I would recommend looking at Carnegie Melon as a reach and Muhlenberg as a safety.
@Bill_Marsh , this is why my list was framed as it was. Looking for suggestions in general as well as less reachy options.
2 Likes
Your daughter sounds very similar to my son, and we had similar concerns. Heâs very smart, gets good grades, and he probably could get into one of the NESCAC schools or similar but we needed to find the right fit for his personality. He doesnât do well under lots of pressure or with high intensity, competitive, highly driven kids. Heâs just very laid back. Said âabsolutely notâ to Greek life. The Ivies intimidate him.
That said, he is an athlete and after going on a few recruiting overnight visits, he has committed to Skidmore. He had offers at âbetterâ schools but he really felt like Skidmore was the perfect âvibeâ for him. The kids are smart and interesting, the classes are small, itâs a pretty campus (the buildings arenât beautiful but the setting is nice) and you really canât go wrong in Saratoga Springs. He said it was about a 15 minute walk into town from the sports center on campus. They have a good variety of majors for a LAC, and itâs bigger than most LACs. The arts are very prominent on campus, which might appeal to your daughter.
Good luck!
10 Likes
That sounds like the better school to me.
Related to OP, we know an UW GPA and test. We know nothing about rigor etc to know if these top flight schools are reasonable.
Hopefully OP returns.
CMU definitely has the reputation of being a pressure cooker. My rather-driven kid was accepted to CMU but didnât want that kind of pressure. For the record, he matriculated at Brown, so agree that Brown can be as non-pressure cooker as you want. (It can also be intense if you want to be).
8 Likes
Your daughterâs profile is impressive. What may be a âpressure cookerâ to many students might not be for her.
Based on what I read, I wish Rice was in her preferred geographical area. It would be a great fit.
2 Likes
If youâre going to look at Skidmore, you might as well look at Union, too. I think she would really like either Smith or Mt. Holyoke, though. What about Wellseley?
If âcute townâ could include a âgritty cityâ, Clark can be a safety. There were recent budget cuts, but theyâve just received a very large donation to counteract that. If looking at Clark, you can also look at Holy Cross (target, not a safety) if she is okay with a Jesuit school. There is cross-registration between Holy Cross and Clark.
3 Likes
Iâm thinking Hamilton in Clinton, NY would fit what you described. Clinton is a small town with a few restaurants and cute stores. New Hartford nearby has the bigger box stores (Target, Hobby Lobby, and a mall, etc.). For very good, cultural restaurants Utica is an easy drive by car.
1 Like
With respect to opportunities in psychology, Hamiltonâs semester at the New England Center for Children may be of particular interest to the OPâs daughter:
This recent article describes the village of Clinton:
2 Likes
One of my kids loved Brown and made incredible friends. He lived with fellow Brown grads until his mid-30âs and still works with other Brown folks, and has since graduating.
Smith, Amherst, Williams, Tufts, Clark, Vassar all came to mind. Barnard is too city maybe? Also check out Colleges that Change Lives ctcl.org
2 Likes
Below are some schools your D may want to consider, sorted by my guesses as to her chances for admission. Most of them have been mentioned by others, but Iâm seconding (or thirding) them 
. The times are the driving distances from Fairfield County, CT in the current driving conditions, per Google Maps.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
-
Drew (NJ): About 1600 undergrads; 1h40m
-
Eastern Connecticut: About 3800 undergrads, 1h42m
-
Goucher (MD): About 1k undergrads; 4h3m
-
Hampshire (MA): About 700 undergrads; 2h4m
-
Ithaca (NY): About 4400 undergrads; 4h2m
-
Muhlenberg (PA ):About 1800 undergrads, 2h42m
-
SUNY New Paltz: About 6500 undergrads, 1h17m
-
Wheaton (MA): About 1800 undergrads, 2h42m
Likely (60-79%)
-
Bard (NY): About 2500 undergrads, 1h30m
-
Clark (MA): About 2400 undergrads, 2h18m
-
Sarah Lawrence (NY): About 1500 undergrads, 49m
Toss-Up (40-59%)
-
Brandeis (MA): About 3700 undergrads, 2h40m
-
Bryn Mawr (PA ): About 1300 undergrads at this womenâs college; 2h50m
-
Connecticut College: About 2k undergrads; 1h27m
-
Mount Holyoke (MA): About 2200 undergrads at this womenâs college; 1h52m
-
Skidmore (NY): About 2800 undergrads, 2h46m
Lower Probability (20-39%)
-
Smith (MA): About 2500 undergrads at this womenâs college; 1h56m
-
Vassar (NY): About 2500 undergrads; 1h7m
Low Probability (less than 20%)
-
Brown (RI): About 7700 undergrads, 2h19m
-
Haverford (PA ): About 1400 undergrads, 2h56m
-
Swarthmore (PA ):About 1600 undergrads, 3h2m
8 Likes
The social scene at Union revolves heavily around Greek life (this is based on speaking to students, a tour, and what weâve read/heard), so that might be a factor for the OP to consider.
4 Likes
Vassar is a must for your daughter. Look into this Powerhouse Theater - Homepage | Vassar College
The school has been working on toning that down for over a decade. We know several kids who have gone there without fitting the profile, and theyâve been quite happy. But this really depends on the student - some are quite comfortable being outside the dominant culture while others are miserable in that role.
Still, worth it for the OP to check out (with eyes wide open!) Itâs an excellent school with a different academic calendar than most. My guess is OP would get generous merit there.
3 Likes
Union actually appeared as an Honorable mention on a list with the quirkiest kids. Itâs why I put it in my initial post above.
2 Likes
Clark (Worcester isnât cute, but the school has a good psych program, and rest of her needs seem to match).
Yes Clark has had a great Psych program.. but Clark has also had some recent challenges worth considering Clark U. was booming 3 years ago. How they got to laying off 30% of faculty
Iâll second Drew. Madison is a great town. Not a college town, but there are lots of students around with FDU and St. Elizabeth located right alongside Drew. Further repping NJ (
), TCNJ has a good psych program and is close to Princeton and downtown Pennington, with Lambertville and New Hope within a reasonable distance. Philly and NYC are also an easy train ride away.
4 Likes
yeah,I think it is âup toâ that percentage and they also just got a 20M gift so development may be on overdrive (not that necessarily solves structural problems). They also seem to be fairly proactive (which is hopeful to me).
I know a number of kids there (or those who have recently graduated) who absolutely positively thrived, like blossomed and are doing amazing now. I donât think it is in real danger of going under, and if OP is looking for likely/targets, many LAC-type places are not doing great. Ithaca has its issues too.. I think Union was also very underenrolled recently.
2 Likes
My 25 looked at it and felt the sameâŠI also think I figured out the percentage of non-athletes is really pretty low - it sort of felt like âengineersâ âfrat boysâ and âathletesâ none of which seem like this OP.
And lots of schools crack down on greek life for years to no avail.