Scripps is top choice, help us put together a list of possibles?

College Search & Selection
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<p>My daughter is a junior this year. Stats are as follows: 3.97 UW GPA; 2170 superscored SAT (710 CR, 750 M, 710 W) but 2090 single-sitting score (710 CR, 670 M, 710 W). No SAT subject tests yet (will take Literature and US History in June).</p>

<p>ECs: dance, dance, dance. Ballet all her life; summer intensive programs every year; child dancer for 3 years in a professional Nutcracker; dance program at her school; worked 1 hour/week for 2 years assisting younger students' classes at her ballet studio. Other ECs: Gay-Straight Alliance, blogs occasionally on LGBT issues, plans to volunteer this summer at a nonprofit that provides support for LGBT youth. She will also take a community college class in sociology this summer, as well as her usual summer ballet intensive.</p>

<p>Possible major: sociology or related field. She would like to dance in college (though not as a major or minor), and of course the college must have a strong LGBT community. She's a big fan of Japanese anime and would really like to be able to go to anime conventions now and then. That means a college within reasonable distance of a big city, because anime conventions don't come to rural areas.</p>

<p>We live in California (Bay Area), so our first college visits were to UC campuses: so far, UCSD and UC Davis. Her reaction was "sure, these are nice campuses, I can see going here." Then we visited the Claremont Colleges and she totally fell in love with Scripps. She liked Pitzer too, and also Occidental which we visited the next day, but Scripps is the favorite. She likes the small size, the beautiful and serene campus, the combination of it being a women's college and the close interaction with the other 4 Claremont colleges, the overall vibe. She likes what she's heard about the Core classes, she likes the architecture and the greenery and the coffeehouse and even the dining rooms. She also looked around at the students we saw while there and felt that they looked like people she could be friends with.</p>

<p>So, she'll be applying to Scripps for sure, and probably Pitzer and Occidental. Now we need more schools to fill out her list.</p>

<p>We're working with a private college counselor, who has recommended that she look at the following schools: Reed, Lewis & Clark, Wellesley, Tufts, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Barnard, Sarah Lawrence, Bryn Mawr, Haverford. I think that I'll also advise her to apply to some UCs because it's hard to ignore that lower tuition, and she does agree that she thinks she would be fine at a UC campus. </p>

<p>One last issue is that she's had some problems with anxiety, and I think it might be best for her to be close enough to home to be able to come home occasionally, like maybe for a weekend now and then in addition to regular vacations. Even if she doesn't avail herself of the opportunity, I think it might help her just to know she can. </p>

<p>Thoughts, advice, recommendations? Thanks in advance!</p>

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<p>With the geographical restriction there are only a few more. Whitman and Univ of Puget Sound are good to check out. Possibly Univ of San Diego? Very pretty too. Definitely add UCs so you have that option, things change and that leaves instate options and known costs. I’d add UCSC, a smaller campus and overlooked.</p>

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<p>My daughter loved Scripps as well. The interest in women’s colleges came late in the process for her, so she also toured and ended up applying to Mills, which is close to us. There are some things that my daughter didn’t find to be perfect about Mills, but it <em>did</em> become her second choice. Merit aid can be really substantial there. My husband and i toured on the admitted students event they had, and we all thought the environment was really wonderful. Ultimately, the thing my daughter loved there was that it seems a very supportive environment, and peaceful too.</p>

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<p>If you make it out to the East coast I suggest looking at Smith. It’s LGBT friendly and has both sociology and dance.</p>

<p>There are a number of students in interested in anime and related topics. Smith students organize and run a three-day sci-fi/fantasy/anime/gaming convention each spring (ConBust) on campus.</p>

<p>Smith has a more intimate living environment than most colleges, with about 40 houses ranging from 10 to 100 students, and 15 different dining rooms. The smaller, more personal size may or may not help with the anxiety. There is a lot of support for students, and the school does a great job of matching roommates. It’s a friendly, collaborative place and students are not competitive with each other.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the replies! Eeek, I didn’t realize my post was so long until after I posted it, sorry!</p>

<p>That’s very interesting about the sci-fi/anime convention at Smith. Something like that could very well make up for being farther away from a big city where she could go to an outside convention.</p>

<p>I want to make sure we have more than one safety for her. Part of me is thinking that when she already really likes one small private LAC that’s here in California, do we really want to spend the time and money to travel around the country – just so that she can maybe fall in love with a different school that she’s less likely to get into and is also farther away? That’s why I’m hesitating about schools like Smith and Barnard. Maybe she could just apply there sight unseen and if she gets in, great, she can go visit then. </p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

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<p>Another Bay Area resident. My D also looked at the women’s colleges. Bryn Mawr, IMO had the edge simply because it is quite a bit easier to get to than either Smith or Holyoke. BM also gave her excellent merit aid, and flew D out to visit after she was admitted.</p>

<p>In terms of a LGB friendly, political activism, dance, sci-fi/anime vibe with good sociology, you could also look at Oberlin. Cleveland is nearby and Chicago is doable as a weekend trip.</p>

<p>UC Berkeley is the #1 rated sociology department in the country for grad school.</p>

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<p>I agree with Reed and Lewis and Clark. D attended L&C and went to anime conventions while at school.</p>

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<p>Agnes Scott. All women LAC located in a leafy suburb of Atlanta, close to Emory with its outstanding social sciences, LGBT friendly, and near one of the largest airports in the US.</p>

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<p>Scripps is an amazing school and your daughter would thrive there. Their core program is unique and really outstanding – we have several friend’s daughters who go there and I just took my 11th grade daughter to tour. Beautiful, inspiring and true to the exploration of ideas! Good luck.</p>

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<p>I think you have to be careful with the “if she gets in, great, we will visit then” though. Because the window is short – acceptances come out in late March, and decisions are due May 1. There is something to be said for taking a swing out to look before applying if you can afford it. And if she isn’t really serious about the East coast – then maybe it isn’t worth making the trip after all, or applying. </p>

<p>Reed is not for every student, she should visit before applying. I also thought of Oberlin and Smith when reading the description. Neither being a safety, but decent matches for this student.</p>

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<p>That’s a good point about the short window between acceptance and decision time.</p>

<p>We could take a trip over the summer to visit some east coast campuses, but of course they’ll be pretty empty of students. And I kind of think that if we’re making that trip, we should do it in winter so my California girl knows what she’d be letting herself in for!</p>

<p>Agnes Scott is an interesting idea. And for Reed, can you elaborate more on “not for every student”? I think I know what you mean but would like to know for sure.</p>

<p>Safeties are a big concern for me. I thought maybe you would all come in and tell me that D needs to get a lot more safeties on her list, that everything there is a match or a reach. I guess Lewis & Clark might be a safety.</p>

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<p>Lewis and Clark has an early action, so you’ll know in December, but there are plenty of UCs that would be safeties for her. If your school has Naviance, that should give you a good idea of which ones.</p>

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<p>UC Santa Cruz is a possibility – we’ll be touring there soon. The only UCs that I think are really safeties for her are Riverside and Merced, neither of which seems to fit her. </p>

<p>Early action at Lewis & Clark is a good idea! I think she might want to apply ED to Scripps but it would be nice to have an early action safety so she has that nice feeling of being accepted somewhere – especially if she’s deferred or rejected at Scripps, ouch. Let’s not talk about if she’s rejected at Lewis & Clark. </p>

<p>Naviance shows her having a good chance at all sorts of schools, but with colleges seemingly becoming more selective every year, Naviance data from even a couple of years ago seems outdated.</p>

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<p>The Claremont colleges (like so many others) are getting super-selective. So applying ED definitely gives her a better chance - the acceptance rate for ED is always higher. Many of the Cal States have early notification dates, if I remember, so if any of those are possible for her, that might be a good way to get some under the belt.</p>

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<p>CSUs do not promise early notification, although some have historically notified early (the admissions process is a simple by the numbers calculation), and the non-impacted majors at non-impacted campuses can be determined before applying.</p>

<p>However, most CSUs generally emphasize pre-professional majors over liberal arts like sociology (although Sonoma is more liberal arts oriented). Many are also commuter-oriented (San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, Monterey Bay, Humboldt, Chico, and Channel Islands are the more residential ones).</p>

<p>Sarah Lawrence, mentioned above, appears to have limited sociology offerings (the same goes for other non-psychology social studies subjects), but numerous dance and theatre offerings (see catalog at <a href=“Disciplines and Programs of Study | Sarah Lawrence College”>http://www.slc.edu/catalogue/&lt;/a&gt; ).</p>

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<p>If she likes Scripps, she should consider Barnard! There’s definitely opportunities to dance here in the city (she could take classes at one of the myriad ballet schools in the city) and New York Comic-Con comes to the Javits Center every year (it’s the second-biggest anime convention, after San Diego. I volunteered there and it’s a blast.) Barnard also has a core (the Nine Ways of Knowing) and a close relationship with Columbia. (We also have excellent mental health services on campus; I’ve used it myself, as I also have issues with anxiety.)</p>

<p>Another place that might be a safety for her, and offer some good financial aid, is Agnes Scott College. Small women’s college right outside of Atlanta. Absolutely beautiful campus and the residence hall rooms are pretty big! I have a couple friends who went there, including my best friend, who got a full scholarship to go (I myself also had a tuition scholarship, but I chose to go somewhere else). Atlanta sees Dragon*Con every year (can you tell I am also an anime fan?) as well as some smaller anime conventions, and there’s also the Atlanta ballet and other options to take dance classes. Agnes Scott also has a partnership with Emory and Emory’s accessible by shuttle and MARTA. They also have a very diverse campus - not only racially but also socioeconomically and a thriving LGB scene.</p>

<p>I also second the suggestions of Smith and Bryn Mawr. If she’s also considering co-ed schools, Davidson College (in North Carolina) is a suggestion - it’s close to Charlotte. If she’s willing to consider some smaller towns, some more reaches/safeties could be Furman and Elon, in SC and NC respectively.</p>

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<p>Thanks again for all the replies! CC is a great resource – I really appreciate all the thoughtful responses here. I’m taking notes on everyone’s input.</p>

<p>A conversation with someone on this topic reminded me that one thing that often seems to be associated with small LACs is drug use. My D doesn’t want to be at a party school (she said “I don’t want to have a roommate who comes home every Saturday night and throws up in the garbage can”) but she also doesn’t want to be at a school where the students just substitute pot for alcohol. I know that some LACs have a reputation that you can walk onto campus and smell the pot smoke.</p>

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<p>Well, there’s usually “substance-free” housing or a quiet dorm. I pray my daughter can get into one of those this fall, because she’s like your D on that. Drugs, alcohol, small LAC, large university - it’s all there. But, yeah, hopefully one can find little enclaves within the schools.</p>

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<p>There are definitely LACs with a reputation for drinking and those with a reputation for drugs. However, women’s colleges tend to be associated with lower drinking and drug use. I know that this is true of Bryn Mawr, Smith, and Wellesley. It’s probably true of others, I’m just not that familiar with them.</p>

<p>My daughter also had no interest in drinking or drugs as part of her college experience. She loves the environment at Smith in that regard. There’s a side of campus known for less partying (Green St) and a side of campus known for more partying (the Quad), but I think even the partying side is relatively mild (at least compared to other schools). My daughter stayed in the Quad overnight during her campus revisit and had a great (nonpartying) time.</p>

<p>Students interested in more partying do have access to parties at the others of the Five Colleges, in particular, Hampshire, Amherst, and UMass. The good thing about this is that there’s free bus service between the colleges so there’s no need to drive.</p>

<p>There is a small amount of substance-free housing at Smith. When filling out her housing survey, my daughter felt it wasn’t necessary for her and didn’t ask for it (and has been happy with that decision). They also do a good job at matching roommates so you’re pretty likely to not a get a partying roommate if you don’t want one. Exceptions occur and people change, of course, so there’s no guarantee, but it’s fairly unlikely.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/niaaacollegematerials/panel01/highrisk_05.aspx”>College Drinking, Changing the Culture; describes college characteristics associated with college drinking, although individual colleges can vary from the trends of their characteristics.</p>

<p>College characteristics associated with lower drinking:

  • Women’s college.
  • Historically black college. (Note: black and Asian people tend to drink less than white people.)
  • No fraternities and sororities, or not joining them.
  • Less athletic emphasis.
  • Two year college.
  • Living in substance-free housing.
  • Commuter college.
  • Larger college.
  • Location other than northeast or north central region.
  • Non-rural location.
  • Higher cost of alcoholic beverages in the area.</p>