Chicago’s a stretch for everyone, but its an especially far reach for me because of my GPA. However, they sent me their “Life of the Mind” book for sending my ACT score there and, if the school culture is like advertised, I love it. Chicago sells itself as having true scholars in the classic sense; A school for people that genuinely enjoy learning, who want to be absolutely the best in whatever they do, and welcome rigor. The academic attitude and passion encouraged by the school is magnetic. In addition, the idea of a school big enough to meet new people every day, but small enough to prevent classroom “congestion” is important to me.
So, what’s wrong with Chicago? Besides the fact that I’m an unlikely candidate for acceptance, there’s the city. I was looking for schools that, if not rural, are less “built-up” than the major metropolises, though cities like Minneapolis, which are large, but surrounded by nature, are fine. As a secondary qualifier, admission has to be realistic with a 3.5GPA (68th-Percentile) and a 34 ACT.
In short, the school should have (in order of importance:
UChicago’s culture/attitude (“Life of the Mind”; Passionate, scholarly students)
UChicago’s academic rigor
Outside of the metropolises (No inescapable sprawls)
“Softer” Admission Stats (Realistic for 3.5GPA, 34 ACT in NHS, Rho Kappa)
Thanks for the help!
Without visiting, how could I discover the campus culture?
You honestly don’t have the stats for Swarthmore, either. It is tough to find U of C type rigor and scholarly focus with a less academically qualified student body, honestly. Reed, maybe Hampshire or Bard (although all are sort of crunchy granola, not sure if that appeals to you, and all are LACs). My kid who got into U of C and Swat, and wanted more of a “Life of the Mind” type atmosphere also applied to Macalester, Kenyon, Mount Holyoke ( although guessing you are male), Lawrence, and Carleton. She did like Reed when she visited, too.
Reed, Carleton, and William & Mary all have large proportions of students who love learning to really enrich themselves and have similar smart but quirky vibes. Of those three, Reed is the least selective but still contains the atmosphere that you seek
UChicago used to take chances on students with records like yours. I don’t know if it still does this, so it may not be a bad idea to apply. Swarthmore definitely does not have a reputation for taking chances on someone with a 3.5 GPA, unless that GPA was earned at an extremely demanding high school. I encourage you to apply to Reed: the school is inclusive and admits students it finds promising, including non-traditional students with very interesting backgrounds. While it has become much more selective now (somewhere around these figures for this year: 28% acceptance rate, 3.9 average UW GPA and 2100 average SAT of enrolled students), and will continue to be so because that is what the administration wants, it still takes chances with students with less promising transcripts; it has far more than enough students with a 4.0 GPA applying.
Reed is the obvious choice. Haverford took a bunch of life of the mind type kids from our school. Macalester.
Tufts, Brandeis and Rochester come to mind as being fairly academic but not brutal on admissions. They are universities and are a little bigger, but still feel like LACs.
Sorry I didn’t reply earlier, things are much busier than I imagined recently.
There’s too many to thank individually, but thanks to all of you.
Carleton, Grinnell, St. Olaf, and Grinnell were all the LACs on my list, but here’s to adding more.
It appears the consensus is I have chosen somewhat well, but should add Reed, Kenyon, and Macalester, with option on Haverford, W&M, and Vassar. That’s great news because many of these are schools had intended on looking into for their hard stats. It’s just hard to determine campus culture from their stats, like how laid-back Grinnell seemed despite its high-achieving students.
As a side note, two questions before wrapping this great list up:
For anyone that has visited Whitman or Oberlin in-session, do they seem to have the “life of the mind”?
Without visiting the colleges or finding alumni, is there a reliable way to determine the true campus attitude?
Whitman and Oberlin are pretty different- the former more outdoorsy but with very motivated academic students and the latter with more artsy but still very motivated academic students. When considering those two schools you are looking at colleges with very different vibes and very different geographic locations.
If Whitman is on your list also consider Colorado College if the block plan seems at all interesting to you. Fantastic academics and a laid back although intellectual student body.
The other school that came to mind for you was Rice.
Oberlin is artsy-very liberal, but it is closer to Life of the Mind than Whitman. Whitman is a perfectly fine school, but my “Life of the Minder” did not feel the intellectual vibe she got from some other campuses. I know some smart, hardworking students there – but just don’t get that same intellectual feeling from most of the students there.
Five years ago the Huffington Post ran an article on the 10 most intellectual colleges that included Grinnell, Carleton, Haverford, Swarthmore and other LACS, with Brown and UC the only universities in the group.
Son went to Whitman and is probably a typical student. He is very smart and hard working, and by his account had many late night philosophical discussions. He loved his classes, and was completely enthralled with his major, but if he had a few hours off and the sun was shining you’d find him playing IM football, hiking, kayaking or skiing. His friend went to Reed, and this friend reported that fun was had in the library.
I agree that Reed or Kenyon are good choices for you as well as Oberlin and I would still apply to U. Chicago if I were you. One college that hasn’t been mentioned is St. Johns (two campuses Santa Fe and Annapolis). Great books curriculum. Softer admissions standards. My daughter went to one of their summer camps and LOVED it. Because she wants to be a science major and do research as an undergrad, she has decided not to apply to St. Johns, but she loved the academic environment.
I agree that Oberlin is more “Life of the Mind” than Whitman. Oberlin is also extremely socially liberal (not as much the conservatory) so that either appeals to you or doesn’t. Oberlin may be a little easier to get into, but the classes are challenging once you’re there.
Sorry but with that GPA the very top LACs (i.e., Swarthmore, Haverford, Carleton) that fit the description are also high reaches (equivalent to U Chicago).
You might consider: Macalester, Reed, Vassar, Kenyon, Colorado, and Whitman Colleges. Also St. John’s College and New College of Florida.
If you are outdoorsy and male, you could also consider Deep Springs College, a unique two-year college, then transfer to another school (U Chicago is one of the top 3 places their students transfer to).
