Finding Fit Beyond the Search Engine

Parents Forum
1

Trying to help son find fit and hone in on where to use our limited time and resources visiting.

Stats:
GPA: 3.86 unweighted cumulative after junior year, or possibly 3.91 depending on a grade coming down to the wire this year.
ACT: 29. 34 Eng, 31 Reading 26 Math 25 Science – Spending the 2 weeks leading up to June ACT working like crazy on his lower score, hope to raise them to 28-30.
AP: World, US Hist, European Hist, Lit, Stats, Spanish, Biology, Government, most other classes honors
Class Rank: Currently 5th

ECs and Leadership:

  • Youngest docent ever at the home of a very significant political figure in U.S. history. Will have led 75+ tours time colleges apps go in
  • William & Mary Precollegiate Summer Program in Am. Hist - W&M His 218 4 hours A, taking second part this summer
  • U.S. History Bee nationals qualifier/competitor every year, top 20 finish last two years advancing to playoff rounds
  • President Junior States of America
  • Forensic (Speech) Team Officer two years, National Forensics League Academic All American, Degree of Superior Distinction

Preferences:

  • Loved the College of Wooster, Kenyon and although somewhat different William & Mary.
  • Prefers smaller LAC in rural or town setting, but not a deal breaker, no a NYC kid though
  • Would love to continue to volunteer in public history at a historical site
  • Prefers a supportive, cooperative academic environment. Wants to be challenged, but not thrown into the fire.
  • Looking for the not-cool kids, but tends to dress Eddie Bauer, shy, socially awkward a bit… too hippy is not his thing, too fraternity is not his thing… again liked Kenyon, liked Wooster.
  • So prefers schools not Greek heavy
  • Big one here: thinks he prefers New England (never been) or at least north of the South.
  • Liberal kid that wants to move out of the conservative South

We are thinking:
-Kenyon
-Wooster
-Kalamazoo - visited liked school, still on list, but little too urban for him

Have not visited, but interested in, :

  • Grinnell
  • Lawrence
  • Knox
  • Bates
  • Gettysburg - Greek heavy I think
  • Connecticut College
  • Dickinson maybe
  • Vassar

To sum it up, fairly liberal kid that wants out of the South, prefers small schools in small towns, wants to study history/political science, wants an inclusive, cooperative, supportive college environment and prefers to stay away from Greek heavy atmospheres… opportunities to work at historical homes/sites would be bonus. Does a southern kid fit in to NE LAC’s and do any NE LAC’s fit him… Bates and maybe Connecticut College? Both reaches no doubt? Others

Are we on the right track? Any suggestions we may not be thinking of. He will need financial aid and we can swing 15K to help out. Sorry if this is scattered a bit. Appreciate any thoughts especially in regard to colleges we are overlooking or just don’t know about.

2

I would suggest adding Whitman in WA to the mix.
It’s not in his preferred location, but meets or exceeds his other criteria,
including a particular excellence on History and Poly Sci. Smart, motivated, down to earth students.
Another to consider would be Skidmore in NY.

On your current list, I think that Lawrence is a great match, as well as Grinnell.

3

Providence College in RI.

4

Have you run the net price calculators at any schools?

5

Have you run the net price calculators at any schools?

6

Gettysburg would be great for history. Dickinson has an amazing collection (library) of original colonial documents, so I’d look at both of those. I’d try to find out from current students what role Greek life plays on those campuses; we didn’t really feel it but it is a presence. Both have good merit aid.

If you’re going to look at Bates, I’d make the effort to look at Colby and Bowdoin as well. None have frats, and for all the differences that alums see in these, they’re more similar than different. I don’t think any are good for aid, though, so affordability is likely to be an issue.

If you liked Kenyon, you should look at Denison. They give good merit aid, and it’s a pretty dynamic place these days. But Greek life is part of the deal. Kids are very friendly.

Not sure about Conn’s aid situation, but no Greek life. Demonstrated interest is important to them.

And lastly, given that you liked Wooster, you might want to look at Earlham and Beloit.

7

Willamette in Salem, OR is nice due to the number of students who intern at the state capitol across the street.

8

I’d also suggest Lewis & Clark. All three of the PNW schools would meet his weather, political and non-greek requirements. L&C will have the most urban access though isn’t urban in feel on campus. University of Puget Sound may be one to consider as well. It does have greek life but it is controlled/owned by the school and not at all your typical greek party scene. It is considered on campus housing. He should get merit at all, I’d run their NPC’s.

9

What about Sewanee? Sons of friends, one a history major, the other a minor, went there. The older interned with the National Parks system providing history tours.

10

I’d also look at Lafayette College. My D has two friends who are history majors who did research directly with/for Donald Miller who is a very well renowned historian (he has written books that Tom Hanks has made into HBO specials etc)

11

Does he want to continue with competitive debate or speech? If so, he should take that into account in choosing his college. At some colleges, participation is open to all. At others, you have to try out. Many LACs do not have any speech or debate teams. At some schools, it’s a “co-curricular” and you have to take a course to get on the team and the team is run by a faculty member.

I mention this because I have a kid–way past college now–who was “into” forensics. It was sad when kids who wanted to continue discovered that there wasn’t any speech/debate team on campus; if there was, it wasn’t funded by the college and participation was expensive, or that they weren’t good enough to make the team—some of the college teams accept fewer than half of the kids who try out and almost all of those kids have 3-4 years of high school experience.

So, if that’s something he’d like to continue, it’s something else to consider in choosing a college.

12

Thank you for all of the suggestions. We will look into all of them. Yes I have run NPC on several of the schools and will do so for all once we actually get the list of fits put together. Will check back from time to time should there be more suggestions.

The forensics team/club point is well taken and something I neglected to add above. Not a deal breaker either way, but I personally think it would benefit him socially to right away have a group of kids to identify with.

13

Terrific school. Greek life is there but is not residential. Located in an adorable village with several small museums and nearby, prehistoric mounds (some with visitor centers, etc).

14

Hamilton College in upstate new York is strong on history and government, light on Greek life. The schools in Oregon and Washington aren’t going to have the same access to historic sites as some of the east coast schools mentioned.

15

A lot of overlap with my kid’s recent search, we have visited many if not all of those schools!

Consider also St Lawrence (rural, about 10-15% Greek life), good merit awards. My sporty, arty, humanities kid, not into Greek life and not too hipster, enjoyed Bates, Grinnell, St Lawrence, Dickinson, Denison, Wooster and Kalamazoo (which does not feel urban at all.). Conn Coll struck him as too preppy, too easy coast and too much a safety school for kids with higher aspirations. Gettysburg, F &M, were too fratty, too conventional for him, Oberlin too much the other way for him.

Knox and Earlham were both schools that hit all the right chords for him, but fell off the list as he was admitted to schools he preferred. Denison has about 25% fraternity participation, with perhaps 30% sorority, but there is no residential Greek life and 100% students live on campus, so there are no " off campus" unofficial Greek houses. While Denison has a slice of students who are preppy, it also has large arts-oriented group as well and is unexpectedly diverse.

Kenyon has 30% Greek life participation, wth members clustered together in dorms. Wooster, Beloit, Lawrence, Centre and Knox describe their Greek life as non-traditional, at least as compared to schools like Gettysburg. No Greek life would include Earlham, Grinnell, Conn, Haverford, and Maine schools.

Good luck!

16

I immediately thought Bates when reading your original post.

17

With regard to the forensics/debate issue, if your S is hoping to continue that into college, a good option may also be a Mock Trial Team. The skills are similar and if a school does not have a debate team, they may field a Mock Trial Team which could be a good alternative if all else is equal.

18

Knox is a really great choice for him, especially with their heavy involvement with everything Lincoln.

19

I agree that Knox sounds like a great fit for your son (although no forensics) and they are very generous with merit aid. Also, Knox has an Amtrak station only a couple blocks from campus, so it is unusually easy to get to for a school that is not near a big city.

20

Agree Knox sounds like a great option – we were there several times, and I was very impressed with the student community, the academic opportunities, and the arts and athletics. The town has some great student-budget friendly restaurants, plus a terrific tea shop, and the Amtrak to Chicago is a boon for travel. The fact that Lincoln-Douglas debates took place in a building still used for classes is very cool.