretty proud of my essay so it made me upset when I thought they wouldn’t even review it. It would be nice to get some financial aid info though. I’ll call them up today.</p>
<p>edit: it’s certainly not the quirkiness of liberalism that bothers me. I am a big believer in personal freedom. It’s different liberal values that I disagree with.</p>
<p>I mean the money isn’t a problem but at the same time I would kind of feel crazy myself paying 200k, like holy moly, especially when lots of top students are going to school for free, or almost free. Kind of makes me feel like a jerk for not working harder and trying to get some good scholarships. But anyway it looks like my dad will only be getting 10k off at most and so I’ll probably just be going to my favorite one.</p>
<p>Fair enough, DS. But keep in mind that you’re going to college to learn and to be exposed to the new and different. Keep an open mind and allow yourself to be one of those people whose minds can change. Maya Angelou used to tell her classes “I have many beliefs but I’m not in love with any of them. Whenever you make me change my mind about any of them, you help to liberate me.”</p>
<p>Reed has a crazy work load, and more nerds. Reed also has a lot of requirements. Reed has better grad school placement.
Bard is more isolated, more hipster, artier.</p>
<p>I went to Reed. Judging from this post you would fit right in. One of my friends was a Republican, he was smart enough not to broadcast that, but he loved Reed also.</p>
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<p>Most students don’t come from families that can afford this kind of tuition. If your family can and they are willing to I personally think that is money well spent. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe in taking out crazy debts, but if your family has the means then that is different.</p>
<p>All your choices are good. 10K per year is actually a lot of aid.</p>
<p>Thanks Pea, your comments make me feel better. Yeah, I am definitely not the type to “broadcast” my disagreement but I am one to hold my ground firmly. In the grand scheme of things, with the inflating dollar and all, education does seem like a relatively good investment for the time, and my dad reassured me today when I was discussing high tuition costs that “it’s good we can afford it”, so I’ll make sure to be extremely grateful :D. </p>
<p>gadad - I understand your concerns completely. I hope you understand that I wasn’t bread into a dogmatic libertarian, philosophical anarchist family or anything. Landing at this ideological resting place has been a journey full of turmoil and inner strife. I am a also a heavy proponent of entertaining ideas, while suspending subscription to belief. I will always keep an open mind but presently there’s a whole list of nasty things I’d do before ever associating myself with the Democrat or Republican parties.</p>
<p>I talked to my dad today and I am scheduling visits to both Reed and Bard. I’ll let ya’ll know how it goes. I am an undecided major fwiw</p>
<p>Is anybody besides me getting a laugh out of the irony of a libertarian kid complaining about the lack of “altruism” in his financial “aid” package. Let’s think about this for a minute. LOL!</p>
<p>I went to Reed. Judging from this post you would fit right in. One of my friends was a Republican, he was smart enough not to broadcast that, but he loved Reed also.</p>
<p>Why was he smart enough not to broadcast that? I thought liberals are open-minded.</p>
<p>Umm can you point out where I said anything like that rockerdad? Actually I blamed myself for not working harder to get a nice merit scholarship somewhere and should have spent more time applying for scholarships. And i also said that I thought it is a good time to be purchasing education. It all adds up to one great big transaction in the free market. And the last thing I was looking for was altruism dude, I mean seriously that’s trash, stop putting words in my mouth. I’ve said several times that i’m grateful my family can afford these schools. The “altruistic” need-based packages actually hurt me because they make tuition for people like me higher.</p>
<p>heh, you nearly set me off my rocker there :D. by financial aid I meant any grants but I think I read Bard doesn’t do merit aid either. I didn’t even fill out the FAFSA so that leaves me SOL, haha.</p>