<p>
</p>
<p>Actually, I kind of like Pomona as a reach school in this particular case. I think that Swarthmore and Amherst would be the most similar East Coast “reach” schools to Pomona for this particular student. I would include Williams as a similar “reach” to Pomona as well, but for a different kind of student. The small public charter school background from an area like Fresno is probably a better fit with schools that place a little heavier emphasis on socio-economic diversity. Pomona, Swarthmore, and Amherst would all be signficant reaches, but I think that all three are places that would value the perspective and experiences that Fresnomom’s son offers. All three are schools known to offer very attractive need-based aid packages. I don’t think they are implausible reaches, especially when there are UC schools as likely acceptances.</p>
<p>The liberal/conservative criteria is problematic because most schools that have conservative flavor got that way by specfically catering to a wealthier and whiter customer base – sometimes by choice, sometimes by fiscal necessity. </p>
<p>I defer to Carolyn on “match” and merit aid schools, particularly on the West Coast and midwest. The only caveat is that many “merit-aid” schools focus heavily on SATs as a criteria.</p>
<p>Fresno-mom: Don’t worry about a school being affluent. That’s kind of a given when at least 50% of the students don’t qualify for financial aid at all with student bills at $40k per year! The harder trick is to identify schools that have any socio-economic diversity to speak of. Even between schools that have similar demographics, one can “feel” distinctly more affluent than the other. For example, I suspect that the notably conservative Pepperdine feels extremely affluent on campus, probably more so than Pomona.</p>