@Dolemite Thanks for the reminder. The finances are not inconsequential by any means, but not the sole factor, either. We are small business owners, so hard to say if the NPCs will work as well for us. Might depend on the place and how they figure aid - will have to investigate each potential school more closely. If she got into a really top notch program I suppose we could bite the bullet, but I’d definitely prefer not to have to!
Dickinson gives up to $20k merit awards. I believe Bryn Mawr gives merit, but could be wrong. In contrast, Franklin & Marshall, Haverford, Swat, NESCAC schools (Amherst, Williams, Conn Coll etc) give only financial aid, no merit. Ivy League (including Cornell and U Penn) only give financial aid as well, no merit awards.
I’ve heard that NPC can be unpredictable when it comes to small business income so now is the time to really work through financial concerns, how much can you contribute each year, etc. If getting substantial merit is a necessary part of the strategy, that means the college list is going to be weighted towards safeties and matches, in terms of admissions, because you need schools which give merit and where your student will be in the top of the prospective admits whom they will “pay” to come.
You can research a school’s merit award practices by looking at the Common Data Set for that school, under financial aid, there is a section for merit, non-need based awards. Look to see the percentage of the class which gets them and the average amount. You can also get details on the school’s website under scholarships – schools which give merit awards usually identify the tiers of awards given.
Good luck, and happy travels.
Some schools want you to signup for tours online ahead of time. A few limit the number on tours, so you might not be able to tour. General recommendation is to hit the tours if possible. Info sessions are more optional (after a couple they aren’t very different, and the info is pretty much all available online). I’d skip interviewing, as your D isn’t too clear on what she is looking for yet. Wear comfy shoes, and don’t worry too much about clothing – not holey or revealing, and don’t wear another school’s swag, but they don’t really track you other than making sure you sign in at admissions (interest shown matters at some schools).
Thank you all again for all the advice! I’ll be sure to give a report of where we wound up going and what D’s impressions were afterwards. 
Connecticut college comes to mind. Strong in dance and science, and in New London, CT, which is close to you.
If you are upstate you might also want to see Univ Rochester and SUNY Geneseo. Possibly Hobart & William Smith and Colgate. Good to get all the upstate schools (and driving) done in one fell swoop. Pennsylvania schools are an easy weekend trip. Looking ahead to fall you’ll have a 4 day weekend beginning of october for Jewish holidays plus Columbus Day weekend. Plus summer obviously but always good to visit when school is in session if possible.
@citymama9 & @4Gulls Thanks! Will add those names to the investigation list. Looking like we are going to have to try to find a day here and there to sneak off (maybe once AP exams are done) to zip up north for some more targeted visits.
I broke it to D this evening that I expect her to be the one to chunk out the 500 mile radius into zones, use the names mentioned in this thread as a jumping off point and read through Fiske and school web sites to pick 6-8 schools per zone she feels like she is interested in visiting. The good news is, after months of ambivalence, she seems cautiously intrigued by the assignment. I’d call this big progress.
@thermom, With your daughter’s interest in sciences plus studio and performing arts some schools that I’d recommend would be:
Wesleyan, Conn College, Brown, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Williams, Hamilton, Skidmore. This group would make a reasonable 4 day loop through New England and upstate New York. You could add a few more in the vicinity such as Ithaca, Cornell, Rochester, Colgate, Boston University to give her a range of size, location and selectivity.
You could save Philadelphia and the rest of Pennsylvania for another trip, though I agree schools like Swarthmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr and Dickinson would be of interest. I would also look at CMU’s interdisciplinary programs.
She sounds to me like an especially good fit for Smith.
Especially at the small liberal arts college, she should consider submitting supplements for art and dance even if she does not intend to major in these areas.
@momrath Thanks for more great suggestions! Smith is intriguing. I wonder if she’d be more likely to bite on engineering in an all-women setting, at least for starters.
And yes, I’ve been wondering about the arts supplement thing, so thanks for the reminder on that.
Ok! An update on our visiting plans next week for anyone interested. So, D’s April ACT came back a 33 and she feels she “messed up” the science section so she wants to take one more crack at it in June. She can taste a 34/35 and now she wants it, haha. This is a major shift in attitude from even just a few weeks ago.
Anyway, after doing some reading (thanks for the Fiske guide suggestion!) and researching, D decided we should spend our time on this particular trip in MA and RI. I guess if she has a “shoot for the moon” school currently, it’d be Brown, especially after learning of the option to take some art classes at RISD. She knows that realistically it’s very long odds (and even worse for a girl!) but she’d still like to see it, so we’re going to take their Physical Sciences tour.
The other reaches in the area she’s curious about are Tufts and Amherst to see some variety of size and type of school. In more clearly realistic options haha, she’s settled on Smith as the women’s college to visit (although we’ll at least drive through Mt Holyoke’s campus if we have time.) We also talked a lot about how important it was to have genuinely appealing safety choices that might offer her decent merit money to compete with state school (in our case state would be SUNY Binghamton or Geneseo). Of possible safeties in MA, she decided Clark sounded pretty cool, and I’ve heard people say good things about it here on CC, so we’re going to visit there too!
So, the MA/RI road trip will consist of:
Amherst
Smith
Clark
Tufts
Brown
Interestingly, Brown and Tufts both make you register for a particular appointment/session, which they limit in size. Brown even makes you create an account on their web site first! Amherst has you register if you want to, and then sends an email saying it doesn’t matter if you go to the particular session you told them you were attending, and if you can’t make it at all, you don’t have to tell them. Clark has you register so they can send you a free parking pass (which I thought was nice!) Only Smith had no online appointment system at all. They just say on the site when their sessions are and invite you to show up at one. I thought the differences in formality level were amusing, not sure if it means anything though.
We will try to get away again between now and when all the real madness begins to visit some upstate NY and PA schools, and that should (it’d better!) give us enough options to make a good, balanced list. Thank you all again for the suggestions and help. There’s so much to wade through, the community here has been invaluable.
@thermom, your daughter might take another look at Williams. It’s about an hour+ from Northampton.
For arts and sciences I’d give it an edge over Amherst: Several world-class museums and and a wonderful performing arts center. Dance is a program not a major, but is well supported with various ensembles, workshops and artists/companies in residence. Lots of performance opportunities. The Dance Studio is outstanding. http://dance.williams.edu/the-program/
Some of the best science departments in the country (though only pre-engineering). Studio art and art history are also particularly strong.
Williams entry residence system for first years is also notable. 15-25 students live together “shepherded” by two junior advisers who arrange group social activities, mostly low key, like meals, arts and sports events. It’s a great instant social circle, good for kids who are anxious about making friends.
You might want to consider Union and Bard in one day. I suggest this because the first sounds perfect academically and the second socially (and either could concievably work.) But the contrast might help clarify what she wants to prioritize. This would fit in if you head north.
Bard, Union, Skidmore, and Brown offers an interesting mix IMO, given her interests. Eventually she might want to check out Middlebury, although it is a reach for everyone at this point.
Another possibility is the CTCL event in May in Long Island. http://ctcl.org/events-all/
@momrath Hm, you make a compelling case! Looking at a potential late roster change, lol. Maybe we’ll do Williams along with Smith rather than Amherst… Will discuss with D. Thanks!
@gardenstategal @MidwestDad3 Hadn’t really considered Bard before, but will check into it! We were planning on looking at Union on a NY jag (she’s leery of the Greek quotient but willing to form her own opinion), as well as RPI.
Something tells me I’m going to be visiting a lot more schools than I originally thought, haha.
@ECmotherx2 Thanks for the heads up! We will check out.
Well Smith, Brown and Amherst all have an Open Curriculum so if that appeals to you then visiting all 3 makes sense. Also I believe Mt Holyoke has the best Dance facilities of the 5 college consortium though we didn’t do that tour when we went to MHC. I think it’s worthwhile to visit both Smith and MHC because I got a distinct feel that many girls will prefer one over the other - my daughter did and the type of students we interacted with could be sorted somewhat based on first impression.
@thermom , Bard is pretty fascinating even if it doesn’t turn out to be your daughter’s cup of tea. (But it may be…)I think that one got the most parent points on our tour. It was definitely unique!
If you make it to Williams, try to visit the Clark Museum on campus or MassMoCA in North Adams. Also, look inside the 62 Center for Theater and Dance.