The "chasing merit" epic campus road trip of 2016 - suggestions anyone?

College Search & Selection
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My daughter and I are planning a college campus road trip this summer (which will probably involve some flying and some driving). I am hoping that the wonderful CC community can offer advice about any schools similar to those currently on our list that might offer enough merit to fit our budget.

We will not qualify for need-based aid but cannot pay 65-70K+ per year for two kids (D2 is class of 2021). So D1 will be chasing merit in the hope of bringing COA down to about 45K per year or less.

D1 is a smart, hardworking, white, upper-middle class kid along the lines of what @lindagaf has called “average excellent.” She’s unpretentious and a bit quirky. She tends to be somewhat introverted. An overtly competitive environment would probably make her anxious and unhappy. She would prefer no or limited Greek life, doesn’t care about sports, is uninterested in partying, is not religious, and is politically progressive (LGBTQ+ rights are important to her, although she does not personally identify as such). She’s not interested in women’s colleges. She wants to have intellectual conversations that spill over into late night dorm discussions. She would prefer a more diverse campus with a visible international student presence. Her ideal is the classic residential college campus with fun traditions located in a cute college town or in a suburban area of a manageable city.

Tentative majors are neuroscience or psychology but she is also drawn to gender studies, history, literature, and foreign languages. Grad school is likely. She’s not interested in engineering, finance, or law school. She prefers a more open or flexible curriculum and would like a place where study abroad is the norm for most students. She also plays an instrument so a strong music program or conservatory would be a plus.

Not surprisingly, larger LACs (2-3K students) are her preferred category. She would also be willing to consider small to mid-sized universities (5-15K students), either public or private, but she hasn’t identified many that appeal more than the LACs do. We have identified a couple of public safeties - one in state and one WUE (Western Undergraduate Exchange) school. D1 would prefer to go to college somewhere other than the mountain west, where we live, but likes seasons and snow and green. Not interested in TX, CA, South or intense urban environments. Anywhere else is fair game, preferably within an hour of a decent-sized airport.

One defining criterion is that the school have a strong dance program as D1 is a serious ballet and contemporary dancer. While she doesn’t plan to major or minor in dance, she will need access to a substantial dance program in which she can continue to grow. Based on that need, she has eliminated from consideration these otherwise viable options: Clark, Brandeis, St. Lawrence, Knox, Puget Sound, Lewis & Clark, Willamette, Grinnell, Kalamazoo, Lawrence, Beloit, and Earlham.

Some academic stats: GPA 4.0 UW (most rigorous course load, school does not weight). Rank probably in the top 5-10% (school does not rank). PSAT - commended but unlikely to make NMF. SAT score will likely be in the low to mid 1400s.

Here’s the current short list:

Likelies: Muhlenberg (Allentown not exactly “cute” I know!), College of Wooster
Matches/High Matches: Oberlin (currently her #1), Macalester, Dickinson
Reaches: Kenyon, Wash U

Thanks much!

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My only suggestion beyond taking deep breaths during these trips is see Lehigh and Lafayette while you are there. They are so close to Muhlenberg and they both give merit awards.

Gettysburg has a music conservatory, BTW, and its not far from Dickinson, maybe 25 miles.

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Take a look at U Rochester. I’m unsure of the dance bit (so check on it), but the rest sounds like a potential fit if the merit aid comes through.

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@Creekland, U Rochester is still under consideration - there is dance there but it’s unclear how vibrant the program is. We will do more research. Your earlier posts have been helpful in putting it on our radar in the first place.

@OnTheBubble Thanks for the suggestions. I will report back.

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http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1658573-where-do-the-cool-kids-go-to-college-p1.html
Mama E, in the first four pages of the above thread there were a lot of great suggestions. Other good colleges I have learned more about in the last year, which might be good for merit aid, are: Eckerd, Goucher, Connecticut College, *Clark Uni, Uni of Rochester, and especially Whitman College, which people simply won’t shut up about (and I really mean that. My “average excellent” thread had at least ten praise-filled references to the wonderful Whitman:-) I am sure they will give her merit, because they did for my D. You could consider SUNY Geneseo. Lovely campus, and a bit larger for an LAC, 5k students. They offered my D merit, and maybe they will for you too, though I don’t know about out of state. I didn’t visit Eckerd, but a good friend’s D has been accepted and will attend. No idea about dance at any of them, but all of these colleges have something to offer. Rereading your description of what she would like, I have to say that to me, it sounds like *Clark fits the bill. I am still feeling guilty that D hasn’t chosen it, because it has great qualities and I bet they will offer your D amazing merit aid.

Lots of Greek Life at Lafayette, and quite preppy and sporty IMO, but very good otherwise.

*Ack,just saw that she eliminated Clark, however I will keep it in for the benefit of other readers.

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Is she Hispanic?

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@lindagaf - yes I have bookmarked that thread and a lot of the places that you mentioned there came on my radar for precisely that reason.

We looked at Whitman but my impression is that Greek life plays a larger role than she would prefer and at 1600 students, more or less, seemed a bit small. It’s also far enough inland that it looks a bit arid; D1 loves green! Her GC has been pushing it though - “students are really happy there!” It’s not far from grandma’s house, so we may have a look see.

A quick look at Lafayette, Lehigh, and Gettysburg suggest that they would be too Greek/preppy/sporty in their vibe.

Eckerd is too far south unfortunately.

I didn’t know that Connecticut College offered merit aid so I will check that out.

Goucher has dance!

SUNY Geneseo keeps popping up - some have suggested it has a party school reputation - what was your impression in that regard?

Thanks so much!

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@mamaedefamilia So are Dickinson and Muhlenberg. Dickinson is way more preppy, snobby than Lafayette, Gettysburg or Lehigh.

Lafayette is well balanced, Lehigh has tons of engineering nerds.

Dickinson is way way higher on the preppy monitor.

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Goucher will check off many items on your wish list. They have a very good dance department as well.

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Mama- as someone who was also looking for merit paid for my smart son, your Will need to cast a much wider net
-when we first started the search for my son, he also wanted to limit himself to LAC’s .
But many of the colleges that have the financial assets to be able to offer generous awards are universities, not liberal arts colleges.
Her list of preferences are going to greatly restricted her ability to land the size of merit scholarships you were looking for.

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What she said, except many small schools give great merit. The issue is all the social requirements. Much too limiting and you are eliminating schools based on heresay.

You are gonna fly all the way East and eliminate schools that are ten miles from each other before you visit?

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University of Pittsburgh is great for neuroscience.

My D’s friend loves Susquehanna University.

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I’m not sure if she would like such large school, but I know someone who received well over $25k from Ohio State with similar stats to your daughter’s. It made the school very affordable and he ultimately decided to attend.

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Goucher should def be a safety, but just a fair warning that she may find the sci dept a little underwhelming. Plenty of kids with green, blue, purple and hair, and then the “LACs always seem to have some wacky division 1 sport” equestrian kids! If your D is intellectual and a top student, she might find Goucher a bit lacking in a similar peer group.

Hmm, maybe Geneseo is a partying school, but it does not have that rep here in NY. That honor I believe goes to SUNY Albany. Geneseo is supposed to be the state Honors college. Lots of smart kids. We both liked it.

Our girls are quite similar. Your D is going to have to compromise. This is something my kid learned early. Initially she HAD to be within easy access of a city. She realized that in order to get the college she was looking for, geography had to be sacrificed, and so it was. As we speak, she is at Kenyon College, in the M.O.N. Her desire for zero Greek life had to be sacrificed. Most schools have SOME Greek life. The ones I can think of with NO Greek life will not give merit aid. My D decided she could live with 30% Greek life, which I think Whitman is for guys. Honestly though, I can’t tell you how many people rave about Whitman. If it were a little easier to get to, our kids would have no chance;-) If she must have dance, and you must have merit aid, your options are more limited. Even if 30% of kids are into Greek life, 70% aren’t. Focus on the bigger number. Re partying, there will absolutely be partying at virtually every single college. My D has zero interest, but she is cool with the facts. My secret hope is that she will, on the odd occasion, go crazy and sport a red Solo cup. Your D is going to have to decide what she can live with, as well as what she can’t live without.

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I know you said no women’s colleges but your description screams Smith. Any of those consortium colleges will have guys in the class. She could at least take a look…

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I disagree that Dickinson is super preppy. I know it used to have that reputation, but it is changing. My kid is not at all preppy. She wore her Doc Martens when she did her most recent visit and got a ton of compliments. She saw other girls wearing them too, and we saw some very cool hipster guys in black suit jackets and hats. I guess preppy kids can wear DMs too, haha! She did also see quite a few really preppy kids, but she is fine with that. Totally disagree about snobby kids.

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I was going to suggest Oberlin, but that’s already on her list. And I second the women’s college idea. Mount Holyoke gives great merit aid, as do Smith and Bryn Mawr. I have a friend whose daughter is at Dickinson. She is very happy there, but my sense is that it’s rather conventional and preppy. Others here could give a better picture, though, so don’t take my word for it.

1 Like
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If she really likes Oberlin, take a peek at Grinnell. We know several kids who really liked both of them, and the ones I know who are there got pretty nice merit aid packages. It’s not near a city, but it also has no Greek life, is very liberal, etc. Also, as others are saying, Whitman is a fantastic college and definitely worth checking out. It really is a gem.

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Grinnell is a great choice however it is getting very difficult to get merit scholarships there.

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@mamaedefamilia , I am sure you have already done a lot of research, but I have to say, I do not encourage summer visits. As a brilliant CC’er said, visiting a college without students is like visiting a zoo without animals. The few summer visits we did early on had to be repeated. It can be a little useful for getting a taste of the area, and we did eliminate two colleges in the summer. But really, without students, a college is just a bunch of buildings, IMO.