Medical school is not going to care about the 3 Rs. Just grades and MCAT scores. Also, it costs a lot of money, and doctors aren’t making what they used to make. It would be wise to stay debt free for undergrad with med school or other prof school in the picture.
In cases like your daughter where the name recognition is important, finding safety and likely schools is difficult. Especially where merit money is needed. What is your estimated EFC with two kids in college? What would a school like Bryn Mawr charge you (run a NPC)? Getting some sample costs will give you an idea as to what you can expect from financial aid at full need met schools. Of course, getting into those schools can be difficult. They are not safeties most of the tiem.
Has she named some schools that might interst her that are not so selective? Though she is a good student, strong courses, her SAT is not high enough to count on selective schools, especially these days.If she can get into a school acceptable to her early, then she can go to town on the rest of her choices. I recommend going for a number of earl action courses to see how she fares as well as to get that likely. My oldest son applied to Binghamton, st Boneventure, BC, and Georgetown all EA. He was accepted to all but GTU, that deferred him, and got a full ride to St Bonaventure which made for a great price choice. BInghamton, he liked just fine and as an in state public, the price was great. BC was full pay. We got a good litmus test of where he stood in the admissions process, and could move forward with only schools he preferred for RD.
She should find at least one place that is affordable and where her numbers will get her in. There are surprises every year at places where human beings make the decisions.
I would also suggest that she find at least one reasonable chance of acceotance school to apply to either EA or that has rolling admissions. It’s nice to have one acceptance in the bag early on.
Thank you! Thumper, I’ll have to look at the SUNYs. Geneseo’s not too large.
Ucbalumnus, you’re absolutely right. I’m really afraid she’ll be an outlier at a small safety, but she just hates the idea of a large school so much that we’re looking as hard as we can. I’m guess I’m hoping to find a hidden gem with a bunch of smart people with a reasonably high acceptance rate and a decent reputation. I’d also like world peace. Not sure which is more likely.
Bates in Lewiston, ME
St Lawrence in Canton, NY
Union in Schenectady, NY
Hobart in Geneva, NY
Hamilton in Clinton, NY
Colby in Waterville, ME
Babson in Wellesley MA
University of Minnesota - Morris, Truman State, UNC - Asheville, and New College (FL) are smaller public LACs that are not that expensive. But if they are found to be safeties for admission, the “outlier at a small school” problem may be an issue. (However, Truman State is larger than the others, with about 6,000 students. What size range is acceptable to her?)
Babson is basically a small business school, so it may not be suitable for a student who is not focused on business.
If you decide to extend the search outside the northeast, consider St. Olaf (Northfield, Minnesota), Beloit College (Wisconsin), Knox College (Illinois), and Agnes Scott (Atlanta).
Wheaton College in MA is not the least bit religious. She definitely has it confused with Wheaton Christian in Illinois.
If Catholic isn’t a non-starter, she might consider Stonehill and Regis. She might also consider some of the smaller publics. I think MCLA, which someone has already mentioned, would be a good one.http://www.mcla.edu/About_MCLA/ataglance/index
“About religion: she’d look at something with vague religious undertones like BC or Brandeis but not something that has it in your face, as in religious mottos on the website. She’s very firmly an atheist.”
Please don’t think that BC (or Georgetown or Notre Dame) aren’t religious. And your other child is okay with Villanova? Most catholic universities are very accepting of non-catholics and non-believers, but the religious aspects are a big part of the school and if you (or your child) cannot accept them, don’t go there Who wants to fight for 4 years, feel uncomfortable with the administration? I think she’ll be shutting out a lot of good opportunities if she doesn’t want any religious schools, but only she can judge if the atmosphere will be uncomfortable for her.
I have a son who is introverted and we are concerned about him being in too large a school. We just visited UCONN, Brandeis, BC and Marist. Marist and UCONN are safeties for him. Marist seems to offer a lot and the size range is good. It might be a safety or at least a match for your daughter. As for UCONN, we are considering it because we think our son has a chance at the Honors college. That has 200 freshmen in it. They all live in the same dorm and take at least one class a semester together. With that in mind, you might want to visit UCONN and see if you can get someone from the Honors college to speak to your daughter. A close friend of my older daughter just graduated from the Honors college there and she could not say enough about her experience. Being part of that group from the outset made the college “smaller”.
Brandeis and BC were very different. BC is about 9,000 students so not a small school and was overtly religious. Many buildings looked like churches and there were crosses and religious symbols everywhere. Brandeis, while founded originally by Jews who were denied entry to other schools, is NOT religious based. You won’t find any religious symbols in any buildings except the chapels. There are three chapels that were built when the school was founded - one for Judaism, one for Catholicism and one for Protestant students. They are all of equal size and were built so none of them overshadows any of the others. The school has a strong commitment to inclusion of all religions and individuals as well as community activism. It seems like the students do not compete with each other and it is a nurturing environment. My son liked the atmosphere there. I think he related to the two student he met who seemed quiet but found their groove at Brandeis.
Other small schools in PA, where we are from, that you might research to see if they are safeties are Dickinson, Muhlenberg and Franklin and Marshall. We visited F and M with our daughter and we thought it had a lot to offer. She wanted something a little larger so she did not apply there. We know of several people who went to and thrived at Muhlenberg. The problem with finding smaller safeties is that because of their size, the smaller schools can’t take as many students.
Wheaton in MA is DEFINITELY NOT religious. The correct website is wheatoncollege.edu it is small – about 1500 students. Nice school in a boring town, but not far from Boston or Providence.