Starting a college list. Need suggestions (LACs?)

College Search & Selection
1

My HS sophomore is starting his college list, and I am filling in gaps. I could definitely use some wisdom of those who have BTDT. I have a much better handle on Deep South colleges that midwestern and New England. Any suggestions strongly appreciated.

About my kid.

Lives in Northern VA (NOVA)
Sophomore at TJHSST (“TJ”, the competitive entry STEM magnet consistently rated the most challenging HS in America)

GPA 4.05/4 after freshman year (when he had to take unweighted band, PE, language and Design Tech, and no APs). Should be slightly over 4.1 this year. Rule of thumb is you gain another .2 junior and senior years. So a 4.3 plus at graduation. They do not rank. But probably the middle of his class.

Much stronger in humanities (As) than science (B+s) and Math (a B and 2 C+s so far— TJ does math by semester. On track for a B this semester) (so clearly he chose the right high school… ughh). The school is known for grade deflation.

PSAT 1440/1520 as a sophomore (700 V, 740 M). Should have an outside chance at NMSF next year. SATs should easily top 1500.

Will have 6-7 APs (Calc, APUSH, AP Gov, English, Music Theory & AP CS, maybe something else), plus post AP Math. But that’s deceptive. TJ does not offer APs in many classes, like World History, Geography, Environmental Science, where they teach the class, because they teach their own version and not to the AP. Will also take classes unique to TJ— Conventional Energy Systems, Alternative Energy Systems, advanced digital electronics, design technology, senior research lab in Energy Systems

Very involved with the music program (4 years of band, marching band, jazz band, AP music theory, solo and ensemble & working with a private teacher in post AP music theory). Plus very involved in another fine arts extracurricular that is a significant commitment (more than 15 hours a week at times), and a couple of clubs.

What he is looking for:

A small school— a LAC or small university. Definitely small classes (ADHD kid)
Driving Distance from NOVA (8-10 hours)
Looking at a major in environmental studies/ geology/ geoscience— possibly
Interdisciplinary classes, well rounded LAC experience
Possibly a music minor— more Theory and composition, less performance
Quirky, nerdy kids. Not a strong Greek scene
For private schools, needs to get 50% of tuition in merit aid. Will not qualify for need based.

William and Mary will likely be his in state safety school (85% admit rate from TJ). Interested in Oberlin.

Because TJ sends so many kids to Engineering school and hard science, there are virtually no applications in Naviance for LACs. Many of these schools have not had a kid from TJ attend in 5 years. So, it’s hard to get a handle on what stats are competitive.

Suggestions?

And thanks,!

2

Do you or he have a preference for urban/suburban/rural?

3

Look at Denison and Kenyon.

4

Great question. Not really a stated preference. But grew up in the DC metro area, and I think would prefer not to be super rural. I think we would have to look at schools and see though. At this stage, I wouldn’t knock a rural school out without seeing it.

Meant to add my child is white and liberal, but not a liberal activist type. Has always gone to school with and feels comfortable with lots of religions and cultural backgrounds— Lunar New Years, Eid, Diwali, etc. celebrations. But largely Asians. Has always had a low number of AAs/Hispanics in school (not intentional on our part).

5

Eckerd College is a about a 12 hr drive from Richmond, maybe a little further than you want to consider. It is a collaborative learning environment, well known in the area of environmental studies, fantastic professor/mentor program. Generous merit and financial aid program.

eckerd.edu/environmental-studies/why-environmental-studies-at-eckerd/
www.eckerd.edu/music/why-music-at-eckerd/
eckerd.edu/geosciences/ this program has a number of hard science courses

6

The in-state safety is W&M. LOL! I think your logic is flawless. That’s a fantastic safety.

Some wisdom. Your kid sounds terrific.

You’ve done your homework on what you need in terms of cost assuming W&M is affordable for you.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think finding a school that is more preferable to W&M in the sense that he will find many intellectual peers that would challenge him, is driveable from NVA and also offers him a 50% merit scholarship is a low probability event. I would say that it’s more likely than not, he will have to attend W&M and will suffer heartbreak upon being admitted to schools you can’t afford. Off the top of my head, I know Rice offers some nice scholarships, but that involves getting on a plane (see the discussion about how it’s often faster to fly further than drive closer).

I’m not saying that you can’t find it, but this should be you making a college list of potentially affordable options more preferable to W&M, and trying to assess the likelihood of your student getting the money. I think that it’s a short list.

Having your S make the list will only likely include things he can’t have. It could be demotivating. He’s only a sophomore.

I’d talk up the benefits of W&M and how lucky you are to live in NOVA while you look for these low probability schools

Thinking about this some more, you’ve managed to get your S the best public education money can buy in HS, and he’s on track to treat the best public liberal arts college in the country as a safety.

He’s set up so nicely, he can avoid the rat race that his peers are going through.

A job well done!

7

While you’re looking at Eckerd, you should also stop by New College of Florida (about 45 minutes south of Eckerd.)

8

Excellent advice. And no one is taking the fact that W&M is highly likely for granted— assuming grades don’t tank and SATs track with PSATs. Naviance says a 4.1 GPA/1500 SAT gets 100% of kids in. Plus, they do have an excellent geology department. And we have a prepaid VA 529, plus a year of room and board saved for both of our kids (the other 3 years can come out of income if we just keep up with what we are currently saving for college). So we can make it work financially with no loans. I think we are incredibly lucky to match so well with a great option. It’s tempting to ED W&M and call it a day— but don’t want to eliminate merit aid options.

The problem is that no high school— and particularly TJ— is going to allow kids to only have one college on their application list. I do’t think we need a dozen schools. But we need several more good, realistic matches. Lots of interest in Oberlinf

9

Have you checked out the Music Majors board?

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/

We have a family friend whose kid went to Susquehanna for music and absolutely loves it. It is very rural, however, so if he needs a big city nearby it may not be for him.

10

Truman State and University of Minnesota Morris are low cost (even out if state) LACs.

Truman State lists automatic merit, so a qualifying student can mark it as a safety, in case William and Mary is not assured enough.

Note that merit scholarship come from schools where he would be at the top of the range if academic credentials, so expecting him to be in the middle of the peer range at a merit scholarship school may not be realistic, unless he chooses a major that attracts mostly top end students.

11

If he wants geology, take a look at the Mines schools in SD, NM, and CO. The CO one may be too expensive, but the other two are relatively low cost. But they may not have as much to offer outside of geology and engineering.

12

Denison sounds like a good option – in a delightful village which is about 20-25 minute drive to Columbus and a popular option for commuters, not rural or isolated. Columbus is ranked highly as a city for young professionals, entrepreneurs etc. and has vibrant arts and music scene. Environmental science is a popular major at Denison, and there is a 350 acre bio reserve adjoining campus, which also has the “Homestead” – an organic farm which is one of the housing options for students. Strong music department which benefits from collaborative opportunities with professional musicians in Columbus. The new Eisner Performing Arts Center will open next year, with new practice and performance space. Greek life is about 25% participation for males, higher for females. Very diverse student body (for a LAC), about 20% first gen and Pell grant eligible, and 35% multi racial/non-white. Included in those numbers is about 10% international population. Granville is, I think, about 6-7 hour drive from DC area. 50% tuition in merit aid is possible.

13

I concur. Nobody suggested Rochester, which is very liberal arts like and offers merit.

I looked up the SAT 25/75 ranges for all the schools mentioned above:

Rice 1490-1580
W&M 1300-1480
URochester -1250-1490
Oberlin 1280-1450
Kenyon 1260-1460
Denison 1200-1380
Truman 1190-1430
New College 1190-1380
Geneseo 1100-1300
Eckerd 1060-1260

Looks like Oberlin, Kenyon and Rochester are appropriate.

14

For a family which needs 50% tuition merit award, it would be worth spending some time reading the school-specific boards for this year’s admissions results thread to see who is getting that level of merit, and what they said about their stats and application.

15

Franklin and Marshall may be worth a look as well. Strong in sciences and a good music program. Not sure what percent participates in Greek Life at the college but my friend’s son is not in a frat (very involved in music) and is really happy there.

16

hmmm… look into macalester college. it has a great geology department. :slight_smile:

17

Love this!

18

Thanks! Great suggestions! Keep them coming.

And for reference, TJ is in the most highly educated county in the nation and has a 15% admit rate for incoming freshmen. 120 NMSFs last year, 210 NMSF commended. Highest average SATs of any school in the nation most years. 100% college attendance— eccept every few years a kid take a patent and forms a startup instead.

50%, give or take, at TJ is deceptive. It does sound meh. But just holding your own there takes a lot. About 1/3 the class goes to an ivy (or Stanford/MIT) or Top 10 US News engineering. A huge number, like my kid, hit the “doughnut hole”— priced out of Ivy’s and top lACs because NOVA is high COL. THey do WM, UVA or VT for engineering.

So I know CWRW, for example is great with merit aid. But not a lot out there in terms of LAC info.

Dennison sounds great. Will check out Exkard, although I don’tbsee A music major. Minor maybe.

Also any thoughts on Davidson, Wake Forest, Wesleyan, CMU for environmental studies?

19

Franklin & Marshall does not give merit aid, switched to a financial aid only model several years ago. Bard, another music-rich environment, only gives merit to those with demonstrated financial need.

LACs with merit are more likely to be found in the midwest: Grinnell (substantially exceeds the 10 hour drive preference), Oberlin, Kenyon, Denison, Wooster, Earlham. Centre College also gives merit, in Danville, KY.

Dickinson caps merit, I believe, at around $20k. St Lawrence in upstate NY caps it around $24k. Connecticut College and Trinity College, in CT, are reputed to have introduced some merit awards but it has only been 1-2 years, so hard to know how much merit might be available. Skidmore has the Filene music scholarship, but is $15k a year, not close to 1/2 tuition. Macalester is beyond the 10 hour drive limit, and seems to give a maximum of $20k per year, also well below 1/2 tuition merit award.

20

I’m inclined to agree. For a selective private LAC, a 50% merit scholarship translates to ~$25K.
Oberlin seems to award much more merit money than many peer LACs. However, its average award is less than $15K.

Davidson College is a highly-regarded LAC that seems to grant merit awards to a smaller percentage of students (compared to Oberlin), but in larger average amounts. According to Kiplinger’s, their average award is over $25K. Awards apparently go to 14% of enrolled students without need … that is, to maybe ~7% of all students. Less than half of all Davidson students attended public schools; avg HS GPA = 3.92 on 4.0 scale (of 98%+ reporting).

So, I’d say either Oberlin or Davidson would be “merit reach” schools (either because the awards aren’t big enough, or because they’re so competitive.) If you drop a notch to “merit match”, the target school may not be nearly as attractive (or at least as prestigious) as W&M at in-state rates.

https://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=lib_arts
(see the two click-sortable “non-need-based aid” columns)