<p>Out dd worked very hard in high school and achieved a 34 ACT and a very high GPA. She was admitted to all of the colleges/universities above and received nice scholarships at all of them (except Macalester where we are waiting to hear about financial aid). She wants to study pre-med.</p>
<p>While Macalester is her favorite, followed by Tulane and Grinnell, she seems inclined to go to Knox because it will be about $4000 cheaper and they have a good reputation of getting premed students into med school.</p>
<p>We live in a large city, and dd feels more comfortable in a somewhat larger town. Both Knox and Grinnell are in small towns. Since we are going to be paying so much for all the schools already, is it worth paying a few thousand dollars more to go to the a school like Macalester or Grinnell? Is it better to go to college with students whose ACT and GPAs are closer to yours? Will it hurt to go to one with ACT levels somewhat less than yours?</p>
<p>And just as an aside, we are waiting to hear from Carleton as well (also in a small town).</p>
<p>Personally, I would not choose Knox over the other schools listed in order to save $4K, unless that were a make-or-break sum. Especially for a student who does not relish a very small town environment. Knox seems like a nice school, but I don’t think that Knox has comparable resources. In addition, your D needs to keep in mind that she may change her mind about med school, and she needs to be in a place that will accommodate her intellectual needs should that occur.</p>
<p>I’d go with Macalester, if the $$ work. If she gets into Carleton, and the $$ work there too, I would strongly consider it also. Although Carleton is not in a city, it is–I believe–much closer to Minneapolis/St Paul than Knox or Grinnell are to any comparable metropolis with comparable cultural offerings. And it is arguable the “best” school on the list, with Grinnell. Carleton has a distinct character, and if it suits her, that would be a factor.</p>
<p>Thanks Consolation, this how we are leaning but it is nice to have other opinions. It is not like $4000 will make or break us, but it is a large sum especially over four years. Thanks for your input.</p>
<p>Re colleges in small towns: My D goes to such an LAC, and hers has far more to do on campus than she could possibly take advantage of. Of course if she were in a big city, there would be even more to do, but where she is it’s cheap, high quality and easy to get to. </p>
<p>My nephew went to Carleton and loved it. He went up to the Twin Cities maybe twice a year. Pretty much everything to make him happy (which included an internship in New York) was in Northfield.</p>