Junior in International Baccalaureate program in well-regarded high school in Montgomery County, Maryland. ACT 31. Moderately difficult course load. Good GPA (mostly A’s). Wants New England or Mid-Atlantic school. Preferably smaller and private in a suburban area.
Child very music and dance oriented. Talented viola player. Studied ballet and modern for years. Reach school and top choice Swarthmore but that’s a reach. Trying to identify other choices. Planning to retake ACT with some prep and aiming for 32-33.
Bard, Connecticut College, Sarah Lawrence, Bennington, Vassar, oberlin (out of her geographic zone and dance isn’t strong on ballet but worth looking at), Bryn Mawr, maybe Skidmore. Possibly Bates. Bates and Vassar are more reachy than the others. We heard smith was good for dance but didn’t really explore it and not sure about music. Don’t know much about schools south of PA.
Strong is in the eye of the beholder. But it met the qualifications listed. Swat is obviously beyond a reach and others listed are too althiugh not all.
I think Skidmore is on the fairtest.org list of test optional colleges unless they switched back. They went test optional in 2016 for the class graduating in 2021 from the college. This could be a very good option for this student.
Does your daughter want to major or minor in music or dance, or have opportunities to continue these things without majoring in them? That could help on your search.
One of our kids was not planning to major in music, but wanted to continue playing in the orchestra. We found that the department chair people were very open to answering questions, and giving advice. This was the hardest criteria for our kid to fulfill. The kid talked to applied teachers, and orchestra directors as well. She was able to get a good feel for the programs. When we visited, she met with people, and also looked at facilities.
I think it’s terrific that your student wants to continue with arts works.
Elon if you’re willing to go as far south as North Carolina. Some people consider it the Mid-Atlantic. Elon is well known for its theater program and would likely be a safety for her, but it is a solid school. Suburban in a small town. Lots of kids from up north. I am not sure on dance, but I think it’s pretty good on music. Well regarded for musical theater.
I have heard good things about Montclair.
Oberlin would be well worth a look if she’s willing to go for Ohio. Lots of music and dance there.
Unless things have changed, the only musicians allowed to play in the Elon orchestra are music majors.
If your student doesn’t plan to major in music, this is an important question to ask. Like I said, our college tours were in 2005. So perhaps things have changed…but when our kid toured Elon and asked if non-majors could play in the orchestra, the answer was a single word…NO.
If good enough in music and/or dance, she can submit an arts supplement with recording or video, arts resume (if the school accepts them) and letters or recommendation for music and/or dance. These can refer to talent but also work ethic and discipline, ability to work with others, creativity etc.
The schools listed above are all good choices (and yes to Goucher). If she wants to do ballet rather than modern, contemporary or choreography, the list would be a little narrower. I would also add Barnard.
She can apply test optional as others have said…that can reduce stress for a kid busy with music and dance!
These are schools that would probably range from targets to safeties that I would check out, based on students majoring in either dance or music (but not having so many majors that opportunities for non-majors are nonexistent):