Honestly, you are wasting your time at those schools. I don’t mean to be blunt. And UW is well over $50K - but you’re not even close with those stats. I don’t want to be mean.
You’re a UNLV type student with a top school list.
Lawrence U in Appleton Wisconsin and Beloit as mentioned earlier - are two to look at…especially if you are seeking smaller schools.
You should spend your visits looking at school you can attend, not those that are highly unlikely to admit you.
95% of Tufts enrollees are in the top quarter of class. Wisc which is a polar opposite of an LAC is very expensive, you are OOS and 87% are top quarter. And you are around 50th. The avg gpa is 3.9 - not sure if weighted or not.
Unless you have some secret entry path (you noted you will get free tuition), you are using valuable visit time that should be spent at schools possible for you.
Yes, I’m confused by this as well. There’s a program that’s specific to Maine, and includes private colleges? When you say it “isn’t necessarily available everywhere else,” where else is it available?
As another out-of-the-box thought… if you’re interested in a service commitment, would the Coast Guard Academy be something to look at? They have a more normal admissions process, compared to the other service academies. They have both a life sciences major (marine & environmental sciences) and a poli sci major (government). It’s a small college with a liberal arts context, in a gorgeous coastal New England location, and has cross-registration with Conn College (already suggested by another commenter) which is in the same town. And the Coast Guard is very much involved in disaster response/relief. Median weighted GPA at the Academy is 3.79, so, not stratospherically high… and they might really value your strong EC’s. In addition, some applicants, rather than being admitted or denied, are offered a funded preparatory year, after which 85% are admitted. Perhaps not a fit, but seems worth running up the proverbial flagpole. I also agree that Conn College could be a good one to look at, and you could cross-register at the Academy from there if there were specific classes of interest.
AFAIK, the military does not pay for college retroactively and Bates does not have an ROTC program. He could be referring to the Yellow Ribbon Program, which Bates does participate in, but it does not cover full tuition at Bates and is capped at $17,500 there. I’m really interested in knowing what the program is so we can pass the information on to others.
Not only is Conn College in the same town as the USCG Academy, it is literally right across the street. And Conn College’s athletic facilities are immediately adjacent to the Coast Guard Academy on the same side of the street. Point being is that taking advantage of the cross registration opportunities between the 2 colleges doesn’t involve any transportation issues. It’s really just like walking across campus anywhere else.
It’s not specific to Maine, but the Army National Guard has education benefits for members by state, and Maine pays 100% tuition for public and private institutions.
I really am not interested in pursuing disaster relief, and I have ruled out service academies as I wish for a typical experience.
So, are you saying that you would join the National Guard while in college?
The National Guard pulls its member FG their jobs to deal with emergency situations. This has become more frequent under the current administration. Are there exceptions for college students?
I’m finding a tuition waiver in Maine for the state’s public colleges but not for private colleges. Can you help with more information?
Okay; just checking to see what might or might not fit. (Was thinking in terms of how your record might appeal to Coast Guard AO’s, even though I know you said you weren’t specifically focused on disaster relief going forward. But it’s good to know that you aren’t looking for a service academy environment; we do see students who consider the academies for the free education, and don’t give enough weight to whether that’s really the experience they want.) I still think Conn College merits consideration, as a terrific New England LAC that isn’t quite as reachy as Bates but has many of the same qualities that you’re looking for.
Have you considered the Pacific Northwest? It’s very green and very much a change of scene from NV, even though it’s in the west. Lewis & Clark and Whitman have already been mentioned (Whitman will give a merit pre-read on request). There’s also U of Puget Sound, and Willamette U (particularly strong for poli sci & pre-law), and if you’re considering Catholic U’s, Seattle U and U of Portland. An affordable safety in the PNW would be Southern Oregon U in Ashland. Lovely and green, with a very private-LAC-like vibe, but it’s a public U that participates in WUE, so “sticker price” for a Nevada resident would be only 37.5k/year, and you’d likely get an additional merit discount.
As for ED1 vs ED2, while ED1 can be inherently more advantageous, I think that cancels out for you because the obvious response to an ED1 application at a competitive school like Bates, if not a straight-up “no,” is going to be “Let’s table this and see if his senior fall grades continue the momentum from junior year…” and thus you’ll get deferred to RD, best-case. So I think your chances would be better (albeit not great tbh) in ED2 where they might be more willing to tilt toward a binding acceptance.
One more northeast LAC that hasn’t come up but might be worth considering is Hobart & William Smith, in Upstate NY. Maybe the Political Entrepreneurship track within the Politics major would appeal… and they offer a 3+3 Accelerated Pathway Scholar Program with Cornell Law School. I believe they’re relatively generous with merit as well.