Left of Center SLAC? [3.9 GPA, neuroscience, cog sci, chemistry]

Looking for left of center target SLAC for our daughter with strong STE and within 2 hrs of large city. Nice kids but not overly quirky / liberal (eg, Oberlin, Pitzer) or heavy Greek / right leaning like some of the schools in the South. So far only finding Dennison (but also may be a reach). Are we missing some?

Stats: 33 ACT, 4.2 weighted, average EC’s, rigor is average / just below.

Daughter has applied to Tufts, Wash U, Boston U, and Wesleyan for reaches.
W&M, U Rochester, and Case for targets. Except for Wesleyan all larger student body populations.

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Macalester, Carleton, St. Olaf’s. Williams, if you count Albany as a large city.

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Would a Jesuit school (ex. BC, Gtown, Fordham) work? Most are mid-sized and in or near urbam areas and there are many different locations and acceptance ranges to consider. Other Catholic colleges like Villanova or Providence could fit the bill as well.

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What is the unweighted gpa? Weighted means little as everyone weights differently.

Some schools may have had deadlines pass.

How many APs? Highest level of math ?

Any idea of what she wants to study ?

Budget ? Do you have any need or need merit to achieve the budget ?

I assume she’s not gotten in anywhere yet - and depending on UW GPA and finances may not from that list you provided. Even the targets may be reached. .

That you have Wes and Rochester, Kalamazoo (very small) will be a likely. Has big merit ahd the K Plan which they label as open but has some restrictions.

On niche it shows 60% liberal and 33% very……

I point it out bcuz of a similarity to Wes and Rochester but if you provide more info can give you more thoughts and schools.

I think Connecticut College would be a good one to consider (deadline 1/15). Not a reach, nice kids, didn’t seem that quirky, no Greek system, under 2 hours from Boston.

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I think at 43% acceptance for females - less overall including men and 260 of 555 attending via ED - so RD will be less as ED has a higher rate - without further info on need, gpa and rigor it’s hard to label anything short of schools with higher acceptance rates at this point. All we know is the ACT is good.

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Update: 3.9 UW and 4.2 weighted. Total of 4 honors classes and 2 AP. Taking honors math now equal to Calc BC. Upward trend from junior fall after getting diagnosed with ADHD…on track for all A’s this term including the Calc BC equal and AP Chem.

Neuroscience, Cogsci, or Chem.

Also applied to Villanova, Fordham, GWU, Pitt, and UBC Targets also…but also much larger student body populations. Safeties are U of Az and Loyoala Chicago…both admitted already and with decent merit.

We are likely full pay but she is very sensitive to the cost so getting merit could be a deciding factor

We recognize we’re at 11th hour and some deadlines have passed. She was initially very reluctant to consider a small school (<5k) but has slowly changed her mind. The parents think she’d benefit from a closer community, smaller classes, and teacher engagement that the SLAC’s offer.

So if Honors is like Calc BC, is it a private school ? Could it be you are understating the rigor ?

On niche, students describe Nova as right of center. I looked knowing the religious bent so surprised - tell more about the rigor. Your calc bc description is a bit off if not AP etc. perhaps it’s stronger than you think ?

Are you the parent ?

Muhlenberg College (near Philadelphia), Wheaton College (the one in the suburbs of Boston, not the Christian one in Illinois), Kenyon College (near Columbus), Beloit College (near Chicago, might be a tad too left), Earlham College (near Indianapolis, might also be a tad too left but I think Quaker institutions with their emphasis on peace and consensus are less prone to polarization), Drew University (near NYC), Gustavus Adolphus (Minneapolis), Gettysburg College (Baltimore).

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Union might be another to conside4.

Private catholic school with about 700 kids known for rigorous course work. I stated ‘below average to average’ rigor based my daughters classmates / peers and within the applicant pool applying to the listed schools.

Also what state are you? Many states have public universities that are essentially small liberal arts colleges within the state U system. For example I am in New York, and we have schools like SUNY Geneseo which is a public SLAC (less than 4k students, 15:1 faculty:student ratio, etc).

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Have you looked at Vassar? Holy Cross might be of interest. Also, Barnard has extended its deadline to the 15th.

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I think Union is more squarely in the middle than left-leaning, also not really within 2 hours of a large city.

If Boston U is a reach for the OP’s kid, how is Barnard going to be a target?

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College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA. Progressive but not unhinged.

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TSBNA44 - yes i’m one of the parents.

We’re in the NW…she is considering our state school honors college as well as U of Az honors.

She is now intrigued by Vassar but they had a Jan 1 date. This has been a very common theme with her the last few months…taking a long time to solidify her interests.

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Barnard’s certainly not a target, but given that they’ve extended their deadline this year, there’s a unique opportunity to apply.

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Davidson. Borderline target/reach in RD round but not so improbable as to not be worth it to try.

Meets all the rest of your definitions. It’s 20 minutes from a city, left of center but not far left, not exceptionally quirky and not very Greek (there is some greek but it’s not a big influence on campus culture and more student below to the non-Greek eating houses), and in the South.

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Yes, you’re right – probably more center than some. Although lots of kids from NYC, so I tend to think that slightly left is built in. And definitely more left than Gettysburg. Yes, about 3 1/2 hours by train to NYC so a little further.

Bard is the more left of center option in that general area and closer to NYC.