<p>My daughter's list is heavy on the reach schools, and I think she needs at least a couple of more colleges that she can be be assured of getting in AND would be a great fit for her. We live in Maryland, and ideally would like her to attend a school that is not too far away. I'd welcome recommendations from parents or students. About my daughter: Strong student from top public high school, IB diploma, ranked in top 10, extracurriculars in choir, theater, and international volunteer experience. She is interested in a small to medium size liberal arts college. Would love to sing acapella or get involved in theater during college, but not as a major. Wants to join the Peace Corps after college and/or become a teacher. Very liberal minded socially/politically, would like a campus with some diversity. Not particularly interested in sports or greek life. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Has she looked into St. Mary’s College of Maryland? If you need an affordable LAC that seems like a good safety.</p>
<p>What are her reach schools? Knowing that would help us get a sense of where her target & likely ranges would lie.</p>
<p>Her reach schools are Bowdoin, Davidson, Johns Hopkins, Oberlin, Haverford and Swarthmore.</p>
<p>And yes, she will probably apply to St. Mary’s College of Maryland–although it may be too rural for her taste…</p>
<p>Ithaca College, Goucher, Hamilton, Skidmore, Union, possibly Barnard, Rider, and tehne there are Delaware Honors, Pitt Honors…</p>
<p>What about Dickinson? They have a fairly diverse campus, a lot of international students.</p>
<p>She sounds like a great fit for Bryn Mawr.</p>
<p>There should be plenty of schools that would fit the bill.
Some ideas for LACs off the top of my head: Lafayette, Franklin & Marshall, Dickinson, Muhlenberg, Skidmore, Haverford, Goucher, Barnard, Smith (as well as the other women’s colleges), Sarah Lawrence, Bard
Some ideas for mid-sized colleges off the top of my head: GW, American, Lehigh, Loyola MD, Fordham</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions. I wish she’d consider women’s colleges (I’m a proud Smith grad), but she wants coed.</p>
<p>^^^If it makes you feel better, I tried but my D wouldn’t consider all women’s colleges either! Good luck!</p>
<p>No merit money available from Franklin & Marshall, just FYI. Too bad about the women’s colleges, I was also thinking Mount Holyoke might be a good fit. Both my kids agreed to visit there in spite of not being sure about a single sex environment, and both really liked it and applied.</p>
<p>If Haverford is on her list as a reach, she really should consider Bryn Mawr. They’re two peas in a pod, a mile apart with easy shuttle connections between the schools, and with a very comfortable, mutually respectful, and close relationship. They share a joint course registration system so she can sign up for and take as many classes as she wants at Haverford, and Haverford students, including men, would be in her classes at BMC. They have joint arts courses, theater at BMC, music at Haverford. There are numerous BiCo extracurriculars, including theater companies and a capella groups that draw from both campuses. She can even take her major at Haverford, take any or all of her meals at Haverford (though the food is better at Bryn Mawr so many Haverford students eat there), or even live in a Haverford dorm or apartment if she wants, all without penalty. Now it would be a little weird to be a Bryn Mawr student but such a Haverford wannabe that you did everything at Haverford, but the point is Bryn Mawr is fully integrated into the life of Haverford and vice versa, to the degree that the “no women’s schools” rule just seems rigid and somewhat pointless as applied to this case. </p>
<p>It’s true that, because the two schools are about the same size, about 3/4 of the students in the BiCo are women. But that will be true whether she’s enrolled at Haverford or at Bryn Mawr.</p>
<p>Holy Cross at 2900 students has a diverse group and good financial aid and although moderate in political spectrum has produced liberals such as Chris Matthews.</p>
<p>Tufts! Has **8 **acapella groups including the Beelzebubs (they were the voices of the Dalton Warblers in Glee!). Acapella is really big on campus!
[|</a> Beelzebubs of Tufts University](<a href=“http://bubs.com/about-us]|”>Tufts Beelzebubs — The Group)
Of course they are just one of over 300 student organizations on campus. Tufts also sends lots of people to the Peace Corp. [Tufts</a> Ranks High in Peace Corps Volunteers | Tufts Now](<a href=“http://now.tufts.edu/articles/tufts-ranks-high-peace-corps-volunteers]Tufts”>http://now.tufts.edu/articles/tufts-ranks-high-peace-corps-volunteers)</p>
<p>Tufts is very focused on SATs (I’m told they prefer 2200+). In her case Oberlin is a good fit. Read your review of Kenyon and unfortunate as K would be a good option, but O may be a better match for her interest in music and disinterest in Greek life.</p>
<p>Tufts is very holistic in their admissions process. [Tufts</a> University Admissions Department](<a href=“Inside Admissions | Tufts Admissions”>Inside Admissions | Tufts Admissions)
That said, acceptance rate last year was under 19% so it is hard to get in, but worth a shot like some of the other schools mentioned.</p>
<p>Here’s something that may be helpful. It’s an interactive graphic showing which schools colleges think are their peers. I would pay particular attention to who your daughter’s stretch school think are their less selective peers.</p>
<p>[Who</a> Does Your College Think Its Peers Are? - Administration - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/Peers-Interactive-Data/134262/]Who”>Who Does Your College Think Its Peers Are?)</p>
<p>Bates, Colby, Colgate, Hamilton, Conn College, Trinity, Dickinson, Kenyon, Grinnell, Lawrence, St. Lawrence, Skidmore, Denison, and Colorado College come up multiple times.</p>
<p>In particular Bates, Colby, Colgate, Kenyon and Grinnell are often chosen as peer schools by the schools you’re targeting. None of them should be considered close to safety schools, but they could fall into the match category. You can also use the graphic to follow the trail from these schools to their slightly less selective peers to look for likely schools.</p>
<p>An afterthought. If your daughter’s not much for frats and big school type athletics I’d remove Colgate from the list.</p>
<p>Thanks for the “peer” report. Interesting and helpful. I’m thinking Dickinson or Muhlenberg might be good fits. As for Tufts, she visited there and liked it (and yes–awesome acapella groups), but not as much as some of her other reach schools, so I don’t think it will make the list. Does anyone have direct experience with Muhlenberg or Dickinson?</p>
<p>My daughter is a first year at Dickinson and is having an excellent experience. She tells us the professors are engaging and accessible, and she has made many friends, especially the girls on her hall. So far she is doing very well in all her classes, which certainly makes everything better.</p>
<p>We went down recently for parents’ weekend and had good feelings about the entire experience. We were especially taken with how genuinely nice her friends were. We came home reassured that she was in a great environment.</p>