My DS is a junior at a highly ranked competitive county public school that focuses on Medical Sciences. Most of his classmates were the top of their respective middle schools and all students had to apply and take an entrance exam for this school. All courses are taught at an “honors” level and therefore grades are not weighted. The school uses a 100 point scale and does not covert to 4.0 GPA. There are no AP courses however 21 credits (Intro to Health Care, Anatomy and PHys 1 and 2, Advanced Bio and Advanced Chem, EMT, are all dual credit and he will have a transcript from our state university at graduation) The average GPA in the school is around 90, my son has a 92. He is in the top 40% of his grade (but there are less than 80 kids in the grade) He has not taken the ACT yet but is consistently getting 31 -33 on practice tests. Anyway he is interesting in small (less than 3000) LAC that also has a music program. He wants to pursue a career in Physical Therapy.
EC’s: Explorer with local First Aid Squad, holds a board position, National Honor Society, President of music club at his school (There are no arts classes so club is only way for musicians to perform) Other clubs at school. He also plays drums, bass and guitar in a few bands and takes multiple music lessons. He has a paying job at a local Physical Therapist 8 hours a week as well.
We are currently thinking of:
Colorado College
University of Puget Sound
Whitman
Occidental
Chapman
Pomona
Pitzer
Muhlenberg
Skidmore
Assuming money is not an issue… any other suggestions for us?
Ithaca College is bigger than an LAC but is not big ( 6000). They have a 6 year DPT program as well as a music program. Ithaca is an amazing college town with beautiful waterfalls and hiking trails. Are the schools on his list direct entry or would he have to apply to PT school?
Muhlenberg is direct entry (6year) Skidmore has a guaranteed entry after sophomore year but 7 year, Chapman too. The others just have pre-health or pre PT. I wanted him to consider Ithaca but he keeps saying… too big.
I would stick to direct entry programs ( if possible) so that he is assured acceptance. These programs are competitive. SUNY Geneseo has a combined direct entry program with SUNY Upstste Medical Center but it’s also bigger than 3000- closer to 5000. Also Clarkson University has a DPT program and I think it has around 3000 students.
Oberlin and Lawrence support conservatories and would be worth researching.
These colleges would be strong for music and match his currently indicated size preference and selectivity range (though they vary substantially in many other respects):
Wesleyan
Hamilton
Bard
Furman
DePauw
Sarah Lawrence
Wheaton (IL)
I am impressed with your son’s thoughtful list. I imagine he will be offered some nice merit aid at several of them. I am not an expert, but might University Of Rochester offer opportunity for all his interests? It’s not an LAC, but only has about 6000 undergrads. It is attached to a a large medical center and of course the Eastman school of music. I could see him being offered nice merit aid there. Definitely worth considering.