Which LACs match this description?

College Search & Selection
1

I never thought of myself as the type of person that would go to a small college, but I realized recently that I could really thrive at one. I don’t know much about LACs or the differences between them, so I would really like to get some suggestions.

My top choice major is education, so I’d love to hear about LACs with teaching programs, but I’m also considering a few other majors: psychology, liberal studies, sociology, etc.

I wouldn’t at all mind a preppy atmosphere as long as the people are all nice and friendly, but I’ve been reading here and other places online that some LACs more cliquey and elitist, and that’s not the kind of college I want to go to. I’d like a school with sports teams too, but that’s not high up on my list at all. Basically, I just want a fun and friendly social environment not cold and intense.

Another thing that I care about is a college that’s not isolated. By that I mean a few things. First, I don’t want to be in a rural area, I would like to at least be in a suburb if not a city. Next, I’d like to go to a larger LAC if any match my description, maybe 2500+ students, but that’s not my top priority either. Finally, I’d prefer a spread out campus rather than a very closed in one.

Besides those things, I don’t have many other preferences. I’m willing to go anywhere in the country, and everything else seems pretty unimportant to me too. My family’s efc is around $20k, maybe less, so I will definitely need either need based or merit aid. I have an unweighted GPA of 3.7 and an SAT score of 1370 currently, and I’m aiming for top colleges. Finally, I don’t care if a college matches all of my preferences, just most of them.

Please let me know of any LACs that would be good fits for me!

2

google 33-liberal-arts-colleges-in-or-near-cities/

that’s a link to liberal arts colleges in or near cities. some are very selective (like the claremont colleges), but some are not. i suggest studying and retaking the sat if you’re able to.

look into macalester college as a good option. it’s in saint paul, and they provide merit aid. it matches nearly every criterion you listed.

Edited out link which is not permitted
ED

3

How is this different from your other thread?

4

@intparent Sorry, I really wasn’t trying to repeat my other thread. I asked about LACs and universities in that one, and this one is specifically about LACs, and I added a lot more detail in this one so that I could get better recommendations.

5

Elsewhere you define ‘top’ as “pretty much any school with a low acceptance rate and is viewed as a good school, like UCLA”. Low acceptance rates are nobody’s friend. and your stats are solid, but not ‘top’, so you need to look farther. The little we know from other threads about your strengths is that you have little in the way of school-related ECs, and that you don’t participate in class (b/c of shyness) to the extent that you are worried you won’t get good LoRs- which are also important for LACs. Do you have non-school related ECs?

You might like Colorado College- their Education program has a great reputation, and it’s on the ‘larger’ end of LACs (2000-ish). Colgate, Trinity, Skidmore and Connecticut College also have strong education programs and generally meet your criteria. You mention Middlebury, which is almost the stereotype of a rural school :slight_smile:

BUT: you need to think about what you will bring to the college. From your posts, you don’t seem to participate in class or on campus- will that change in college? LACs are typically building a class, so they are looking to have the people who will add in some way to the community, not just slip quietly on their own from class to dorm to dining hall. Be thinking about that for when you write your ‘why’ essays.

6

Wesleyan definitely jumps out for me.
If you consider Seven Sisters- Barnard, Wellesley, or Vassar might work.
You might consider a consortium such as CMC, Pomona, Mudd (though I don’t think HM would work for you), Scripps, or Pitzer as well as Harverford, Bryn Mawr, and Swarthmore.
Kalamazoo
Centre

7

Do you know where you would like to teach upon graduation? Going to a school in the state that you want to teach is very helpful with getting licensed and getting a job . Student teaching at a school is helpful in making contacts etc
good luck

8

@collegemom3717 Thanks for your response. I would like to think I could bring something to a college, but maybe you’re right that I can’t. I of course want to change and participate more in college though. Outside of school, I work as a camp counselor.

9

@elsaanna You have many good college recommendations on this and your other threads, so definitely start researching the schools, even create a spreadsheet to keep track of the attributes important to you.

You have solid academics and camp counseling is a good EC, perhaps an experience from that can even inform your essay(s). What I want you to know is that you will bring many great qualities to the school you ultimately choose, don’t ever doubt that! Many high school students can be shy in class, and like anything, it requires practice to become comfortable speaking in front of one’s peers. Continue to challenge yourself and your confidence will increase. You have a clear thought process and are an articulate writer, skills which will also serve you well. Lastly, the advice regarding LOR’s on your other thread is good, so follow up with those teachers. Build strong relationships with your senior year teachers right away, perhaps an LOR might work out there as well. Good luck and I look forward to seeing your college list refine over time and the ultimate outcome.

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Please be very clear: I am NOT saying that you can’t!! I was asking you to think about what you could or would like :slight_smile:

You are a growing, evolving person- you will change so much more than you might realize over the next 2 years (nevermind the next 5!). The thinking is not for us- it is for you (and in turn your essays): what things would you like to see in your college experience beyond it being generically pleasant?

@aphroditeayelet has some good suggestions, but I think many of them are pretty reachy for the OP.

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@collegemom3717 Yes, working hard is very important as are matches and safeties… but there’s also something to be said for falling in love with a reach and working until you get there:)

@elsaanna some others you could consider are Skidmore, Beloit, Lafayette, St. Lawrence, and Goucher. Remember that this process is all about you and setting your mind to something is always the way to go.

12

While I wouldn’t nay-say somebody following a dream, I am not a fan of the ‘falling in love’ school of college search & selection.

More relevantly, by the end of Junior year the bulk of your application profile is done- there is little that a student can do to enhance an application at this point (for the OP, possibly a higher SAT in Sept, which would help). At this stage it’s about thinking hard about what you are looking for, what you have, and identifying colleges that are a good fit.

13

Most of the CTCL (Colleges that Change Lives) schools would qualify. CTCL was a book and is now a non-profit: basically, forty private (mostly) LACs that work together, building on the buzz they got from the book. The book should be available at your library, but there’s a website and even a Wikipedia entry that will list the colleges.

These forty schools are, according to many, as good as the brand-name, “elite” LACs, but are less cutthroat admissions-wise (though there are some exceptions: Reed, Whitman, and St. Olaf have all become more selective). Nearly all of these LACs have education majors (with the required student teaching component) and plenty of students studying education.

Some CTCL schools have been mentioned upthread already: Beloit, Goucher, Kalamazoo, Centre. For transparency, I should note that I am a graduate of a CTCL school.

14

Thanks everyone! I’m hoping to become more confident and outgoing in college and I feel like an LAC, especially a top one, can help me do that.
I really appreciate all of the college suggestions. I think my favorites so far have been Claremont McKenna, Swarthmore, Colorado College, Connecticut College, St. Olaf, Macalester, Wesleyan, Washington and Lee, Bucknell, Occidental, University of Richmond, and Kalamazoo. So now I guess I just have to figure out how to narrow that down.

15
  1. Make sure each school on your list has the majors/minors/programs you want. Many LACs do not offer an Education major.
  2. Run the online net price calculators on any schools that interest you. Net cost is a major issue for most families.
  3. Review the available admission stats/criteria; eliminate any that appear to be out of reach. Claremont McKenna and Swarthmore are much more selective than Kalamazoo, for example.
16

It is great to solicit ideas here and it looks like you have a couple of threads doing just that. And there are many good suggestions. I would also recommend that you do some research on your own. If you haven’t done so yet, get your hands on some good college guide books (ex. Fiske, Princeton Review) which you can probably find at the library (or your HS guidance office when school is in session) if you don’t want to buy them and read up on different schools. You can do follow-up research on suggestions here and other schools you come across by looking at the school websites which are generally great sources of information.

17

oh, another thing to note is macalester doesn’t have an application fee if you submit your application by a certain date. (i can’t remember the date for the life of me, but i believe it’s november first.) connecticut college doesn’t have an application fee at all.

macalester also allows you to self-report your standardized test scores when applying, as does colorado college.

both of those things help to lower the amount of money you’ll be spending to apply to college. for some schools, like macalester, the only money you end up spending to apply is for sending your financial aid documents to the school. it’s pretty nice.

18

I want to second the suggestion to run net price calculators - many of the schools you list do not use the FAFSA EFC formula, and even if they do, won’t necessarily expect the $20K EFC - might be more, or less.

Also seconding the CTCL schools. A couple I thought of for you right away were **Denison/b, and College of Wooster which has the same pros and cons.

19

Based on your original post it seems like you are looking for a school with a really nice, friendly atmosphere and smallish classes. For a safety, you might want to look at University of Dayton. With your stats you would most likely be offered their top merit, honors college, and financial aid as well. When we visited, it stood out as the nicest group of unpretentious, happy, helpful, normal-looking kids. They are usually on the high end of those “Top 10 Happiest Student Body” lists. Their motto, consistent focus, brand, whatever, is COMMUNITY, and they live it. Bigger than a small LAC, smaller than any state university. My D gave their generous offer strong consideration. The grads I have met are outstanding people and very happy with their experience.

20

A lot of the women’s colleges or former women’s colleges (Skidmore, Vassar, Wheaton, Conn. College, etc.) have an education major or minor. The education minor at some schools leads to certification while at others it doesn’t. Where you want to teach may make a difference as to where you want to study too. Maine has a teaching reciprocity agreement with 40 other states so one school you might want to consider is Bates, whose ed. minor does lead to certification. It’s a bit small for your taste and Lewiston isn’t a terribly exciting city but it is a city and there are a lot of opportunities for work in the community and internships in the school system. My guess is that there are other states with reciprocity agreements so that would be something to research.

Wesleyan fits your description well but their program doesn’t lead to certification so you’d have to do a bit of work beyond the BA. St. Lawrence is a nice school but my kids thought it quite isolated. I second the idea of looking more closely at the CTCL schools. A lot of them will be in your sweet spot as match schools and many of them offer an ed. major or minor.

Another option is a small university such as Tufts or Brandeis.