<p>I am looking for some been there, done that advice. We are starting the college admissions process for child #2 who has always marched to her own beat. She follows her brother who fared very well in his college process and will be attending a highly selective LAC in September. Child #2 is a solid B+ student at a rigorous private high school. She commutes 45min each way and ended up at this school because she wanted a smaller high school setting not found in our small city. Her PLAN score was a 28 and sophomore PSATs are all in the 600s. </p>
<p>My husband and I are at a loss as to where to even start looking. She would like to be on the east coast at a smaller liberal arts college. She has talked of Bates and Colby, but I think they would be reaches. We are heading out this summer, and she would like to visit some schools. What are some match schools for a kid who I believe will hit her stride in college, with a high school record that is ok but not stellar? We live in the midwest, but are originally from the northeast. She has many interests, but no clear primary focus at this point.</p>
<p>Pretty broad still, but there are a slew of smaller LAC’s in PA that might be worth a look. They come in a broad range of selectivity and style and are close enough together to make it easy to look at a number to see what might be a fit…</p>
<p>I am going to suggest Sarah Lawrence, Bennington, Bard, Susquehanna and Muhlenberg. I really don’t know her GPA and I can see a B plus from an 86%-89%, which is a big difference.</p>
<p>Maybe also look at St. Lawrence and Hamilton in NY. If she is open to women’s colleges she could look at Mount Holyoke and Smith in MA. The above schools are also good schools to check out.</p>
<p>Just start visiting colleges: big colleges, small colleges, urban, rural, suburban. The more campuses she visits, the better she will be able to identify what she wants.</p>
<p>It would be useless to try and nail down a list at this point. She’s still a blank slate. And be glad she is, because as I always tell my clients… it’s not indecision; it’s flexibility. And flexibility is a great thing to have when starting this process.</p>