<p>
</p>
<p>They won’t be in college at the same time. Under the earliest scenario, she would start in Sept 07. He is scheduled to graduate next June.</p>
<p>^^^^^Bummer!</p>
<p>Okay, I hate to beat on a dead horse, and I know several posters have mentioned this before, but I haven’t heard a response to Evergreen State. On paper it looks mediocre (virtually no selectivity, average SATs and such), but if your daughter cares about substance and not “prestige,” she should definitely look into Evergreen State in Washington. I have a Native friend who has taught there for many years and everything about the place appeals to a curious, freethinking, intelligent student. Also, it’s small and communal enough that a youngster couldn’t get lost in the crowd.</p>
<p>Well, I think that she would love Smith and find many kindred spirits there. Why not plan a family trip to New England in the fall? It would be the best time to see the Berkshires and Pioneer Valley where you might just stumble on Smith, Mt. Holyoke, and Hampshire; maybe throw in a trip to Vermont for some foliage and schools like Marlboro and Bennington. Glad you and Mini have connected.</p>
<p>I live next door to Evergreen State (and my d. did a year there), and it is a WONDERFUL place - caring faculty, innovative programming, and lots of opportunities for community and professional involvement. There are certain programs there (such as ethnobotanical medicine, which my d. did) which are just not to be found anywhere else. Now my d. went from Evergreen to Smith - and the single gender thing just wasn’t a factor. (About 80% of Smithies will tell you that they weren’t looking for a women’s college, and about 70% of them will tell you they questioned it until they visited, and then they had trouble imagining themselves anywhere else.) (My wife went to Hampshire.)</p>
<p>Anyone interested is welcome to write me.</p>
<p>My “quirky agnostic liberal intellectual crunchy granola nondrinking nonmaterialistic environmental” neighbor’s kids went to Brown and one to Grinnell.</p>
<p>FREE I would also suggest Warren Wilson - and also Green Mountain College as well - I kind of have a gal who in some ways sounds alot like your gal - tho started out at the traditional college student - but that changed very quickly when she ‘found her calling’’ so to speak.</p>
<p>One school that we took a good look at was Eckard - yes it is FLA - it is a LAC - but they had some very innovative ideas on ‘‘learning’’ that we actually found refreshing - differnt way of looking at the college process for sure.</p>
<p>I have heard similar things about Evergreen as well… alot more free thinking than most schools.</p>
<p>now I have to admit- that while I like Evergreen very much- when my daughter and I attended a panel discussion made up of faculty for admitted students- I just wasn’t impressed.
I don’t know if they hadn’t had their coffee, if the most impressive instructors were off somewhere else, but they didn’t give very well thought out answers to parents and students, and even when discussing their work, they didn’t come across as being engaged by it.
The combination of the tour where we were steered away from viewing the science labs & the feeling we got from the panel discussion contributed to Evergreen dropping down on the list, which was disappointing as we really wanted to like it much more.
I do know that they have good teachers, Dennis Hibbert who I had for geology at a community college has been teaching at Evergreen for a while, and I think he is a very engaging teacher who would design a rigourous course.
So I think for some things- and for some students, it could be very very good- but for someone like my daughter- (not necessarily someone who is familiar with home/or unschooling), who wanted more structure we decided that it was a little too * free*</p>
<p>HA–Bard has treehouse dorms on stilts as one living option. Love it. What about Haverford or state U Honors Program? Swathmore, Smith, Columbia and Brown seem like good fits. </p>
<p>Many schools that give merit aid have little subsections with unique students designing their own major. BU, for instance, has the University Professors Program with Elie Weisel there. I think many larger schools have small unique programs for top students that follow a different drum beat. Our friends daughter sounds like yours and she is starting soon at Univ. of Chicago.</p>
<p>As far as the money issue, your daughter could very well end up embracing academia and pursuing a Ph.D so perhaps finances should be a factor. She may also be the type that transfers not because she made a poor choice but because she has evolved in another direction. Its quite possible she’ll be the type to attend off and on and get a degree in six years with a lot of travel and service woven in. Can’t wait to hear the outcome. What a wonderful teen.</p>
<p>Try Earlham College in Indiana. Great fit for a quirky-granola type, excellent academics, especially in the sciences, often generous with merit money, an excellent tuition value to begin with to boot. Other options not yet mentioned that may offer substantial merit money and fit the quirky-granola type: Beloit, Antioch, Lewis & Clark, Pitzer, the Johnston Center at the University of Redlands, New College of Florida, Hendrix College. Worth a close look but may or may not offer the type of merit she’s hoping for: Macalester, Carleton, Bennington, Hampshire, Oberlin, Wesleyan, Reed, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, UChicago.</p>
<p>YALE…it’s an awesome education with a real liberal arts feel</p>