<p>Daughter applied to U of O and did get some merit aid- but it is a very expensive out of state school-
Reed ultimately ws a better fit and deal- however she qualified for need based aid.
One thing your daughter may be interested in- she could do a couple years with Americorps- ( my daughter did a year of service with CityYear before college)
small living stipend, and you come away with an education voucher to put toward tuition or loans-
since she doesn’t seem to have an idea of what to major in- taking some time off seems a no brainer- college isnt a very efficent use of time or money if you don’t have at least a plan/
I 2nd Warren Wilson- it sounds like a great place- with a strong community ethic</p>
<p>I second Hendrix. Great merit aid, great school, great faculty.</p>
<p>I have a very random reply to this whole thing. I haven’t read it in detail, but I’ve got the generalities…
“I looked into places with generous merit aid, but they seemed to be mostly places that were philosophically incompatible with a quirky agnostic liberal intellectual crunchy granola nondrinking nonmaterialistic environmental kid. (I.e., she’d feel out of place in a college filled with sorority girls with snazzy clothes, makeup, hairdos, etc.)”
You’ll think I’m crazy, but might I suggest Harvard? When they say it’s diverse, they mean REALLY diverse…she seems like she’d thrive with all the pressure, and believe me, it’s quite liberal. Many of my friends are the “quirky agnostic liberal intellectual crunchy granola” kids, and there’s very little pressure to drink. Harvard is…well, people ask me why it’s so amazing, and I tell them it’s because of the freedom. The “bad advising” to me translates into lots of freedom to do what you want because they expect that you, as a Harvard student, know what you want and how you are going to get it, which sounds very much like your daughter. It really is a place where you are forced to grow up on your own, something I’ve already had to do throughout my life (I’m more similar to your daughter than might at first appear, I think).
Other schools:
You (or someone) mentioned Olin. A good friend of mine goes there, and yes, it is very engineering-oriented, almost on the level of MIT. I would not suggest it if she wants a big environment…the main campus, as far as I can tell, is comprised of 3 or 4 buildings, at least one of which I know is a dormitory. Olinites (their name for themselves) spend all their time on their computers working…on “break”, they hang out in their dorms. Harvard is much closer to the city, and Boston really is an amazingly eclectic city/area; I have the feeling she’d love Harvard Square. It’s fairly materialistic but also incredibly bohemian…I love it so much.
Two others, no, three: The Evergreen State College in WA, Michigan State University, and St. Johns College (I believe that’s the name)
TESC has already been discussed, so I’ll go on to MSU. MSU is a huge university with fairly laid-back people, and, while I’m not sure about the philosophical thing, at least she’d have room to do her own thing. I’m suggesting MSU because they gave me an amazing scholarship, called the University Scholarship (you apply for the Alumni Distinguished Scholarship and if you’re lucky you get the Univ. Scholarship and don’t have to take the test…haha :D). It’s a completely full ride for 4 years, plus research opportunities, stipends galore, etc.
Finally, St. John’s College (St. Johns? I don’t remember) is a very interesting place for its way of learning; it educates students completely via works of literature, art, etc. and teaches them how to analyze and think. She might be very happy there.
However, there’s always Harvard–I really think it might work. Ask her what she thinks.
~lb</p>
<p>Skimmed the posts - I think your D stands an excellent chance at some smaller schools for getting full rides – all she has to do is pick schools where she’s over the top on qualifications.</p>
<p>Look at Oberlin in Ohio - definitely quirky. Maybe Bard. I second Grinnell, too.</p>
<p>Also think it’s well worth your money to take D to visit a few places. She may fall in love with a couple schools that don’t have aid, and change her mind. Like Reed, which I think she would like a lot.</p>
<p>Another one to check might be Clark U in Worcester Mass. Lots of merit aid, especially with your D’s stats. Seems to attract alternative, socially-aware, crunchy granola quirky types. It’s also one of the Colleges that Change Lives</p>
<p>When I read your original post, a few colleges instantly came to mind.</p>
<p>Bennington College - no core curriculum, no grades (written evaluations instead - reasons being “students should be learning for the love of knowledge, not being competitive and working solely for a good GPA”), a philosophy that states that the most valuable education is the one you create for yourself, only 508 undergrads, a “field work term” or a 7 week period where one gets real life experience, an estimate 60% of students being vegetarian, in proximity to several large cities - in the insider’s guide to college it says in the FYI section “if you come to Bennington you’d better bring “a free spirit”” - does that not sound perfect fro your daughter?</p>
<p>that was the main one I thought of. Also Marlboro & Brown U.</p>
<p>This post was mainly ignoring costs though - it sounds to me like your daughter is an oustanding young person who would be able to get generous merit aid anywhere.</p>
<p>Colorado College sounds like a personality fit; it’s a very liberal, granola, outdoorsy (they even have a snowshoeing class!) type place. They have a weird academic schedule (Block Plan) so it’s a very quirky place even at the administration level. There are more scholarships available for Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas residents; however, NMFs get 2,000 per year, and she would also probably receive another scholarship of $3,500 per semester. If she majors in biology, environmental science, geology, mathematics, physics, and psychology (including neuroscience), she will be eligible to compete for a Barnes Scholarship, and I would think she would get that as well.</p>
<p>Colorado Springs is a beautiful city and the college is just outside of downtown (lots of cultural opportunities). The only Division I athletic programs are ice hockey and women’s soccer, and all the rest are Division III.</p>
<p>Anyway, do some research into it. Visit their beautiful campus. Colorado College isn’t for everyone (it certainly wasn’t for me!), but your daughter sounds like a perfect fit in the granola-type culture at this unorthodox institution.</p>
<p>Schools that would fit:</p>
<p>Grinnell, Earlham, Bennington, Marlboro, Sarah Lawrence, Beloit, Kenyon</p>
<p>Brown, Amherst, Vassar, Wesleyan… but these would not give your D aid</p>
<p>One other idea: What about looking into United World Colleges? </p>
<p>If these interest your D it might be perfect as a stopping place between the homeschool years and the college years. It is a junior year HS program that emphasizes multi-culturalism and languages and offers a 2 year IB program. Most kids are 16 or 17 when they go. There are several campuses to pick from, scattered across the globe. </p>
<p>Bonus: If you are admitted it is FREE.</p>
<p>college of the atlantic might be worth looking into- very quirky, liberal, and outdoorsy student body. its a great school.</p>
<p>Does no one else think this is a ■■■■■ post? Especially when you get to the part where the brother goes to an ivy? If this is for real, I hope you teach your daughter that an education has value. What would she rather see you spend your business success on? Will she limit her own children? She will eventually have to encounter the real world where people have schedules and spend money on what’s important to them.</p>
<p>Pardon my ignorance, but what’s a ■■■■■ post? Phantom post?</p>
<p>A ■■■■■ is a poster who is trying to inflame passions with a false query or statement.</p>
<p>Personally, I think this is an unusual situation, but not a ■■■■■.</p>
<p>Thanks. I too doubt it’s a ■■■■■ post. I tend to side on the human side of humam nature.</p>
<p>I second the idea of Clark for your daughter. She probably really would like the student body there and she would be challenged. The atmosphere is intellectual. Since achievement scholarships are given and your daughter’s numbers are stellar, undoubtedly she would qualify and the price of attending Clark would be reduced drastically. Another idea is Evergreen. Finally I suggest Shimer College in Illinois. Recently they have joined with the Illinois Institute of Technology as a sort of embedded college there at IIT’s campus in Chicago. Historically Shimer’s tuition has been quite a bit lower than other private college tuition bites. Good luck.</p>
<p>do consider Colorado College – my son is homeschooled and actually sounds very much like your daughter. He has set his own academic agenda. Because of our proximity to colorado college (we live a block away) he participates in many of the activities and has been invited to attend several classes there. </p>
<p>I know she or you seemed to think exchange programs would not be what she wanted, but that is what my son is going to be doing the next few years. There are many, many programs out there and you might take a second look.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the good suggestions–I assure you that I am quite sincere and I really appreciate the good ideas.</p>
<p>hsmomstef, I will pm you to find out more about the exchange programs you have discovered for your son.</p>
<p>OP, take a look at Antioch–I’ve met so many interesting people doing interesting things that went there. They have a very student-directed program, and three semesters of coop, where a salary is usually eaned. Strong emphasis on community service (including several scholarship opportunities). It may be a good choice for your free-spirited, independent seeker.</p>
<p>I like the idea of college out of the country. I think that St. Andrews figures into something like $6,000/year.</p>
<p>No matter what, she should apply to a broad range of schools, both in terms of sticker cost, available merit money, and “feel.” </p>
<p>I do have some concern about her attitude about wasting parent’s money. I certainly felt that way when I was going through college - just felt horrible that my parents were paying something like a few hundred dollars a day for me to be there. At the end of four years, however, I knew that I would have happily paid it myself. I needed to go through the experience to understand it.</p>
<p>I also worry that your daughter will HATE college at a large state university without interaction with professors. She’s clearly a really, really bright kid who needs to be challenged. In many ways, a private school can be worth $40,000/year and a state school cannot be worth even the $15,000/year. Ultimately, you learn the most from fellow students, and she should go somewhere that her fellow students will challenge her. While she’s gotten an excellent education so far, both academically and in life, she may have missed the life education component of learning from your peers and learning to get along with people. Sharing a room with a hard-drinking, conservative, Catholic, super-smart overachiever who wants to spend her life doing rural medicine in Africa, would be a great experience for your D. I fully believe that you can learn from almost anyone; your D needs the experience of learning from her peers who have grown up in radically different ways.</p>
<p>There are many ways to get an education. There are also many things that REQUIRE a formal education. She might not want a doctor/lawyer/i-banker job now, but, consider, would she want to be a civil rights lawyer? Would she want to be an MD so she could do Doctors Without Borders? She’ll have a hell of a time getting into the grad school door without a traditional degree. The college degree will forever open up doors, or at least prevent them from being closed. In many ways, college is the new high school - without that degree, doors will close. You simply cannot predict now which ones will close.</p>
<p>I went to public high school (free), played sports (free), did Science Team (free), and the like. I was a runner, so my yearly expenditures were only running shoes - nothing fancy. Then I went to a super-expensive private college - parents paid. I interned and paid for summer courses so I could get my second major. I’m now paying my way through law school. </p>
<p>Each of those experiences taught me things that I would not have learned otherwise. There really is something to be said for the environment in each location. I did not enjoy all of it - and there are parts that I wish were different - but having the public school/paid for private school/putting myself through school thing is invaluable. </p>
<p>One word of caution: if she is considering a professional school, figure out a way to save the money for that. No merit money and the loans are sick.</p>
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<p>I understand that youre using necessary evil ironically, but I would still ask the question: What is it that she sees for the rest of her life? At 16, even for an intellectually mature young person, the vision of the future can be overwhelmingly narrow. The whole point of college and specifically a liberal arts education is to open up the vista. If that isnt appealing to her, I ask again what is? </p>
<p>For my son, there was never any question but that he wanted to get to college, fast. Three years on his expectations have been fulfilled and surpassed academically, intellectually, socially, artistically. Although the rest of his life is still a little hazy, he has several interesting options and he is confident that he will have good choices when the time comes. </p>
<p>For me, decades ago, I was unfocused before I enrolled and unfocused when I graduated. I would have done well to take a gap year to gain some maturity and exposure. Of course our life experiences at age 17 and choice of colleges couldnt have been more different; however the point remains that I clearly didnt take advantage of what my college offered and my son decidedly has.</p>
<p>A young person as bright as your daughter would greatly benefit from intellectual environment of a rigorously academic college and if she isnt completely convinced that that is true then I would think that it would be better to delay than to accelerate or compact. She seems to deserve more education, not less, but it needs to be the right kind at the right place.</p>
<p>So Id suggest you take things step by step. Being home schooled puts your daughter on an individual time frame. Shes young for a college applicant and has no official high school graduation date, so whether she applies in 06, 07 or 08 doesnt really much matter in the scheme of acceptance chance or financial aid. The choice that confronts her right now is whether or not to apply to college in December 06. This is separate from the choice of whether or not to attend college in September 07. Make the decision to apply or not to apply first, then the rest will fall into place.</p>
<p>The question of whether it is better to pay full freight at very selective (and by implication elite) college or to go with a less selective (and again by implication, less elite) college is purely personal. In retrospect, I know what was right for my son, but it isnt a game of duplicate bridge: there are so many individual tangents and circumstances and you just have to make the decision that seems best at the time.</p>
<p>Your initial list plus the many, many excellent schools that were recommended gives your daughter an excellent range to explore should she decide that college is the right move, right now.</p>
<p>Should she decide that she wants more life experience then I would definitely look at overseas travel experiences. There are plenty of foreign programs all over the world that combine a reasonable balance of supervision and independence and are age appropriate. She just needs to indicate a general cultural or geographic interest and a general goal (e.g. humanitarian work, language study, art/music/theater, ecology/nature, adventure) and Im sure shell come up with many options.</p>
<p>looked into oberlin?</p>