<p>So I'm in 11th grade right now. I'm homeschooled, which makes it harder to compare my grades to someone else's. However, I probably have about an A-minus average. This semester, it might be more of a B+ because of some things that have been going on, but I'm already starting to work harder and I'm hoping to do better senior year. On my SATs, I got 790 reading, 720 writing, and 650 math. I'm planning on taking four college classes by the time I graduate. I've already taken one.</p>
<p>I'm looking for liberal arts colleges that are either fairly large or near big cities. I'm interested in going far from home, so location isn't really an issue. I'm not entirely sure what I want to major in, but I'm leaning toward humanities subjects instead of math. I would also be interested in a college that's politically neutral and not very liberal or conservative. </p>
<p>I'll think about financial aid when I have a general idea of what level of college I should apply to.</p>
I strongly recommend you think about the financial side first. What does it gain you to get into a college you can’t afford? Make sure you have a talk with your parents about what they feel they can afford for a school.</p>
By definition, most liberal arts colleges are not “fairly large”. There are a few bigger ones, but most are fairly small.
“I’ll think about financial aid when I have a general idea of what level of college I should apply to.” You can’t wait to think about this. There is no point in getting all revved up about colleges you can’t afford. It is just a big letdown if you do. This information will have a big impact on what kind of college you even consider applying to. So… providing some info on that would give you better choices.
If you can work hard on your math SAT and get it up to 700, you open up more choices. You will have some good choices now, but that would improve them. And improve your odds for merit aid if that turns out to be important.</p>
<p>That said, a few colleges that might be a fit:
One of the Claremont colleges (5 small liberal arts colleges nestled together in one larger campus). Scipps or Pomona (reach) seem most likely. Near LA.
Macalester (in St. Paul/Twin Cities – although they do lean liberal, but MANY colleges do)
Haverford or Byrn Mawr or Swarthmore (although Swat would be a significant reach for you unless you have a hook)
Reed (again, not sure “politically neutral” is the right description…)
<p>Many LACs are not near large cities and have student bodies that lean left.
Here are some for you to check out in the Northeast area, which do not fit your requirements.
Run the Net Price Calculators with your parents…there is no sense in falling in love with schools you cannot afford…</p>
<p>Hobart & William Smith NY
Sarah Lawrence College NY
Wheaton College MA
Connecticut College CT
Skidmore College NY
St Lawrence University NY</p>
<p>You might also look for schools that have active Young Republicans clubs.</p>
<p>Truman State is relatively large for LAC, has a low list price (even for out of state), and is known to offer merit scholarships. For humanities, it offers majors in classics, English, history, philosophy, French, German, Romance language, Russian, and Spanish. There are also various arts and social studies majors.</p>
<p>It is a small school with 1,500 students in a not-so-big city. It offers very individualized courses. The campus atmosphere is very cozy and friendly and far from being radical or conservative.</p>
<p>You may want to consider Washington and Lee University and University of Richmond (with 3,000 students & located in the suburban Richmond, a nice city). </p>
<p>There are many benefits of attending a small liberal arts college and that’s why nowadays many big state universities are tooting their honors colleges that emulate the LACs. Compared to the homeschool environment, any college with 1000+ students would be large enough to offer you a diversified environment for learning and social.</p>
<p>You might want to check out masters universities if you want merit aid/ a student body with more than 2,000 students. For some reason master’s universities, like Santa Clara University, tend to be more middle of the road (though still liberal by non college student standards) than comparable LACs.</p>
<p>thanks everyone for your suggestions!
I will definitely be thinking about financial aid in the future, but I only just started my search–there hasn’t really been enough time for me to get attached to anything in particular. I just wanted to know where to start out.</p>
<p>And that is really what we are trying to tell you… there are thousands of colleges to choose from. Probably the most unyielding criteria you need to use to filter them is cost. Work with your parents NOW to discuss what money is available for college, and also to have them help you run the Net Price Calculator at a few colleges. Maybe pick a few on the list above. But don’t wait on this, it really will drive your decision process in a big way.</p>
<p>I definitely second the idea of getting information about finances before you start really looking at schools. However, some schools that would meet your parameters include the following:</p>
<p>Rhodes–located in Memphis, strong academics
University of Richmond–larger LAC and located outside of Richmond, probably leans to the conservative side of the political spectrum if anything
Bucknell–not near a city, but on the very large side for an LAC (3500 undergraduates), beautiful school, strong academics, not particularly liberal
St. Michael’s–really nice small Catholic college right outside of Burlington Vt.
College of the Holy Cross–good school, Catholic, located in Worcester, MA</p>
<p>Thanks again, everyone. I’ll be looking into some of the colleges you’ve suggested.
To intparent: Swarthmore looks interesting. What do you think I would need to do to be under consideration? I have some good extracurricular activities, but if it’s on the level of “curing cancer” or “saving 10000 African orphans” I’ll look elsewhere.</p>