<p>I still don’t understand why she is bothering to apply if she didn’t click with it after 3 visits… there are plenty of other schools around that ranking that she could apply to instead. Being next door to CMC is not being at CMC… that said, since she likes women’s colleges, did she like Scripps?</p>
<p>Are these “scholarship offers” in writing? Or are they from someone saying in an interview that she would be a good candidate for a competitive merit award they offer? Even a “likely scholarship” letter is not something you can count on; D1 got one after sending in her app to one college, and she later got merit aid – but I have heard on CC from other parents at the same college whose kids got the same letter in her same year, and they did not get the scholarships.</p>
<p>She may decide not to apply - it is really more her decision than ours. I think if she (or any student) is lukewarm, it comes across in the app, and it probably isn’t worth it. I do think that she could get more excited with an admission in hand, though.</p>
<p>She felt that Scripps was too close - if she didn’t get into CMC, it would be a daily reminder, and she didn’t want that. Ditto for Pitzer.</p>
<p>Yes, from BU she has an actual offer - there is also a strong legacy connection there. ASU is also solid - rolling admissions. Others are more nebulous, but she doesn’t want to attend a larger school, anyway.</p>
<p>My husband thinks I obsess too much, and he is probably correct. She’ll be fine wherever she ends up, most likely. :)</p>
<p>Welcome to the Land of Obsessive Parents, very much including me. I wanted my kid to have every great option possible and he did. Sometimes obsessing pays off.</p>
<p>I really am curious how a student HAS a scholarship offer from Boston University but has not yet been accepted to the school. My kid is a BU grad and had a great scholarship there…which he did NOT firmly get in writing until he got his acceptance in April. He was told he had a good chance at a scholarship…but had NOTHING in writing until after his acceptance. </p>
<p>I find it very odd that this student has been promised a substantial BU scholarship but has not yet been accepted.</p>
<p>I would swap Barnard for Pomona- because she’s likely to be excited about Barnard and I can’t imagine that after three visits, Pomona is going to get any more exciting for her down the line.</p>
<p>I can’t help you in the “true safety” department (for that you’ll be looking at the big state schools she doesn’t like) but in my neck of the woods, the typical match schools for a kid who loves Brown are places like Conn College, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Vassar, Skidmore. Attract similar types of kids, although geographically very different as you can imagine.</p>
<p>A lot of the statistics provided by US News are incorrect. Math is one of the most popular majors with a good 25-30 students majoring in it every year (just look at the Math poster in the math lounge), but it’s not listed in the top number of majors.</p>
<p>Furthermore, you think 40% of a class majoring in science doesn’t make Pomona a science orientated liberal arts college? Most of the top universities, if you factor out engineering, have far less natural and physical science majors than Pomona does. </p>
<p>The reason I said old misconceptions is because Pomona wasn’t as science oriented as it is now. 7/9 newly added teachers are from science fields because there is a rapid increase in science majors at Pomona. Facilities in science and math are constantly being renovated. That is not to say science is superior at Pomona- I’m proud that the school has such a good of students pursuing a variety of fields. But sciences are definitely very important for Pomona.</p>
<p>Brown can be somewhat more mystifying in their admissions that some of the other top schools. I’m wondering if she might be a good fit with Yale and WashU. I realize that they are both reaches, but they might be very compelling if she doesn’t get into Brown, and they both have a lot more in common with Brown than CMC. IMO, she’s just as likely to get into Yale as Brown.</p>
<p>I accounted Biology, Chemistry, Comp Science, Environmental Analysis(really an interdisciplinary, but with a strong science component), Cognitive Science (same as before), Geology, Math, Molecular Biology, Neuroscience, Psychology (at Pomona, it’s a science major), Physics, and Science Technology and Society, as science majors. 52.2% major in one of those. Those who haven’t declared majors aren’t relevant because you only have to declare a major end of sophomore year.</p>
<p>I love Pomona, but I agree that if you daughter wasn’t taken with it, there’s no need to try to force it. She’s a great candidate and will have many options. I agree with the OP that she might want to try a couple more reachy schools in case Brown disappoints. CMC doesn’t seem like a fit to me, based on the info in the first post. Wesleyan, Yale, maybe WashU and possibly even Stanford seem like possibilities for a liberal young woman with her stats and law aspirations.</p>
<p>Stanford is a pretty conservative school. Think Hoover Institution, Condi Rice…I have two close friends who are long-time Stanford employees, and both tell me the vibe is more red than blue. Certainly compared to other colleges here in CA, it is conservative.</p>
<p>^^^Do you think? I wouldn’t say so, based on those I know who graduated.
Certainly not conservative compared to CMC, and the OP’s daughter seems fine with that.</p>
<p>As a current Pomona student, I can definitely agree that Pomona is a very “sciency” liberal arts college, but I have never got the impression that it is too sciency. The school is academically very diverse- about 40% science and math, 40% social sciences and arts, and 20% interdisciplinary. Unlike Stanford though, which has somewhat of a science-humanity divide, Pomona students tend to make the most of their liberal arts education by taking all sorts of classes and don’t tend to segregate by majors. Many often double major in a science and humanity, including myself- I’m interested in chemistry and anthropology. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, I agree with other parents that if your daughter didn’t resonate with Pomona, it may not be worthwhile to apply. You have listed some other excellent choices that can provide a similar education and a more attractive vibe to your daughter!</p>
<p>^ Isn’t it mostly conservative on the economic issues, while socially liberal? Wouldn’t that make the Stanford atmosphere more libertarian than traditionally conservative?</p>
<p>If she’s looking for warm weather, Carleton <em>definitely</em> doesn’t qualify. Great school, not warm.</p>
<p>I’m wondering why someone who is looking for quirky liberal students would consider CMC for a millisecond. I’m also bemused that people would think of Stanford students as conservative. OK, they’re conservative compared to Macalester students and Reed students, but so is everyone else.</p>
<p>If it was me, and I wanted to be sure that my daughter had a financial safety, I wouldn’t accept anything from BU other than an actual contractual offer of a scholarship in writing. Promises to a student who hasn’t been accepted to the school, I would ignore.</p>