How about Skidmore, Union, Wake Forest, Davidson, Denison, Elon University
@wisteria100 would applying to Lafayette and Lehigh be a little weird?? Just kidding, but still the rivalry is pretty strong. Also, I’ve heard Easton is not that great a place to be
To answer questions about affordability: Based on the NPC, and estimations, we should be able to afford these colleges. That said, my family made it clear that if I were to get into a school like Syracuse and have to pay full price, and get into UConn as well, I would absolutely go to UConn instead. For some of the reachier schools, we agreed that they are willing (and able) to pay more. Basically, finances aren’t that much of a concern when it comes to the safeties. I’m still unsure about Syracuse just because of size at the moment. @alooknac I’ve been looking at some of the merit awards at schools, but it’s harder at those that don’t have auto-awards, like University of Alabama. So far I know at Miami (OH) I would get a decent award, and UVM is notorious for giving kids at my school with very similar stats near full-tuition awards.
@collegeguru2017 Vassar has been on my radar because of its strengths in the subjects I’m interested in, and I will definitely be visiting it this summer. They seem to really ephmasize the whole “four year foriegn language” deal, and my paranoid self gets deterred from schools like that because I’m afraid I’d be automatically rejected for it (it’s a tad irrational, I know haha). I’ve heard Elon is a wonderful up-and-coming school, and Union was a nice college but I wasn’t a fan of the surrounding area. Thank you for the suggestions, they are really helpful! Skidmore is also another school I’m considering, but I’m not sure how much money I would get from the school.
@wisteria100 Connecticut College is beautiful, but as a CT native it’s a little close to home, and New London is not a very nice town. Same with Holy Cross, great school but not ideal location. Do you know if it’s true about Lafayette having a heavy engineering presence? And Bates is amazing as well, I did a brief walk through and left my name at the admissions area. Thank you!
Though only one of your four potential majors, economics is a field for which analyses of undergraduate faculty is available: “Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges” and “US Economics Departments” (IDEAS).
@merc81 thank you for the info! I had no idea, and I was having trouble discerning which colleges were strongest for my prospective majors. I’ll definitely take a look. English is the one I’m having the most difficulty in determining strength, but I figured that would be the case. Should I be looking at professors? Or is this something I should ask my admissions rep in an email about?
@megkell898
To answer your Lafayette question- yes they have engineering but the school does have a liberal arts feel. As for towns, New London, Worcester, Lewiston, Easton and Bethlehem are all towns that are a bit economically depressed, but all have some good aspects as well and more access to things than towns like Hamilton or Clinton. Those towns would be more rural and idyllic, so it all depends on what you prefer.
@wisteria100 I love nature, and will likely try to get involved with outing clubs, so the more rural and idyllic campuses are the most appealing… On the flip side I’d want to have a town with coffee shops, etc, so I just need to find a decent balance.
The great things about the things you are looking for: small class sizes, rural and idyllic campuses, outdoorsy nature activities, and strong communities are found at most liberal arts colleges, so that makes searching a bit easier!
Some sources are available for English, such as one from CollegeXpress: “Colleges for the Student Who Wants to Major in English” (in which schools such as Hamilton, Colgate, Kenyon and Gettysburg are included). However, I’d say that as a scholarly source of information, this one lacks the credibility of the one for economics in post 23. So consider it with appropriate discretion.
It sounds like you already looked at it, and it would be a reach, but Middlebury really matches your preferred setting. UVM in Burlington does as well, and I believe would be a safet admissions-wise, though it’s a larger than a LAC.
I suggest you research the course offerings in the English departments at the schools which currently appeal to you. My daughter recently completed her search process and, with help from her English teacher, identified Kenyon, Hamilton, Bates, Middlebury and Oberlin as the top English departments for her interests.
You might like Hobart and that could be a safety for you
I would second the Hobart and William Smith Colleges recommendation, and would add Susquehanna (with a good creative writing dept.) as a safety and also Wheaton (MA) as a match/safety.
Thank you, that list of top English departments helps very much! It aligns with what I thought, and that is a great suggestion for doing further research about it.
@wisteria100 and @jrm815 Thank you for the Hobart and William Smith suggestion! I’ve been considering them as well because I’m very familiar with the area and the campus is beautiful. I’m a little hesitant about the student body (I’ve heard it is very preppy, I’m sure that is not the entire student population of course) but I plan on doing a tour and interview in 2 weeks.
I like the suggestion of Wheaton (MA) and Susquehanna as well! They seem like two safeties that are the type of school I am looking for.
Does anyone have any more ideas for a solid “match”? It’s a little tough for me to tell because my CR score (720 for old, 680 based off of concordance tables) is at or above the 75th percentile, but my math (620 for old, 650 based off of concordance) is either at or below the 25th percentile. Will majoring in an “English” type of field minimize the impact of my math score at all?
For a simplifying guideline based on numerical factors – and putting aside some of your important, accentuating individual factors – your comfortable match schools may roughly include those at which the 25th percentile score (CR+M) is 1240 or lower (by Fall 2014 entering class data).
You asked about Dickinson - things that might interest you are the Dickinson farm (a bit removed from campus, but a short drive, maybe bike ride…) where some students work/intern. They also have an “earth” house (or something like that).
Dickinson would likely be a good match.
Since you’re a girl, do not underestimate the difficulty of New England LACs for you.
Colby may be an exception.
Denison is a good idea.
Davidson is a reach.
What about Sewanee? Excellent for English and if you like nature, you’re in luck, since they own the entire mountain that forms the campus (thousands of acres).
If you can go further into the Midwest, look into Earlham (safety), St Olaf (match), perhaps Macalester (reach), where you have the advantage of bringing geographical diversity.
If you come to look at Denison and Kenyon I agree adding Wooster is a good idea. Good merit aid there too.
Thanks for the feedback! I’ll look at Sewanee, it seems like a beautiful campus with great programs! And I love how they really emphasize the surrounding nature. Would there be a “culture shock” as someone coming from New England? I agree that bring some geographical diversity would be helpful, especially because I’m basically an entirely unhooked female applicant from CT.
I’ve heard Colby is the only NESCAC where admissions for female applicants wasn’t significantly more difficult (due to # of applicants) for girls. One concern with Colby is that all of a sudden, the acceptance rate dropped from 26% to 17%, probably because of the fact that applications are free and there are no extra essays, so a lot of kids think that they might as well just apply for the heck of it under the impression that they have nothing to gain. As someone who LOVED the school when I walked around it, is there a way to show that I’m very interested in the school without personal essays? For a while, I’ve been debating applying ED there because I absolutely loved it (it’s my mom’s favorite but my Dad didn’t like it).
Wooster looks really cool! Hopefully I can visit those schools, most likely in the fall.