Why does he need a 50% tuition scholarship? Better to tell us what you can pay total. Tuition varies by college.
Also, I’n confused about his GPA. What is his unweighted GPA and what is the scale?
I’m primarily familiar with Davidson and Wake. Both are good for environmental science, particularly ecology and organismal biology. Neither offers geology, however, which is a significant handicap in my view. Also, I’m not sure Wake is the best place for someone who doesn’t want a large Greek scene.
Kenyon, Grinnell, and several of the other suggestions made above also lack geology departments. Why Grinnell has not invested in a geology department given its massive endowment, I will never know.
The Keck Consortium schools are a good starting point for geology.
https://keckgeology.org/member-schools/
Warren Wilson near Asheville, NC may be worth a look as well. Like the College of the Atlantic, it’s a great place for those who want to really live and breathe environmental studies, but it’s not for everyone.
“Why Grinnell has not invested in a geology department given its massive endowment, I will never know.”
Don’t you watch the Big Bang Theory? Per Sheldon, Geology is “not a real science.”
Co-ed embers of the Keck Geology Consortium that offer merit grants include:
Beloit College *
Carleton College
The College of Wooster *
Colorado College
Franklin & Marshall College
Macalester College
Oberlin College
Trinity University
Union College
Washington and Lee University *
Whitman College
- avg award > $20K (going to > 10% of students without need)
Muhlenberg and Ursinus would likely give you the merit you are looking for. Haven’t heard anything but good stuff about either one.
Looks like Muhlenberg’s merit awards cap out at $20K.
Ursinus has some larger awards ($30K+).
i applied to ursinus late this year as a senior and i’m growing to love the idea of it. haven’t heard anything but good things about them as well.
Okay. Great questions. UW GPA coming out of freshman year is 3.63. Math is killing the GPA.
We are planning to pay WM tuition, room board etc. And can add some to that, but not a lot. So probably $25k tuition & fees, $15k R&B, books. $40k all in.
Check out Grinnell’s Environmental Studies concentration.
Gettysburg seems to meet most of your criteria. They have a strong and broad environmental studies program, very small classes, good merit aid, and a music conservatory. Despite the frat presence there are a lot of very bright, serious students.
Davidson
St Olaf is likely too far but would be a great match especially for a musical kid. They offer up to half comprehensive fee in merit. My D got academic and music merit stacked for less than 30K per year. She got similar at Lawrence…also great for musical kids. There is a lot of merit to be found in the mid west. Might be worth the travel cost.
OP said they are looking at maximum cost of attendance around $40k, and are not eligible for financial aid, so need roughly 1/2 tuition merit.
I thought I met that criteria with my response of merit aid reducing cost to under 30K.
OP here, and it definitely does if that includes R&B— withnbreathing room. Tuition at 30k is tough.
Yes both mentioned above Lawrence and St Olaf were total cost around 28K (room and board included). Case Western came in around $37,500 total cost.
Definitely looking at Case. 2 grandparents got 3 degrees from there (BA, BS & MD from CC) so there is some amount of legacy.
Between both parents, also 3 Wake degrees (BA, BS and professional). But one parent avoid the Greek system, went solid Liberal arts and loved Wake and one landed in the middle of Greek central, plus was looking for hard STEM not LAC, and hated it. So, big difference of opinion on whether a of ours child should apply.
What LACs are good for molecular biology?
Sorry @Veryapparent, I should have tagged the specific messages I was addressing, as I was responding to Davidson and some of the other suggestions which don’t give merit or wouldn’t give enough. St Olaf would be great (but presumably too far).
I did this geoscience LAC search two years ago. Do you know about the Keck geology consortium? Check that out. It has a lot of schools on it. My son is at Skidmore, which is not in the consortium, although they do have a geoscience department. The classes are small, which is great for my son who has hearing loss. They might give your son merit $. The school is strong in arts too. Nearby Union College is in the geoscience consortium. Union has a very different vibe from Skidmore.
(After this huge search for geoscience, my son decided within two weeks of arriving that he wants to major in physics!)
Edit: I just noticed the Keck consortium was mentioned by tk21769!