<p>Send her to St. Andrews. It’s cheaper than a full pay school in the US, chockablock with trust fund kids, and completely bereft of icky Republicans – as long as you stay away from the American tourists on the Old Course. </p>
<p>LeftoPisa, Guilford and Wooster did not depress her, and I appreciate your candor and advice.
She had read some student reviews about Wooster that turned her off slightly. However, they sent her an invitation with an application fee waiver as a priority student, so I’m going to take that as a good sign. </p>
<p>My #2 daughter was invited to Smith, and so we went. It was much different than I thought a women’s college would be. Yes, it is ‘test optional’ but that just means if you aren’t reporting your scores the rest of your application must be very high quality. Yes, they have ‘quaint’ traditions of cookies and milk and teas on the lawn with alums, but those aren’t the things that concerned me. A sign in the bathroom did: ‘Sex in the shower with either sex is not cool.’ Yep, that was a little too much for this old mom and for my 16 year old. She was asked several times while she was there which gender she identified with, and if she was gay. She felt confronted and like she had to declare right then. She was very uncomfortable with how liberal it was. She liked the traditions - cookies and milk, the a Capella groups, horses, the houses with dining halls. She loved that everything was included for the price of tuition, including horse trips to Williams, white water rafting, trips, etc. She did not like the old buildings and how ‘messy’ the campus looked because the buildings were just added as needed. Her favorite campus visit was the Air Force Academy, where everything is all planned and uniformed.</p>
<p>That daughter is not political or interested in much at an LAC (she’s studying engineering) but I found the opportunities at Smith for political science majors (as I had been) outstanding - exchanges with other schools, trips to Europe and South America, internships in Washington were numerous. I loved Amherst and UMass, and would have enjoyed taking classes at those schools through the consortium. I probably wouldn’t have picked Smith in the end because it was TOO liberal for me, but I would have been tempted because of the political opportunities.</p>
<p>By the way, that daughter is Chinese. She was invited to many of the LACs in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, etc. because she had a good gpa, she is Asian, and she plays lacrosse. She had no interest in being an Asian student at a mostly white campus JUST to help the diversity numbers, but mostly she had no interest in a midwest LAC. One of the things she likes best about the school she’s in is that no one cares about her race and she doesn’t care about theirs. I know it played no part, good or bad, in her admission. She is the only minority on her team, and the only one in her sorority pledge class. Who cares? She doesn’t, and she doesn’t want it to matter.</p>
<p>Many of the schools the OP listed have long histories, and with those histories come traditions and some of those are going to be football and greeks and cookies and milk and hoola hoops. They are part of the schools. They bring the new students together. I don’t think there will be a perfect school for OP’s daughter, so she will have to decide which things are more important to her and which she can overlook. Most schools have football, or traditions that are quaint, or greeks, or conservatives. Or they might be in Pennsylvania. I understand he’s just asking for suggestions, but the suggestions are all going to be very general because that’s all the information we’ve been given, general. Maybe someone will come up with a hidden gem, but if it is so hidden it won’t have ‘name recognition’ or be a top LAC.</p>
<p>A friend of my older daughter’s is at a school in Boston. She likes it. She participates in very little, just studies, attends religious services, and studies more. She looks down on my daughter for going to a flagship and not a highly ranked one at that. My daughter is in heaven at her school. Joined a sorority, joined swing dance club, is trying out for ice hockey, has been to a number of parties. Today, her football team recovered a fumble with 2 minutes left and went 92 yards to win by one point. My daughter has NO IDEA what the rules of football are or what the team actually did, but had a wonderful time cheering when others cheered, talking to people, wearing her school colors. Oh, and she likes her classes too. What is important to her friend is to say “I go to a top tier school.” What is important to my daughter is loving the school, being involved, being happy. She doesn’t care about the ranking at all.</p>
<p>Smith is one of the ‘edgier’ women’s colleges. MHC isn’t as far out there. Bryn Mawr is somewhere between the two (hasn’t been mentioned on this thread yet, I think – but it is in PA…).</p>
<p>Bennington. </p>
<p>Did your daughter retake the ACT? At the beginning of September, you posted that her ACT was 26.</p>
<p>We did visit Bennington, and it is a college that she is considering. Thanks for confirming this, thumper1.</p>
<p>It’s a nice liberal school, Bennington. Sounds like it might be right for your daughter. I don’t know if a 26 ACT will matter there…or not.</p>
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<p>You’re a newish poster. Many of us have doled out advice to countless people who blithely say “we’ll figure out the money when the time comes,” and then in April they (or their kids) put up woe-is-me posts about how unfair it is that they can’t pay for the dream school. It’s not about you.</p>
<p>Have your D look at Earlham, as mentioned, in addition to Beloit and Knox. Cornell (IA) has a great reputation but she has to be willing to do the one-course-at-a-time thing, which doesn’t appeal to everyone.</p>
<p>OP - We ask about income/affordability (in a general fashion) because we well know that it impacts the search method </p>
<p>Next year if you stick around you may be coaching other families with the same kinds of questions. Personally I am eternally grateful to the CC parents that helped guide our way. That’s part of the reason I stick around on CC. </p>
<p>HI - one thing to think about re: Smith and Mt. Holyoke is they are part of the five college consortium in Amherst/Northampton Mass - so even though they are women’s colleges, students at both schools can easily take classes at any of the others (the consortium also includes Hampshire, Amherst College, and UMass/Amherst). As for your list, many on the list are similar to my younger son’s list and he had similar stats to your daughter. He wasn’t interested in Hampshire/Bard/Bennington as he’s a bit more mainstream (my older son attends Hampshire and loves it) but his top three choices ended up being Bates, Clark, and Union. All three are test optional and he received really nice merit aid at Clark and Union, even though he didn’t submit test scores. (Bates doesn’t have merit aid) We all fell in love with Clark - I think had he not been accepted at Bates, which was his top choice, he likely would have ended up there. Clark is a CTCL - it has such a wonderful “feel” to it. The only negative (in my mind) was its location in Worcester - we just weren’t crazy about the neighborhood it’s in. If you have questions, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>Oh - my older son’s top two choices were Hampshire and Bennington. And it was a really hard decision for him because he liked both and both were pretty similar in terms of FA. Bennington is also test optional and Hampshire is now a “no test” college and again, both offered my older son very nice merit aid and he did not submit his test scores. </p>
<p>You asked about Clark. I know about it, as I have a family member there (not my own child). It IS indeed progressive. They like students who want to change the world. They even have a scholarship for students who have done change-the-world type of activities in high school. Students who are “quirky” tend to gravitate toward Clark, although I wouldn’t say that the majority of the student body is made up of quirky kids. Clark likes interesting kids. Students there are, in general, liberal, passionate, curious kids who are smart but did not graduate at the top of their high school class. </p>
<p>Someone remarked upthread that there are a lot of commuters. That’s not true at all. It’s similar to any other residential college. Maybe that poster got that idea because Clark gives a full scholarship to students who grew up in the local community. </p>
<p>Here are some other liberal-but not-too-hippie colleges I would suggest:
Skidmore (Saratoga Springs, NY)
Sarah Lawrence (suburb of NYC)
SUNY Purchase (suburb of NYC)
SUNY New Paltz (about1.5 hours north of NYC)
Ithaca College (western NYS)
Brandeis (near Boston)
Bates (Maine)
Allegheny (western PA)
American (D.C.)
Goucher (near Baltimore)
Macalaster (St. Paul, MN)
Beloit (southern Wisconsin)
Whitman (southeastern WA)</p>
<p>Also, these two are larger, but otherwise fit her criteria, I think:
University of Vermont/Burlington
University of Wisconsin/Madison</p>
<p>And one more that I’ll throw out there: Barnard. I KNOW she is against an all-women’s school, but Barnard is very well integrated with Columbia, and they all take classes together. I think there are even some shared dorms. and it’s liberal without being crunchy.</p>
<p>I definitely would not recommend Hobart, which was on your original list. Very preppy. Also, I wouldn’t describe Union College as liberal. It would also be a reach.</p>
<p>P.S. You know, the whole financial thing . . . it’s like if you went onto a fashion forum and asked where you could buy your daughter a dress that suits her tastes, but you don’t mention that you want to spend up to $75. If everyone recommends Nieman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and Saks, it wouldn’t be very helpful to you. People just want to make sure they give you the most helpful response. So I understand where they are coming from. On the other hand, if you are intending to pay full freight, no harm in saying it so that the whole thread doesn’t get derailed by people asking about budget.</p>
<p>ACTUALLY WESLEYAN IS PERFECT FOR HER AS THEY JUST WENT TEST-OPTIONAL 
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<p>But the 27 ACT…</p>
<p>Well…26 or 27 ACT…depends which thread you read! </p>
<p>Some of the schools listed above will be huge reaches with a 26 or 27 ACT score. </p>
<p>But this student has a couple of schools she likes where acceptance is likely…Bennington being one, and possibly Hampshire. </p>
<p>My list would be:
Wesleyan, Vassar, Brandeis, Skidmore, American, Muhlenberg, SUNY New Paltz, Goucher. And I agree that I would add Barnard since so many classes/ EC/ housing options are shared with Columbia. I would take advantage of ED1 and ED2 if $ is not an issue.</p>
<p>You are ignoring the student’s test scores…which she may improve, but hasn’t yet. Even though Wes is test optional, her GPA is only about a 3.6. I doubt that will make it into Wes. </p>
<p>Vassar, Barnard, and Skidmore are not test optional. Barnard’s 25% ACT is 28 and Vassar’s is 30, making them both reaches for this student. Skidmore’s 25% mark is 26, so it is still a reach (scores below the 50% mark), but not as high a reach as the others. </p>
<p>Muhlenberg is only test optional if the student interviews and provides a graded paper for review from 11th or 12th grade, and about 90% of their students provide test scores. The 25% mark at Muhlenberg is 25. So again… a reach (scores below the 50% mark), but a smaller reach than some of the others on the list.</p>
<p>Suny New Platz should be a match if the student is interested in it.</p>
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<p>I know you’re determined that she attend a liberal campus, but are you sure she wants to go to a school that is politically charged one way or the other?</p>
<p>Most colleges we are talking about on this thread lean to the liberal side. The list of colleges leaning conservative is pretty small in the types of LACs we are discussing (Hillsdale came up, but it is the only truly conservative college on the list I have heard so far). I wouldn’t worry too much about that part.</p>