<p>I've got a semi-confident list, but I'm desperate for a couple of safeties and maybe a few more matches and reaches. I'd LOVE suggestions!</p>
<p>SAT: 2370; (M: 780) (W:790) (CR:800)
SAT II: (Lit: 710) (US History: 800) (Biology-M: 780)
UW GPA: 4.00; Weighted: 4.215
As many IB/AP classes as possible, straight As.
Theater/music=most important ECs.</p>
<p>I prefer smaller liberal arts colleges with strong humanities programs. Good music extracurriculars is a plus, but it's okay if it's not spectacular.</p>
<p>I'm from Minnesota, but I really don't care about staying in state at all.</p>
<p>I want a very clearly academic student body. People who really like to LEARN. My goal is to attend graduate school and obtain a phd. (Not med or law), so good producers of phds are positive. A "quirky" student body is also always good. I tend to want a more liberal school. I would prefer stronger programs in the humanities/social sciences, as I'm not particularly interested in mathematics/natural sciences.</p>
<p>Safeties are most desperately needed. Thank you so much for your time/suggestions!</p>
<p>Current list of almost definite applies:
-Reed
-University of Chicago
-Pomona
-Vassar</p>
<p>My parents are making me apply to three Ivy League schools or they won't pay application fees for any (weird, I know, given that I don't necessarily WANT that), and I'm pretty sure about Yale (probably SCEA), Princeton, and Brown. Suggestions for that?</p>
<p>Other schools that I like but don't know for sure if I'd love:
-Oberlin
-Swarthmore
-Wesleyan
-Rice
-Carleton</p>
<p>Are you comfortable with Reed being your only match/low reach? I'd look into places like Hamilton ( a NESCAC college located in rural NY), Trinity (CT) another NESCAC college.</p>
<p>I have really similar taste in colleges to you, and I looked at St. John's for a while. My interests lean a bit too close to science/math for it to be perfect, but it's definitely a place full of people who want to learn.</p>
<p>Also, I know a girl who went to Lawrence University and she raves about the music/theatre opportunities. It also has strong academics and is a LAC in Wisconsin.</p>
<p>Dg, If you like Pomona then I'd suggest the following: Williams, Kenyon, Hamilton, Conn College, Skidmore (in order of selectivity).</p>
<p>Williams has excellent music -- including performance opportunities for non-majors, very good theater -- extraordinary facilities -- and strong humanities across the board. I'd rate it about equal to Pomona on the "quirky" scale, more understated than Wesleyan but more arts focused than Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Certainly not safeties, but since you seem to be wavering on some in your core group... I'd also encourage you to consider Haverford and Grinnell colleges as well, both of which attract students "who really like to LEARN." Both schools are in the top 10 of undergrad Ph.D. producers in the social science/humanities. And they get you some of the "quirky student" thing you're looking for...</p>
<p>As for Ph.D productivity...admission to a Ph.D program really depends less on the school and more on you. I'm in a Ph.D program right now. My college is missing from all of those lists, as are the majority of colleges in the country. And yet all of my close friends from college are in graduate school right now, most of them in Ph.D programs at top schools. Graduate school admission is a personal process and can be done from anywhere -- from the underrated public university to the Ivy League school. My classmates (at an Ivy League, top-10 graduate school) are from all over the country and the world, from schools whose names are household terms to schools that make you go "Where is that again?" It's all about you.</p>
<p>All of your professors will have been to graduate school and thus all of them are qualified, to varying degrees, to counsel you on graduate school admissions. It's up to you, no matter where you are, to seek out that help and other resources to gain admissions into Ph.D programs. They're competitive, but it's nice to be getting paid to go to school!</p>
<p>That said, from that list I definitely suggest New College of Florida. It's a very liberal school, on the beach in Florida, and very humanities/liberal arts focused. It's Florida's honors college and is one of those schools that's listed as "more bang for your buck" -- even the out-of-state tuition is cheaper than some of the top private LACs. Their tuition + fees is just over $30K a year.</p>
<p>About the Ivy League, there are some Ivy Leagues that have an undergraduate college that it specifically for undergrads. The student body is usually medium-sized and it has a different feel from schools that use the 'school' model (i.e., different types of majors are housed in different schools) -- it's more like going to an LAC. Harvard, Columbia, and Yale have this arrangement, and Dartmouth is a college. Perhaps consider that when applying to your schools.</p>