Demographics
-us citizen
-large, public VA high school
Intended Major(s)
Very interested in anything related to American Sign Language, but not speech/language. Also possibly English and eventual MLIS
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
-GPA 4.0 UW
-1250 psat with zero prep
Coursework
will complete 8-11 AP/DE classes
-highest math likely AP precalc. Definitely more English and history focused
-four years American Sign Language
Awards
-several local poetry contests
-high school awards for best ASL and theater student
Extracurriculars
-varsity athlete
-club athlete in different sport
-cappie critic
-performed in school and summer musicals
-performed, wrote and directed in school one act festival
-summer volunteering at local library and member of teen advisory board
-weekly assistant teaching Catholic faith for action class of first graders
-member of NHS, HHS and EHS
-likely eventual board member of some clubs
Cost Constraints / Budget
Would prefer a school that offers significant merit aid
Schools
Looking for a school without a big party scene or lots of school spirit around big sports teams. William and Mary would be a great fit, but doesnāt offer either a major or a minor in Sign Language
GWU offers cross-registration with Gallaudet. (The schools are about 3 miles apart - half an hour on public transit.) The English department offers two BA tracks: English, and Creative Writing + English. And the university is the right ātierā to aim for, for a top student who wants a competitive school that gives merit scholarships.
URochester is worth a look - another highly-regarded university that gives merit. Thereās a huge Deaf community in Rochester, which has the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at RIT (but RIT itself is too STEMmy for you, I think). URoch also has depth in ASL American Sign Language Program : University of Rochester Their English department offers four different tracks, one of which is theater focused, which might be of particular interest to you. (The others are British & American Literature, Creative Writing, and Language, Media & Communication.)
McDaniel College in Maryland offers both a major and minor in ASL, and multiple tracks and programs within the English department. Merit is generous here.
Gallaudet was the first school I thought of, too. Seconding Kent State, U. of Rochester and McDaniel, too.
According to College Navigator, there are 24 four-year colleges that offer a major in American Sign Language. Hereās the list: College Navigator - Search Results
For schools where sports arenāt a major focus and that arenāt known for big party scenes, you might want to take a look at:
Goshen (IN): About 700 undergrads
Maryville (TN): About 1100 undergrads
St. Catherineās/St. Kateās (MN): About 2400 undergrads at this predominantly womenās (95%) college and part of a consortium with other Minneapolis schools, so additional class offerings and social opportunities are available.
Eastern Kentucky: About 12k undergrads at this residential campus
That said, there are larger schools that will have sports/party enthusiasm, but that are large enough that āyourā people (whatever kind of people youāre looking for) will also be attending. A couple that you may want to look into include:
What do you mean by significant merit? What is your budget? I would not count on significant merit to U of Rochester.
Take a look at Keuka College in upstate NY. They have both a major and minor and she may get merit. The U of New Hampshire is another school to look into.
The student might want to consider getting an undergrad degree in general education or special education (or both) and then get a masters in deaf education. Alternatively, she can major in ASL and get a masters in special or gen ed (or both). She could also double major.
If she majors in ASL what is her career goal? Is she looking to work as an interpreter? I see she is a sophomore so she may not know (which is fine).
I worked in a hospital with a large deaf community. The hospital did not hire ASL interpreters. Rather, they used social workers, SLPs etc who knew ASL, understood deaf culture etc. That is something to keep in mind (this may not be true everywhere).
I was going to suggest RIT. RIT is home of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and she can major in English with a certificate in Deaf culture. Because Rochester is home to the NTID and there is such a large deaf community, she would be able to participate in theater, volunteer at the library, etc. within that community.
Yes, as others have said, OP needs to clarify what āsignificantā merit aid means. Itās not unusual to get 10-20K of merit aid from either RIT or URoch, and some would consider that significant, but thatās off a very high sticker price. It would be more helpful to know what the budget actually is.
RIT-wise, I felt as if OP might be looking for a more liberal-arts vibe, but of course itās true that one can major in English. Iām also not clear whether the goal here is an ASL interpreting or Deaf Ed sort of career; OP mentioned Library & Information Science as a possible grad school path. (Of course that affects finances too, as thatās not likely to be a funded grad program.)
OP, if you can clarify the budget question and respond with your impressions of the suggestions that have been made, that would help us to refine the advice given!
@Hokiekate a good friend of mine founded the sign language club at W&M years ago (and was an English major, actually). I know youāre looking for a wider range of schools with this thread, but if youād like to video chat with him, Iād be happy to make a connection. Heās an absolute gem of a human (hereās a profile of him from earlier this year). I obviously canāt promise heās available, but he has a deep and abiding love for both W&M and connecting with people through ASL, so I imagine heād be happy to chat. Send me a DM if youāre interested!
I think RIT can give good merit. And while most people there are STEM majors, they have a nice arts program as well. Itās got a very unique (and we thought charming) vibe ā quirky is the norm there. Deaf culture is completely incorporated into RIT. I would encourage OP to investigate it fully before ruling it out. Last year their supplemental essay was super easy, so I donāt think it would hurt to throw in an app. The only reason my son didnāt seriously consider attending was because it didnāt offer one of his possible majors.
Some people last year got $24K at RIT, and I do think there are some smaller scholarships that can be stacked on top of that. But yes, telling us a budget would help, as well as eligibility for need-based aid. RIT (and many others) will also stack merit with need-based aid; they got us right to our EFC with their offer last year.