Are there LACs I should add to son's list?

Did you ever consider William & Mary in your home state of VA? A bit larger, but smallish class sizes and good in his areas of interest.

I suggested Trinity University in Texas a couple months ago. The more I read about his personality profile and his areas of interest, the better that fit sounds. Plus, you are guaranteed to get a certain amount of merit aid. Simply plug in grades and test scores and they will tell you up front what he would receive.

Your S shares some parallels to our S, and he has transitioned beautifully at Trinity and loves the CS department.

Good luck!

Holy Cross is very much an LAC and worth considering. The vibe there is collaborative not competitive and that was emphasized on the tours. We know people who went there and were very happy. Vassar as a reach would be good because it is ‘easier’ to double major there since there are few distribution requirements. We have lots of experience at Vassar and it is definitely collaborative not competitive. We got a really good vibe at Susquehanna, Lafayette and Washington College as collaborative not competitive during the tours a few years back.

@CoyoteMom, the kids at Lafayette to me looked pretty much like the average kid at my daughters’ Massachusetts public high school - neither too artsy, too preppy etc, though it could be that kids from other areas might think of that as preppy. But I didn’t get the private school waspy vibe I did at a few other schools and we’ve found the kids pretty down to earth and friendly so far. My daughter played sports in HS but was by no means a star and none of her friends at Lafayette are on the athletic teams. She isn’t sure about Greek life yet but they don’t rush until sophomore year anyway so she has time to make that decision. Her roommate is the second child in her family to attend Lafayette - older sibling is there, neither are on sport teams or in Greek life.

DD has a very good friend at Bates and he is very happy there, but he IS on lacrosse team so it may well be that sports are pretty dominant there, not sure. Admissions is pretty selective these days from what I hear though your son seems to be in line with DD friend’s stats.

Chemusic mentioned Holy Cross in Worcester, which isn’t a bad suggestion, but I was also going to recommend you look at Clark University, which despite the name is under 3000 students. It may not be as well known on CC but is very well regarded and highly ranked, has a great mix of kids (15% international) and from what I can see doesn’t have greek life. Kids who go there seem to be very happy and despite being in central MA isn’t too hard to get to, with trains, an airport and right by the intersection of MA pike and 95 so not isolated.

Best of luck and feel free to ask more questions about Lafayette if I can be of help

"Based on visiting, son has rejected Wesleyan, Hamilton, Skidmore, Clark U, Ursinus, and Goucher, and Univ. Of Mary Washington. "

@CoyoteMom It might be helpful to understand what it is about these schools that knocked them off your son’s list in order to make good recommendations.

I’d agree with Clark and Denison as worth looking at and maybe F&M although both F&M and Denison are in the 30’s for acceptance rates so maybe not as matchy as you might want. Overall it seems a nice list…do you really need more than 10 or is it just that it’s too reach heavy? Mulhenberg would be a match, I didn’t see that one mentioned. If he likes all the safeties, I’d question if you really need more.

Nevermind- just saw Clark was visited and rejected.

We really don’t need any more reach schools, so I think we can take Grinnell and Bates off the list @incoming406, those statistics about %age of varsity athletes was eye opening, both at illustrating the reach, but also the sporty vibe.
We’ll keep Macalaster.
I don’t think we need any more safeties - Son really likes Juniata. Haven’t actually visited Allegheny, but it is closer than Denison or any other Ohio school, and strong in Son’s likely interests.

I think it likely that Lafayette and F&M and Dickinson are most likely candidates for “matches” on statistics alone, and we’ll just have to visit to figure out if Son is comfortable.
Keeping in mind that Son is quirky…so his “rejections” are all great schools for the right kids: Wesleyan - the individual students seemed very intense in 2-3 wildly different areas at a time. Skidmore and Bard - too artsy, too many smokers. Hamilton was just a little off -,Son didn’t like the "we have fraternities, but no houses, so they are an exclusive club, but school makes sure they hold inclusive parties. It’s a reach anyway. We saw Clark U right after WPI - son didn’t like that it was in a more run-down section of Worcester. (I was disappointed, cause what’s not to like about a 5th year free master’s? But this was first school he felt really uncomfortable right away).

At Ursinus, he thought it was too many jocks/sporty students, plus he felt that the students in the particular History class he sat in on were just not giving off an intellectual vibe. At Goucher - it was more comfortable, but seems like science is not as deep there as theater and dance. At Univ Of Mary Wash, just not intellectual enough - too many pre-professional types, despite lovely campus.
Of course, I went to UVA myself, and that’s why we know both UVA and VA Tech are too big and impersonal. William and Mary of course has great history, but not sure about Comp Sci/ Env Sci; will give it another look.
I think what will resonate best with Son is a school where students who enjoy discussion in class so much that it spills over into discussions in the dorms; preferably students who are down-to-earth, and just nice people, with a big enough percentage of people not there to party nor attend big sporting events.

What son liked best about Brandeis and Juniata, besides the classes he attended, was the selection of “nerdy” clubs or acticities we heard about from the student tour guide (quidditch and cheese tasting club and the “let’s put on a play with 24-hours notice” at Brandeis - nerf gun battles on the quad and I’m not sure what else mentioned by the Admissions Counselor during his interview for Juniata).
So smart engaged kids, willing to do silly things for fun…
Maybe we have enough schools on the list…it seems like he’ll get into Juniata (they just gave him a phone call in addition to the various emails/junk mail)…I just though maybe I’d overlooked something between Haverford/Brandeis and Juniata…
Thanks for all the work wonderful suggestions (I had thought the Trinity was the one in CT…will take a look at Texas, but likely the weather is too hot…

Oh also - both St Mary’s of MD and Susquehanna seem like more safety schools; we have been looking at Washington College’s website on and off (Both Washington and Dickinson have been sending lots and lots of emails; not sure that either one would bump Juniata-- but pretty sure Washington just sent an email for free application, so might add them to the list).
New College of Florida is definitely too hot for weather, and Holy Cross is just too Roman Catholic, though it is indeed in the nicer part of Worcester, and otherwise would be a good fit.
And I think Vassar is likely too artsy, and definitely feels like a reach…just trying to see if we kind find something below the upper-to second tier LACs, but above Colleges that Change Lives level we’ve seen in our admittedly Northeastern area - I get the impression that we might be doing better at finding a match outside the Northeast (Which is how Carleton and Macalester got added to the list, because they sound so great, even though we haven’t yet visited).

Definitely add Bucknell to your list to research. Seems like it would be a good ‘high match’. Should consider Lehigh too.

Trinity and Wooster will definitely give your son good merit (20k+ range), but those would be more in the ‘safety’ range for him.

Schools like Lafeyette (and Lehigh) and F&M may be too ‘athletic’ for his taste, but go visit and keep an open mind. Aid will be harder to come by at these.

Many of the PA schools offer decent merit (~% of students with merit - Juniata 25% 20k, Muhlenberg 40% 12k, Gettysburg 17% 12k, Bucknell 10% 13k, Lafayette 8% 25k, F&M, ), others don’t (Lehigh 5% 13k, F&M 1% 8k) and certainly not the tippy-tops like Haverford, Swat and Penn (maybe 1-5 students get any merit).

Use collegedata site to research the ‘money matters’ for all your schools. Also look at collegefactual site to see how favorably some of these schools stack up overall. look at the listing by state.

To compare admission selectivity, you may want to consider not only the admission rates but also the average stats. At least for the class of 2015-16, Macalester freshmen entered with average SAT scores higher than Bates freshmen (even though Bates is test optional and Macalester is not.) Mac may be attracting applicants with slightly stronger academic qualifications, more of whom apply (and matriculate) to even more selective colleges. That would account for Mac’s lower yield. Or, it may be that Bates is emphasizing other qualifications besides scores.

@CoyoteMom it sounds like Whitman would be worth considering…“I think what will resonate best with Son is a school where students who enjoy discussion in class so much that it spills over into discussions in the dorms; preferably students who are down-to-earth, and just nice people, with a big enough percentage of people not there to party nor attend big sporting events.”

Someone suggested Lehigh and Bucknell. But if your son is looking for low Greek/party environments, those really don’t fit the bill

I’ll second the Whitman recommendation and add Lewis and Clark.

I would revisit the idea of University of Rochester - I think your son would like it based on his interests. And I think Bucknell and Lehigh are way too fratty for the type of student you are describing.

Yield can also be manipulated by colleges. Examples are admitting a large portion of the class through binding early decision, or playing the level of applicant’s interest game to reject “overqualified” students.

I’m so grateful for the generous time everyone spends sharing their advice!

Here’s where we are:
Reach: Haverford, Brandeis.
Adding: Carleton + Macalaster (will visit in Dec)
Safety: Juniata, WheatonMA, GMU
Adding: Allegheny
Match: Conn. College
Adding:???
Was looking for just one more match: closest fits (for both selectivity and travel distance from VA) seem to be Lafayette, Franklin&Marshall, and Dickinson. Best way to judge would be a PA road trip; without actually visiting, am leaning toward Lafayette.
Am also keeping an open mind on Bates and Univ. of Rochester, though they seem more reach-y to me. Might add if Son decides against Carleton and/or Mac after visiting, or if he finishes all his other writing supplements early.
Whew - I think we have a good list, where Son will be relatively happy with the “fit” at any of these schools…here’s hoping he’ll have choices in the Spring!

Based on zero visits but too much time on CC, my hunch is that Dickinson, Bates and URochester would be better fits with the rest of his list than F&M and maybe Lafayette.

@CoyoteMom Many of these have been mentioned up thread so I’m going to add my 2 cents about where a good fit might be found. My D17 is smart, introverted, collaborative and non-cut throat, not a partier, not interested in Greek life, doesn’t care about sports, doesn’t like intense urban environments, and is quirky/nerdy but not self-consciously hipster. As she shares many qualities with your S, I thought our experience might be helpful. However, I can’t speak to the quality of CS programs as that’s not her interest.

I strongly agree with @porcupine98, that Dickinson and U Rochester would be good fits.

If you are looking for merit money, you will not find it at Haverford, Conn College, Carleton, or Bates.

If you are seeking merit money and are going to Minnesota in December (brrrr!), do take a serious look at St. Olaf. Chances of significant merit aid are good for your S. The religious aspect is there but not heavy handed; I know atheists who have been happy there. It is technically a “dry” (more like “damp”) campus and there is no Greek life. My non-religious daughter has applied and the admissions staff could not be more caring and personal in their approach. We visited over the summer and per their policy got our own student tour guide who personalized our tour according to D’s interests. When she met with a local rep recently at her school, he knew she had visited and mentioned her interviewer by name.

Very strong in math and science, beautiful campus, reasonably easy access to the Twin Cities and I believe it is theoretically possible (but not easy due to quarter/semester scheduling) to cross register at Carleton for a course or two.

I also wouldn’t write off College of Wooster (unless the CS offerings are not sufficiently robust)

Dickinson and Muhlenberg are also great bets and less distant options for your family, assuming CS checks out.

My D loved Mac - it has a fairly significant culture of citizen engagement/political liberalism.

Finally, it’s not a LAC, but Case Western in Cleveland is a smaller university (about 5-6K undergrads), offers good merit, has lots of nerdy gamers and is strong in pre-professional programs like engineering and nursing, as well as in liberal arts offerings. Once admitted, you can switch easily across colleges without having to reapply to get into specific majors. Good merit possibilities. Demonstrated interest is important. It attracts a similar applicant pool to Rochester.

I would say the Carleton cross registration is the exception not the rule. It’s actually very hard and perhaps 1 or 2 students do this at most.

Yes, students apply ED voluntarily. However, a college has some power over the percentage of its admission offers that go to ED applicants (although it may be constrained by the number and strength of those applications).

For the 2015-16 entering freshman class, 121 out of 2353 Macalester admission offers went to ED applicants.311 out of 1231 admission Bates offers went to ED applicants. So, the percentage of admission offers that went to ED admits was much greater at Bates than it was at Macalester. This of course would result in a higher yield for Bates.

I don’t think we can conclude from this data that either school is absolutely more desirable.
IMO, Bates and Mac are peer schools. In building an application list, there are more significant differences for the OP than the yield rates (such as the northeast v. midwest location, city v. town setting, or estimated net price). St. Olaf may be more desirable than either one if merit aid is a very important factor.