Trying to decide between these stellar schools-- don’t want to just pick according to some arbitrary list USN puts out. I’m comfortable on all the campuses, want to study international relations/pre-law, like studio art and may do a minor in ceramics/sculpture or photography. Lean left politically and am an activist in causes like Planned Parenthood, the Democratic Party, etc. Like to be able to “retreat” and have alone time, not interested in intense party-ing but want to have good fun with friends. I have Aspergers so am a little quirky but tend to be more socially adept than some others with Aspergers. Outspoken.
They are all excellent options. Do you want all female or coed? Does it matter?
Doesn’t matter. I see the value in both.
My D21 applied to all of these except Wellesley, which she felt - based solely on paper (no visit) - was more “intense” than the others. The way some people have put it, the women at Wellesley know where they’re going and are striving for whatever that is, while the women at Smith are still open to figuring out their place in the world. I don’t know if this is true, having never attended either!
Smith has the most open curriculum of all of these. Northampton is a great college town. Smith is the largest and the house system is supposedly great for making friends.
If the schools start allowing overnights, that could really help you choose, if you’re question is where to ED. If not EDing, apply to all! Honestly, you can’t go wrong! They’re all amazing schools!
One way to narrow the choices is to confirm which schools offer ceramics as part of the studio art curriculum. My LAC student wanted to continue ceramics and was surprised to find ceramics was not part of the studio curriculum at a number of highly respected schools. At those schools, ceramics was part of an “enrichment/community arts” program, but not something you did for course credit. My kid was looking 5 years ago, so may have changed, but Vassar was one of the schools without ceramics in the studio art curriculum. (Kenyon and Oberlin also did not have ceramics within the studio art curriculum.)
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In March you were a parent looking on behalf of a daughter, now you are a student looking to apply. If you are two people sharing account, know that sharing accounts is not allowed. If you are one person, please be the one you really are!
The thing is, no decision is required yet. If none of them stands out as the one, there is no point applying ED; if you apply to all of them either the application and/or financial aid option will limit the choice; if all of them give offers that are financially viable then it’s a problem for the year-older student (including re-visit days), all of which should bring some maturing and clarity.
eta: I didn’t twig right away that I replied to the posts on W&M. All of these schools are reasonable options for the student- who is the one who needs to identify where she feels most comfortable. Young adults grow and evolve a LOT, pretty quickly - even from spring Junior year to autumn of Senior year! - at this stage, Aspergers or no. Don’t be afraid to let the process evolve.
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As noted above above, ceramics facilities and programs are not universally available at liberal arts colleges. As part of your research, be sure to check carefully which of these four schools might be suitable for this interest.
I was sitting with my mom this morning and when I asked this question, she handed me her laptop. I’ll create my own username so it doesn’t get confusing.
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Closing thread for the above reason. Account sharing confuses users trying to help, which is why it is not allowed. Feel free to repost under your own account.