Match creative, eclectic kid looking for neuroscience &/or psychology. looking for mid-size [ID resident, 4.0 GPA, 32 ACT]

Chance Me / Match Me
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U.S. citizen
Idaho resident
public HS (supplemented with specialized math/science school for 2 years for high achieving students)
female/ Asian
queer and wants to be at an inclusive/welcoming school and surrounding community
looking for more collaborative vs competitive
not interested in Greek system and prefers no Greek system on campus
wants a work hard/play hard environment
on campus housing for all 4 years would be PLUS
prefers a more urban area OR easy access if possible for concerts, etc

Intended major: neuroscience or psychology (She would love to find a college that often allows more than one major). She is also a creative writer, winning regional recognition

UW: 4.0 (rank 1/510)
W: 4.123 (rank 58/510)
ACT: 32 but will take again

Coursework
will have 9 AP’s at end of senior year (4 now) all 5’s
5 dual enrollment at end of senior year (3 now)
completed pre-calc, will be taking AP calc next year/senior year
3 years of Spanish

Awards
regional award for creative writing
many teacher/school recognitions

Extracurriculars
Varsity swim 4 years
Speech & Debate 3 years (HS is only 3 grade levels so this is the most that was available)
no volunteer hours to speak of but has worked for 2 years teaching swim lessons to little kids and lifeguarding and has volunteered to teach swim lessons to refugees in our area

Essays/LORs/Other
This is a big question mark, but I would imagine with her love of writing her essays should be compelling.

Cost Constraints / Budget
open to any option but would love schools that would consider merit aid
open to any area of the US but interested more in East Coast/Midwest

Schools
wants a mid-size school with smaller classes but not so small she knows everyone on campus

Schools she is interested in so far:
Tufts
Cornell
Boston U
Brandeis
Vassar
Brown
Univ. Redlands
Santa Clara
Pomona
Bowdoin
Planning on applying EA to as many as possible. We are concerned we don’t have enough of a mix between safety, likely, match and reach. We would love your opinion on where she might stand with these schools and suggestions on others that we may have missed.

Thank you so much for reading!

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How about Smith or Wesleyan? Both offer excellent psychology programs and have larger enrollments than, say, Bowdoin. Smith offers the potential for merit scholarship recognition.

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My first thought is URochester.

If she likes Pomona consider applying to Scripps and/or Pitzer also.

Pitt is worth a look, and their rolling admissions can get you a decision quite early.

Seconding Wesleyan also.

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Here’s 31 colleges without greek life - below .

I don’t think you need a mix of safety, likely, match and reach. What you need are safeties that you can afford and would love to attend. After that, where you apply doesn’t matter - as long as you have the possibility to afford.

Do you have any cost concerns? Tufts is, for lack of a better word, a rich kid school - so it’s about $380K and yes they meet need but only 2259 of 6732 kids get any need aid.

So make sure you run net price calculators - unless you know you can afford.

Also know that given the majors, grad school is potentially involved, so more money.

So you want more urban - so I don’t understand Cornell for one nor do I understand Vassar and Bowdoin - given the desire for mid size.

When I saw multiple majors, the first school I thought of was Case Western.

You don’t normally think of Redlands - but it’s a safety. I’m not sure how big the school is - as it’s got students at other campuses.

Santa Clara is a likely.

The rest are reaches although being from Idaho will help. Some you’ll need to apply test optional.

So in addition to Case Western, another choice would be U Rochester. Trinity in San Antonio might be a bit small - would be a match. Pitt would be larger but not insanely large but is strong in the areas you seek. If you apply early, you should be ok although it’s getting more and more popular. Bryn Mawr is smaller and female but a part of a consortium with other top LACs - but not to the level of Pomona. If Catholic is ok and I assume it is, you’ll find more - like U of Portland, Creighton, Gonzaga, Loyola Maryland and more.

As for four year housing, some LACs do - you have Bowdoin but not Colby or Bates but other schools may have some kids live in campus housing all four years or will have ample nearby housing. Of course, those don’t meet other dynamics you seek that Bowdoin does.

That a school has Greek Life doesn’t mean one needs to participate. I went to a huge Greek life school and it had zero impact - and my son recently went to an SEC school and it didn’t impact him. So - it’s nice to find a school without - but if there’s some, it doesn’t mean your student will have to participate or have it impact their life.

Again- if the student is ok with Redlands or Santa Clara, the rest don’t matter - but yes, you are swinging high!! But Idaho is a state of need as colleges like to say we have students from all 50 states.

You also have access to the WUE - Schools like W Washington, Colorado State, U of Montana, and Nevada Reno all have neuroscience and all have “some aspect” of what interests you (size and a level of urbanness (access to concerts) - and could work. UNR especially looks interesting as it has the Institute of Neuroscience.

Best of luck.

This is from 3rd party but I listed it out - it won’t let me put the link - schools with no greek life:

Amherst
Bates
BC
Bowdoin
BYU
Bryn Maw
Carleton
Fordham
Fort Lewis
Gonzaga
Grinnell
Hampshire
Harvey Mudd
Hawaii Pacific
Kalamazoo
Loyola MD
Mary Washington
Middlebury
Mount Holyoke
Notre Dame
Oberlin
Portland
Princeton
Reed
Rice
Scripps
Smith
Swarthmore
Vassar
Wellesley
Williams

About Us | The Institute for Neuroscience | University of Nevada, Reno (unr.edu)

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@tsbna44 mentioned University of Portland (among others) - I don’t know the school well, but know a few students who attend(ed), and from what I know it would hit a lot of your criteria - and should be a safety. You might also consider Whitman, which is definitely not urban, but meets a lot of the other criteria, and would be at least likely (plus they give some good merit awards).

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Bryn Mawr is near Philly, and students stay all four years on campus and most get single rooms after freshman year. Haverford is the most attended of the consortium schools as Swarthmore is kind of hard to get to and UPenn is on a different schedule.

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Look into the well-regarded Honors College at University of Oregon. I think it may satisfy a lot of your criteria (with the Honors College offering smaller classes within a larger school) and it would be a likely admit. It does have a Greek system, but it is not dominant; it is an eclectic campus with a vibrant queer community.

Another likely admit that could check a lot of boxes is Willamette University.

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A few thoughts about schools she might look into. Each has plusses and minuses regarding her list of desired traits, but could be worth thinking about. (It’ll be hard for her to find a school that nails all of them, so part of this journey will be for her to figure out which ones she can be flexible on and which ones are essential.)

Rice — ~4,500 students. Has two BSs and a BA in neuroscience and a BA is psychology. No greek life on campus. In a big, diverse city (caveat: Texas). 62% of undergrads live on campus, but they have a very strong residential college program. I think in many ways it could be a great fit, but it has an acceptance rate ~8%, so a tough admit for all applicants.

Washington University in St Louis — ~7,500 students. Has a psychology major with a neuroscience concentration. 70% of undergrads live on-campus, and the dorms and food get high marks. Does have greek life. Acceptance rate is ~12%.

William & Mary — ~6,900 students. Has a BS in neuroscience and both a BA and a BS in psychology. Very collaborative, amiable culture, full of eclectic, creative students and caring professors. Very queer-friendly. Does have greek life, but not dominant. Housing is available for all four years on campus. Isn’t in an urban area. Out-of-state admit rate is 28%.

University of San Francisco — ~6,000 students. Has a neuro BS and a BA in psychology. In a great city, with tons going on, and obviously queer-friendly. Greek life seems fairly minimal (not many sororities and no greek housing). Housing in general won’t be as available on-campus — 55% of undergrads are off-campus. If Santa Clara’s in the mix and you’ll be visiting the area, I’d think about adding USFCA. Admit rate is 71%.

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I wouldn’t describe the University of Rochester as a “work hard play hard” kind of place.

Eta, not sure I’d describe any of the schools on the OP’s list as work hard play hard.

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If Cornell is on the list, I would consider Ithaca as well which is mid-sized, has a large artsy population, and would be an extremely likely (80-99%+) admit.

Macalester might be another school to consider with the desired vibe (lower probability, 20-39% chance). UNC-Asheville is North Carolina’s public liberal arts college and might be worth checking out as well as an extremely likely admit. Trinity U. in San Antonio would be another possibility (welcoming city/surroundings, but in Texas). It would probably be lower probability or, coming from Idaho, maybe a toss-up (40-59%).

My guess is that U. of Redlands would be an extremely likely admit, Santa Clara and Brandeis toss-ups, and the others would be low probability (less than 20%).

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I was also going to recommend Macalester, if not too small (you have Bowdoin on there so I can’t imagine Mac is too small?) Agree with looking at the Claremont Colleges. If not too rural, St. Olaf and Carleton. Conn coll might work if not too small also. New London is a nice area on the water.

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How would you describe them? Truly curious as we are trying to learn if we are on the right path with the list.

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It would be best if you would state what your D means by ‘work hard play hard’, because IME it can mean different things to different kids. I agree with cinnamon that many of the schools on the list are not work hard play hard
IMO some might consider Bowdoin and Santa Clara to fit that term.

Is she not considering U Idaho as a safety?

Has your D visited any schools?

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Oberlin checks off A LOT of your boxes! No Greek system, guaranteed housing for all 4 years, shuttle to Cleveland (very cultural city that has great concerts, shows, etc.), very inclusive/LBGTQ friendly, smart, collaborative, creative/musical student body, excellent merit aid. My daughter graduated last year (Tufts and Brown were other schools she was interested in)- happy to provide any info/answer any questions

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Typically, Back In The Day, work hard/play hard meant not having much else to do beside study long hours and drink surreptitiously until blacking out (also known as “pre-gaming”); very little art or music going on outside of class.

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That’s roughly my definition too
but I just wanted to tee it up with OP, since the list is predominantly made up of schools that don’t fit that description.

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Since you mention that you’d love schools that would offer merit aid, you should be aware that many schools on your list don’t offer merit. Cornell, Brown, Vassar, Bowdoin,Tufts, and Pomona don’t offer merit. I’m not saying you need to remove them from your list, just be aware that no merit will be offered at these schools.

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Missed that line. Good catch. Noted Tufts will be $380k but yeah OP needs a defined budget and if less than $375-400k, to redo part of the list - unless qualifying for need aid of course.l - and I noted above OP could also use WUE. UNR has a Neuro Institute.

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This was my first thought also - Rice sounds like an excellent fit if OP is willing to consider a school in Texas. LGBTQ+ status is extremely common on campus and would not be an issue at all; my daughter is a junior and has several friends who identify as non-binary.

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To me, work hard play hard means study hard/academics are a priority, and also parties/socializing are a priority. Good social skills valued, vs some perhaps nerdier schools.

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