<p>I'm a rising junior in high school, just beginning the college search. I read about Sarah Lawrence in a guidebook that my parents got for me, and it sounds really nice. I love how close I'd be to New York City, I love that there aren't general education requirements. Also, I'm really good at writing, and have read that Sarah Lawrence is based on writing. I would probably major in English, History, or French.</p>
<p>I just have a few questions. I'm going to start touring in a couple weeks: I'd really like to narrow my list down so that I'm not all over the country looking at schools that I might not have any interest in.</p>
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<li><p>How good is financial aid? Unfortunately, my parents fall in that oh-so-wonderful category of not earning enough to send me there full-ride, but earning too much to get good financial aid in a lot of cases. They'll still be paying high school tuition for my sister, so I don't want to put them in too much of a strain financially. Is their merit-based financial aid program good? My GPA is a 3.6, and I plan on raising it this year.</p></li>
<li><p>Is the political climate there all that radical? My mom and I were talking about it, and she doesn't think I could handle it. She says that it's very feminist, very granola/hippie-ish. I come from a southern conservative family, but I'm not as conservative as my parents and grandparents. I'd say that I'm more of a moderate with some Republican leanings. I'm generally pretty open-minded. Do you think I would be able to handle it?</p></li>
<li><p>What's the social scene like? I'm not much of a "let's get drunk/high" kind of girl, but I still enjoy going to parties sometimes. Do people get together a lot on campus, or is it more of an anti-social scene?</p></li>
<li><p>This is kind of frivolous, but I've heard that a lot of the boys at Sarah Lawrence are gay. Am I going to be able to meet guys?</p></li>
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<p>Thanks for taking the time to answer these!</p>
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<li><p>Can’t really generalize about the finanical aid well – I’m on it and SLC pays for about half of the tuition for me, and my parents (and some of the money I make as well) pay the rest through loans. Assuming you’re applying for a few colleges through regular admission, you’ll find out how much they’ll give you before you have to choose which college you want to go to. As for specific info, I’d just call up the school and ask.</p></li>
<li><p>Sarah Lawrence is unapologetically liberal – but the environment hardly ever manifests itself as an aggressive political machine. Sure, there are feminists, but you’re only going to meet students who study intellectual feminist literature, not women holding up picket signs and yelling angrily. I have one friend at SLC with conservative leanings but she only really felt uncomfortable during the elections – a time when its hard to resist professing one’s opinion. If the friends you make are strongly liberal, its not at all taboo to just request that no one talk about politics; my friends and I have agreed to not have political discussions because they’re almost always uncomfortable.</p></li>
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<p>In any case, if your “Republican leanings” include socially conservative values (as oppose to fiscal ones, for example), you will have a tough time.</p>
<p>Also, the environment is much more “hipster” than “hippie” – fewer tree huggers, more indie.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Its not bad, there are both spontaneous and themed parties on the weekends with 20-50 people – the party scene isn’t at all invasive and you’ll find a good mix of kids who’ll do it chronically, those who never go at all, and many in the middle. I’m also not a “get drunk/high” all the time kid, I usually go to the city/movies/hang out during the weekend with close friends. I would say that people get together on the campus a lot, but mostly as clubs – music, art, hobbies, dance, film, etc. Compared to other colleges the party scene is really low-key, but there are always a good section of kids who’ll have something every weekend.</p></li>
<li><p>Like NYU/Vassar/Bard/etc, SLC has a higher open LGBT population than other schools, but that wouldn’t be a factor in whether or not you get guys – it would be that there are very few guys at SLC in general (something like 28/72 ratio), and of what ones there are, you’d be competing against all the other girls for them.</p></li>
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<p>So yeah… you asked all the hard questions >_o</p>
<p>^^^ Great post - - but are you suggesting that none of the male students is gay? (I too had heard that, like VassarBard/Midd, a significant percentage of the males at SLC were gay - - making competition for the straight, unattached guys particularly keen.)</p>
<p>One thing the OP should learn is that there are no majors at SLC. That’s one of its charms. </p>
<p>Liberal? You betcha! College is all about growth and learning. You’ll most likely leave any college a bit less conservative. More so at SLC. Nothing wrong with that! ;)</p>
<p>Gay guys? Lesbian woman? It’s all part of modern life. Nearly anywhere you go the population is at least 10% GLT. That’s the world we live in. You’ll meet plenty of guys, and some of them will be gay. It goes for the girls, too. If it bothers you, choose a school where students aren’t free to express themselves and maybe it won’t bother you as much. On the other hand, some guys find these schools a straight-guy’s paradise. If you’re worried about finding Mr. Right at your LAC campus because of a small male population, remember that most women going to college for their “Mrs”. degrees seem to choose all-female schools, so availability on-campus might not be the issue.</p>
<p>Visit. If you don’t think you fit in, choose another school. That’s how it works. SLC is an extraordinary school for the right students.</p>
<p>Sure, one can meet GLBT students on any campus, but probably fewer than 10% at BYU and other religious schools - - and probably more at SLC. A hetero girl (regardless of whether she was interested in an Mrs. degree) could understandably be interested in the on-campus dating prospects. If, has been suggested, only only half of the men on campus (12% at SLC) are straight, that’s a very small pool - - so small that some may not even wish to visit.</p>
<p>("If you’re worried about finding Mr. Right at your LAC campus because of a small male population, remember that most women going to college for their “Mrs”. degrees seem to choose all-female schools, so availability on-campus might not be the issue.</p>
<p>^^ Where did that come from? I’m sure students on the Smith, Wellesley, MHC and BMC boards would disagree.)</p>
<p>Actually, 25% wouldn’t be an outrageous number; if the 10% nationwide figure still holds true, one would reasonably expect double that on a liberal, gay-friendsly, northeast college campus. And I wasn’t suggesting that a lage gay male population was a bad thing; I was mere pointing out that since the women at SLC outnumber men by 3 to 1, it’s REALLY slim pickin’s for hetero women if that fingure is reduced further b/c as signif number of the men are gay (thugh of course, all women at SLC aren’t hetero).</p>
<p>I do NOT go to SLC, nor do I have interest in theatre, but SLC is my #1, and I’ve been there/toured there enough times to know a good amount about it, haha.</p>
<p>First of all, it seems as though theatre is very popular at SL, and it is highly accredited. It is a lot of work (I don’t know if you know about theatre thirds or not?) but having the city closeby is a great hookup. They have tons of shows per year. However, tour guides/students have told me that it more focuses on general theatre (I dont know the proper name) rather than musical theatre… although they do have several choirs etc. I’ve also heard it is the second most popular area of interest there (keeping in mind there are no majors) next to Writing/English. </p>
<p>Anyway, the reason I chimed in is because I’ve got great amounts of info from current students on facebook, actually. Mostly from the SLC 2012/3 groups. The few that I’ve sent friendly messages to (an no, I had no idea who they were! They just seemed very nice and knowledgeable) with questions have been SO nice and SO helpful. Try it out if you’re really interested in SL :)</p>
<p>My son (straight; going into senior year) is interested in SLC, and many things seem like a ver good fit for him (musical, progressive politically) – but I have read that MOST social life involves going into Manhattan ever weekend. Is this true? We live in Manhattan, and m son enjoys seeing friends here, going to hear music, etc., on the weekends – but he would like a fun campus life on the weekends. Does the school really empty out every weekend?</p>
<p>(Also am I correct in thinking that SLC is significantly easier to get into than Vassar or Bard? (it seems that way when I plug in his grades and other characteristics) – Vassar and Bard come out “reaches” whereas SLC comes out “Target.” Could this be true, or am I delusional?)</p>
<p>I had one at SLC and one at Bard. The SLC kid had to transfer in since she wasn’t accepted initially though that didn’t keep the top Public U and a top-5 private from accepting her. You never can tell. My NMSQT winner had a great experience at SLC and did enjoy the short trip into the city for recreation, internship, and culture. The SLC “campus” is tiny. If there’s nothing going on, there’s really nothing going on. Bard has more activity, from what I can tell, most likely because it takes much more effort to get into the City, which is probably a good thing . . . for some. </p>
<p>Vassar seems to be an easy match, especially for guys. Probably works even better for guys at SLC which might explain the difference you’re finding. I know guys who got in with far lesser qualifications than some girls who didn’t make the cut. Bard gets tougher every year but then both Bard and SLC are extremely self-selecting and chosen specifically for their strong suites which may be lost on many who apply to Vassar for the name. Just my humble opinion, of course. They’re all great schools!</p>
<p>Proud Dad, I’m not sure what “Vassar seems to be an easy match” means –
could you explain?</p>
<p>if you mean easier to get into Vassar (and SLC, even more so, if you’re a boy, I guess that’s true, but I’ve heard that Vassar’s entering class is more like 50/50 boys/girls this year – I think Vassar might be too isolating for my son (having gone there myself, I know how “bubblish” it can be)).</p>
<p>I like the idea of my son having a nice campus life at SLC and also easy access to the city. But it would be nice to know that the dorms weren’t isolated, that there were people to hang with on the weekends if that’s what you wanted to do.</p>
<p>(as far as getting in, College ******* says my son has a 42% chance of getting into Vassar and something like a 70% chance of getting into SLC. And SLC this year (according to the statistics on their own website) accepted 60% of applicants. I didn’t look up the percent accepted at Vassar, but I would imagine it was much lower. Bard gave him an even lower than 42% chance! However I have no idea if College ******* 's statistics mean anything.)</p>
<p>SLC and Bard have a very self-selected applicant pool. Few apply because of some perceived “prestige” as happens with “name” schools like Vassar. Consequently the acceptance rate is much higher at schools where you’ve got to be looking for something different to even apply. Look at total number of applicants at each and you’ll see what I mean.</p>
<p>(Thanks for responding again.) I see what you mean. I went to Vassar (in the Pleistocene, all-women’s era) and understand about the “name.” Although I think Sarah Lawrence has a pretty good “name” too. (but obviously not as well known)</p>
<p>Can you tell me something about the workload at Sarah Lawrence, since your kid went there? My son is a bit afraid of all the writing, although he’s a good writer (sadly, I guess they won’t even look at his nice 720 score on the writing part of the SAT). </p>
<p>I’ve heard it’s a sort of “Emo” haven, if you know what I mean. My son is not at all a frat boy type, and his main interest is playing rock guitar, but he is also very attuned to the absurdities of the highly emotional dramas played out on some of these campuses and I don’t think he’d like to be doing that (or shunned because he’s not doing it). </p>
<p>Is there anything to do on campus on the weekends?</p>
<p>(What I’d really like is for Goucher or Clark to move to Westchester.)</p>
<p>Conference-style classes make for a unique workload, particularly when it’s your turn to lead the discussion. There is a lot of writing, the school is know for it. My daughter loved that aspect; the writing of her thoughts and critiques in an orderly form and then discussing her opinions with her classmates in discussion in small groups with a faculty members as equal participants. </p>
<p>My daughter was a normal kid, without Emo eccentricities. I didn’t notice much of that type at least they weren’t the prevalent group. There was always a lot to do in weekends on-campus . . . and then there’s that city a few train-stops away. More than the planned activities there was always an interesting group of students and professors to interact with. A lot like real life where your activities include interactions with friends and acquaintances rather than just being entertained like children. </p>
<p>They probably didn’t look at or consider my DD’s 800 SAT, either . . . when they waiting-listed her. She had to transfer in from a top-five private U her second year. From that point on her conference evaluations by her professors were incredibly detailed, complimentary, and sophisticated in their praise for her accomplishments. :)</p>
<p>Wow! I wonder what she didn’t like about her top-5 private school that she went to all that trouble to transfer! </p>
<p>I’m glad to hear that there are things to do at SLC. We’re actually going to take the tour this week! (our first college tour).</p>
<p>The writing is a bit daunting but I do love the idea of a small community of very smart artsy kids just a half an hour away from Manhattan. We’ll see if my son likes it! Again, thanks for responding.</p>
Restricted to requiring a major-within-a-major (ie. art/sculpture) even as a Dean’s Scholar, hurdles thrown in the path of studying film and art as they were in two different departments (English/Art), and general prerequisite requirements tying upper-level courses to completion of lower-level courses that a student outside the department can’t even get into until their junior year. Typical large-U issues none of which are a problem at SLC.</p>
<p>No majors means you study whatever interests you. No prerequisites means you don’t waste time on one course just to take another, and interviewing faculty before choosing a course is just the coolest way to make a schedule. My DD never had a problem getting into a course she was interested in, or creating a course to cover an area of interest there was no course for. For the right kind of student, SLC is nirvana. ;)</p>
<p>Private was pretty much redundant, sorry. Most college-ranking services (like USNews) rank the “top Universities” and then pull-out the top “public universities”. LACs get a separate list. By top-5-private (should have typed “15” though!) I mean the non-public universities. Though the publics usually start in the U rankings after 10 or so. This year they seem to start around 22. Her first school is still in that top 15 and another she turned down (a public U) is in the top 25. Of course SLC isn’t on these lists because they don’t play the game correctly! ;)</p>