If it is a fit for her, St. Mary’s is accepting applications. They are affiliated with Notre Dame, and there’s a shuttle to the ND campus. A Catholic-affiliated all women school isn’t for everyone, but it could be worth a look.
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I forgot to add Clark University to the list of accepted. We did student admit day and my kid was underwhelmed. She has a friend who went through this exact experience last year and she landed at Clark and loves it which is why I encouraged mine to apply. According to current student, there are some things going on behind the scenes at Clark that need to be dealt with - including underpaying employees and racism. I was very impressed with their president though, and I love that many students there are activists.
Also the COPLAC list. Ramapo in NJ markets itself as a public LAC. Some in other states are not too expensive for non-residents.
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What a rough cycle for your daughter, who clearly put the work in. If she has her heart set on a LAC, U of Rochester isn’t - but my son is wrapping up his sophomore year and it’s been a great experience. Not a huge school at ALL and the self contained campus and distance from downtown makes it feel even smaller. If the finances work, I’d definitely have a visit to see if it feels like a fit for her. If she gaps and reapplies, she should go in with the expectations that it’s to apply to DIFFERENT schools - so if she’s interested in some of those LACs with more generous admissions great, but if she’s thinking she’s going to get into her top choices with a gap year, I’d heavily educate her on that being unlikely.
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If your D is looking for liberal arts schools in the northeastern quadrant of the U.S., these schools are still accepting applications and have financial aid and housing available:
- Allegheny (PA )
- Earlham (IN)
- Goucher (MD)
- Juniata (PA )
- Moravian (PA )
- Ohio Northern
- Ohio Wesleyan
- St. John’s (MD & NM) - this school is very much a fit university, but if it’s a fit…
- Susquehanna
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Unless you have an in at a publishing firm I think it’s very unlikely that she would be able to intern during a gap year. My D22 is interested in publishing and applied for an advertised internship after high school. I do know someone who is in a leadership position at the publisher she applied to but when my D22 contacted the person who was doing the hiring for internships and mentioned that she got the hiring person’s name from Kathy she was still told they only hire college students.
So unless you have that gap year internship thing sewn up already I think a publishing internship is unlikely. Plus they start hiring interns in Jan/Feb. Pretty late to apply now.
She could do something else with a gap year though.
She is still on some waitlists so you never know but I know you’ve got to plan with where she has acceptances right now. And she’s got some good ones. I think Rochester could be good. Sorry to hear about UVM but I understand the trepidation.
If she’s not satisfied with the acceptances that she has I think a gap year could be good. I’m sure she could get a job in a book store if she’d be happy with that. I have many friends who are professors and they say the kids who come in after a gap year are usually much more focused and successful. But if that sounds disappointing to her try to get excited about some of the acceptances she has. Are there any Admitted Students days you could go to?
Oh, wanted to add, has she contacted the Admissions Offices at the waitlisted schools and told them she is definitely still interested? If not do that ASAP. She’s a great student and any of those schools would be lucky to have her and contracting the AO could make the difference.
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If any of these are affordable-- this is a great list.
First of all- hugs. Must be very frustrating for you. I think that Rutgers and Rochester are both fantastic U’s. I’m a big UVM fan as well but if it’s off the table-- and for good reasons- then it is.
I think the strategy of reapplying is a risky one unless your D comes to terms with a very different application list. To be blunt- a few months of an internship in publishing (if she can even get one) is not going to move the needle. Publishing interns (particularly those without a college degree) are NOT reading manuscripts, weighing in on the editorial calendar, figuring out if a novel should be marketed as historical fiction or fantasy. They are learning the difference between espresso and flat whites when they aren’t returning salads for having too much dressing on the spinach. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But it takes a LONG time to work your way into a role that actually leverages a love of literature…and adcom’s know it.
So for my two cents, it would be better for your D to get a job doing- pretty much anything- fast food, Old Navy, filing insurance claims in a big dental office. She’ll earn money and probably learn more than a post HS internship in publishing. Or hang out a shingle tutoring 6th graders who are falling behind in language arts. Since you live in an affluent area, this is a high demand service. And she can volunteer at the local library teaching citizenship classes to new immigrants in the evening.
Transfer? Aid is iffy. So that’s a risk. And there’s also the risk that first semester of Freshman year isn’t the cake walk she thinks it will be… her profile may never be as high as it is today. I’m not underselling your D who is obviously a fantastic student- but it happens. Those B’s in college-- after a lifetime of A’s-- whoa.
If it were my kid- I’d have the GC call Smith and Skidmore (if you think they are going to be affordable) and say “if she’s admitted, she will attend” (obviously don’t call them both at the same time, you’ll need to sequence this). Meanwhile, you’ll need to put down a deposit at either Rutgers or Rochester and wait it out.
If you don’t get the green light from Smith or Skidmore, reach out to Rochester or Rutgers to ask about a gap year if that’s still how she’s feeling.
I think those two schools are the highest likelihood/best matches to what she wants. BU would be on the list but if Rochester is too big, BU is more of the same, and she’s less likely to get a great scholarship off the waitlist (again, just being candid with you).
As an fyi, a lot of kids who plan to major in English end up doing something else-- mainly because they love what they’ve done in HS but haven’t been exposed to other disciplines. So if the English department at Rochester is in transition- what about Comparative Lit? History? Political Science? Psych?
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I think there are some very good posts here.
The University of Rochester is generally an underrated and very good school – much stronger in terms of faculty (though I confess to knowing about social science and science but not humanities) and I would guess in terms of students than the list of very respectable LACs listed above as possible options. If my perception is correct, your daughter could end up at a school that offers less than Rochester.
Could a gap year help in admission? Maybe, but only by doing something unconventional. My son took one after graduating from HS and applied to college during the gap year. At freshman orientation, the Dean of Admissions addressed the freshman telling them what a wonderful class they’d assembled and gave anonymous cameo descriptions of several incoming freshman. The intent was to show how interesting the group was. She described my son and drew on some of the things he did during his gap year (work on a presidential campaign, co-author a young adults novel, helping a professor on research at a university, etc.). So, his activities may have helped.
My son needed the gap year as he had to do a surgery. However, he felt he was a lot more mature starting college one year later. He was more focused on learning and doing well than he might have been a year earlier.
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