<p>It’s an interesting list, not sure I think Dartmouth and Swarthmore attract the same kind of kids. Kalamazoo doesn’t have a huge athletic thing like Dartmouth and Carleton, and is probably more like Chicago. High caliber students who want a small school with a unique program pick Kalamazoo. If Columbia was the ED, then Macalester has that urban vibe. The other midwest suggestions like Oberlin, Grinnell etc. are pretty rural…but then again so is Dartmouth. Dartmouth is bigger and has graduate schools so not sure if that is why Dartmouth made the list. I might add Beloit which is similar to Kalamazoo. If you look at the good schools in the midwest they are either smaller or huge…not too many midsize.</p>
<p>Try for a Marquis Scholar at Lafayette. There is not a whole lot of diversity at Lafayette but what there is, is Asain. You may have to rush, don’t know what the deadline is for the Marquis (full tuition) program.</p>
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<p>I agree that Hopkins is a good match, but I don’t think it gives much merit aid.</p>
<p>His top three schools are Dartmouth, Swarthmore and Chicago.</p>
<p>He loved Swarthmore. The weather was perfect when we visited and tour guide was excellent.</p>
<p>He liked Hanover very much.</p>
<p>Chicago: He has this ‘thing’ about Chicago.</p>
<p>Will some of these schools (Oberlin, Colgate for example) waitlist my child?</p>
<p>He did not show any interest until now.</p>
<p>Hm…Dartmouth, Swarthmore, and Chicago were my top three, and I ended up applying to Dartmouth ED – and I was just accepted! Gonna hear from UChicago EA eventually too, before I enroll at Dartmouth. ;)</p>
<p>I think Chicago is charming, Swarthmore really impressed and excited me, but visiting Dartmouth sealed the deal. Love the language courses, the study abroad opportunities, the quarter system, and the student body.</p>
<p>My main safety was Macalester. I think your son may fall for the school. They have a solid financial aid program & merit scholarships, and their campus is quite diverse (Kofi Annan is an alum and the school emphasizes their global outlook). I would have been happy attending Mac.</p>
<p>I also liked Kenyon – they have excellent financial aid & some merit scholarships as well, and the school totally caters to minority/first gen. applicants.</p>
<p>Good luck. I hope your son finds himself at a fine school!</p>
<p>(PS. I had a 2300, ranked in the top 1%, had some solid ECs/awards but nothing remarkable, great essays though)</p>
<p>If you want merit aid, forget Connecticut College-- they don’t give any. </p>
<p>I know a kid with stats like your son’s who’s at Oberlin, and he’s thriving there.</p>
<p>I third (fourth) the notion of Dickinson-- it’s very high on my D’s list (in fact, she is interviewing with an alum right now!). They seem to have very few Asian kids, and with stats like his, he’ll get money.</p>
<p>Also agree with Kenyon, Grinnell and Vassar… although I think (but am not sure) that Vassar also does not give merit aid. But Grinnell gives a lot.</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s a lot of merit at Hopkins but there is some.</p>
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If he isn’t willing to attend his state U then it is NOT a safety. </p>
<p>I really doubt your son will be waitlisted at Oberlin, and they do offer some merit aid.</p>
<p>Emory and Vanderbilt fit your requirements unless you think they are too far south.</p>
<p>I have to second Erin’s Dad. D1 also considered our state school as her safety, and she cried after she visited the school. Second time around, with D2, we are not going to apply to any school unless she would be perfectly happy in attending.</p>
<p>If you live very far away from a school, they wouldn’t expect you to visit, not everyone has money to visit schools from coast to coast.</p>
<p>Colgate is an excellent LAC. It is not diversed because they tend to attract certain type of students. But it has great network in the NE and TX. Studens have no problem in getting a job after college. D2 will be applying there because of her double legacy status there.</p>
<p>Trinity College in Hartford has the presidential scholarship, which offers full tuition. They probably would like to attract more Asians. </p>
<p>I like liberal arts school, but I would check out each school’s career center and graduate school placement. Some schools make a great effort in getting top firms to come to campus to recruit, and they also reach out to alum to help with networking for students. At the end of 4 years, there should be an “out” for students. Some LACs do a better job than others.</p>
<p>Just a comment on researching4emb’s comments on Dickinson. I think they do have a fair number of Asian students. D is a junior there. One of her tours was by an Asian student, she had a suitemate from China last year, and she rented a storage unit with several foreign students from Asia for the summer after her freshman year. So I don’t know what the percentage is, but I don’t think Asians are underrepresented. r4emb, I hope your D decides on Dickinson – it has been a GREAT choice for my D! PM me if you need any info.</p>
<p>13% of incoming class were students of color at Dickinson this year and obviously not all of them are Asians. </p>
<p>As a parent of an Asian child (adopted) I know first hand that the small LACS are actively recruiting Asians. It also helps at LACS if they are boys as the breakdown at a lot of these schools is 60-40. They don’t want to become all girls colleges.</p>
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<p>NYU tends to be quite stingy with financial aid and merit scholarships IME. Several working-class classmates who got near-free/total free rides from Cornell, Brown, etc were given the exact same miserly amount of scholarship money as yours truly, an Asian-American who graduated near the bottom of his high school class. </p>
<p>This meant we’d have to cover 60-75% of the exorbitantly high tuition ourselves. A reason why they ended up at Ivies and why I turned down my NYU admissions offer for Oberlin which provided a near-full ride scholarship which enabled me to graduate debt free without having to ask the parents for any college financial support. </p>
<p>While our experience was from 15+ years ago, been hearing from much more recent graduates (class '07 and '09) that NYU has not really changed their FA/scholarship practices. </p>
<p>As for applying to Oberlin, it will greatly strengthen your son’s application for him to write a strong essay making the case “Why Oberlin”. Any ECs, especially volunteering/community service would also greatly help.</p>
<p>None of us can predict whether your son would get waitlisted at a school like Oberlin. Someone mentioned the “picking up the pieces” thread of several years ago – that student was ultimately rejected at Oberlin (and every other school he applied to), and he had great stats. Here’s that thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/47867-were-picking-up-pieces-but-what-went-wrong.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/47867-were-picking-up-pieces-but-what-went-wrong.html</a> (and this was 5 years ago, when acceptance rates were higher).</p>
<p>Which is why I think suggestions like Emory and Vanderbilt and Oberlin as safeties is absurd. Vanderbilt’s acceptance rate was 16% last year, Emory’s was 30%. I simply don’t see how a school with an acceptance rate of 16% can be a safety for anyone.</p>
<p>Looking at some of the smaller LACs in the midwest or south makes sense – Beloit, Lawrence, Rhodes, Kalamazoo, Earlham, . I’d focus on schools with higher acceptance rates and low Asian populations.</p>
<p>Another possibility is looking at larger state universities that may have smaller honor colleges and/or good academic reputations. Like Michigan, Wisconsin, Maryland, Delaware, Vermont.</p>
<p>It’s easy to recommend reaches and matches for a student like this, but coming up with safeties is tough. I think you need to look at schools with acceptance rates around 50% and up (I’m risk averse, so to me a safety has even higher acceptance rates than 50%). All he needs is one or two safeties – but I’d make sure they are true, real safeties, not matches that he has a good shot at.</p>
<p>What FireandDrain said.</p>
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<p>Hopkins lists their merit-based scholarships on their website, [url=<a href=“Student Financial Support | Johns Hopkins University”>Student Financial Support | Johns Hopkins University]here[/url</a>]. The Hodson Trust Scholarship is awarded to “fewer than 20 freshmen yearly.” For the Charles R. Westgate Scholarship in Engineering, “[u[p to two scholarships are available for entering students each year.” </p>
<p>I think that’s all the merit aid that Hopkins offers to incoming freshman.</p>
<p>FWIW I think it’s a wonderful school and would be a match for the OP’s son.</p>
<p>Hopkins admit rate last year was 20.4 percent. That makes it a reach for everyone who applies.</p>
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<p>I don’t think Michigan is ever a safety. I think the deadlines for many honors programs have passed already. You would need to check. McGill and University of Toronto are also very viable safeties for your son since their admissions is strictly numerically determined based on stats. Still if he prefers the smaller schools, the midwest LACs with high stats kids and high admissions rates that I mentioned before seem to be the best bet.</p>
<p>Agree, Michigan isn’t really a safety for anyone and this year it’s anyone’s guess how things will fall with the new “EA.” McGill is a great suggestion.</p>