<p>D is currently a junior. GPA ~4.0, SAT ~2100. Top 5% at school. Several EC's - mainly sports, music and community service related.</p>
<p>She doesn't have very specific requirements, making it hard to rule out schools. So far, she has said she'd like a medium sized school (about 3-8k students). Would like to be within a 6-8 hr drive from home (MA). Her major is likely to be bio or math related. We are likely to be full-pay, but she will be applying for any merit scholarships available.</p>
<p>Thus far, she likes Tufts (reachy), Dartmouth (another super reach!) and Brandeis (somewhat small). She also likes Case Western (match ?) and Rice (reach again) - although those do not fall within the 6-8 driving range. I think she might be willing to push that requirement out for schools that really interest her. </p>
<p>Case Western is a very solid choice. Rochester is very similar to Case Western and will be a little closer to MA so it may be worth consideration.</p>
<p>My son had similar requests though he’s more history/international relations oriented. He didn’t mind Vassar even though it’s just under 3000, it felt big enough to him and he liked that it wasn’t in the woods. He also got into U. of Chicago EA, which was a huge surprise to us. (Although he’s top 6% that’s only because of A+'s in orchestra - he’s got lots of B’s of various flavors.) You might want to look at U. of Rochester which my son eliminated because he felt its strengths were more in the sciences. It was named one of Newsweek’s 25 new Ivy’s a few years ago. If she likes a techie place like Case Western she might want to look at Carnegie Mellon. My older son is a computer science major there - nice town, nice campus.</p>
<p>Does her HS use Naviance? Might help better define “safety” schools. Some like to define safety schools as ones that admit over 50 - 75% of their applicants…but…for high performers…a school could admit a lower percentage if the history from your HS is that kids with her stats always get in.</p>
<p>Thinking of schools like Bucknell or Lehigh…</p>
<p>Are Catholic schools an option? Providence and Villanova might be safeties (again…depending on the history of her school.)</p>
<p>If she’s willing to go a little higher in population and outside of the 6 hours…honors college at Miami of Ohio could also be a possibility.</p>
<p>Vassar would NOT be a safety school - especially for a female from Massachusetts.</p>
<p>Few suggestions:</p>
<p>Clark University (see my visit report on the Clark forum)
Connecticut College (although probably more a match than a safety and perhaps too small)
Ithaca College</p>
<p>Maybe American University?</p>
<p>I know a girl with similar stats who was accepted at Boston University, Skidmore, Syracuse and Boston College (also interested in mathematics).</p>
<p>My daughter is currently a junior and from Massachusetts, with first choices of Vassar and Wesleyan, so we are in a bit of the same boat… I concur that women’s colleges are well worth considering if intellectual fit is of paramount importance.</p>
<p>I actually found medium sized safety schools for the A- student surprisingly hard to find.</p>
<p>American was a perfect for my son, but I wouldn’t pick it for someone interested in math and science. Clark is possible but I think it’s a bit small. RPI would be at least a match, they are anxious to get more women - the one young woman I know who went there majored in biology and is now doing grad school at Cornell. It’ s more than engineering. </p>
<p>His other safety was going to be Syracuse (too big, but a shoe-in from our school). Another possibility might be one of the SUNYs - Geneseo is the right size the others are bigger and easier to get into.</p>
<p>* Would like to be within a 6-8 hr drive from home (MA). </p>
<p>Her major is likely to be bio or math related. </p>
<p>We are likely to be full-pay, but she will be applying for any merit scholarships available.
*</p>
<p>Safeties…</p>
<p>So, you’ll be a full-pay at $55k per year, but will apply for scholarships? Does that mean that you’ll want the safety schools to offer merit scholarships (not all schools do)? I’m guessing that you won’t want to pay $55k for a safety school, so institutional scholarships would be desirable. Is that right?</p>
<p>Are you planning on doing any college visits in the near future?</p>
<p>Are Catholic universities OK?</p>
<p>Providence
Fordham
Villanova isn’t a safety (match)</p>
<p>What is your D’s likely career? health related? </p>
<p>Maybe to help narrow things down, you can ask her…</p>
<p>Does she want about 50/50 boys/girls?</p>
<p>Does she want a quiet campus?</p>
<p>Does she want a spirited campus with sports to watch?</p>
<p>Does she want a rural setting? city setting?</p>
<p>Does she want a school with some fun off-campus hangouts?</p>
<p>arisamp- how about UVM? She would likely be admitted to their honor’s college which has its own housing and priority registration. She would also be eligible for some merit scholarships.</p>
<p>My D was accepted there for next year but is looking at smaller schools as her first choices. A friend of mine has a son accepted also and is looking at a bio (non-pre-med) major and it is high on his list.</p>
<p>Dickinson. Started as my D’s safety, but it grew on her and ended up being her favorite. She got very good merit money, too. She is a sophomore now and really loves it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions so far. Please do keep them coming if there are other ideas.</p>
<p>She has seen Union and liked it a lot - only comment was that it seemed too small. Guess she could apply to this as a safety school. She doesn’t want women-only colleges. No strong opinion one way or the other about Catholic schools. She does love sports - would love to be able to play for a school (as a walk-on), but is realistic enough to realize that this is a long shot.</p>
<p>We hadn’t considered CMU or UVM - will look into those this weekend.</p>
<p>If she wants sports, Division 3 schools are a good option. Smaller schools well-regarded for pre-med where merit money is likely include Muhlenberg; Ursinus; Franklin & Marshall; Bucknell; Gettysburg and Juniata. Colgate; Clark; Marist; Skidmore; Villanova; and Hobart are also worth a look.</p>