@mamom - how do you let admissions know you are if you’re not taking the tour?
@eb23282 Often you can just walk into the admissions office and sign in. We did that when we self-toured BU.
Some colleges don’t care or track, but some do.
They can be truthfully need-blind with respect to evaluation of individual applicants in the admission processes. However, they can be (and presumably are) need-aware with respect to their overall classes when setting up their admission processes and criteria in the first place. Heavy use of ED, greater bump for legacy, favoring “preppy sports” and other high SES extracurriculars over working to help support one’s family, requiring CSS Noncustodial Profile for financial aid, considering level of applicant’s interest, etc. can all be used to tip the admissions class toward lower financial aid need.
Wesleyan is a virtual museum of American architectural styles. If you don’t see it, ask for it:
http://newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/tag/campus-buildings/
And, last I looked, it had the highest research and development (R&D) expenditures among The Little Three (Amherst, Williams and Wesleyan)
https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=view&fice=1424
https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=view&fice=2115
https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=view&fice=2229
And, Genomics is one of its specialties:
http://www.wesleyan.edu/bio/researchareas/genomics.html
@circuitrider I love Wesleyan, always have. Several of my friends went there or have children there. But those figures are kind of misleading. Wesleyan has almost twice the enrollment of Amherst, including 400 graduate students (Amherst has zero). It would be very unusual if Amherst had higher cumulative research expenditures. Per student, however, the result is different. Moreover, a higher percentage of Amherst graduates go on to get PhDs in the biological sciences (and science in general) than do Wes students, and Amherst is about to open a spectacular new science center.
But yes, Wes would be a great choice for OP…
@ThankYouforHelp - It’s true that Wesleyan is bigger than Amherst and Williams, but, it isn’t because they have more science students; Wesleyan has more departments and academic centers in general. According to College Navigator, the Little Three have virtually the same number of science majors:
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=wesleyan+u&s=CT&id=130697#programs
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=amherst&s=MA&id=164465#programs
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=williams+college&s=MA&id=168342#programs
No, that’s not how it works. Reed is need blind (meeting full need) until the financial aid budget is exhausted, then they admit full payers. Other, but not all, private schools do it this way.
@circuitrider I love Wesleyan! And for some reason didn’t know that Wesleyan was grouped with Amherst & Williams. Thank you so much for this information it is very helpful
@ThankYouforHelp Thank you for the information, especially about Amherst PhDs and their science center!
That Amherst science center has been a long time coming. Seems like just about every peer LAC built one years ago.
A little history:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/07/09/amherst-college-canceled-science-center-exposes-tension-between-vision-cost/89xffBujQhiIyDIFWwoLYO/story.html
Amherst’s new 250,000 sq ft Science Center opens in a month. Here is a live stream of the construction (also a link to a nice live stream of the 1st year quad). https://www.amherst.edu/visiting/amhcams/science-center/science-center-2
As a safety, my Reed-loving kid also applied to U of Puget Sound, and they were extremely generous, and that was just with merit aid. It seemed like it would be a good LAC for STEM, with Seattle access for fun and internships.
OP,
You wrote that you live in KY. Will you apply to Centre just so that you have one in-state option and one definite match among your reachy (or as another called it, stretchy) schools? Have you visited Centre?
I get the whole wanting to go away to college, and I am certainly not arguing against that. I just want to make sure that you realize that you have one outstanding LAC right there in your home state: Centre. Really, it might be one of the finest schools that doesn’t get much love on this site. But it should.
@Hapworth I’ve seen Centre in passing, but I haven’t been on the full tour yet. I’m not ruling it out and I think it’s lovely… outside of just wanting to go to school out of state my family is planning to move out of state once I finish high school (“location TBD”). Nevertheless, I think I’ll be officially touring Centre in the fall.
You may be wrong about what Safety schools offer.
Just as an example:
Earlham College offers full aid for the lowest income students. They have merit money, and alumni scholarships, and they guarantee their aid over 4 years, if you meet the qualifications. They also have the prestigious Bonner Scholat program. They also cap loans and include more grants for the lowest income students.
And… study abroad programs and May Terms can be covered by financial aid. Earlham also has incredible funding opportunities for research, and their Epic program guarantees every single student a paid internship or research opportunity, funded by the college through a dedicated endowment.
And those are not a small things to consider while you are doing your college math.
But… you won’t find any of that in the generic college calculators for Earlham College.
So… you may not really be understanding what schools actually offer, if you are just using the college calculator.
You don’t have to use a generic calculator when Earlham has its own at http://earlham.edu/financial-aid/tuition-and-costs/estimate-your-cost/ .
Earlham’s net price calculator estimates a net price of $13,005 ($5,500 student loan + $2,300 student work + $5,200 parent loan + $5 remaining) for a 4.0/36 student from a $25,000 income family. That is somewhat stretchy for “full aid”.
I believe @BB point, @ucbalumnus , is that the available aid for study abroad and May term and such aren’t in the calculator - theirs or a generic.
Agree that a $25K income family contribution of $5200 is high especially when combined with a fairly high student contribution.
@ucbalumnus
I agree that it would be a “stretch” to call that full aid.
Except, as I said before, those generic college calculators are often wrong. And, true in this case, which is the exact example I was using to make my point… because this is the number Earlham’s calculator gave you… and, yet, they actually cover full COA for the lowest income students.
I have multiple low-income former students at Earlham right now who have packages that are about 2k OVER full-tuition + fullroom-and-board.
This is exactly the point I wanted to make for the OP, so that was perfect that you found the calculator and didn’t mind running it. I didn’t feel like messing with it. Thanks for the diligence; good looking out! You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din… 
If Earlham makes *its own/i net price calculator too pessimistic compared to its actual offers, then it is not marketing itself well. Prospective students may conclude that it is too expensive and not apply.
However, is it possible that Earlham gives better aid to some in the form of competitive merit scholarships and/or preferential packaging, but worse aid to others as estimated by its own net price calculator? If so, then only the former are likely to choose Earlham, while the latter are likely to have found it too expensive and gone somewhere else.
@aphroditeayelet My D17 was interested in LACs and we toured many in the midwest. She is very happy at Oberlin as a second year student - feel free to PM me if you have questions.
Among her match/low reach schools were Dickinson, College of Wooster and St. Olaf. St. Olaf has an excellent record of placement for STEM grad programs and med school. Small town, beautiful campus, about 3,000 students and I believe financial aid is good. You might also be in range for one of their merit scholarships. Not sure about financial aid at Wooster. Dickinson meets 95% or thereabouts of demonstrated need.
I would run the NPC at Reed before you rule it out. However, it has a reputation for grade deflation, which could be a factor if you are considering med school.
As others have mentioned, Wesleyan is often compared to Reed and Oberlin and might be another interesting option, but also a reach. You might also consider Grinnell (low reach), Beloit or Lawrence (match).