<p>Do visit Trinity, the neighborhood can be a stopper for some people. I’m one of those “on record” of saying the neighborhood stopped me cold and that was for a son. I wondered why not Macalester and Kalamazoo when I looked at your list and heard political science. Hillsdale would be another progressive midwest college and good for poli sci and Bates in Maine all came immediately to mind but all of those i would describe the kids as wholesome - not preppy, not hipsters not crunchy granola - so it really depends on how much urban is important and how much hipster quirk is important and how much the NE is important. If the NE is not all THAT important the University of Denver should be on her list for urban and poli sci.</p>
<p>“From our niece’s description of Wellesley, our daughter has decided that it is pretty much the antithesis of what she likes. She is not twee, and the quaint anachronistic traditions do not attract her.”</p>
<p>If she wants lefty / liberal, Wellesley is actually a very good choice. The “quaint anachronistic traditions” happen once or twice a year; every college has some kind of tradition. </p>
<p>Some young women just don’t want an all-female student body even if everything else fits. You can’t push it if that’s how they feel. </p>
<p>Not discussing finances is avoiding the elephant in the room. MANY students end up only accepted to colleges they can’t afford and with very limited choices in the spring due to finances. Also, there is more cumulative experience in applying for need based aid and pursuing merit aid out here than you can imagine. If finances are an issue, then it should be a top of the criteria consideration, not something that isn’t discussed.</p>
<p>Regarding encouragement from colleges to apply, you may not understand their perspective. More applicants are always good. In no way does it imply that your kid is more likely to be accepted just because they have “invitations” to apply or because an admissions rep sounded encouraging on the phone. That is their job, to get as many students to apply as possible. It does not tell you anything about her chances of acceptance.</p>
<p>Regarding getting “raked over the coals” on the topic of women’s colleges, it didn’t sound like she had visited. Glad to hear she will stop by MHC. It is very common for young women to reject them before visiting, and realizing once they do that there are some great options there. If she visits and still has no interest, then that is fine. But the ones mentioned on this thread are pretty strong academically, and slightly easier to get into than co-ed schools of similar academic caliber because of the bias some students have. Just encouraging her to at least take a look before rejecting them. My niece attended MHC and had a great experience, and she is no shrinking violet or a super 'girly girl". My kids had to be talked into visiting, but both ended up applying. Neither attended for varying reasons, but they both feel they could have gone there and had a very good experience.</p>
<p>St. Mary’s College of Maryland might be a nice fit for her if you want to pay OOS tuition (which still could be cheaper than some of the privates on your list, depending on your eligibility for need based FA at those privates). It is the public honors college of Maryland. It has a very LAC-like feel.</p>
<p>Union has a reputation as a pretty hard partying school, that is one on your original list you might rethink.</p>
<p>If you haven’t visited Clark or Trinity, you should. Campus neighborhoods may be an issue.</p>
<p>Has she considered American (political science major, East Coast, it is in the thick of DC with lots of internship opportunities)? Or Bates (test optional)? </p>
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<p>Really? I think of Hillsdale as extremely conservative. Not so much religiously as politically.</p>
<p>Clark…we visited and the neighborhood did in fact turn both of us off. Not from a danger standpoint as much as a “run down, nothing to want to go off campus for” standpoint. As I recall it’s about a third, maybe more, commuter students, so there’s that too.</p>
<p>My D looked at but rejected (most) women’s schools also. I wish she’d look again but the only one she likes - and is applying to - is tightly integrated with a co-ed U.</p>
<p>Definitely keep Earlham on the list - progressive, small, Quaker, well known for languages. Wittenberg…pretty campus, S’12 has some friends there who love it. Wooster was my favorite for S but he ultimately decided on a different school. Poli Sci rep may be something to research carefully at all of these, wasn’t my kid’s area so I have no idea.</p>
<p>As for diversity, being Asian helps more, I think, at midwest LACs (or perhaps LACs in general) than at STEM-ey Us, or so is my impression from hanging around here for a few years.</p>
<p>I almost mentioned Worcester and Clark, but it’s been so very long since I’ve visited i wasn’t sure if things had turned around. I guess progressive to me means that the campus is actively involved in dialogues from all viewpoints and Hillsdale is certainly all that. I don’t necessarily associate progressiveness with the American 2 party system but maybe I’m an outlier having been a poli sci major so many moons ago and really enjoyed the “science” of political science.</p>
<p>Maybe Hillsdale should be mentioned in the same breath as Hampshire, Oberlin and Bennington but I’ve never heard it :)</p>
<p>Goucher might be very good fit for her. Nice suburb of Baltimore.</p>
<p>Wooster might have that middle of the road but liberal vibe she wants. Muhlenberg as well. Neither is crunchy granola but those folks are there. Beloit is another school that might be in your daughter’s sweet spot. As is Guilford. Don’t let its Southern location turn you off. It is a Quaker school and very liberal. Really great place.</p>
<p>St Mary’s of Maryland is beautiful, right on the water. Off in the middle of no where, but beautiful.</p>
<p>Because the NE LACs are so popular, they are more competitive. If you can figure out what your D likes about her favorites and then look down a notch in selectivity for schools with a similar vibe, it might help.</p>
<p>Re: Match- I have a very conservative definition of match. To me it is a school where my D’s stats match but there is still only a 50-50 chance she will get in because there are lots of applicants whose stats also match. A safety is generally a school where her stats exceed the school average. I think too often folks do assume a match means a greater likelihood of getting in than is realistic.</p>
<p>Check out Washington college in Chestertown, MD. Excellent small LAC in close proximity to Annapolis and to Washington DC. Great opportunities for a poli sci major. And definitely a match for admissions even if test scores don’t go up.</p>
<p>Thanks to the people who offered suggestions!</p>
<p>Hillsdale is an extremely conservative fundamentalist Christian college. It is not “progressive”.</p>
<p>No, not fundamentalist - not connected to any religion - this is a common mis-understanding. </p>
<p>I think the poster who mentioned Hillsdale might have had something else in mind? Maybe Macalester? The OP’s daughter should run from Hillsdale! </p>
<p>Not connected but with a lot of religious students, or so Forbes says. <a href=“The 10 Colleges With The Most Religious Students | HuffPost College”>HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost;
<p>Goucher, Guilford and Washington have been tossed around as ideas. They are good schools, but very out of her geographical region. I am a Hofstra grad. It’s gotten better, but it is still an impersonal commuter school. Very materialistic student body. One of our nieces graduated from there several years ago. It’s more the same than different. </p>
<p>The area around Clark and Trinity would not bother us or her. If you remember, my wife is a graduate. She loved the proximity to Boston and but liked that it was 45 minutes away. She was never bored or frightened.</p>
<p>In terms of the normal definition of “progressive”, is Clark still progressive? Has Trinity become any less preppie?</p>
<p>If I was going to describe my daughter, I’d say that she was a hipster. Likes thrift shops, and cities. Interested in film and art - indie music. She’s not outdoorsy. </p>
<p>Who ever said that my daughter is “not a minority” will have to take that up with the admissions department of Oberlin. She is going to the minority weekend that was suggested by someone on this forum.</p>
<p>As to finances, we first want to find a few colleges that she likes. I also am not about to discuss this on a public forum.</p>
<p>I do want to know about the intellectual and political climate at the colleges as well as her chances of being accepted. </p>
<p>Another question - Are there any colleges that are more likely to consider her drastic upward trend? </p>
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<p>While a couple of posters will come right out and ask you what you can afford, of course you do not need to answer. What they, and most folks, are getting at is that YOU should know what you can afford and also what schools are likely to cost (running their NPCs is the best way to get that info). </p>
<p>Having been around for a few years (older S graduated in '12), I can say we’ve all seen parents and kids come here in April desperate because they have acceptances only to unaffordable schools (thought a school would give merit when it only gives need, or thought their income qualified them for FA when it doesn’t, etc), so people helpfully try to head that off wherever possible. </p>
<p>I think an upward trend is always a plus and at most LACs, everything is considered carefully and holistically.</p>
<p>Yes, upward trend is a good thing 
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<p>Love the idea of American. It was one of our first college tours in 2005. DD later leaned more toward engineering and did not apply, but I have fond memories of the campus. There seems to be a lot of connections for DC internships. , I think they said one day (Wed?) has no class so that students can take advantage of the local opportunities. </p>
<p>People aren’t asking about your finances to be nosy. They are trying to help you find choices that fit within your budget. Pretty much everyone out here has struggled with balancing the affordability of schools our kids like with what we can really afford. No one knows who you are (or cares). Just trying to make suggestions to help with the search. </p>
<p>Since you have been through this with your son, I assume you may know about the net price calculators on each college’s financial aid website. Helps you determine what kind of need based aid your kid might be eligible for. But they don’t show much info on merit aid, if any, and if you are hunting for merit, it changes the suggestions and search parameters a lot.</p>
<p>Is you D planning to retake the ACT or take the SAT this fall? Higher test scores would open up options both for admissions and merit aid.</p>
<p>She is taking the SATs in October. We are wondering if the ACT might not be her test. </p>
<p>There is so much focus on this forum about standardized tests, yet it looks as though many of the best colleges are test optional. </p>
<p>Note that while some are test optional, it can be harder to garner merit aid without test scores. You haven’t really described your D’s ECs except class secretary. Does she have anything exceptional (or a lack of them) going on? Anything she really wants to continue in college?</p>
<p>Lux…your daughter has some great college options with a 31 ACT score. The list of test optional colleges is growing, but it by no means represents all of the top schools…or any other variety of colleges. Most schools still require standardized tests for admission, and of the ones that don’t, most of those require standardized tests for merit aid.</p>
<p>Certainly your daughter should apply to a couple of reach schools. You just never know what will jump out at an adcom reviewing her application. BUT in my opinion, it’s very important to get the rest of the list in order first. Simply put, it’s easy to find reaches. For some kids, it’s not so easy to find match and safety schools. Often it is posted her that students should build their list from the bottom up…in other words, identify a couple of safety schools first…affordable, pretty much guaranteed acceptance, and places the student would be happy to attend. Then go up from there.</p>
<p>Another old saying here…“love the kid on the couch”. And your daughter needs to embrace that as well. If her ACT improves, fine. Or if her SAT improves, fine. But if not…help,that 31 ACT kid know that her success in college, career and life does not need to be defined by her standardized test scores.</p>
<p>I speak from experience here. My kid took the SAT twice. With test prep. Her scores were within ten points…and she just couldn’t crack 1250 CR/Math. Guess what? She found three colleges she loved and applied rolling to one and EA to the other two and was accepted before Christmas to all three. She matriculated at her first choice…one of these three…and graduated on the four year plan with dual majors bioengineering and biology. No one gives two hoots about her SAT scores anymore.</p>
<p>December is late for a retake of these tests. The applications for any significant merit awards by the colleges is usually December 1 at the latest. In addition, this sounds like she doesn’t plan to finalize an application list any time soon.</p>
<p>I would urge you to compile two lists…one based on her current ACT score and GPA. And a second adding some schools based on an improved score. At this point, concentrate on the schools with the current data points. Get some realistic choices, and get those applications out. </p>