slipper1234

I really would consider a few schools right below Harvard and Princeton. I think she might have a great shot at these types of places. She also might like Haverford or Swarthmore which seems to fit her personality.

katliamom

I found princetonreviews's counselor-o-matic (or whateve it's called) notoriously unreliable. The Ivies and other highly selective schools kept popping up on my daughter's 'good match' list -- even though she really was not an Ivy-caliber candidate.

I heard that actually, Harvard, Princeton and Yale rarely used to appear as 'matches' on princetonreview, and that those schools put pressure on princetonreview to change that -- because they felt it was discouraging students from applying. This probably is an urban myth, but stranger things have happened.

collegealum314

"Notre Dame, Davidson, Vanderbilt, Emory and U Chicago would not be matches for anyone. Those are reach schools. They are all highly selective."

I don't agree with that at all. If you have 1500+/1600 SAT, perfect GPA in the hardest courseload, plus decent EC involvement, I would expect to get into these places. They aren't automatic like safeties, but I would say they most probably would get in.

galoisien

Chicago is really more of a reach, not so much more because of stats than because applicant pool is increasing at such a fast rate that more and more they are more likely to waitlist people they would have taken in 3 or 4 years ago -- basically, admissions is becoming more arbitrary (characteristic of any reach school).

collegealum314

^^perhaps, but I think it's a little bit much to characterize all of them as reaches.

huguenot

I'd say consider Washington and Lee. It has a reputation as a party school, but it has some extremely active Christian groups on campus (General's Christian Fellowship and Reformed University Fellowship have very large groups compared to the size of the college) and my ds met quite a few serious Christians there during the scholarship weekend. All classes are faculty-taught (10 or 11 to 1 ratio) and very small compared to my alma mater. They have eliminated loans this year, meet need extremely well, and give away a ton of scholarships. Hard to beat.

Erin's Dad

KentuckyMom, I don't know if you are more interested in colleges with good need based aid or merit aid. If need based, certainly look at some top U's/Colleges like the Ivys. If you're income is not in the need area there are some great schools that will offer good merit aid to your daughter. Go to the financial aid forum and look at the sticky at the top for colleges with good merit aid.

Hindoo

I'm also a Kentucky mom--with a freshman and sophomore (daughters) at Carleton College in Minnesota and College of Wooster in northern Ohio. ... Your daughter's "credentials" are wonderful by any yardstick or measure. As you undoubtedly know, the Ivies are a longshot for anyone, no matter how accomplished or high their scores and grades are. If she's a conservative and very Christian girl, she might also consider such top-notch liberal arts colleges as Washington and Lee, Davidson, Furman, and Colgate. Keep in mind, though, that even the most liberal, non-religious-oriented schools will have a niche that will suit her to a "t." My Carleton daughter has a wonderful, very conservative Christian roommate. Our family is politically liberal and quite Jewish! They get along famously, and her roommate has also found a number like-minded students at this very "liberal-leaning" school. ... My point is, that your smart, talented daughter will find her "place" almost anywhere she goes!

ThatMom

If she is interested in Emory check into the Emory Scholars program - her counselors will have to do some work and it requires an additional essay by the ED date (but it is not ED). Furman is a solid school, and shoudl be close to a safety for her, also has a scholarship program that she could apply for.

There is a great variance in size on her list, Furman is around 2,600 students and Davidson has around 1,000. Centre is also very small.

I think 10 is a reasonable number of applications, if you find a safety she really loves and can get in EA.

huguenot

Also, a suggestion: When you visit colleges, do some research and contact the leader or campus minister for a Christian group you may be interested in and make an appointment with them on the visit day. We found this *very* enlightening about the true state of things at a college for Christians and moved some schools up and some down on our list. It was important to my ds that the Christian groups be active and engaged and not dwindling.

IsabelB

furman is definitely a safety...i have fairly similar scores- 2250 sat and 32 act- and based upon my grades and scores alone have already been offered a scholarship to furman and im a junior (although i wont be taking them up on the offer and applying) anohter thing....be sure to have her do her own investigation...the computer picked those schools for her and she shouldnt apply to them just b/c a machine thought she would fit in- i say that this is just a starting point, giving some general ideas. she shouldnt rule out schools to apply to just because they arent on that list

kentuckymom

Thanks guys, all of your comments are very appreciated and helpful. We didn't originally get the list of colleges on my first post from the counselor-o-matic, we came up with the list ourselves and just looked at how they classified them as reaches, matches, etc. based on her input. We've actually visited all of them except Princeton, Yale, Emory and UK over the past few months. Sounds like a lot but it was actually quite fun, we combined the visits with other trips or enroute on vacations. We knew she would have such a busy fall her upcoming senior year with marching band, very heavy courseload and with essays, apps, etc., thought it would help to narrow things down some. She didn't know starting off if she wanted big or small, urban or suburban, religious affiliation or not, etc., but wanted to try to stay within 8-hour driving radius of home. The list we have now is still so varied though, because she likes all of them for different reasons! I would guess though, that her top 5 (not counting the Ivies!) are probably Davidson, Wake Forest, Wheaton, Notre Dame and Washington U. Loved the history curriculum at Hillsdale but didn't like the town, didn't have a very good visit at Vandy, Centre seemed to have too high of instate enrollment, Chicago she loved but felt it a little "intimidating", Furman maybe not "serious enough". I particularly liked Wheaton, but because of the Conservatory there, she is afraid that she won't be able to participate in any of the ensembles because the competition will be so high for a non-music major against extremely talented Conservatory students. We are fortunate that financial aid isn't a great consideration, but of course would love to see her get lots of merit aid! She's not opposed to being further from home, especially if there is a major airport close by. Sorry for such a long post, but any ideas any of you have for additional colleges to look at, or ones to take off our list, are greatly appreciated! Just checked to see who has EA--only Wheaton, Hillsdale, Centre, Notre Dame, and UChicago. Yale does, but it's "single EA"--can't apply to other EA's if they notify before 12/31 (Notre Dame, Wheaton, and Chicago all notify before 12/31).

huguenot

Kentuckymom--

Check out Amazon.com: Choosing the Right College: 2008-2009: The Whole Truth about America's Top Schools (Choosing the Right College): John Zmirak, Walter E. Williams: Books It is the single most useful thing we read to narrow down *and* expand our list. They deal with the core curriculum and educational issues in a way other guides don't, and also discuss how comfortable a conservative may be on campus.

galoisien

"The Right College"

hahahahahahahahaha

(Sorry, I had to.)