School suggestions?

Parents Forum
1

<p>Hey everyone, I'm posting here on katliamom's advice.</p>

<p>Rising junior here. I am an international student from India who is not seeking financial aid, and am looking for safety/low match schools.</p>

<p>My stats are competitive (32 on the ACT, taking the SAT next weekend; top 5-10% of my class; got 93% in my ICSE exams [rule of thumb over here says that anything 90+ is excellent]; nice EC's in which I am deeply involved)</p>

<p>A bit about what I'd like:</p>

<ul>
<li>a large-ish LAC or a small university (the size of Brown or Tufts would be ideal)</li>
<li>easy distribution requirements, or no core at all (absolutely no Columbia-esque cores for me)</li>
<li>well-rounded across the board (as of now I want to study biology, but it's liable to change)</li>
<li>not too much emphasis on Greek life</li>
<li>it's OK if people around me drink, but I don't want to feel any pressure to drink(or do other substances)</li>
<li>I classify myself as a moderate partier (a maximum of one party a week would be fine ), so the presence of tons of other (sober?) ways of fun is essential</li>
<li>extremely laid-back student body, no cut-throat competition for me</li>
<li>Intramural tennis!!!</li>
<li>TA's hardly teach undergrad courses</li>
<li>good research opportunities</li>
</ul>

<p>Brown is my dream school, so it would be nice if you could suggest some safeties in that mould. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>You pretty much just described Rice. It fits everything on your wish list. I wouldn't call it a safety but your stats are certainly good enough to get in.</p>

3

<p>I don't think Rice is a safety for anyone.... my definition of a safety is a school where you "know" you will get in, not one where your scores put you in the range of admitted students.</p>

4

<p>Try Baylor University in Waco, TX. Your stats would almost assure admission with some merit aid. It is remote, but suburban. Baylor is a Baptist University that longs for diversity- you would definitely provide that, and since it is Baptist, there should be a lot less(although it is present) drinking of alcohol than at other places. I don't know about intramural tennis- but I would suspect it exists. The campus and facilities are great and the science building is out of this world!</p>

5

<p>Baylor, as in the same place that has the fantastic med school? :)</p>

<p>Rice is definitely a school that interests me a lot.</p>

<p>Thank you moms! Keep the suggestions coming? :D</p>

6

<p>Despite the name, Baylor University is not affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine.</p>

7

<p>


.....changed from the Baylor University College of Medicine. The two still collaborate on some level (the combined Baylor/Baylor dual degree program).</p>

8

<p>Oh, OK.</p>

<p>Bump?</p>

9

<p>Because LACs have a much lower profile than places like Brown, Rice, or Tufts in India and among South Asians in the U.S., and because every LAC worth its salt is enthusiastic about getting more international students (especially if they don't need financial aid), I believe your chances at classy LACs will be meaningfully better than at the equivalent private research universities. And if you are interested in science, that's another plus at LACs, that want science-oriented students but have trouble attracting the best ones.</p>

<p>That doesn't mean that hyperselective LACs can be your safeties, but it means that you may be able to think of some darn fine schools as matches.</p>

<p>I would research LACs that have good reputations (but aren't Amherst, Williams, or Swarthmore, which don't have this problem as much), and that aspire to be international institutions (probably the same set), and that seem to have a low percentage of South Asian students, or international students. Also LACs that have an investment in top-level science facilities, but fewer kids to fill them.</p>

<p>Some suggestions: Wesleyan, Carleton, Macalaster, Grinnell, Reed, Haverford, Colorado College, Oberlin. I don't think any of those is particularly fratty; most don't have any fraternities or sororities at all.</p>

<p>You may also want to look at top-level women's colleges: Wellesley, Barnard, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Bryn Mawr. Some of them are very competitive for admissions, but none of them are as difficult to get admitted to as equivalent co-ed institutions. All of the foregoing are pretty small, but all of them present the possibility of taking courses at other nearby colleges (in Barnard's case, about 500 feet away), so they play a lot bigger.</p>

10

<p>Add Scripps to JHS's most excellent post. ;)</p>

11

<p>Is Broadway really 500 feet wide? :)</p>

12

<p>Great post JHS, thoroughly informative :). Carleton, Mac, Hav and Oberlin have been on my radar. Wes is always paired together with Brown, maybe I should look into it a bit more closely :).</p>

<p>About the women's colleges...I think I wouldn't fit into the environment there (some of my closest friends are guys) - that's the only thing holding me back.</p>

<p>curmudgeon, you're quite the proponent for Rhodes :). Do you think I'd fit in at Rhodes?</p>

13

<p>mathmom -- You have to walk up those steps and around the buildings to get in! Remember, Columbia's on a different plane entirely!</p>

<p>Scripps: I didn't include it because I couldn't remember its name. I was trying to. In the Claremont Colleges, Pitzer is also an intriguing safety/match choice, as is Hampshire in the Five Colleges.</p>

<p>Rhodes: curmudgeon can address. Possibly a great choice, but may violate the low-Greek-level criterion.</p>

<p>Women's colleges: Having guys as close friends is not inconsistent with a women's college. At all. You (and lots of young women who are tempted to reject them out of hand for this reason) should give a closer look.</p>

<p>There are lots of similarities between Wesleyan and Brown. However, Wesleyan has a lot more trouble attracting female science students of color, and probably cares more about doing that than Brown. That's why I put it first.</p>

14

<p>I am a bit of a Rhodes shill, and I'm particularly bullish on the education they provide, but .........not for everybody. Rhodes kids are fairly traditional. Not (what I perceive as ) Sewanee, Wash and Lee traditional but Davidson traditional. Avant-Garde, punk, goth , pierced, trustafarians, all of which would have been my friends in school ;), might not feel as welcome at Rhodes as at some other places. I think they would be welcome, just wouldn't neccessarily sense that immediately. (Well, Jeebus. I butchered that thought. Sorry.) I'm not my D. She loves it. Sorority frat numbers are spooky but D was committed to hating sororities and is now in one so.....I believe the "it's not what you think" line. </p>

<p>There is an active "Rice" (I think it is an acronym but for what I have no idea) organization and I know several of D's friends are South Asian but I don't have percentages. I'd say Rhodes , like many southern LAC's who are activley seeking diversity , would swing the door pretty wide for well rounded international not seeking aid , especially at your stat level. Hey, their diversity numbers crawled up a couple of points this year and I think the administration was just about giddy.</p>

15

<p>Gee. I miss my spell-checker bar thingie. I seem to have grown accustomed to using it and it went away when the computer was treated to that lightning show.</p>

16

<p>tetrisfan - FWIW, my D wasn't interested in women's colleges either until we visited Pitzer and she saw that Scripps was literally across the street and that, if she went to Scripps, she could take a significant number of her classes at the other 4 co-ed schools in the consortium.</p>

17

<p>Not to mention Scripps science IS at the JSC, Joint Science Center, for Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps.</p>

18

<p><em>smacks head</em></p>

<p>I forgot that Scripps, Smith and Bryan Mawr were in consortiums! Jeez, am I blind. I will check them out. Scripps would be a safety?</p>

<p>@curmudgeon: Your posts are a treat to read :D! Love your style of writing! So Rhodes may not fit too well?</p>

19

<p>I'm not saying that. At least I don't think I am. </p>

<p>Rhodes is very big on community service. Very big on study abroad. Very big on International Studies. Great at English and Writing and wonderful in Bio and Chem. Maybe more (D loves their Religion courses, too. ).</p>

20

<p>I'm talking more I think about fashion, surface appeal. Rhodes has many liberal thinking folks with a larger portion of the faculty fitting that description. Some innovative programs in social justice, many outreach programs. 75% OOS. Everybody stays around campus. It is NOT a conservative or religiously dogmatic place. But style of dress, haircuts, tastes ....fashion may not be as out there as many campuses . I'm doing a poor job explaining this. I sure hope you visit. Again, my D loves it there and couldn't be doing any better anywhere. She's on track for where she wants to go.</p>