I’m helping my son firm up his list of colleges to apply to. He’s currently a HS junior. We are in NoVA, and he’s looking for schools (wants to double major in Creative Writing and History - can be English major with a concentration in CW or English major with CW minor) 4-6 hours away from home at the most (public or private). We have another son in college OOS and so bonus if a college is generous with merit! We do not qualify for financial aid.
His stats:
4.3 W GPA (1 B in MS in Geometry which appears on his HS transcript and currently have a B+ in AP Calc AB, rest are all As)
740 RW, 670 M (1410) and will retake. 1490 PSAT score, possibly Commended
AP classes so far taken - AP World, AP Seminar, AP Lang, AP Calc AB, APUSH. Senior year - AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Research, AP Stats, AP Econ, maybe APES, plus Symphonic Band since freshman year. Has 4 years of Spanish up to Adv Spanish IV.
He’s in NHS, Rho Kappa (Social Studies Honor Society) and he’s the writing editor for his school’s Lit Mag. He’s applying for the Editor in Chief position for senior year for the Lit Mag.
He recently got accepted to Kenyon’s Young Writers Summer Residential Workshop for this summer! Volunteers for food pantry, tutors fellow classmates, and in marching band since freshman year and plays 2 instruments.
Awards/Recognitions - All District, All County Band since freshman year, various school awards for academic excellence and in band.
So far on his college list:
Safeties: JMU (they have a minor in CW), GMU, Susquehanna, UofDelaware
Targets (not 100% sure if these are considered targets for him): VT, Pitt, UMD, GWU, PSU
Reaches: UVA, U of Richmond, W&M, Kenyon, Lehigh, Bucknell
He is looking at CMU, JHU, UPenn, Cornell, but understands that they’re very high reaches for him and doesn’t want to bother if he doesn’t even have a chance. He’s your average kid who writes everyday, just discovered writing workshops and writing contests (I know, very late in the game!), so he wants to apply to colleges within his reach.
Can someone look at this list and help us delete/add/revise it? @AustenNut - can you please suggest others or delete some off his list? Thanks in advance! Much appreciated!
He loves VT when we visited. He’s not sure yet how he feels about big vs. small schools. He’s open to both. Leaning more towards a traditional campus, unsure about urban campuses but liked Pitt.
He does have W&M as a reach school. Thanks for suggesting CNU and Mary Washington!
Budget concerns, we can manage paying up to 50k per year, but obviously prefer to pay less!
Look into Emory and Emory Oxford (2 years at smaller campus for majors’ pre-reqs in small classes then upper level classes at Emory Atlanta). Emory is nationally known for CW and history.
Scholarships
Hamilton is outstanding for Writing and History.
Denison’s Writing program is very strong.
Pitt, PSU, and UVermont (? Is that the one you meant?) aren’t generous with merit scholarships at all. Pitt tends to favor 1500s SAT; PSU is both stingy&idiosyncratic in who receives Provost scholarships and Schreyer Scholars only receive 5k (top-notch Honors College, selection based on essays so playing to his strength.)
I assumed flying as well as driving indeed because Pitt would be 8+ hours depending on where in NoVa they live. But if driving only yes it limits more than I thought.
CTCL colleges in the Va-MD-Del-PA area + in state publics would become primary targets.
ETA: just saw your comment about driving only (after posting).
Can he keep a couple universities that are a bit farther away on his list just in case? How he feels 6 months from now may make the limits seem a bit artificial/restrictive compared to excellent options.
As @tsbna44 said, Iowa is top notch for writing and it’s a safety for his stats even for Honors (there’s a regents index and you can calculate but he definitely meets the threshold for automatic admission, he could apply on the day the app opens and have an answer in his pocket before starting his senior year; I think OOS applicants need 260 points to have automatic admission.)
If you need to keep to $50k/year, you should remove Lehigh, Bucknell, Richmond from your list. They offer very little merit and are much higher in cost. Although Bucknell does have a wonderful writing center and program.
Ursinus has a $40,000 scholarship for creative writing AND you get to live in the dorm room once occupied by JD Salinger. It’s a pretty cool opportunity.
From this list, I’d remove Pitt, UMD, GW, UMD, Penn State, Kenyon, Lehigh and Bucknell. I’d also remove CMU, Penn, Cornell and JHU. None of these have any chance or only a sliver of a chance to hit budget. I’d personally drop Kenyon too although I know people like it for writing. It’s so opposite the Va Tech /Pitt and it’s not gonna hit.
Your best bet will be in state including CNU and UMW.
You can take a chance on Cornell’s neighbor, Ithaca College. It’s a safety. But it’s also dicey to hit $ Gettysburg, Dickinson are a small chance to hit for LAC (like Kenyon). Susquehanna should. I would look at Juniata, Allegheny or Wooster above Kenyon based on hitting budget. Both Wooster and Kenyon are a tad over 6 hrs to Fairfax.
Binghamton, Ohio U and WVU are other publics that would work. Salisbury in MD will too. For small, St Mary’s, the Honors College of Maryland.
I think these are majors - the big name doesn’t matter. Cost definitely does.
Kenyon has merit scholarships and tries to attract writing talent. if the outer limits of what’s acceptable for distance, it’s about 8 hours from Northern Virginia.
Guessing from the distance VT was Virginia Tech not Vermont
Pitt and PSU likely won’t offer enough - Pitt for sure and PSU only if his essays are really good (but it plays to his strengths). Right now Pitt is about 51k so doable without scholarship and PSU 56K so would require Schreyer (or other scholarship). But I’d expect +2-3k Fall 2026.
GWU I agree is unlikely to offer sufficient merit. AU can be a good substitute and they do offer Merit.
BU and NYU are the other super urban colleges. Not within distance but Macalester and UMN would be super urban and offer merit.
Gettysburg was a good suggestion, worth visiting on the way to Kenyon&Denison.
Among the PA colleges, Gettysburg, Lehigh, Bucknell are closer in vibe, Lafayette and Dickinson on the other end, and F&M in the middle. So perhaps include these if organizing a trip to visit and figure out where the odds of merit scholarships may be best?
I disagree wrt to name: these are EXACTLY the majors where name matters. English, writing, or History majors depend on their college’s alumni network, its reputation and pull within these fields, a career center that takes Humanities majors’needs into account, etc.
The further away from CS/Engineering you are, the more it matters also for the experience due to the nature of the subjects - you want engaged, well-read peers because the quality of class discussions depend on classmates; you also want classes designed to stretch you&said peers, not your “never read a book in his life” classmate nor “couldn’t hack it in General Business, don’t know what to do, I’ll pick English and skate by” students. If the university is highly selective, you know no one got in who can’t do a good job. Same thing for specific “Honors” type programs for your subject of interest.
The difference is HUGE between different universities.
SB has a rep as a suitcase school. But if checking out SB, check Hofstra. It’s net price calculator will give you a cost. I did it. $46k. It has a similar rep but they do attract from a distance.
Bing and Geneseo would be the most hospitable to a Writing/History major.
SB is “suitcase” (students go home on weekends) and is science-focused (each SUNY has an area of strength, on purpose.)
S26 wants to keep Pitt on his list and delete PSU. Getting accepted to Kenyon’s Writers Workshop this summer has piqued S26’s curiosity and so far likes what he sees at Kenyon so for now, keeping it on his list despite the distance, he says!
Yes, VT is Va Tech, not VT
Thanks for suggesting to look at AU, Macalester, UMN.
What spectrum do you mean by Gettysburg, Lehigh, Bucknell on one end, Lafayette, Dickinson on the other end, and F&M in the middle?
I appreciate the insight into how the name of the school matters for humanities majors! Very good point! Thank you!
I had no idea SB is considered a “suitcase” school! S26 wouldn’t like that. He’s also considering deleting GMU too for that reason…Thanks! Thanks for suggesting Geneseo. Is Bing the same?
The issue with all these is budget. Gettysburg, does have a few ways to hit costs. I don’t think the rest.
I’ll disagree with you on the school name. Short of going to a UVA to get into consulting etc, history doesn’t translate well economically to the job market. I have a degree from Syracuse Maxwell. It’s just a reality.
Kenyon had a nice career page. First jobs. It’s no longer. Now just people stories but I’ve read them all b4. Sound great. But low paid. I wonder if that’s why they removed it was job titles and organizations.
Use UNC as a UVA sub, for history the media is $47k. English $44k. And not a lot of hiring in either.
Just another opinion. But in this case, my comments are really due to budget and given the majors that’s a smart move. I think they will have in state options or a Bing or Ohio U as a safety so they can easily hit budget. I’m guessing the LACs will be too small for someone who loves Va Tech and Pitt anyway.
@OP I think Bing is ok. SB is on the island - so population density, hence the rep. But the school has grown on the national stage thanks to STEM so may be fine. Geneseo is like a CNU Or UMW. Solid. Right at 6 hours. CNU is nice, great dorms, food. Virginians are really lucky in regards to publics, more than you realize. UMW has the writing major.
.
if the outer limits of what’s acceptable for distance, it’s about 8 hours from Northern Virginia.
