Connecticut College seems like a good one for her. As for Bates, I’ve heard really good things. But I can’t get her to consider the Maine colleges. She just doesn’t want to be that far.
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Just echoing that I think these are both realistic reach/ED candidates, and in fact doing them in either order ED1/ED2 would make sense too. I don’t think there is an obvious better fit, she seems to have done a good job identifying possible strengths and ultimately will just have to decide.
Oberlin and Macalester are colleges she might want to check out that would seem to be on point both in terms of possible vibe and also academically. They both have merit so that might be helpful.
ETA: She can put time helping the relative in the Activities section of Common App, and I would encourage that. This sort of activity is sometimes mentioned by admissions officers as the kind of thing that stands out to them–they know it can take a lot of time and it shows a lot of good character traits.
ETA2: Sorry to keep adding, but it also occurred to me it might help for your daughter to look at “alternative” rankings like this PhD feeders list for Anthro, particularly the per capita version on the right side:
She could also check out the History list.
Of course academic placement is a sort of specialty of many LACs, but still there is quite a range of different LACs on these lists. Oberlin in particular is very high on both those lists, and Macalester pretty high as well, which is sort of confirmation they would be good academic fits.
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This is great. Thank you. She thinks Macalester is too far for her, but maybe she’ll consider Oberlin. It does look like a good fit.
Another Vassar grad here. Also a former alum interviewer and part of an alum network . Feel free to PM me
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what’s too far - I mean, a two hour plane ride is as close as a drive in many ways?
Not everyone feels that way though - and I think you’ll find enough schools within your geography if a farther distance (flight, to Minneapolis, for example) won’t work.
I did not feel this way about travel. IMO driving is much more in our control, the costs are pretty much known, and it does not have the hassles and cost of air travel. As one example, with a 2.5 hour car ride to D’s college we would go down for her orchestra concerts (we were asked to come LOL) and take her friends out to lunch – it became a fun “tradition” – but we never would have flown in for the concerts.
Our S went to grad school a flight away and had so much trouble getting home for Thanksgiving (cancelled flight, mess at airport) that he chose to drive 10+ hours home for other school breaks.
Our general rule was that to add in a flight to the equation, a program/college had to be better/different than one we could drive to. Of course YMMV and it is a personal/family choice.
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We’re looking at in the same way as @happy1 . Driving is more in our control and cheaper if the whole family wants to visit or if she wants to make trips home for a weekend during the semester. We’re looking at about a radius of about ~6 hours driving distance from where we live. She has some preferences–like proximity to a city. The compromise she’s willing to make is to be closer to home and farther from a city rather than going to a city like Chicago, for instance, and being farther from home.
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@Rostov its OK to have a distance criteria. For our kids, this was no longer than a 3 hour drive from our house…or within an hour of a close friend or relative. And yes…we needed to call on that relative and friend when our DD had emergency surgery her senior year and we couldn’t get there in time.
We figured a three hour drive…could be done round trip in one day. Our older kid did this and was two hours away. It enabled us to actually go to his concerts in the evenings and still drive home the same day.
The across the country kid…another story. But not relevant to you. If you’d like more info about that, let me know and I’ll message you.
Do you want more suggestions closer to where you live?
Both Haverford and Vassar are great schools.
Yes this is something that needs to be mentioned. Schools value students who reach out and help others.
You have a few sure things on your current RD list in case ED doesn’t work out. I’d try to have her pick the school that she really likes the best for ED.
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I’ve heard some good suggestions. Oberlin which wasn’t on our radar at all and Skidmore, which was but she arbitrarily ruled it out. Lol. We looked at some Boston area colleges and central/Western Mass. She was more agreeable to the PA colleges we saw, e.g., Bucknell and Dickinson, than to the colleges near Worcester or Springfield, MA despite their reputations. I wonder if there might be others in the long list of PA schools we have overlooked. Or maybe there are other LACs closer to NYC. Cleveland area of Ohio might be good too if you have any you recommend.
Did you look at Bard? Sarah Lawrence? Muhlenberg - I read a lot of great things on here for performers. There are some Drew University fans on this website too.
Schools like that.
Depending on where you are in NY, Oberlin may be a haul or not too far.
Could a larger school, but not huge one,l like Ithaca work?
I think you have a lot of great names on your initial list - not sure which are theater focused or not but…but all good names.
We are already familar with IC, which does not interest her. We toured Bard and Muhlenberg. She’s kind of meh on Muhlenberg. Bard was not for her at all. I couldn’t even get her to look at Sarah Lawrence’s website because she heard about the scandal a few years ago and won’t even look. I think she’s being a little unfair, but it’s her experience so I’m not pushing. Drew might be one to add to her list though. I just googled it and it sounds like theatre is strong there. New Jersey wasn’t on our radar at all. Sorry, New Jersey!
This I get - that was a crazy story. Listen, if it would bug her being there…totally get it.
You mentioned PA - not sure if they fit at all but you have Dickinson - so Gettysburg, Juniata, Susquehana, Ursinus. Well you seem to enjoy researching so perhaps a look to make sure…
Ok - two more - but again, I think your list was great from the get go. So now it’s just throwing out names.
Bennington?
And #2 - a crazy thought - very urban - I think I read somewhere she likes the city - The New School ? That’s sort of an odd ball one.
OK - good luck and I’ve enjoyed reading your thought process.
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When I see someone talking about Vassar, I stick my head in to mention Wesleyan. I think probably most kids who are happy at Vassar would have been happy at Wes.
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Denison?
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Perhaps a character flaw, but my need to research pretty much everything serves me well at my job. 
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Similar take on Wesleyan and Skidmore often seems to have overlap but an easier admit typically than VC or Wes.
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In terms of PA LACs, my D graduated from Lafayette and had a wonderful experience. Feel free to PM me if you want any details. She also liked Union, Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall (and also dismissed Skidmore LOL).
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Agree. Vassar was my Wes-bound kid’s second choice, and all of the kids we know at either were interested in both. Both are great places for theater kids.
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I think there are a lot of different reasonable opinions on travel. For me, around 5 hours driving is the minimum at which flying might be more convenient, but it really depends on the distance to the airport at both ends, the frequency and cost of flights, and so on. For the record, Macalester is VERY close to MSP, which has a lot of direct flights. But I could totally understand if that was still too far for comfort.
So Kenyon is another option in Ohio. But it is not quite as easy to get to as Oberlin. The College of Wooster would also be an option.
In PA, Franklin & Marshall and Gettysburg are the two that immediately leap to mind (for less reachy options). You have F&M, and then Gettysburg has a pretty active Anthro department, even more so History. It is pretty close by my standards to Baltimore and DC.
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If your daughter returns to visit Vassar this fall, maybe she can coordinate her visit when there is a performance by the Barefoot Fireflies (used to be Barefoot Monkeys). They are a juggling and circus arts group and I thought of them when you mentioned her circus arts background. Best of luck with her applications!
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