@CollegeMamb0 We won’t allow her to apply ED unless we’re POSITIVE the financial aid will work out, so we’ll likely roll the dice with RD so we can compare offers as well. I’d love for her to get an ED bump if she has a clear favorite, but the money will be the top factor. The good news is that she has two very affordable safeties with guaranteed scholarship money, so we’re luckier than a lot of families in that respect.
So she has spent the past couple of days looking at some of the schools mentioned here - she checked out WPI @retiredfarmer 's suggestion, and she loved the emphasis on STEM and project-based learning. However, their NPC is vague at best - does anyone know whether they offer decent aid?
Coincidentally, I was at a conference a couple of summers ago and got to talking with another attendee who happened to graduate from WPI. He mentioned that he was 150k in debt and still living with his parents 6 years out of college…yikes. He loved WPI and said he didn’t regret his choice, but yeesh. We’d never in a million years take out loans for that kind of money for any undergraduate degree.
She also liked UPS a lot - the Environmental Policy major and the PacRim yearlong program in Asia really piqued her interest. She didn’t seem to think the Greek system dominated the social scene, so it may be a non-factor.
Middlebury was initially interesting because of their strength in environmental studies and languages, but she watched some YouTube video where kids were being asked the worst thing about their colleges, and multiple students at Middlebury mentioned things like “racism” and “hyper-wealthy boarding school culture.” She currently attends the most diverse high school in our state, and even though the interviews were a small sample size, it was a real turn off for her.
A couple people mentioned Allegheny, and she liked the Global Health major and the fact that they are an LAC with a major in Environmental Science (not studies) and Sustainability. Thanks for that suggestion - I’d never heard of Allegheny before this thread.
Macalester is definitely a fit, but not sure they’ll provide enough aid to make it doable if she’s accepted. We’ll probably allow her to apply just in case. Thanks for giving us your personal experience, @GoldenZebra 
While she knows it’s a pipe dream, she loved Pomona - mostly for the high diversity among the student body, as well as the Environmental Analysis major and the opportunities afforded by the Consortium. The NPC gave us the most affordable COA of any school I’ve checked (except her financial safeties), so we might allow her to throw a hail mary and apply ED if it turns out to be her top choice.
She has plenty of reading to keep her busy this summer - thanks all!
@skydivemom, I think your daughter has a strong profile for just about any U.S., college, even the most selective. As long as you’re satisfied with the results of the NPCs and as long as she has 1 or 2 valid safeties, I wouldn’t avoid reaches.
I’d suggest she look at Williams: Excellent hard sciences, well established Environmental Studies major which encompasses both science and policy. One the oldest and biggest outing clubs in the U.S.
Double majoring is common as are inter-disciplinary concentrations like Global Studies. Williams Center for Economic Development attracts students from developing countries all over the world. It’s a graduate program, but undergraduates can take advantage of campus events and some course offerings.
Among New England LACs Williams does pretty well on diversity of all kinds, but it’s difficult to compare to coastal or urban colleges.
Williams admits almost half of their class under ED. I’m sure athletes and legacies are a factor (as they are at all LACs) but Williams also pays attention to overall fit, i.e., does the applicant really want to attend Williams and why?
I don’t have personal experience with Williams financial aid, but my understanding is that the NPC is reliable and the financial aid office is accessible.
How many years of foreign language in total will your daughter complete when she graduates? I don’t think it’s strictly necessary to have 4 years of the same language, but less than three will need to be explained. Some colleges have a language proficiency requirement for graduation; some don’t. (Williams doesn’t.)
Look at the University of Puget Sound? They have an outdoors themed dorm, and of course it is on the west coast near mountains and sea so the location can’t be beat in that regard. They are a “colleges that change lives” school and their Pacific Rim study abroad program really impressed me. I can’t remember the details but it was longer and more intensive than many “in-house” study abroad programs. They offered to fly my son out for a visit, but he declined as they did not offer enough aid to make it a reasonable choice for him. Good luck!
You asked if ED gives a bump to unhooked students. Yes, it does, if the student is qualified. It’s not a boost if the student doesn’t already have what they look for. Depending on the school, it can be more of a boost.
You’ve had some great suggestions, but before she gets too excited about Pomona, for example, lol, at the acceptance rates. Pomona is ridiculously hard to get into. She needs matches and safeties too. Having a balanced list, especially with the current uncertainty, is critical.
Excuse one (higher operating costs):
Most STEM Universities have long histories as “stepping stone” institutions. Traditionally they have had a large number of first generation college students. Although respect for the application of science and technology has evolved, largely in my lifetime, the actual costs associated with these rapidly changing and expensive laboratories have not diminished. We have to compete with Silicon Valley. With all WELL DESERVED respect, you cannot hire a PhD in chemical, electrical, mechanical, environmental, robotics for the same salary as a English, history or language instructor. NOTE: the economics of supply and demand teach us this!
Excuse two:
On a per student basis, WPI is well endowed, but they have not even hit their first billion dollars. In this STEM family of Universities, some big exceptions are MIT, Carnegie, Rice and Caltech… still way behind Harvard, Princeton and Yale.
On the more positive side:
The WPI Common Data Set for 2017-2018 reports that $25,746,272 was awarded BY THE UNIVERSITY to undergraduate students (i.e., not just first year students) in “merit” awards. The data also indicates that awards were not given in the first year and then not continued in subsequent years. I.E., true merit awards are made, but not to everybody. They are very competitive
As discussed on CC over the past few years, the acceptance rate of women is higher than that of men. WPI has found that women work very well in groups when given the chance to respectfully participate. WPI has learned that PBL requires cooperative group thinking. A cooperative team yields better results. Note that our President and many of our leaders are accomplished women.
Evidence is… it is working!
BUT
Do not apply with the expectation of a merit result which exceeds the NPC average. Only spend the $65 application fee if the program truly interest you. It is truly unique, but not the only option.
I think UPS would be a terrific fit for her. Fraternities/sororities are popular, but it appears to be the “good kind” of Greek system. I can tell you that all I’ve seen and heard indicates that UPS is not a campus known for partying. If she likes the Seattle area, she may also want to look at Seattle U. University of Washington is stellar, but I don’t know what out of state tuition will look like for you guys.
@Lindagaf You are absolutely correct about a balanced list. At this point she’s just at the information-gathering stage, but we both know Pomona would be a lottery ticket. In reading your threads from a few years back, I love how down-to-Earth you were about your daughter’s profile and her eventual list. Our kids sound similar and mine will likely be attracted to several of the same schools.
While I appreciate those who are saying she may have a shot at more selective schools, I’m under no illusion she’s competitive for elite colleges. She attends a subpar urban school that is much more concerned with graduation rates than it is with counseling kids into anything other than state colleges. She has decent test scores at this point, but nothing mind-blowing. She has decent ECs with leadership, but nothing head-turning. She is an interesting, nice kid that I’d like to have for a college roommate, but she’s completely unhooked as a middle class, non-athletic white girl. We understand that the applicant pool is full of kids with similar profiles!
@momrath, unfortunately, foreign language will be a real weak spot for her. There are a small percentage of kids in her school who take advanced courses outside the IB program, and for reasons unfathomable to me, these courses are only offered once during the day and often overlap. She took Spanish 2 freshman year (Spanish 1 in middle school), but couldn’t take Spanish last year or this year due to conflicts with AP calc (and something else; I forget what). She was accepted to Startalk (college coursework in Mandarin) this summer, but it’s been moved online (although it will still give her 6 credits of Chinese). Her school has said they’ll count these credits as Chinese 1 and Chinese 2 (two years of high school language). She’s hoping to study abroad her senior year (or potentially during a gap year), but I don’t know if colleges view that as equivalent to any years of high school language.
@retiredfarmer Thanks so much for your detailed overview of WPI - it looks amazing and the financial aid would be the biggest sticking point for us if she were accepted. Their NPC is strange in that it asks very vague questions so it’s tough to get a read on whether or not it would be affordable. If it turns out to be a top choice for her, I may contact the FA office and ask for a more detailed read.
@Basbleu @murray93 Several people have mentioned UPS, and it looks like a great fit! The Pac Rim program is right up her alley and is a selling point of its own. I’m pretty sure she’ll apply there.
Seattle U might be a good safety for her. There is a Boeing field near by where she can take lots of flying lessons!
The acceptance rate for female applicants to UPS was recently 91%. Even within the realm of safer admits, this represents a high chance of admission.
I would recommend 4 of the 5Cs (Pomona, Pitzer, CMC, and Scripps - not Harvey Mudd). The 5Cs are an undergrad college consortium in Claremont, California - all small liberal arts schools with stellar reputations. For her interests, I would absolutely recommend Pitzer College (VERY oriented around the environment and diplomacy, top programs). The 5Cs can get kind of pricy, but the financial aid offices are absolutely willing to work with you if your student needs more money.
That said, these schools are in Claremont - about an hour train ride inland from LA. Not very urban, more college town vibes. However!! All of the 5Cs are VERY socially active, constant school run parties and activities available for all students (Pomona has a party she is interested in? She will be welcomed!).
It is important to note that these schools are extremely difficult to get into, all of them are reach schools. Despite the fact that your daughter is clearly intelligent and has a plethora of activities, it will nonetheless be difficult. Her course rigor and ACT score are immediate issues - but I think if she got her ACT up to at least a 34, it would help tremendously. Her lack of AP and IB courses is concerning.
If she would like schools that are less of a reach, I would recommend Lewis & Clark College. It’s right in downtown Portland, Oregon - a lot of kids explore the city during the weekend and find internships there. L&C is also very well known for their environmental studies program - like WOW, it is FANTASTIC. They also have a very prevalent outdoors club (considering it’s Oregon, there is a lot of nature to see). Small LAC that really cares about its students - she is likely to be accepted with a lot of merit aid.
I’d look closely at the Claremont McKenna campus culture to make sure that would be a good fit, based on your comments here and your daughter’s impressions of Middlebury.
@keparker2000 Thanks for the detailed suggestions! She knows course rigor is a real issue, but there’s nothing she can do about it now. She dropped IB in order to attend an environmental science semester boarding school last spring, but COVID sent her home and she’s still mourning the loss (so are her parents!). Her high school only offers 9 AP courses, and some of them are not open to her because they have prereqs (AP Studio Art, Comp Sci) and she chose orchestra as her elective freshman year. They only offer one AP science course - AP Chem - and she’s required to take the Honors course first as a junior (she and some friends petitioned admin to offer AP bio next year, but they were turned down). She’ll take AP Calc AB as a junior, but they don’t offer BC so she’ll have to take Stats as a senior. Other classes are all honors + APUSH and AP Lang, but she knows it’s a weak schedule compared to other applicants. If she doesn’t win a study abroad scholarship for senior year, she’ll graduate with 6-7 AP courses; otherwise, it’ll just be the three.
In many ways, she’s not a fan of high school in general and I’m not disappointed she dropped IB - it has a definite reputation for grade deflation, stressed out students, and mounds of busywork - so if she ends up at a safety school due to lack of course rigor, it’s not the end of the world for sure. She’s a kid who isn’t afraid to carve her own path and she’ll bloom where she’s planted. 
I will add the Consortium schools to the list for her to check out, as well as L&C. @HiToWaMom, will also take a look at Seattle. Thanks!
Students are compared to what their own high schools offer not what other high schools offer.
I also think colleges will be understanding of pandemic related changes - like the environmental semester not working out but she took an opportunity and there is something to be said for that, something different that many other students.
Beauty of having a well rounded list of schools that are good fits and affordable is everything WILL work out in the end.
@skydivemom, I agree with @doschicos comment: college admissions don’t penalize kids whose high schools don’t offer multiple AP opportunities.
Academic accomplishment is at most colleges the most important element in admissions and to me, your daughter’s perfect GPA and standing as #1 out of 550 is a major accomplishment.
From what you’ve told us her ECs are solid and focused. In the next year she should work on how she will present her interests and activities in her application, through essays, resumes, recommendations. Colleges are looking for diversity of all sorts, including geographic and educational, and plenty of kids at selective colleges are not “hooked.” They are just serious about learning and serious about pursuing their interests.
I’d agree that she should plan to retake the ACT, or try the SAT. Since she’s only just beginning 11th grade, her scores may benefit from another year or so of high school.
Does her school allow students to take IB courses outside of the full diploma? This could be a way to augment the schools AP/honors offerings.
The foreign language issue is complicated, which hopefully your counselor can explain on your daughter’s application. 2 years each of 2 languages isn’t ideal, but it’s not a deal breaker either. (For similarly complicated reasons, that’s what my son had and it wasn’t a problem for him in admissions.) My guess is that a lot of special programs will have been disrupted by COVID-19 and that colleges will be open to considering non-traditional approaches.