Visited Colleges? Help Me Get D22 Started With a Good List

My kids didn’t have absolute majors going into college, but I knew if they changed their minds, they wouldn’t be wandering far from the original choices. They both wanted small schools and the ability to change majors really didn’t play a big part (I like big schools so it was hard for me to let them pick smaller schools).

One is a science kid and I knew if she didn’t stick with engineering, she wouldn’t be off to history or dance. As long as the school had bio or chem or physics departments, she’d be fine. She started in general engineering, picked civil and stuck with that. Her school had about 3500 on campus (many more online).

Second kid is an arts and sciences kid. First major was theater (which actually was in a different college than A&S), changed to art history, then to history. She picked a bigger school because of finances and it had about 10,000 students but is still very small. She couldn’t have cared less that there was an engineering school or an agriculture school or that there was even a physics department - she wasn’t going to switch her major to engineering!

Both were in smaller towns but close enough to get to a bigger city if they wanted to go to a concert or sporting event. One was a city that is more of a retirement area, but only an hour from Orlando and about 2 from Miami. She went to a few events in both, but wouldn’t have gone to any more if she went to UCF or UMiami.

The other was in Laramie WY. It’s only 45 minutes to Cheyenne, or to Ft Collins, CO (where there is a big college so lots of college things like bars and concerts and football, or 2.5 to get to Denver and major sports, theater (oh, remember theater?!), concerts, the airport, etc.

Smith college doesn’t welcome their students with teddy bears or bedtime stories, but does offer cookies and milk - EVERY night! I did feel really claustrophobic at Smith (and other small schools) but my kids didn’t.

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It sounds like Emory could be a great option for her. It has the academics, size and location that fit her interests. I have several friends with students there, all of whom are pretty different from each other, and they are all having terrific experiences. I was impressed by this feature on four members of the class of 2024 each of whom is accomplished in different ways. Meet Emory's Class of 2024

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OP back here! I didn’t check in on CC this week because of a few personal issues that popped up (that are now much improved) but I came back to find a great discussion and new suggestions. Thank you everyone! I’ll review them with D and will update when she has a better idea of her list.

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My daughter’s dream school was Barnard. She attended a one week summer intensive and had a blast, but in February she decided she wanted to stay closer to home in CA.

She also applied and got into occidental, Santa Clara, Smith, mt holyoke and scripps and chose Scripps. It was the perfect choice for her and it’s in a true consortium. She can easily walk between campuses and has taken classes on all campuses except Harvey mudd. She got a research opportunity at CMC, clubs at pomona and 5Cs, food and social activities across the consortium. Since they are next to each other, it feels like a mid sized university with five small colleges. Teaching has been top notch, even with Covid. Everyone does a senior thesis, which has been a great (though stressful) experience as she plans to apply for doctoral programs.
It’s reasonably close to LA, though she only goes a few times per semester. She and her friends do drive out to the beach to study (!) or the mountains for picnics fairly often, as both are accessible, and the weather is nice year round.
Scripps would be a low reach. I think Occidental, mt holyoke, Santa Clara, and smith would be matches for your DD. All these places gave Dd some merit aid. Mt holyoke gave her a large scholarship.

She can also consider Bryn mawr and other colleges in that consortium- haverford, swarthmore and Penn. All of them are in the Philadelphia area.

I know you said no to Reed, but it is known for the academics and teaching. We never got to visit so not sure about the environment…

My ds21 has perfect stats and excellent ECs. I had posted asking for safeties, but in the end he didn’t apply to any 100% guaranteed safeties. Instead he applied to five match schools, inc. two mid level UCs. So far he got into two of the matches. One thing I learned from CC: make sure your Dd puts a lot of effort into the applications for match schools, esp if they are holistic and consider demonstrated interest. DS just got into Reed today - phew- which was a match for him and we think a great fit but by no means a safety. He did a good job on the supplement, attended an info session and clicked through every email they sent. He also engaged with his admissions officer. For colleges with “why us” essays, take the time to research in depth and be specific about programs, classes, and clubs.
We made sure he only applied to places he would happily want to attend (aside from two of the UCs, which we added for good measure since this year is crazy unpredictable and test blind).
We have saved for college so we are full pay, but if we needed a financial safety he would have done one of the colleges (with honors) that gives good aid for national merit finalists or other high stats kids. ASU is one example.

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