I would check out Clark University in Worcester, MA. It’s really more like a liberal arts college than a university in size and tone. It values diversity and there are diversity-based merit scholarships offered there. A student with a 3.7 UW GPA would have a reasonable chance of admission.
Case Western has become increasingly competitive in recent years. Historically they liked high test scores and a lot of demonstrated interest. Given the pandemic and the trend towards test optional, test scores may or may not be relevant.
@nidaco If he likes seasons, some western schools that have seasons include U of NM and Northern Arizona U (both high altitude). Both would be safety/matches and he’s have a reasonable chance of getting merit money or the in-state tuition rate which would make them affordable. There are many Hispanic students that attend these schools, and to a lesser degree, Native American students. There’s also a relatively high proportion of first generation and lower income students.
My D20 applied to four of the schools on your list. Her stats were similar and we are also from MA. I think she had a 3.85 and a couple honors and AP classes. Her EC’s were minimal. She got into American (no merit), Fordham (no merit), Hobart (20k) and Marist (17,500). We didn’t tour Fordham as we knew it would probably be too expensive from running the NPC but it is definitely diverse. American was diverse but we didn’t care for the campus and my D said everyone just looked stressed out. Hobart was beautiful and my BFF’s son is having a good experience there as a freshman. He is a white suburban kid but has a very diverse friend group due to his freshman seminar (you live with kids in your seminar). Marist was also a beautiful campus, the river views were stunning, and it seemed like a really solid school.
I think Lafayette & Case are really tough admits. Lafayette was on our list at one point but we took it off as it didn’t seem likely. We visited Conn College but didn’t really like the area and just couldn’t get much of a vibe for the school. Some other suggestions that we are looking at for my S22 are Miami OH, Butler (big basketball school), Xavier, Marquette, Elon, and University of Denver.
If it fits enough of your criteria, I think you should apply, even if it’s just a safety or even if your student doesn’t have it high on his list. It might not be high on your list now, but who knows how things will shake out later.
When we started the college search process, I don’t think I’d even heard of UD before. It was not one of S20’s planned options. When I came across it and mentioned it to him, he practically dismissed it without a moment’s hesitation.
As I learned more and got him to learn more about UD, we both realized it should be on the list. It had too much in common with many of the most preferred schools that were already on his list of schools to consider. I’m glad we didn’t allow our original ignorance of the school to cloud our judgement of it after we became aware of it.
One thing he’s noticed is how almost everyone on campus is so nice - He just went out to eat with his best classmate’s family who came to town to visit and he talked about how great they were. He likes his professors, and likes two or three a lot – Believe me, this isn’t a student who spent a lot of time telling me about teachers he liked before going to UD. The dorms/housing/food situation is very good. The size is perfect for him. He likes his classes.
I’ll be happy to answer any specific questions you have. I fear if I just start listing things I like about UD I might just ramble on about nothing particularly helpful to you.
Thanks so much. We are hoping to visit this summer (schools out that way too). Will reach out if we have any specific questions and so glad your child is having a fantastic experience!
Wow that’s so great to hear how friendly the students are from a parents perspective! I have heard about the friendly feel of campus but glad to hear it’s actually true. What is your son majoring in?
He finds them challenging and/or interesting to varying degrees. Currently, he is very excited about his Macro class and his Business class. He likes his Philosophy and Writing classes. He’s even appreciating Math more than ever before now that he’s seeing directly how math applies to “real world” topics.
All students I guess will be different so I can’t say if Dayton is more or less challenging than other schools. I know it’s been a good fit for him so far.