Looking ahead - LACs vs. small universities

us_uk_mom
Thu, 08 May 2008 06:54:39 +0000

thumper, I can clarify a bit about the “quirkiness”. I hope I’m not revealing too much to make D personally identifiable. She is artsy and creative, but with a certain bend. She is very good at traditional art (life drawing, portraits), but her real interests are anime/comics/cartoons and fantasy fiction, both reading and writing. She found a niche online, in the anime community, and also in the role playing games community (not WOW type, but moderated fantasy games, where each person takes on a character and “plays” it – I guess it’s a sort of collective writing). She is keeping all of this tightly under wraps in school, for fear of being ostracized even more that she is already, says these hobbies are way too weird for “normal” kids. The reasons she is an outcast – just doesn’t fit in with the regular crowd – not interested in fashion, clothing brands, makeup, doesn’t care how she dresses, not interested in partying, clubbing, gossip, boys (or girls! – as has been suggested by some of her classmates) and is athletic. She needs a school where she can find people like her in real life, not just in cyber world. One of her online friends is going to Reed, but for her, it’s too much rain, and they have no varsity sports, not even DIII. For me, it’s too much of a drugs scene.

Engineering schools are out of the question, for now (although I can see her at RPI, for example, in their game major). At one point she announced that she wants to be a game designer, no doubt attracted by visual art aspects of it, but after more discussions and realization of how technical that might be, whether she really wants to spend her life doing this, and whether this type of education will give her the best options for life, she reconsidered. Psychology and mental disorders are other interests and the current focus for college (along with art as second major or minor). Academically, she always excelled in English/writing and foreign languages, but is gradually becoming more science-y. Because she is only a freshman, she hasn’t been exposed to a lot yet, but I can see developing interest in biology (at least where it touches on behavioral sciences and genetics).

Size – it is one of my concerns that if she goes to a small LAC and can’t find her niche, it will be just like her high school, all over again. In the bigger place, there is more diversity. She is convinced that she’ll find her group in any college, but I’m not so sure, that’s why I’m unclear about what environment would be best for her. I don’t think she realizes how small a school with 1200 students is – it seems large to her, compared to her tiny HS!

Weather-wise – yes, she wants warmth, but rain is the biggest problem, as BunsenBurner mentioned. She grew up in the Northeast, and is willing to apply there. She knows there are a lot more LACs/small unis there than in CA. Minnesota will be a harder sell, despite Carleton and Macalester, which could both be a good fit.