<p>I think Swarthmore, Reed and LAC’s in general are OP’s best options for entry at age 16. Columbia and NYU both have older student bodies than most universities and are poor choices.</p>
<p>I don’t know about NYU, but that’s not true of Columbia. Columbia College and SEAS students are regular college-aged students, aged 17-19 when they enter and 21-23 when they graduate. The School of General Studies does admit non-traditional students who average age 29, but there are only 1600 of them compared to 6,000 undergraduates in CC and SEAS (and an additional 2500 at Barnard). The average age at CC, SEAS, and Barnard is 20.</p>
<p>Also, GS students tend to be less involved in the campus life as many of them have families and jobs. My husband (28) is a GS student in the Columbia marching band and I’m pretty sure he is the <em>only</em> GS student in the marching band.</p>
<p>The average age of NYU students is 21. That indicates a pretty traditional-aged student body.</p>
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<p>To OP - a 25 on the ACT isn’t very promising for the top colleges you are looking at like Swarthmore and Yale.</p>
<p>If you are interested in the New York area, why not consider some of the City University of New York (CUNY) colleges? Hunter College is a relatively large (15,000 students) public college; Lehman College is a more medium-sized (10,000 undergrads) college; and City College is sort of in between (13,000 undergrads). I recommend them because their non-resident tuition is a bit cheaper than most public universities’ (around $15,000/year) for a full-time student taking 15 credits per semester. Your ACT score also falls within their accepted student ranges. These schools are actually quite selective, with acceptance rates in the 25-35% range. City College actually has a quite beautiful campus with a mix of old and and modern architecture in the Harlem/Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, and Lehman has an attractive campus in the Bronx. (Hunter’s on the Upper East Side and is more a collection of buildings.)</p>
<p>If you want a more iconic campus in a suburban area (with a lower cost of living), you may be interested in some State University of New York campuses in the NYC metro area:</p>
<p>SUNY Binghamton: in upstate New York, a couple hours from the city but a great university. Medium-sized at about 12,000 students. Total costs for an international student is $35,000/year.</p>
<p>SUNY New Paltz: A beautiful campus in suburban New Paltz, about 1.5 hours driving north of New York. About 6,000 students. Their cost of attendance for internationals is pretty low, around $26,000, because it’s pretty cheap to live on-campus in New Paltz. </p>
<p>SUNY Purchase: Purchase is a medium-sized college about one hour north of NYC and the CoA is about $29,000.</p>
<p>SUNY College at Old Westbury: A liberal arts college type place on Long Island, a suburb of New York. CoA around $28,000.</p>
<p>At all of those places, your ACT scores fall within the middle 50% range of accepted students.</p>
<p>If you want to be competitive for Yale and Swarthmore, you need to raise your ACT score to a 30 at the very least, and better to have a 32.</p>
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<p>I know you said you wanted co-ed colleges, but I really think you should consider some women’s colleges. Many of them will give you exactly what you want (a good philosophy major, the beautiful campus in a suburban area) while being a little bit more attainable as far as application goes, and may offer you just as good financial aid. For example, Bryn Mawr is in the same consortium with Swarthmore, which means you can take classes there and socialize with the Swat kids. But while Swarthmore has a 17% acceptance rate, Bryn Mawr has a 40% acceptance rate and your ACT score is not that far below their middle 50% range.</p>
<p>Similarly, Smith College and Mount Holyoke are in a consortium with Hampshire and Amherst Colleges. Amherst is the most selective - it’s quite similar to Swarthmore, with a 14% acceptance rate I think. Smith’s and Mount Holyoke’s are both 42%. But they’re both great schools with great financial aid and you can socialize with the men at Amherst, Hampshire, and UMass.</p>
<p>(Actually, Hampshire is another great liberal arts college you should probably apply to; your test scores fall in their range, and it’s the kind of artsy, very liberal college that would appeal to a potential philosophy major. Every student at Hampshire builds their own major.)</p>