Chiming in to recommend Rutgers-New Brunswick! I don’t know how generous they are with OOS (there is a relatively low percentage of OOS students at Rutgers when compared to peer schools), but the have a great Honors Program/College and you can’t beat the location.
Not a safety but a match: St Olaf, and speak about the Great Conversation in your application
http://wp.stolaf.edu/great-conversation/
To make it a low match, start emailing them, filling out the “request info” form. It’s in the same town as Carleton, a cool college town, and they’re known for their excellent and comprehensive outcome survey (every graduate is included so that you can see what your ROI will be.)
Macalester would be a high match to low reach but worth considering.
Kalamazoo, Ohio Wesleyan, and Wooster could all be safeties that are intellectual.
Reed and William&Mary for intellectual matches/reaches.
I do think that UMN-TC and UWisconsin are low matches if not safeties for Humanities.
Penn State has a great Honors College (Schreyer) that recruit on essays - test scores aren’t considered. However, it’s got lousy financial aid and is very expensive - it’s something like 46K OOS and Schreyer only gives you $4,500.
Philosophy and Classics (as well as French) are quite good but it’s a very large university in a college town. If you like UMN Twin Cities best because of its urban location, you may like American University better, for instance.
I had not expected so much activity.
Since I’ll be traveling East for a couple of schools, I will be sure to check out the University of Iowa. In addition, most of those liberal arts colleges seem worth investigating. They are rated very highly for their admission difficulty.
Further, @BeeDAre, I have not seriously considered a major in philosophy just because, while certainly interesting, outside of teaching philosophy or seeking law school there just does not seem to be a huge market for philosophy majors. I will certainly take some classes in Philosophy and the Classics if I find myself with money or elective slots to fill.
@doubledamn, funny you mention that school. I just got an email from Rutgers today and the second tab open right now is Niche’s report on it. Rutgers has been added to a “will-research” list.
@MYOS1634, I’ve spent a couple weeks in the Twin Cities, but had not heard of Carleton at the time and did not take the drive down to Northfield. I regret that now. If they are so close, I will definitely investigate St. Olaf.
Basically, as Carleton and Grinnell look more and more like stretches from some of the research I have been doing, they will remain, but more grounded options will be entered too.
Since several people here have listed Penn State I will be looking into that too.
If we don’t want to necro this thread, I would open another one, but I have found a small question:
How much more stringent are Honors admissions in general? As someone entering at approximately the 70th percentile, such as at Penn, Alabama, or Rutgers, are the honors programs a good bet?
UChicago if you are applying for financial aid is a free application. University of Iowa is West of Illinois not East. This year was very competitive. You are safest looking at schools were you are close to the 75th %. I assume you are not a UMR? This would help if you are
For Alabama, admission is automatic for 3.5 + 1400Cr+M. The Honors College is excellent.
Penn State Schreyer is the opposite, with only about 1:9 of these applicants, already admitted to Penn State (so an already selected group) admitted to the honors college. It’s based on intellectual curiosity as demonstrated through essays and recommendations. No weight for GPA nor SAT score, only course rigor, essays, and recommendations.
Rutgers just started a new Honors Program in order to attract better students so you may get lucky there, I don’t know their criteria.
I’m quite stupid sometimes, meant West, said East.XD
I’m thinking, though it will add quite a few hours, going west to Iowa to see Grinnell and the University of Iowa, then north on to Minnesota. Coming from the South we would hit St. Olaf and Carleton. (We have to head to Minnesota anyways to pick up a boat we had in storage, figured we would add a couple days and make the trip useful.)
@SaphireNY, I am not an URM.
Thanks, MYOS1634 for the info. Looks like I’ll have an eastward journey anyways, if I decide to visit Rutgers, out in Brunswick. Schreyer’s admission stats are a bit daunting, but I’d be willing to gamble on that. I think this thread can fade now, unless anyone else takes me up on my previous offer and starts throwing out some more schools.
Thanks again.
Rutgers honors is fairly difficult to get into, probably as tough as Penn if not tougher. You’ll be competing with the top students from NJ, who usually apply to Rutgers as a back up. If you have high test scores and a really strong hook (like a passion you’ve studied for years or you’re an outstanding minority) then you have a chance. The School of Arts and Sciences is generally weaker, but there are still kids who are applying for the hard sciences tend to be Asian with high GPAs/test scores. That being said still go for it! The program is great and the perks are definitely noticeable. Also if you do have interest in philosophy, Rutgers is repeatedly in the top three internationally for philosophy. I think it’s usually between Rutgers, Princeton and Oxford.
If you have time, you may want to look through the book by Loren Pope, “Beyond the Ivy League”.
Eh, after a little consideration, I will necro this thread just to thank you two.
Rutgers’ Philosophy program surprised me. I knew the school had a reputation of sorts, but didn’t think it had world-class anything. It seems to have a pretty good history program too, it’s drawing more interest now. Hopefully, I’ll be able to head out there.
ECMotherx2, I picked up that book. I won’t get around until reading it for a few days though, I’m reading Conrad’s Heart of Darkness first.
Moved to a 34 on the ACT, so my chances have improved slightly. It makes some of these state schools much better matches, though definitely still not safety material