College advice for '07: Because the madness is actually starting, like, for real.

Parents Forum
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<p>I’m posting in the Parents’ Forum because you guys always give such great advice. I’m trying to put together a preliminary list of colleges for next year. I’m specifically interested in New England, because I’m going there with my family for spring break, but any other recommendations are of course appreciated.</p>

<p>I’m a white female, if that matters.</p>

<p>High school: Competitive private school in Washington, DC.
Curriculum: Bilingual (English/French) International Baccalaureate Diploma.
Junior/senior year course load:
IB Chemistry HL
IB English A1 HL
IB French A1 HL
IB Biology SL
IB Mathematics SL
IB History SL
Theory of Knowledge
Journalism
GPA (unweighted): 6.3/7*
*Not comparable to the four-point scale; according to the school profile a 6 equates to an A- and a 7 to an A+. We had a kid get into Brown with a 5.8 last year.
PSAT: 232 (78CR/80W/74M)
SAT: 2160 (800CR/710W/650M – bombed the math section; I’ll retake in April and expect a math score in the low 700’s, with writing in the mid-700’s.)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:

  • Student newspaper (9th grade-present): Reporter and unofficial copyeditor; running for editor-in-chief next year.
  • Black and white photography (10th grade-present): I take classes outside of school for three hours/week, and also do independent darkroom work. No awards so far, but I’m submitting work to Shots magazine this month, and may enter some competitions if I find ones that doesn’t require permanent residency or citizenship.
  • Horseback riding (age 6-present): I’ve been taking lessons for 10 years, but don’t compete for financial reasons.
  • Yearbook staff (9th-10th grade): I quit after sophomore year because I didn’t want to split my time between two publications, and the newspaper meant more to me than yearbook did.
  • Part-time work: Babysitting (anywhere from 0-15 hours/week) and tutoring a freshman in chemistry (1 hour/week). I applied to Starbucks in early December after finally turning 16 (the age limit for most places around here), but they never contacted me about it. I just applied for a job at Borders, so hopefully that’ll work out.
  • Starting a webdesign company: I’m still working out the logistics of this one. I’ve been designing websites since sixth grade, and this is the next logical step once I figure out the “business” part of it.
  • Getting involved in research by contacting professors at local universities: Still working on this.
  • some community service
  • lots of drawing, painting, digital art, and creative writing</p>

<p>Misc. (don’t think this matters, but some of it may be useful for essays):
I’m a diplomat kid; as such, I’ve lived in four countries (Russia, Sweden, Belgium, the United States) and have at some point received instruction in seven languages (Swedish, Russian, French, Dutch, German, English, Spanish), three of which I speak fluently (Swedish, English, French). I’ve never taken a college course, but I spent the summer after my sophomore year learning how to drive a boat, fish mackerel, and navigate around the islands on the Swedish west coast. I’m politically liberal, leaning towards moderate, but I’m not an activist by any stretch of the imagination. I read all the time, about everything. I’m a pretty good writer. I will be submitting an art portfolio.</p>

<p>Academic interests:
Chemistry, neuroscience/psychiatry, biology, English, French, art. I’m all over the place.</p>

<p>I like:

  • Small or medium-sized schools
  • Intellectual environment
  • Laid-back social life; hanging out in small groups
  • Cold weather
  • Cohesive campus
  • Friendly people
  • Not needing a car
  • >2 hours from DC</p>

<p>I don’t like:

  • Large schools
  • Anti-intellectualism
  • Parties
  • Heat
  • Traffic going through campus
  • Snotty/superficial people
  • Needing a car
  • DC/MD/VA</p>

<p>Of the colleges I’ve visited, I loved Swarthmore, liked Bryn Mawr but wasn’t sure about the single-sex bit, and hated Penn.</p>

<p>Finances:
I found out recently that my parents’ employer (which paid for my private high school) has a policy of paying for one year of college. I think my parents can pay about $10,000/year for the remaining three years, Swedish student loans (extremely low-interest loans) are about $15,000/year, and I can make some money working, but I’d need aid to cover the rest. How should I handle the financial aid apps, considering I won’t actually need the aid until my sophomore year? I know it’s early to be worrying about this, but I’d feel more comfortable if I knew ahead of time.</p>

<p>I think that’s pretty much it. I’m sorry about the long post. :o</p>

<p>Thanks in advance,
Elisabeth</p>

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<p>Georgetown…</p>

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<p>Elisabeth, do I remember correctly that you will be applying as an International? That may affect the set of schools, given that you’re looking for some financial aid.</p>

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<p>One piece of the strategy is whether or not to ED (or EA, altho the EA schools tend to be the tippy top). For ED you are committed unless the financial aid package is not enough for you to afford. But psychologically it is hard to go back on the committment.</p>

<p>The ED/EA advantage is big at some schools (Columbia).</p>

<p>At any rate, the conventional wisdom is that one cannot ED if finances are important as it prevents one from comparing offers.</p>

<p>beprepn</p>

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<p>bball87,
The “not in DC/MD/VA” bit isn’t negotiable. Thanks, though!</p>

<p>mootmom,
Technically, yes, but I prefer to ignore that fact. :wink: I’ll obviously need financial safeties, but I won’t not apply somewhere because it’s not known for generous aid.</p>

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<p>beprepn,
ED is out of the question, because I’ll need to compare aid packages. I’m considering Yale EA if I like it “in person” as much as I do on paper.</p>

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<p>TGY, Your scores, grades and profile would make you a potential for just about any school in America. (There’s no guarantee of course, but they won’t keep you out.)</p>

<p>I’d strongly suggest that you take a look at Williams as it offers everything on your wish list, except distance from DC:
-Small
-Intellectual environment
-Laid-back social life; hanging out in small groups
-Cold weather (and then some!)
-Cohesive campus
-Friendly people
-Not needing a car</p>

<p>The sciences are topnotch and graduates do well in PhD research programs and medical school admissions. The art and art history departments are among the best in the country. There are three worldclass museums on or near campus and the opportunities for art related extracurriculars are extensive. There is also a lively focus on other creative/arts activities – like theater, music, dance and creative writing. Academically it’s an excellent environment for a generalist in liberal arts as so many of the departments are strong.</p>

<p>Horseback riding and photography are common ECs. Liberal leaning toward moderate describes most of the kids. They like the diversity that international kids can bring to the community, especially those with unusual life experiences.</p>

<p>We are also an international family (we’re Amerians though living in Asia) and my son’s background and profile was very similar to yours. He’s now a junior at Williams majoring in Art History and Art Studio. Many of his friends are in the sciences or double majoring in diverse fields. He finds the intellectual atmosphere extremely stimulating.</p>

<p>As far as aid goes, your situation is unusual. Colleges do understand that families’ situations can change year to year, but knowing upfront that only one year will be funded is difficult to appraise, especially for an international applicant. If your parent is secure that s/he’ll be with the same organization for several years, then perhaps the deal could be renegotiated to cover 4 years at $10,000 each. That would put you in a better position for need-based aid, which by the way Williams is quite generous with even for Internationals.</p>

<p>Other LACs that I’d recommend for you would be Skidmore, Hamilton, Conn College, Wesleyan, Amherst, Smith if you reconsider the all-female thing and Kenyon if you’d go farther afield.</p>

<p>You will like Yale. In the same category, Brown would be a good fit.</p>

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<p>Middlebury</p>

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<p>momrath,
Thanks for your long reply. :slight_smile:

Sorry if I didn’t make this clear in the original post–I meant “more than two hours from DC”. I’ll add Williams to the list of schools to visit. I’d already thought of Amherst, but I’ll have to look up more information about the other colleges you mentioned.

That’s a good point; I’ll have to ask my parents about that.</p>

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<p>I wonder whether you might like Carleton. It seems to have a lot of what you say you’re looking for, but perhaps Minnesota is too far away. It made D’s list along with Williams and Swarthmore. </p>

<p>Lycka till!</p>

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<p>tyg, you may prefer to ignore that you’ll be applying as an international, but you may need to take that into account when selecting schools to apply to. </p>

<p>Some schools are (let’s see, what’s the official term?) “need-aware” for international applicants, in other words, regardless of how much you’ll need, if you are not a US citizen or green-card-holder, your application is considered differently if you will be asking for any financial aid at all. Every school does this differently; for one example, see this thread with the Johns Hopkins admission decision process for international applicants spelled out by an admissions officer there. After you have a list of schools you want to consider, research their process for internationals. Many will not allow international applicants during their EA/ED round (and while I know you are not planning ED, with your strong record you might consider applying EA to some schools: just make sure they won’t do something unexpected with your application if you’re not a domestic applicant).</p>

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<p>I wouldn’t suggest visiting a school just because someone on CC suggests it…you need to research, read PR/other guides, etc.</p>

<p>Your post screamed Swarthmore to me when I first read it and was glad to see you visited and loved it. You might also investigate Amherst, Williams, Connecticut College, Wesleyan, Brown, Skidmore, Colgate, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Bates, Davidson, Vassar, Smith, and Trinity College.</p>

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<p>Nice cluster of LAC’s just suggested. Add Wellesley.</p>

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<p>TYG, if distance is a plus then look at Macalester too. Very international friendly.</p>

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<p>Add Amherst.</p>

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<p>nceph,
There’s no such thing as “too far away”. Again, as long as it’s (1) outside of the DC/MD/VA area and (2) not too hot, I’m willing to consider it.</p>

<p>mootmom,
You’re right, of course. It’s hard for me to internalize this, because I don’t think of myself as an international student. I know this is an irrational reaction, but just hearing the term makes me feel depersonalized, as if I’m nothing more than a curiosity from overseas. I’m too American for Sweden, but too Swedish for America.</p>

<p>I guess what I’m trying to say is, I know it’s something I need to consider, but I won’t write my college list in terms of “most friendly to international students”… because I don’t define myself by visa type. I’ll need some schools I know will want me, as an international, but I need some for the part of me that isn’t A-1, too, even if they’re crapshoots, maybes, and what-ifs. (“Maybe they’ll like me enough that they’ll overlook the international thing… and if not, I probably don’t want to go there anyway.”) It’s a mental thing; I don’t know if that makes sense.</p>

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<p>Add Brandeis and U of Rochester as schools to consider. Additionally, I’d add some lower priced schools in the midwest, south or Texas as financial safeties. Try Earlham for one possibility but there are obviously many others.</p>

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<p>How about Stanford?</p>

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<p>Whitman. You might even get some money because you are east coast/Euro</p>

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<p>

The third culture kid’s dilemma in a nutshell. :)</p>