My son (18) autistic/ADD (no accommodations) wants small/southern liberal arts college to study history- pre-law- politics

Chance Me / Match Me
1

US citizen
Massachusetts
Boarding School
Diagnosed with Autism/ADD does not need accommodations or services

No Cost Constraints / Budget unlimited

Wants to major in: History or Political science, minor in philosophy or religion

3.9 GPA (UW), school doesn’t Rank, SAT: 700 English, 570 Math (retaking)

4.07 Weighted HS GPA: *(AP and Honors add a 1/2 point I think, school does not use A+:

Coursework:
English: Honors Lit & Comp I and II, AP Lan & Comp (All As)
History: Foundations in World History, AP Euro, AP US Hx (All As)
Math: Algebra I and II, Honors Geometry (A, A, A-)
Science: Integrated Science,Honors Biology,Chem. (A, A-,A)
Language: French I, Latin I, Latin II (A,A,A) (He took French 7-8th grade, he wanted to try out Latin.)
**This year: AP Lit&Comp, PreCal, AP US Gov & Politics, Philosophy, Latin III, AP Computer Science, Advanced Acting & Directing (we are recommending he drop something, maybe Latin)
He is already signed on to the Fall Theatre Production and is Proctoring hs dorm

Other elective grades not calculated:
Photography: A-,
Acting I and I 2As
Advance Acting and Directing: A-

College 3 credits from Tufts pass/ fail, International Relations.

Awards
Sportmanship in Tennis
Algebra
High Honors all three years

Extracurriculars Ropescourse, Esports, Tennis JV,
Every school play, Fall, Winter musical and Spring, the lead, co-lead in the Fall and Spring shows, Co- Wrote the the last Spring show

Dorm Proctor at Boarding School last three year for a freshman-sophomore house

Volunteered last two summers for our Town Festival of Arts, got himself a gardening job, went to Tufts for International Relations (3 weeks), reads all summer

Strong writer, and discusses autism and overcoming difficult roommate situation

Schools:
Wants Small-medium Liberal Arts with a small town fee, preferably in the South, he has toured almost all below:

Washington and Lee
William and Mary
Davidson
University of Richmond
Wake Forest
Furman University
Connecticut College
Trinity College (Connecticut)
Wild card:
Saint Andrews (UK) visited it and loved it!)

  • Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability):
  • Extremely Likely:
  • Likely:
  • Toss-up:
  • Lower Probability:
  • Low Probability:

Please add any colleges you think he ought to consider.

2

I’m a little confused by the course listings. Does your son have four years each of English, Social Studies, Sciences, Math…and foreign language up to at least level three? It doesn’t look like it from what is listed. Many of these colleges recommend this…and in college application speak…that means it is something you absolutely should have on the high school transcript.

So…please clarify.

I see:

3 English
3 Social Studies
2 Math
3 Science

And two different foreign languages neither past level 2.

I think this could be an issue at some of these schools.

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Wofford, Rollins, Sewanee

U of Richmond, Trinity (TX) (too urban?)

Rollins might be a good safety/match for him, cute town, beautiful school.

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4

Hampden–Sydney? Centre?

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5

+1 for checking out Sewanee. I might also check out Berry College, Hendrix (in Arkansas), Austin College, Southwestern…and there are a bunch in Pennsylvania (not technically Southern, but then again…neither is Connecticut).

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I am sorry, I did not add this year’s courses. I will edit.

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7

Thank you.

8

3 minutes ago, I JUST mentioned this school to my husband! I just saw it for the first time in a Southern Living article. Thank you!

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9

Has he looked at the dual degree with WM/St. Andrews? Which of the colleges that you’ve toured has he liked the best?

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10

We had Dickinson and Gettysburg on his list, but he took them off. I agree, Pa can feel like the south… to someone from Ma. Thank you!

11

Check to see if any of his preferred colleges want up to level three of a foreign language.

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12

The first school that came to mind as I was reading your initial post was Hendrix.

With his interest in acting and directing, has he looked at any of the Atlanta-area schools? Emory would be a low probability school, but it also has an Oxford, GA campus for students who want to spend their first two years on a smaller campus. Oglethorpe would be another option that is in Atlanta, but not in a super-urban way, and it’s been building out its film options as well. It would be an extremely likely admit. All the Atlanta schools allow students to cross-register at one another (Emory, SCAD, Oglethorpe, Georgia Tech, Morehouse, etc).

The other schools I’m thinking of have already been mentioned.

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I am currently in my first year at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida and absolutely love it!!! It’s about 3,300 students, beautiful campus, can walk into downtown DeLand, there are so many clubs/groups to join…there is always something to do, plus we are only about 30 minutes from the beach and less than an hour to Orlando. You should definitely check out their website for course offerings in your son’s major!

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OP: The 9 schools listed in your original post in this thread contain at least 6 very academic schools. Is this what your son wants ? If yes, then it might help to clarify this point as several schools recommended by others are not as academic oriented as 6 or 7 of the 9 schools in your list of targeted schools.

If your son loves St. Andrews, then he might find Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland to be of interest.

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Thank you, we toured Trinity in Dublin. I loved it, the academics and literature history all appreciated by both of us. However, the urban setting is not for him. Particularly the housing challenges were a big cony and he likes a much smaller school. I would say he is academic and loves history, philosophy, religion, his teachers and advisors see him as a professor someday.

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W&M seems like a great fit. It’s warm and supportive while also being academically challenging. The school has a reputation of having “quirky” students in the best way.

When I was there decades ago, I took my philosophy classes in the Wren building. Loved that. It is certainly a place with an excellent reputation for the things he’s looking to study. Has he explored the W&M/St Andrews dual degree? You spend 2 years in Williamsburg and 2 years in St. Andrews. Or their Washington DC center? They offer summer or semester classed combined with an internship. Could work with his interest in Political Science.

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You should take a look at Southwestern University. It’s walking distance from this amazing small town lovely downtown area in Georgetown, TX (~ 30 min from Austin). We toured it last year when D24 was applying to college. She ended up choosing to attend elsewhere, but Southwestern ended up being #2 on her list.

I second the suggestion to consider Centre College. We toured that school, too. It, too, is in a very quaint southern town. Small LAC but a great campus community. Centre has a vibrant arts & music program (including theater), too.

Both colleges have really excellent auto merit scholarships if you apply by a certain date in the fall.

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18

What about Rhodes college?
It is great for pre-law.

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W&M is a wonderful fit for him all around. We toured and spent a night there exploring every corner. We are familiar with the St Andrews dual degree program and the DC experience. If W&M accepts him we would be thrilled!

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Rhodes looks perfect on paper, but is it urban or like suburban? He really is aiming for a rural, college town like Colgate is to Hamilton.