Top student needs help finding likely LAC with linguistics

College Search & Selection
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D22 is at a small private high school in Atlanta. She wants a smallish or medium liberal arts college – she was overwhelmed when we visited UNC Chapel Hill but loved the feel of Davidson. She’s interested in studying some combo of linguistics and psychology and neuroscience, with the probable goal of going to grad school for speech language pathology. (Some chance she’ll decide to stay in academia.) Her stats:

GPA – 97 unweighted, 101 weighted (school doesn’t do 4.0 scale). Good shot at being valedictorian in a class of about 140.

ACT – 36

PSAT – might just miss NMSF, will be Commended for sure

AP – APUSH (4), AP Seminar (3), this year is taking AP Calc BC and AP Research. Next year taking AP Bio, AP Latin, AP Lit, possibly AP Gov

Schedule – all honors level classes except Econ (no room for AP Econ) and required Bible classes.
SCIENCE – Hon Bio, Hon Chem, Hon Physics, next year AP Bio.
MATH – Hon Geometry, Hon Pre-Calc, AP Calc BC, next year Multivariable Calc. ENGLISH – Hon World Lit, Hon American Lit, Hon British Lit, next year AP Lit.
SOCIAL SCIENCE – Hon Mod World Gov, APUSH, semester Econ, semester Psychology, semester Gov or AP Gov depending on what fits.
LANGUAGE – Hon Latin 2, 3, 4. Next year AP Latin.
ELECTIVES – Chorus all four years. AP Capstone program consisting of Seminar and Research. Her year-long thesis this year is on whether grapheme-color synesthesia affects language learning, so ties in with linguistics/psych/neuro interests. An Emory prof is mentoring her on it. If it turns out well, she could submit for publication.

EC’s –

-Lots of theater – two or three productions every year in school, several outside of school

-Chorus – will be four-year member, leadership position, has gotten into all-state chorus one time (canceled this year). Selected to compete in Girls Trio both 9th and 10th, won at regionals and moved to state both times (but state canceled last spring. No word yet this year.)

-Summa cum laude (highest) on National Latin Exam twice so far

-Summer internship at The Music Class (first time they took an intern), pretty cool because she attended classes as a baby and came up through their program

-National Honor Society and all the smaller honor societies (Math, English, Latin, etc)

-Let’s Do Better club at school – social justice stuff, minimal time commitment

-Minimal service hours (spent Sat mornings one semester tutoring young kids in underserved community, then that program closed because Covid)

-Weekly piano lessons for 12 years

-Weekly voice lessons for 6 years

-Self-taught ukulele and guitar

-Currently in semi-finalist round for Georgia Governors Honors Program – fingers crossed she gets in for this summer, for Latin

Kid is an extreme introvert, not interested in Greek life, not interested in football culture and doesn’t want to go too far from home – Southeast is preferable. Her list consists of a bunch of reach schools that are excellent in linguistics – Emory, Rice, WashU, Duke, Northwestern, Brown. (Northwestern weather is iffy, and Brown might be too reach to even bother, plus pretty far – but their open curriculum is a draw.)

Emory is her top choice right now, for location, “vibe” and also they offer a dual major in linguistics and psychology that looks perfect. We’ve visited both campuses (Oxford and main), and both are appealing.

But smaller colleges are drawing her, too. We’re looking at Furman, Wake Forest, University of Richmond, William & Mary.

Also, Tulane is intriguing, although totally different feel than some of the others.

Of these, Furman is the most “likely” – problem is very few schools offer linguistics even as a minor. Vanderbilt does not, neither does Davidson (we’ve visited both), nor does Rhodes or Washington & Lee. College of Charleston doesn’t seem the right “vibe.”

We need to add more likely schools. Anyone have suggestions for these parameters? Small and offers linguistics in some form, reasonably close to southeast? I’ve searched, but am I missing any? We have our big meeting with her college advising office next week (they’re really on top of things during spring of junior year).

Cost is not a huge factor. Won’t qualify for any need-based aid. Would love merit scholarships of course, but not essential.

Oh, and D22 is of mixed race – half South Asian/Indian, half White – and is a little wary of Furman and Wake Forest not offering enough diversity. (Her high school is like that, and she’s hoping for something different. But this is not a deal-breaker.)

Thanks in advance!

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https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/linguistics-major-1601

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Thank you! I have combed through that tool, and unfortunately, it’s not all that accurate – Eckerd College, for instance, doesn’t offer any linguistics even though it’s listed. But I will keep looking, thanks! Was just hoping someone knew of a gem that we hadn’t yet unearthed. :slight_smile:

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I know you said close to home…and this suggestion isn’t…but if she really liked Davidson, would she consider any of the Claremont colleges in CA. That list includes Pomona, Scripps and Pitzer…you would need to check to see if the major is offered.

I have a linguistics background, and I always think of MIT which would just be another reach and in cold weather.

Adding…University of Richmond has a linguistics minor, but she might not find that particularly diverse.

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I will have to see if she’s willing to branch out. She’s a practical kid, and I know she is thinking of Covid and being able to come home easily in a quarantine situation. It’s unfortunate what this generation of kids is having to think of.

I think she won’t be totally opposed to Boston – she loves NYC and Chicago – but MIT seems ridiculous to get into, and her ECs are light. She’s a good writer, so her essays may be solid, and I know her rec letters will be really strong, but still.

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Has she considered any of the TriCo schools (swat, Bryn Mawr, haverford)? They have a combined linguistics major, no Greek life, small feel (but they feel bigger when combined).

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If she likes Chicago and is a terrific writer, maybe look into University of Chicago? They really look at the whole application and essays can be a tipping point.

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Oberlin has a Linguistics minor. LAC’s are more about fit than Universities. Oberlin is on the other side of the scale from some of the schools that you mentioned (especially W&L), so that may be an issue. But you did mention Brown, so I thought I would post it.

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No, but we’ll look! Thank you!

Wait, Bryn Mawr is a women’s college, right? I think I remember it being perfect on paper, but she wasn’t keen on that part. We’ll look at the other two!

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What do you mean by other side of the scale? In what aspect?

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Oh, that’s a good thought. She was intrigued by U Chicago originally because they offer Marathi as a foreign language, which she really wants to take. Almost no one offers it.

Silly question – would U Chicago be better in terms of wind/cold than Northwestern because it’s right in the city? Or about the same?

Also, does anyone know if their all-work, no-play reputation is legit? I think D22 would be bored if she went to an “easy” school, but she’s busted her butt so much in high school that I want her to breathe a bit in college – I hate to throw her into a pressure cooker. (Not that some of the other selective schools on her list aren’t that way.)

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Oberlin is normally considered a very liberal school. Some of their policies may make some uncomfortable at first glance. Things like gender neutral bathrooms.

UChicago is in Hyde Park. It is still near enough to Lake Michigan that it has a big impact on its weather. The big thing about the UChicago workload is the quarter system and the Core. The Core is different than a lot of other college’s distribution requirements due to the required sequences. You can’t just take a bunch of intro classes. This is very different than Brown.

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Bryn Mawr is a women’s college, yes. The three schools in the consortium (there are four, but Penn has suspended their participation until Covid is in check) all have very different feels. My daughter decided on the consortium before an individual school (she attends haverford). Most of the ling classes are on either swat or Haverford’s campuses, but that’s not an encumbrance for Bryn Mawr students. My daughter’s double major is in linguistics and Italian, and Italian is a Bryn Mawr major- hasn’t been a problem at all.

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Ah okay. I’m not familiar with the consortium and didn’t realize it meant the schools were that closely linked. Will check them out for sure – thank you!

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Got it. Liberal in general is totally fine – D22 tends to be liberal, but that’s relative to her conservative school, and she’s never been in an environment that was ultra-liberal. But I don’t think something like bathrooms would be a big deal.

Thanks for your comments about Chicago – we’ll look into it some more!

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She might look at Centre College which has a linguistics minor. They also have behavioral neuroscience. They offer a lot of merit aid. My husband and I are Centre grads ( from a very long time ago, of course). Our experience there was that there was a lot of support to personalizing our experiences. And, we both were able to keep up our different music interests without the pressure of a conservatory (in case she wants too keep up the piano and/or voice/choir options). D19 decided it wasn’t for her, but it’s currently in the top 3 for D21.

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sending you a private message

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Our D21 was looking at several of the same schools as your daughter since she also wants to go to a small liberal arts college in the Southeast. One place you could add to your search is Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. It’s got the programs you’re looking for with added diversity.

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@SpreadsheetMom, Your daughter sounds like a good fit for Swarthmore and Swarthmore a good fit for what she’s looking for in campus culture. Linguistics is a major (with collaboration, as noted above, with Haverford and Bryn Mawr though the department website says the “vast majority” are taught at Swarthmore.

I would think that classes at the U of Pennsylvania would also be available, through the consortium, but I don’t know the details. Penn also has a wide range of language offerings, including Marathi.

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Interesting that it’s listed that way! My daughter won’t ever have to take a Swat class to graduate in the major and their majors won’t have to take Haverford classes- but there is a lot of cross registration in the department anyway.

There is also a neuro minor and a psych major to think of for combinations.

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