Progressive schools in NE for 2E kid interested in Pol. Sci and Comp Sci

Applying to College
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Our kiddo is always looking for academic challenges and is willing to put in the work. He’s intellectual (reads the NYtimes daily and keeps up on international affairs) but also likes to have fun (not a partier, prefers a small group of kids to watch movies with, and hang out with,) has a math learning difference and his pre-act was a 25. He goes to a private boarding school for kids with LD, has studied abroad, and will seek out an internship this summer. His sights are set on staying in the NorthEast.

This is all new to me. I’m the first person to go to college in my family. His dad and I went to UofR and NYU. However, with a 3.6 and probably a 28 or so on the ACT, he’s not likely to get in even as legacy to either of those (and UR might not be a good fit, and NYU he’s not interested in.) Most of our friends went to schools that he wouldn’t get into (Dartmouth, Yale, Tufts, Chicago…) so we don’t really know people that have gone to smaller, lesser-known schools to recommend. It also worries me that most of the people we know did go to schools like that…we wonder how our son will do competing for jobs with a degree from Drexel or Connecticut College.

We’d love to hear of schools that are small, warm, intellectual in vibe, and in the NE or Europe (we can move to Europe, and he’d be okay with that too.) So far in the US American, Northeastern, Clark, and Oberlin are on our radar. We’d love to hear more before we start the NorthEast tour. We’d also love to hear success stories - kids that went to smaller schools and have healthy careers (sufficient income, work/life balance, satisfaction) or got into competitive graduate programs. thank you in advance. This is all new.

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Congrats to your son on his achievements and all his interests!

First, put it out of your mind that the college he attends can limit his career. His career will depend on him, not what college he attends. Do you think every person in the U.S. with a nice career went to a top 20 school? Not at all. Far from it.

Second, I think Clark is an excellent choice from among the ones you named. There will be a lot of students there like him. Another one to look into is Muhlenberg. American is great for political science. Oberlin is a nice school and has a very far left vibe as well, but it’s not in the northeast. If Ohio is a possibility, I’d also suggest Kenyon.

Northeastern is the one school on your list that a) would be a super-reach for him, and b) has a very different vibe from the other schools you named. It’s very preprofessional, not as much of a life-of-the-mind kind of place.

One more to consider: University of Vermont.

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I don’t think NEU is realistic and Oberlin is likely not realistic but would be a better reach.

He’ll have to decide - comp sci or poli sci - not now - but comp sci will likely be difficult. American also likely difficult - but that can be changed with demonstrating interest - or in this case ED.

One thing to wonder is = budget - is there one.

You could look up any small school in America and find successful people. You can look up any company in America and fine successful people. That’s not an issue - but his drive and hustle will be. Obviously Comp Sci will be easier to make a career than Poli Sci - but on the other hand, one has to do what they like.

For International Affairs, I might look at Indiana (big enough he’d find his crowd), College of Charleston (yes, it’s a party crowd), Ole Miss (he’ll find his crowd), and U Denver for starters.

Dickinson could work for an LAC. And there are many more.

The programs I listed above are well known - IU has the Hamilton Lugar school, Charleston has the Mroz Institute, Ole Miss has the well regarded Croft Institute and Denver has the Korbel School.

Schools like Elon, Lewis & Clark, Rhodes, Gettysburg, Rollins, Earlham, Wooster could be other good choices.

He’ll have options - it just depends what you are looking for. You can find intellectual - it may not be throughout the entire student body - but any kid can find it on their own and in working with the faculty.

Let us know if there are budget constraints.

EDIT - sorry OP - I saw Northeast and then blanked on it. My apologies. But it’s some ideas nonetheless. I do think CS will be “difficult” for this student.

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Wheatom (MA) may be of interest.

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Check out Bard and Union. Two very different places but both are excellent.

Some others to look at include St. Lawrence and Hobart.

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These days most kids whose parents went elite schools don’t go on to attend schools of similar caliber - even when they are “high stats”. The competition is much, much stiffer today than it was 20-30 years ago. That being said, success in life isn’t reliant on what school you go to - it depends on personal qualities you bring to the table. Among my friend group (largely comprised of Ivy/MIT/SLAC grads) my husband is the most successful - by a significant margin - and he attended a state school I’ve never even seen mentioned here (not a flagship). Concentrate on finding a school where your child will thrive and don’t worry about prestige and the college search process will be a lot less stressful. There are lots of great schools out there - not just the 50 or so that USNWR has deemed worthy.

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I hear great things about Clark. (My kids wanted large schools, so didn’t look.) Also, Clark and many others don’t require SAT or ACT. Good luck!

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The college counselor at your boarding school likely knows where its students are admitted and thrive and would be your best source of info.

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Agree with pp’s that Northeastern would be a high reach, and Oberlin would be a reach as well.

One thing I just wanted to ask if 1) if you son qualifies for any accommodations for taking standardized tests (such as extra time), and 2) if he used them when he took the pre-ACT? If he does qualify for extra time (or anything else) and he didn’t use them for the pre-ACT, his test scores could be dramatically different with accommodations. It would be very worthwhile to explore him getting accommodations and taking advantage of them. Also, have him try taking both tests (again with accommodations if he qualifies). Some students are naturally better at one than the other.

I’ll recommend that following schools, some of which have already been mentioned here:

Wheaton
Skidmore
Union
St. Lawrence
Bard
Bennington (this school is tiny, though)

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Consider whether the nature of this math learning difference could be an issue in CS. Math requirements in CS include calculus, linear algebra, discrete math, and probability. In addition, CS requires logical thinking, and upper level theory courses involve proofs like upper level math.

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Vassar comes to mind.

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Does your son prefer an urban/suburban environment or colleges that are in more remote areas? Also is he open to larger schools since NEU is on your list?

Fordham (mid-size) and Pitt (big )are two urban schools that might be targets/high targets. We were impressed with both of them.

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Technically the “mid Atlantic” but check out Washington college in Chestertown MD. Very warm environment. Has model UN, lots of smaller parties and kids who like to hang in smaller groups in dorms too. Near-ish to DC for summer internship opportunities. For Comp Sci, some do the students built the app the college is now using for their bike share program. It’s a smaller school, so you can probably have your child reach out to comp sci advisors to talk about struggles with math (Math is often a big requirement for comp Sci). Washington college has great support and success with students going to grad school. As for price, don’t look at sticker price. We looked at Clark as well on our tours and it was great. Vassar is a reach for most people.

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Below is a rather extensive list of schools that your family may want to consider. They were selected based on some combination of the size of the majors (used as a proxy for strength), location (particularly if near a state capital), positive comments/reputation for a caring, attentive environment for students and/or academically and intellectually environments. I’m not as familiar with most of these to know how progressive each of the schools are, so I will leave that to others to comment on and for your family to research. Also, There are so many schools because I don’t know what size your kid would prefer, so these are all mostly mid-sized to small. I’ve sorted the schools by my very fallible guess of what might be your son’s odds of acceptance at these universities.

Though I’ve noted the student/faculty ratio as listed in College Navigator (federal government’s site which uses IPEDS data), colleges don’t always use the same methodology for determining the ratio, so take it as a ballpark/relative figure, not an absolute.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • Loyola Maryland: About 3800 undergrads with a 12:1 student/faculty ratio. Part of a consortium where students can take classes at other Baltimore area schools, like Johns Hopkins, Goucher, etc.

  • Norwich (VT): About 3k undergrads with a 14:1 student/faculty ratio. I think that Landmark has an affiliation with Norwich, leading me to believe that support services will probably be better than average.

  • Saint Anselm (NH): About 2k undergrads with an 11:1 student/faculty ratio.

  • Salisbury (MD): About 6700 undergrads with a 14:1 student/faculty ratio.

  • Siena (NY): About 3500 undergrads with a 12:1 student/faculty ratio. And when they start mentioning political polls, listen for the NY Times/Siena College ones…

  • St. Mary’s College of Maryland: About 1500 undergrads. This is Maryland’s public liberal arts college. A 10:1 student/faculty ratio.

  • U. of Hartford (CT): About 4k undergrads, and in the metro area of Connecticut’s state capital. Has an 8:1 student/faculty ratio.

Likely (60-79%)

  • Allegheny (PA ): About 1600 undergrads with a 9:1 student/faculty ratio.

  • College of Saint Rose (NY): About 1800 undergrads with a 15:1 student/faculty ratio in the capital of New York. Perhaps @AmyIzzy might have more information to share on this one?

  • Hobart William Smith (NY): About 1700 undergrads with a 9:1 student/faculty ratio

  • Seton Hall (NJ): About 6k undergrads with a 15:1 student/faculty ratio. Just outside of New York City, so there are lots of options for potential internships and experiences, but he wouldn’t be in the city.

  • Stonehill (MA): About 2400 undergrads and has an 11:1 student/faculty ratio.

  • Washington (MD): About 1k undergrads, has a 9:1 student/faculty ratio. @DPS43 may have additional insight, but just posted!

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • Clark (MA): About 2300 undergrads with a 9:1 student/faculty ratio.

  • College of New Jersey: About 7k undergrads, this is New Jersey’s premier public liberal arts school. It’s also just a few miles from the state capital. 13:1 student/faculty ratio here.

  • College of Wooster (OH): About 2k undergrads with an 11:1 student/faculty ratio.

  • Muhlenberg (PA ): About 2100 undergrads with a 9:1 student/faculty ratio

  • Providence (RI): About 4200 undergrads and just a couple of miles from Rhodes Island’s state Capitol building. Has an 11:1 student/faculty ratio.

  • Wheaton (MA): About 1700 undergrads with a 12:1 student/faculty ratio.

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • Connecticut College: About 1800 undergrads with a 9:1 student/faculty ratio.

  • Dickinson (PA ): About 2200 undergrads with a 9:1 student/faculty ratio. Not far from the state capital and has a strong reputation for international studies.

  • Gettysburg (PA ): About 2400 undergrads with a 10:1 student/faculty ratio.

  • Union (NY): About 2100 undergrads with a 9:1 student/faculty ratio and it’s less than a half hour drive to New York’s State Capitol building.

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • College of the Holy Cross (MA): About 3k undergrads with a 10:1 student/faculty ratio.
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Yes, College of Saint Rose is definitely worth checking out. They really showed my D19 the love, bringing our COA to $19K. My daughter had average stats (90% GPA, 25 ACT) but she was studying popular music/music industry so the audition and her experience was key, which were strong points for her. The school definitely had a progressive, inclusive vibe. They had a nice “chapel” that was very peaceful with a waterfall (if I recall correctly) and where students might go for meditation, not really a worship service. Albany does have some sketchy areas but seemed to be in a nice part of town. My daughter liked that it was an easy train or bus ride to NYC (and I think they organized weekend trips for students) but ultimately chose a school in a warmer climate. We are from Buffalo so she wanted to escape the snow and cold I guess. Lol. College of Saint Rose was in her top 3 but she ended up at Loyola New Orleans and is a junior (she took a year off during the pandemic.) I know it’s not in your target area but Loyola New Orleans is super artsy and progressive in a great music city so perfect for my daughter! Maybe you want to branch out and consider! Good luck!

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@Mh004g if you have specific questions about Wheaton, I may be able to answer as I have a student attending. He had an atypical high school experience (homeschooled through a small hybrid - lots of critical thinking and rigor in humanities/social sciences, less rigorous on STEM, very small student cohort and lots of mentoring for his high school years) and has ADHD and some related challenges. Similar to your son, mine also likes to keep up on politics and prefers small groups for fun. He also considered (and visited) Clark (already on your list) and Dickinson (which someone suggested to you). I agree those are both worth a look as well.

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One thing to consider is whether his interest in the computational side of things really means that he should pursue a full-blown CS degree, which could be rough if he has math challenges. There are some great programs that blend data analytics with social sciences, and produce graduates with great marketable computational skills, but without such a deep theoretical dive into the mathematical “guts” of programming. Denison’s Data Analytics major is a good example: Data Analytics | Denison University , and poli sci is strong there. IU has been mentioned, and their Policy Analysis major could be worth looking at Major in Policy Analysis: Degrees & Majors: Undergraduate: Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs: Indiana University Bloomington Penn State has its Social Data Analytics program https://soda.la.psu.edu/ and Ohio State has a strong Data Analytics major with a choice of emphases https://data-analytics.osu.edu/ But since you’re interested in smaller schools, Denison was the one that really sprang to mind.

Europe-wise, SLU Madrid could be worth a look. They have a computer science BA that can be combined with poli sci, and you can get a US degree, either by spending 4 years in Madrid or via a 2+2 plan in Madrid and St Louis.

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