Mostly state universities. Here is a list:
But check school web sites to see that the criteria are still the same, as some may have changed since they were mentioned.
Thank you.
I think it sounds very lonely, for both you and your son. I don’t want my kids to think I’m just an ATM to fund whatever they want to do. I want to be involved in their lives, in their choices, to know what’s happening with their friends. I want to share their accomplishments and the fun they are having.
My kids both do sports at school, and they like it when I can watch. Sometimes I watch online, but I’d rather be there. It’s not much fun to watch your child ‘do English’ but watching them perform music would be important, and could be easier if a school near home was picked.
Juilliard, Yale, Columbia, Oberlin
University of Michigan
He’s even smarter than you think. The kid will do great. No reason to think about college an iota when his present is so remarkable.
Maybe have him look into high quality summer programs that he would like where he could explore topics that interest him that he may not have access to in high school such as Telluride and Yale Global Scholars which will have his peers.
Favor the ones actually run by colleges that provide financial aid and access to faculty, and avoid the ones run by private organizations like Explo and Summer Institute for the Gifted (SIG) that pay college students who know nothing about the subjects they teach to teach canned courses.
There is a nice list
http://highlygiftedmagnet.org/summer-programs/
One that isn’t on there, but I can recommend is
https://www.middleburyinteractive.com/summer-language-academy
My D had very little interest in college search. We took a fun trip during spring break of sophomore year. That was not too soon to get her thinking and for her to have some concrete experience of college campuses. She attended boarding school many miles away so I knew our opportunities for college visits would be limited. I also know she is a person who needs time to process new possibilities.
We took the train, for the first time, sought out restaurants & coffee shops, visited an Apple store for the first time, and utilized the public bus in a small city, also a first. We toured 3 colleges over a few days. It was all a big adventure for both of us. Can you tell we live in a rural area?
My point is that in our case it was not too soon, and what we learned and her impressions were very helpful in crafting both her final college list and choosing other colleges to visit when we had the opportunity.
OP, you put that “big city” is what the parents think. This the sort of thing your son may get a better feel for during visits. Also there are areas not in a big city that have vibrant local culture of the sort you are describing. Amherst MA comes to mind. UVM in Burlington as a possible safety.
Sounds like your kid might be a Reedie. Reed has Music and English and sends some astounding number on to PhD programs. And it’s in a city (Portland).
Depending on the HS concerned, 10th grade is not considered “too early” when it comes to preparing or looking at colleges.
For instance, at public magnets and some private schools I know of, it was considered the norm to take the PSATs in 10th grade and taking it in 11th grade was considered “late”.
Also, I knew of many HS students from my days in the early-mid-'90s down to the present are strongly encouraged by HS teachers to take the AP tests as soon as they completed the course. In the case of my HS classmates and some neighbors with kids in HS currently, that means taking the AP exam as early as the end of 9th grade* or in a few cases, even earlier.
- I.e. AP Bio is commonly taken in 9th grade by HS classmates in my day in lieu of regular bio. A few classmates also completed AP Calc AB and/or BC and took the AP exam in 9th grade. Also, many HS classmates who didn't take the AP courses took AP exams and passed with 4s and 5s.
I couldn’t tell a whole lot from the OP about what might fit the kiddo since he’s young enough that there wasn’t a choice of “major” expressed, sounds like a big uni, near a city, where he can still be involved in music or if he decides to major in music it is available. What came to mind was UofM, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Chicago and the usual east coast suggestions that have already been expressed. University of Minnesota fits also. The career goal was pretty abstract so a big uni would afford him an opportunity to hone in on something. If my kid were this kid and ambivalent, I would wait a year or make sure he wasn’t in a “music” school like Berklee or something too narrow if he didn’t have his heart set on “just music.”
I think the big question mark here is music. Does he want a career in music? Is that music performance or music composition? What kind of music does your son compose? Usually, kids who want to make a life in music want to study with a particular person and that person may or may not be at the school you like the most. For example, last year’s Pulizer Prize winner in composition teaches at NYU, not Juilliard. Anyway, there are some excellent options but I think one of the deciding factors will be whether music will be the central focus and, if so, what that will entail. I know many excellent musicians who have chosen not to make music a career and are happy at a top academic institution, with lessons or ensembles on the side. I also know gifted students who chose a career in music.
Yale has superb English, superb music, and political science classes for kids who like math. They travel regularly for various reasons (right now with the campaign they’re on the road canvassing in various states in New England and the mid Atlantic.) So, I don’t see why they couldn’t travel for foodie reasons. All in all the food there is restaurant quality and has lots of options.
Bowdoin is great for foodies.
William/Mary with St Andrews exchange may be worth a look, as well as Williams/Exeter Oxford. Williams is also superb for music, math, and English.
St Olaf has great food, great music, good math, decent English, lots of international opportunities, 45mn to major metropolis with lots to like for foodies, would be a decent safety as long as he expresses interest starting junior year. Perhaps start college visits there (always start with safeties, as dream schools will make match and safety schools appear less favorable in comparison.) You can add Carleton and Macalester along with umn twin cities honors in the same trip.
His issue will be finding matches and safeties. Due to his high stats and exceptional profile he’ll be a ‘match’ on paper for universities that are ‘reach for everyone’ and thus for him too.
A match will thus become a university with a 25-35% acceptance rate, and a university with 40+% will become a safety, as long as he expresses interest at both.
Admission rate without the context of the strength of applicant pool is an unreliable guide to how selective a college is. Many schools also have different admission buckets of different selectivity. For example, UT Austin has around a 40% admission rate, but the admission rate is 100% for those Texas resident applicants meeting the automatic admission criteria, while it is much lower for the non-automatic pool (of course, then the admission rate differs based on class rank, test scores, etc., and admission to a desired major may be more difficult than admission to the school).
twoinanddone, You write: “I think it sounds very lonely, for both you and your son. I don’t want my kids to think I’m just an ATM to fund whatever they want to do. I want to be involved in their lives, in their choices, to know what’s happening with their friends. I want to share their accomplishments and the fun they are having.”
That’s OK. The world is big enough for many different schools of thought.
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. We are going to talk to a private college counselor next Friday, and it helps to have a framework in mind. All the different points of view are much appreciated.
Just don’t push him to try and figure out his life at his age. Boys do so much growing between 15 and 18. He sounds like a pretty well rounded “normal” kid given the little information you shared. Have fun, let him have some fun in high school and given his current stats he’ll have a good outcome in seeking a college fit. Not having financial issues to factor in the decision makes the process easier for you and more fun for your son. I would just caution not to suck the fun out by starting the process too soon or before he’s emotionally ready. Many kids really don’t start “talking” about these things until junior year and some don’t really lock and load emotionally until the summer after junior year so you’ve got plenty of time.
@1wife1kid, I think the first decision that your son will need to make in his college selection is whether to go for a conservatory or not. If he chooses not to apply to conservatory programs, then he’s going to have many choices that fulfill his wishlist, especially since you don’t have financial restrictions.
At this point, I’d recommend that you do some visiting to provide exposure to general categories large/small/medium, urban/suburban/rural. Once he identifies one or two environments that reach out to him he’ll be able to find others in the same general personality type, but at different levels of selectivity.
Social and environmental activism is prevalent at all selective schools. Of course, the indie music scene is more accessible in urban settings, but most all campuses, wherever they are located, offer a constant stream of concerts and performances. By photography, do you mean taking pictures or looking at them?
Since his school has a good track record of getting their students into selective schools I would think that they must have a fairly sophisticated program to guide students and families through the search and select progression.
I would suggest that he take a look at Williams for “extremely advanced” mathematics, an exceptional (non-conservatory) music program with ample performance opportunities, and excellent overall academics, including a large and dynamic English department with several well regarded writers and poets on the faculty. The Williams’ student profile reflects a balance among academics, arts and some sort of physical activity, which seems to describe your son.
He may or may not relate to the insular mountain environment, but I wouldn’t eliminate it because of location just yet.
My kids’ BS had every sophomore take the PSAT. That was the baseline as @MurphyBrown describes.
momrath, Thanks. He will not go full time to a conservatory, that much is sure. He also will drop math and sciences altogether when in college beyond what is needed to graduate, which he will just breeze through, that much is sure as well. No doubt we will need to do some school visits.
In that case, I think your methodology of cross referencing USNWR top 20 urban schools with urban conservatories (as you describe in post #6) wouldn’t be the most effective approach. Vibrant English departments are pretty much givens at academically rigorous schools, though the extent of support for creative writing – either poetry or fiction – is variable. Some degree of social advocacy is also to be expected at intellectually intense schools, with a spectrum from liberal to very liberal. Your son will find plenty of fellow warriors, wherever he ends up.
A strong music department – with or without conservatory and in any location – would be to me a good starting place as the point of differentiation. The music board on this site is a great source of information on the fine points of how non-conservatory music majors fare at conservatory schools.
Once you’ve identified the best music options, I would then layer on overall academic excellence, assuming that English will almost always be a strong major and that some degree of social advocacy will be the norm. I’d narrow down by size, environment and prevailing culture after your son has some visits under his belt.
Large and medium sized universities embrace a range of personality types, but small LACs can be quite nuanced in character and culture. Once he latches on to one he relates to it’s easy to group others in the same personality basket.