Hi - my daughter “G” (high school grad in 24) has fallen completely in love with Brown after visiting it. Her college advisor has told her that although it’s certainly possible based on her qualifications/transcript, it’s still going to be a reach, and that Brown is notoriously a little fickle and hard to read when it comes to acceptance to begin with. She wants G to come up with a list of safeties, and honestly, we are struggling.
We live in the south (Memphis), and neither her dad or I are very familiar with the schools in the northeast, where she wants to be. She also definitely wants to be in a larger city - Providence-sized or larger - and does not mind “grittiness” (we ARE from Memphis, after all). She was especially drawn to Brown’s open curriculum because she is exceedingly undecided about her major. She is equally drawn to two completely different areas at once; she is contemplating either a pre-med course or an art course (with the eventual hope to go into art or film restoration). She’s quite talented in both art and science (especially chemistry), and is having trouble picking between the two.
We’ve been up touring schools once, which is when she fell in love with Brown. While up there she also looked at Yale (liked it a lot, but also a reach), Wesleyan (loved the school, but could NOT live in such a small town), Emerson (she loved it too, but she is tentative about limiting herself to “communications”), Tufts School of Arts (hated the school of arts, but admits Tufts itself might be different), and RISD (liked it and conceded she could pick up chemistry at Brown if she was there, but would prefer just to be AT Brown).
She is LGBT, VERY socially conscious, rather inclined to activism, autistic and a little nerdy. She does NOT want to be in at all-women’s campus. She has no interest in sororities or athletics at all (and in fact, is a little leery of both). Like I said, she’d prefer a larger city in the northeast (although we’re contemplating a few schools overseas as well), and preferably a school known for both strong arts programs AND strong science programs.
Any ideas? I’d appreciate any and all suggestions that the hive-mind here might have!
Possibly University of Vermont? Not safeties, but maybe targets - Skidmore, Dickinson. Grinnell (hard target?)
ETA: I just re-read and I guess the ones I mentioned are all small towns. If she hates Wesleyans location then it won’t work, but otherwise she should check them out. Burlington, VT might check her town requirements though. Smith, Vassar could be worth looking into as well.
Clark U in Worcester, Mass will definitely have the vibe she is looking for. If her stats are good, she might get offered a great scholarship. Would be useful if you shared them.
U Rochester has an open curriculum, but it’s not a safety. It’s in a city, and it sounds like she could find her people there, based on your description of her.
Temple in Philly would probably work. She should consider Oberlin (not a safety though), Goucher (safety), College of Wooster. Grinnell is a reach for all.
Most colleges these days have pretty flexible curricula. There’s often a big variety of classes students can take to fulfill requirements. The open curriculum is nice, but not necessary for kids to be able to take a wide range of classes.
Should say that Worcester is a real city, not a small town. It’s only an hour from Boston too. Oberlin and Grinnell are not in cities but rather towns.
No, unfortunately. I can think of a few good all-female schools that I think would fit the bill, but she doesn’t want to limit herself that way at all.
Rochester is on the list for my kid (also dreaming of Brown) I would second looking into that one!
Oberlin is a fine school, but from personal experience, is not one I would recommend for someone who “definitely wants to be in a larger city.” We used to go to NYC during holidays because we were so starved of the urban experience.
If your daughter is graduating high school in 2024, that means she is just at the start if her junior high school year. A lot could change between now and when she applies to college.
Re: indecision about majors…many many students are unsure about majors, and at many colleges, you don’t have to declare a major until after your first or second college year. She doesn’t need an open curriculum to be able to switch majors.
Since we don’t know her GPA, and she hasn’t taken the SAT or ACT (and yes, many schools are test optional), I’m not sure how we can help pick sure thing and match colleges. Right now…it’s guessing.
Why the northeast?? There are many options in other urban locations that are not in the northeast. Could you please clarify the why the northeast?
And adding…Brown is a competitive college for acceptance…not a slam dunk for anyone. It should be viewed as a reach.
And this “ She is LGBT, VERY socially conscious, rather inclined to activism, autistic and a little nerdy.”
Will she need some support related to her diagnosis of autism? If so, please consider that.
OK; her stats at the moment:
Her GPA is unweighted 4.0/weighted 4.5357.
She was Duke Tip in 7th grade (and ranked nationally on it), so she HAS ACT scores, but not current.
Her overall last PSAT (9th grade) was 1230 reading/writing 700 and math 530. (She’s oddly good at science, but not strong at math in general).
She has 2 AP credits earned as of right now (Human Geo & Euro History) and is taking 3 more AP classes plus a dual enrollment this year.
Currently ranked # 12 in a grad class of 444.
Also 2nd year as president of her GSA, multiple Scholastic Art gold key wins and selected two years in a row as a participant in a local student film festival.
As to “why the northeast…?” that’s a good danged question. And actually, one we’ve asked a lot. But why do folks get fixed on the things they do? Apparently, it just is what it is.
And she’s actually got a triple diagnosis/IEP: autism, ADHD and gifted. Her list of accommodations has lightened as she’s gotten older and developed coping mechanisms. That factor is something to consider, but I don’t know that it would be a dealbreaker with a school.
My son recently graduated from Brown and we visited numerous schools that would typically be described as similar or peers. I attended Vassar which shares some similarities such as open curriculum and progressive leaning.
I share this because in our families experience each school In spite of its headline similarities was unique and its “fit” and “feel” very personal. I think it great that your daughter have a set of boxes to check but I don’t think any school will tick all the boxes mentioned.
I would urge her to be flexible in criteria and willing to sacrifice some similarities at the expense of others. I know that is easier said than done but it will open up options that over the next two years may serve her well as her preferences likely evolve and regrettably the rigors of admissions may dictate.
I would remain confident that in time she will find a school (likely several) that work. Remind her you can only learn so much about a place during a brief visit. I would look again at Wesleyan.
Too early at this stage to narrow in on a school but it’s great you are looking at some. If she likes Brown, Providence is two miles away. Rochester - yet not in city but curriculum wise. Syracuse.
I’ll throw in three more. Lesser pedigree than Ivy but fine schools and you can say ‘gritty’ - College of Charleston (look up Charleston Fellows), VCU, and Pitt. You can also say cheaper with merit aid assured at the first two. Not quite NE but still great vibe.
Many schools today provide flexibility - and with Honors they create some interesting courses.
Thank you for the additional stats info about your daughter. Right now, she is a strong student. She has the potential to be accepted at a number of places…but she absolutely needs a variety of schools in terms of acceptance percentages.
If she thinks Wesleyan CT is too small, I can’t imagine she would love Skidmore or Denison or the like (all excellent choices). Same with Vassar. I would add Connecticut College to the list but New London isn’t huge like NY or Boston. I think all of these are good options to at least consider!
Would she consider American University in DC? How about University of Delaware?
Fordham? What about Swarthmore (might be more of a reach), Haverford?
I saw this article, yes! I got a few suggestions from it, but many of the schools suggested here are in smaller towns. That’s likely going to drive G crazy; she needs a lot of environmental stimulation to stay happy. Fordham is on our list as a possible safety; she did a summer program at Sotheby’s this summer that was housing at Fordham, and she found their NYC campus interesting - but unfortunately hated the cafeteria with a passion.