<p>I would appreciate some suggestions for additions to my daughter's college list. She thinks she would like to major in anthropology (with a specific interest in physical/biological, so she wouldn't want to go somewhere with only cultural). She is interested in universities in/near a city. She would prefer something medium-sized, but is also considering some large schools given where her scores are now. Maryland resident. We are full-pay.</p>
<p>She goes to a small private HS that does not calculate GPA or rank, but I think she has about a 3.8. (Only about one student per year graduates with a 4.0, so grading is tough.) </p>
<p>Students at her school take a few AP exams, but only calculus is strongly aligned with the exam. She got 3s on both French and US History. Taking "Advanced" (AP) Bio and Calc BC this year.</p>
<p>ECs: serious ballet student (junior apprentice in a company; lots of performance experience; summer intensives; about 15 hours/week during the school year plus rehearsals)
This summer she attended an archeological field school (for college students) in Spain for 3 weeks.</p>
<p>ACT 29
English 34
Math 26
Reading 29
Science 25</p>
<p>She will retake the ACT is September. She did zero prep for these tests in the spring. She has strong As in math--I think she can do better.</p>
<p>Her list:
Wisconsin
Michigan
Boston U
NYU
Penn
Brown (sibling is there if that matters)
GW (double legacy)</p>
<p>I'll encourage her to look at WashU if the scores go up. She has visited GW, Brown, and Penn and likes them. She is not thrilled with the GW campus (or lack thereof) and knows the same will be true of NYU and BU, but they have the city location and very good anthro. She is a little worried about the size and party reputation of Wisconsin and Michigan. We are aware that Penn and Brown are quite a reach with current scores.</p>
<p>usbalumnus- you’re right, she should probably add University of Maryland, College Park, but it’s no safety even in-state. On the other hand, in these uncertain times, it would be good to have something more affordable on the list. Unfortunately, from her perspective, it’s too close to home (too many science programs done there when younger) and College Park itself is not very attractive (I agree with her).</p>
<p>She feels like she needs more safeties or near-safeties on the list, maybe because she has not yet seen BU or Wisc which seem like the best candidates for that category. She has a few days off to do college visits in late September. Any thoughts on how competitive she is for her current list with her current scores?</p>
<p>But I would also be interested in additional ideas for relatively competitive schools in case those scores go up. Even without focusing on the anthro, universities in/near cities seems like a narrow set. (Chicago, WashU are two that I think of.)</p>
<p>What about the University of Pittsburgh? If she preps for the math section of the SAT and gets that score up, she could be in line for some serious merit money.</p>
<p>O, are you actually willing to pay up to $60K/year for NYU and UMich? I’ve also read on the boards that the competition for UPitt merit aid has gotten very difficult. </p>
<p>I would check the Fiske Guide to see what schools are recommended for that major and start researching from there. And of course any specific recommendations you get here. I know nothing about what schools are good in that field!</p>
<p>University of New Mexico has an outstanding evolutionary anthropolgy department. (Erik Trinkaus founded the program and his influence is still apparent. )</p>
<p>UNM is also one of very few schools that still uses actual human cadaver labs to teach undergrads anatomy & physiology. (Most school use software and plastic anatomical models.)</p>
<p>UNM has about 28K undergrads and is located near the heart of Albuquerque (pop. 650,000, more if you include the 'burbs) </p>
<p>Michigan is not any more of a party school than any other large university. Unless it’s changed in the past 30 years, Michigan State was known as the party school, not Michigan. But they have a wonderful reputation for anthropology there, plus museums of archaeology and natural history. And you can’t beat Ann Arbor for a college town!</p>
<p>momof3–Chicago is on sort of a stand-by list if the scores come up. She didn’t see much point in adding more reaches unless that happened. Good news though–she’s breaking 30 on all sections in practice tests today.</p>
<p>Potential additions/substitutions include Chicago, WashU, Duke, Emory, Northwestern. She plans to apply EA to Wisconsin and Michigan. We’re hoping Wisconsin can act as the safety.</p>
<p>Emory Anthro. looks like a very interesting and highly rated program.</p>
<p>Also look at Univ of Ga and Michigan State as safties (for an out of state, full pay student.) Michigan State has rolling admissions…so…she would hear early if she gets an application in soon…</p>
<p>What about Beloit? You don’t have many (any?) LAC’s on your list. Beloit has a good anthro program and your D might fall into a merit scholarship category for them with those scores.</p>