West Coast college suggestions

Parents Forum
1

<p>Our daughter is currently a high school junior and is seriously trying to figure out her college list. If she had all her druthers, she'd go to Stanford---and up until last weekend, couldn't conceive that there could possibly be any other university she'd be happy to attend. After visiting Brown, however, she realized that there are other universities. We have slowly gotten her to understand that, thus far, none of the schools she'd like to consider are ones she can count on getting accepted---due to the very low admit percentages. (She tends to favor the Ivies and Stanford).</p>

<p>Right now, her list remains Stanford, then Brown, then maybe Berkeley . . . . (see my problem?)</p>

<p>She is a very high academic achiever (only one A- in her entire academic career so far), taking all honors/AP courses, an elite level athlete in a small sport (training 20-25 hrs/week since middle school, but training since age 9), involved in other school activities/extracurricular as much as possible given her athletic schedule, but no 'official' or elected leadership positions.</p>

<p>She's not really decided what she ultimately wants to study, but leans toward sports medicine in some form (she's not sure she wants to spend all those years in medical school because she does want a family). She's interested in travel, photography, history and excels in math and science although they don't really excite her.</p>

<p>Her 'wish list' for the perfect college has developed into: a smaller college in a college-town setting with a larger city available with easy access. A cohesive student body in that the students enjoy the atmosphere of campus and campus life, but not a non-diverse student body. A campus with lots of activities and participation in terms of socializing and involvement with each other. A student body that is both intellectual, curious, and serious about learning. Challenging academics. AND, preferably warm weather! </p>

<p>Brown meets all her criteria with the exception of the weather. </p>

<p>She's back to really wanting to go to the West Coast. She likes the weather there better (Pasadena's really) and her sister is in school in San Francisco and she'd like to be closer to her. </p>

<p>For spring break, we are considering taking a college tour trip out there . . . but being from the Midwest, we really aren't too familiar with the schools on the West Coast. Other than Stanford, Berkeley, Pomona, we just don't know many. </p>

<p>Any suggestions on which schools we should research and take a look at for her?</p>

2

<p>Occidental college.</p>

3

<p>Oxy....and the Claremont Colleges (not only Pomona).<br>
University of San Diego would be a safety for her but might meet other interests well...</p>

4

<p>Santa Clara University, on the peninsula south of San Francisco.</p>

<p>UC Santa Cruz or UC Davis</p>

5

<p>UC Davis came to my mind. It's not small, but Davis has a wonderful college town feel to it.</p>

<p>She also might want to look at Rice--warmer weather, smaller college, the kind of student body that might appeal to her.</p>

6

<p>Search for 'Road Trip' and 'West Coast'. There were several threads last month that talked about California Colleges and Pacific Northwest Colleges.</p>

7

<p>second Oxy and the Claremonts and suggest USD and Cal Lutheran as safeties. While your Ds GPA seems to put the UC schools in reach her position as an oos applicant means that none of the top ones should be considered safeties (at least not according to my admittedly conservative standards).</p>

8

<p>Thank you very much! This at least gets us a list of places to research. Yes, I have suggested Rice to her, but so far, she's not biting. Not sure why . . . .</p>

9

<p>You say that she likes the weather in Pasadena...does that mean that Caltech is already on her list?</p>

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<p>Does she plan on continuing her sport in college? Is there a team at Stanford? Has she had any contact with the coach?</p>

11

<p>Any chance of being a recruited athlete? That would make a big difference at the Ivies and the like.</p>

<p>The obvious West Coast colleges for her would be Pomona and the other Claremonts, Berkeley, Stanford, and Reed. It sounds as if Cal Tech would be too much a technical school for her. Rice is another clear match: school + weather.</p>

12

<p>She has been inundated with college postcards, mailings, etc. since freshman year. Most she didn't even look at; some she'd note the state and toss it. If it wasn't Stanford, she wasn't interested. Then one day she told me she'd found another school to consider--CalTech. I was flabbergasted--after all she'd also just been talking about how she wasn't interested in engineering, math, etc. So, I asked her what about CalTech appealed to her. Her answer "It's in Pasadena!" I told her to look it up, check it out, and see whether it had areas of study she'd be interested in.</p>

<p>Okay, for more serious stuff: Yes, she could be a recruited athlete for her sport---probably have more chance of that in the Ivies than with Stanford. She has met with the coach at Columbia and he'd be perfect for her (but she wasn't enamored of Columbia). The Brown coach is a newbie and they don't really have the strongest aspect of her sport. But both were very interested in her. We know of the Stanford coach, but she hasn't talked to him yet. Everything our local (well-connected) coaches say indicates that he might be interested, but probably not as much as the Ivies.</p>

<p>Also, she's not really dying to continue her sport in college--if it requires giving up her social/collegiate life to do so. She has given her sport undying focus and time since she was 9 years old. There have been many, many things she has had to sacrifice to attain the elite level status she has in her sport. This is a year-round club sport and she trains unbelievable hours. The primary competitive season culminates at the end of the summer. So the entire summer is spent in preparing for and attending three rounds of championships.</p>

<p>Two years ago, she suffered an injury that pretty much took her off-track just as she was moving through the national championship ranks. She continued to train at a reduced level, but was unable to compete the last two years. We were finally able to resolve her injury with surgery this past spring and this fall, she's back to her full intensity training. But, she obviously lost ground over the last two competitive seasons. The supposition is that the Stanford coach would not be as willing to recruit her now as he might have been if her trajectory had not been interupted.</p>

<p>With her summer off, she did the Cambridge College Program and absolutely loved it. She really has the travel bug now and absolutely devours the historical aspect of buildings, museums, art pieces. She's still gushing over having seen and experienced the buildings and paintings, etc. that appear in her European history book and art history books.</p>

<p>She also does have much more varied interests than her sport, although she does crave the discipline, focus, and physical conditioning that her sport provides at the elite level. When she was unable to train that intensely, she really, really missed it. But there are many areas of life that she would love to explore---for instance, more traditional club activities, elected roles, more creative outlets, like art and photography. She has been involved with puppets since she was seven, apprentices with professional puppeteers, builds and performs marionettes, and really enjoys the tech/behind the scenes aspects of the puppet theatres.</p>

<p>For college purposes, she hopes her discipline and dedication to her sport will help her with her applications, and if she has to go 'recruited athlete' route to stand a chance, she will. But she really doesn't want to spend her college years as a slave to a sports schedule again.</p>

13

<p>Just call the Stanford coach and tell him you and your daughter are planning a visit to Stanford and want to stop by and say Hi. While you are there, do the same with the Berkeley coach and at any other school you visit. That process can tell you a lot about schools that students don't always learn during normal student info sessions.</p>

14

<p>Given her interest in Brown & Stanford-you might want to consider USC-University of Southern California.</p>

15

<p>She sounds like a great kid! I love the puppeteering involvement. (Has she seen Being John Malkovich? :) ) There's a great puppeteering troupe based in this area called Figures of Speech. They do NYC-quality work, and in fact have appeared at Lincoln Center, if memory serves. There are people doing amazing stuff with high-end puppetry and marionettes. I saw a production at LC a number of years ago directed by the woman who later directed The Lion King on Broadway which was tremendously creative in that way.</p>

<p>Anyway, it sounds to me as if she should not go the recruited athlete route if she really doesn't want to give the required amount of her life to her sport. Moreover, because of her involvement in puppetry she has a wonderful passion to offer that would benefit any college community. Forgive me for speculating, and I am not asking you to confirm it, but it sounds as if she might be into something like rhythmic gymnastics or synchronized swimming. Is it possibly that she can find some activity, such as dance, that would provide her with some of the same physical benefits without the competition schedule? I think that Brown would actually be an excellent fit for her, especially with the RISD connection to potentially explore her creative interests.</p>

<p>If she is really directed towards medicine, she could apply to the Brown PMRL program.</p>

16

<p>Definitely Oxy. And she could take classes at Caltech too if she wanted: "You can take classes at Caltech or Art Center and earn joint degrees at Columbia University, Keck Graduate Institute and Caltech." Occidental</a> College :: By the Numbers</p>

17

<p>Agree with everything posted here, but have to say it can be hard to beat that recruited athlete edge in admissions! She is making a one year commitment to the coach. That is it. After one season, if she doesn't like it, she is free to quit. Good luck.</p>

18

<p>Thanks to all who have replied with suggestions. I really appreciate them and have looked them all up. Definitely gives us some places to start.</p>

<p>As for our daughter's sport, she's a platform/springboard diver (with emphasis on platform).</p>

19

<p>Depending on how she feels about a religious school- Pepperdine.</p>

20

<p>I think she should also consider Bowdoin. It meets her criteria in many ways, although it is of course cold in the winter.</p>