I was wondering whether you have any suggestions for good match/safety schools that: are small/medium in size, offer a well-rounded liberal arts education with a focus on learning for learning’s sake, offer substantial undergraduate research opportunities, are relatively diverse, and (very importantly) offer extensive financial aid for low income/first generation students (apologies for the vagueness). Ideally, this would be a mix of liberal arts schools and universities.
In terms of stats, I’m a rising senior from Ohio, have a 4.0/4.0 gpa, 36 ACT (single sitting), 7 AP courses and 5 college-level courses, and a few national-level extracurriculars (can’t detail too much here for privacy, but I was published in a nationally renowned academic journal, won several writing contests, won a full government scholarship to study abroad in India, and have several leadership positions in meaningful activities).
Take a look at liberal arts colleges and private schools. Most of them will have the size that you’re looking for, and both LACs and privates are known for hefty financial aid. Public universities tend to give pretty minimal aid.
I totally understand your hesitancy to disclose your ECs- It’s okay, don’t worry about it. I can tell from what you’ve said that they’re quite unique and will set you well apart from the pack come admissions time.
Honestly, I think you could go anywhere based off of what you’ve said.
With those stats, you’ve got a shot at many, many scholarships, including the Eminence scholarship from OSU, which is a full ride. You will need to apply by November 1st.
@doschicos I’d say a mixture between Science and History right now, but I don’t really have anything mapped out. Male, and I was named a Questbridge College Prep Scholar earlier this year.
@MYOS1634@suzy100 Thank you so much for the advice! I’m applying to several colleges through Questbridge, but I’m not quite confident in my chances (even at the less selective Questbridge schools, having a ~20% acceptance rate really doesn’t make me feel comfortable), and I would want some options where I have a fairly likely chance of being accepted beyond just state schools.
Definitely Vassar.
Less selective but really strong, probably a safety if you demonstrate interest (fill out the request info form, read emails they send and ask questions to admissions, click on the emails to check out links) : St Olaf, Lawrence, St Lawrence, Denison, Beloit, Connecticut college. Skidmore ?
Wooster and Earlham would be safeties.
Ole Miss Honors would probably be a full ride.
@MYOS1634 Thanks so much for the suggestions! I’m going to look into Vassar; I haven’t heard much about it before. Do you have any suggested universities too? I’m trying to get a mix of sizes for now since I don’t really have a preference on that beyond not going to a ridiculously large school.
Vassar is a great school and males have slightly higher acceptances than females but, despite your great stats, I’d put it into the match category not a safety.
@hse344, you are smart not to assume that a 36 ACT, 4.0 GPA guarantees admission to schools that have less than a 20% admission date - way too many HS students and their parents assume so, only to be left with state safeties in the end.
Yes, apply to some top-10 reach schools if they feel like a fit - they are reaches for everyone given 10% or less acceptance rates, them mix in some top 10-20 schools as they will be realistic reaches, then some top 20-30 schools as matches, and then some top 30-40 as safeties.
Separate from Questbridge and Posse schools, there are only 40 schools that are both need blind and meet 100% of demonstrated need so probably best to focus on these.
Barnard College (need-aware for transfer students)[8]
Boston College
Bowdoin College (need-aware for transfer students)[9]
Brown University (need-aware for international and transfer students)
California Institute of Technology
Claremont McKenna College
College of the Holy Cross
Columbia College, Columbia University (also meets full need for “eligible noncitizens”) [10]
Cornell University[11]
Dartmouth College
Davidson College
Duke University[12]
Georgetown University (need-blind for all applicants)[13]
Grinnell College
Hamilton College[14]
Haverford College
Harvey Mudd College[15]
Johns Hopkins University[16]
Middlebury College
Northwestern University
Olin College[17]
Pomona College
Rice University[18]
Soka University of America[19]
St. John’s College (Annapolis/Santa Fe)[20]
Stanford University
Swarthmore College
University of Chicago
University of Michigan (in-state students only)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill[21]
University of Notre Dame
University of Pennsylvania (also applies for Canadian and Mexican students)
University of Richmond
University of Rochester (also applies for Canadian and Mexican students)
University of Southern California[22]
University of Virginia[23]
Vanderbilt University
Vassar College[24][25]
Wellesley College
Williams College
As expected, many are also the schools with the large endowments so likely better research opportunities, as well as many are very diverse.
Take a look at these and you’ll see many of the same schools:
In addition to the schools shown above, US News also identifies:
Amherst College
Bates College
Bryn Mawr College
Carleton College
Colby College
Colgate University
Colorado College
Connecticut College
Franklin and Marshall College
Harvard University
Kenyon College
Lafayette College
Macalester College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mount Holyoke College
Oberlin College
Occidental College
Princeton University
Salem College
Scripps College
Smith College
Thomas Aquinas College
Trinity College
Tufts University
Union College
Wake Forest University
Walla Walla University
Washington and Lee University
Washington University in St. Louis
Wesleyan University
Yale University
Surely no top 10 list is complete without including Colgate University in Hamilton, NY!
Check it out at colgate.edu for starters. Or better yet visit the campus and The Village.
Oh, and by the way, it’s no one’s safety - nor are any of the 25 or so colleges and universities listed above.
High school reputation, applicant fit for the class, demonstrated interest, and quality of references and essays are
all factored into their ultimate acceptance decisions for any particular year.
@tk21769, OP needs to realize that your list in post #13 includes schools that AREN’T need blind so that part of the acceptance equation will be uncertain - the Wikipedia list separates out (1) need blind and meet 100% of demonstrated need from (2) need aware and meet 100% of demonstrated need, other lists do as well.
The following colleges apparently claim to meet 100% of demonstrated need*, but are not need-blind in admission:
Bates College
Bryn Mawr College (women only)
Carleton College
Colby College
Colgate University
Colorado College
Connecticut College
Franklin and Marshall College
Macalester College
Mount Holyoke College (women only)
Oberlin College
Occidental College
Scripps College (women only)
Smith College (women only)
Trinity College
Tufts University
Union College
Washington University in St. Louis
Wesleyan University
There may be a few discrepancies among these lists.
The following 3 are on that Wiki page among the full-need-but-not-need-blind schools (along with Bates etc.) but aren’t on the USNWR list of full need schools.
Brandeis
Reed
Skidmore
Need-blind colleges whose mission is to enroll low-income students through Questbridge, Posse, recruiting at inter city or economically challenged rural schools, etc, aren’t truly need-blind.
At most need-blind schools, the percentage of full-pay students varies by no more than a percent from year to year. It’s logical to assume that admissions officers at the majority of need-blind colleges have to be need-aware in some form in order to construct a class that is within the constraints of the aid budget and fulfills the colleges’ mission