@Springbird, you beat me to the post, but you mentioned everything I was going to say about HMC - I will add that Talithia Williams was the host on NOVA Wonders on PBS.
I can give you a perspective on WashU. I have 2 there. They had some of the same concerns when looking for colleges. They refused to apply to one Ivy because they were put off by the tone of a marketing brochure they got in the mail. They absolutely love WashU 1) for the collaborative and friendly vibe. 2) access to programs and opportunities that enables them to achieve their goal to help address disparities in healthcare and serve the underserved in medicine. They are social science majors and premed so they’ve taken the sciences. Chemistry was challenging given it’s essentially baby quantum mechanics freshman year. My girls put in a lot of effort ( many a short phone call cause “I gotta go study” or grumbles why their chemistry had to be so extra and not like their friends). However, Washu provides them lots of support and help including upperclassmen mentors in addition to the weekly team learning sessions. It was the joke in our house because for the first month it seemed like they were getting a mentor a week. Just a side note, 2 of the Rhodes Scholars announced last year were WashU African American ladies. Most everyone works hard ( I’m sure like everywhere there’s somebody blowing their parents investment). A lot of kids double major or major and minor. I would have to say the vibe is very Midwestern. So much so that one of the my girl’s roommate who was from the East Coast was unnerved because everyone smiled so much. The African American student group coordinates joint events with similar groups on St Louis University and Harris-Stowe ( local HBCU) campuses. My girls aren’t big partiers ( don’t know where they got that from). They’ll go occasionally but more likely to hangout with their friends watching a movie or pooling their money together to take an Uber to find really good but cheap eats in St. Louis.
They also liked access to top rank medical school and social work opportunities. They currently have work study jobs on the Medical campus in areas they are very much interested in. Now that we are talking financial, we are solidly middle class. WashU has been working to improve socioeconomic diversity. WashU worked with us to make it affordable. There are a lot of 1% but it’s not in your face. Both girls had roommates that were likely in that bracket. We knew by where they lived and the fact one would head off to Europe during break. They were the nicest roommates and are still good friends. Also we were clear with the girls that’s not us. As Mr. HuskyBear would say “Yes we can go to the islands, Blue Island, Rock Island, Stony Island”. ( for those of you who don’t know all are in or around 200 miles from Chicago…and not islands). I agree with others to run the NPC and highly recommend your daughter applies for the Earvin and Rodrigues scholarships and any others at WashU. They also have a great parent plan option you can look into. All of the schools on your daughter’s list are great. As a matter of fact, my girls have friends at many of them including Hopkins, Chicago, and Emory. Their friends are all thriving and knowing their friends and what we learned about those schools they all seem to fit them. For my girls WashU was their perfect fit.
It may be too late but I would also suggest making your interest knows to WashU to secure an invite to the Preview WashU. It was what sealed the deal for mine.
Thank you all so much! We live in the Chicago ‘burbs, and she’s not crazy about the South, but frankly doesn’t have any real world experience to base that on. I’m pushing her to look at Rice, Emory and UNC thanks to all of your ur suggestions. While her preferred range is 5000-10,000 students, she is willing to look at bigger, though I’ve also tried to persuade her to look at small LACs with great reputations like Amherst, Swarthmore and Williams, especially ones that are part of consortia.
Oh and Almosthere2018, that table is fabulous!!
@crankylibrarian, Before you go forward, I think it would be a good idea to clarify your financial requirements. Many of the schools that your daughter is looking at are “need only.” At your income, need-based financial aid is a maybe. Run a few on-line net price calculators to find out if the projected amount of need-based aid is workable. If it is, then good, proceed with a wide list. If it isn’t, then you’ll need to concentrate on schools that offer merit aid, which would mean eliminating quite a few of the names on your list.
I’m a parent of a Williams graduate and though I’m a great fan of small liberal arts colleges in general and Williams specifically, I’d strongly suggest that your daughter visit to get a first hand impression. Williams has exceptionally strong sciences and overall rigorous academics in a warm and nurturing environment, but the insular, mountain village setting isn’t for everyone.
As ranked by Forbes Best colleges for Women in STEN and Best Colleges for Minorities in STEM.
I don’t believe Atlanta is a typical southern city, despite its location. The city is more national and international and that is the result of its tremendous growth and shifting populations since the late 1970s and early 1980s. It still has its southern charm and friendliness, but the city and perimeter of about 15 miles in all directions is just not what you think of when you think south. Emory, itself, has a national student body, and the feel of its northern progressive counterparts. Of course, you can combine that with a beautiful campus and weather and being able to spend time outdoors, it has natural attractions for potential applicants. I wouldn’t think Rice and Houston would be too much different and you would be doing your daughter a favor to consider both as options.
What’s your budget? Most of those schools don’t have merit and you are in the “donut hole” and would be expected to pay at least $35k. Rice and Emory are good suggestions. Since her goal is social work, is target some of the top merit scholarships at larger schools.
I would definitely have her explore Johns Hopkins in her considerations. Strong program, ethnically diverse, and the opportunity to explore her other areas of interest outside of STEM.
“Consider Harvey Mudd (especially if you get over to visit Pomona). Good diversity, including balanced for females/males.”
Harvey Mudd is about 3-4% black, not what the OP is looking for. Even if you include the other Claremont schools, it’s going to be the least diverse colleges that the OP mentioned wrt black enrollment. There’s a lot of wealth there as well.
Hopkins is known for being competitive, if not cut-throat in their pre-med majors.
^ Agreed on both. They were odd suggestions. I don’t understand why people on this site always throw out schools that are so far from what the OP specifically indicates they are interested in as is their interests are irrelevant.
^ The OP was looking for good biology, chemistry, medium size school with good liberal arts. The student was also described as nerdy and had very good grades and scores. Harvey Mudd might be a good fit. Finally, the OP is already considering Pomona, and since HMC is part of the consortium, we are just suggesting that the OP take look. I don’t think we were that far off.
Not to belabor the point, but Harvey Mudd is tiny and not diverse at all, which were two of the stated criteria.
If the Claremont colleges are considered together, they may barely meet that part of the OP’s criterion. Combined, they are non-tiny, although each individual college is tiny. Diversity wise, none is more than 60% white, so the whole cannot be more than 60% white. Three of them (including Mudd) are 4% black, so slightly under the 5% black minimum, but the other two are 9% (Pomona) and 6% black, so the combination may barely meet the 5% black minimum.
But that may not be the optimal fit for these criteria, even if it barely fits.
@itsgettingreal17 and @theloniusmonk
Harvey Mudd has changed! Here’s an article from 2017 about how the current college president has greatly increased the diversity there in terms of a balance of genders and ethnicities over the past few years: https://www.inc.com/kimberly-weisul/how-harvey-mudd-college-achieved-gender-parity-computer-science-engineering-physics.html
This year’s incoming class has a small number of students who label themselves strictly as Black, but another 9% are multiracial which likely includes some students who may identify as Black as well. Here is a quote from their website about the diversity of the class of 2022:
“The entering class is 31 percent Asian, 21 percent Latinx, 28 percent white, 3 percent African-American, 1 percent American Indian or Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander and 9 percent multiracial. Women comprise 52 percent, one of the highest gender ratios of any science- and engineering-focused institution.”
Yes, the school itself is tiny, but with 7700 students in the Claremont Consortium, it feels much larger. The students eat in each other’s dining halls daily, take classes across the consortium, have joint sports teams and musical groups, and much more.
Mudd might not be the right place for OP’s daughter for a variety of reasons, but lack of diversity is not one of them. And as I said in my earlier post, they offer a small number of full tuition scholarships. With Mudd’s continued focus on gender and ethnic diversity coupled with this student’s very high stats, she could be a contender for one of those.
@crankylibrarian - I think she will find that the environment at these academically elite schools is not the financially elitist vibe she fears. These colleges are very generous with financial aid, so the students come from all different income levels. And many of the colleges you named have environments more collaborative than cut throat, certainly including Vassar and Williams, the two I know best.
But with a strong upward skew. Usually around half with no FA (top 3% or so income) and 10-20% Pell Grant (bottom half income), with the rest being upper half income but not in the no-FA range.
The actual social vibe may vary, as can how supportive (besides FA) the school is to students from lower income backgrounds.
Check out UMBC - University of Maryland Baltimore County. It’s 10 minutes from Inner Harbor in Baltimore and has a stellar STEM focus. She would be an awesome candidate for the Meyerhoff Scholar program - geared to promoting underserved populations pursuing research in STEM fields.
Read about this wonderful program at UMBC - https://meyerhoff.umbc.edu/
I thought about the Meyrhoff scholarship too – and in fact the STEM scholarship program that I earlier mentioned at UNC (Chancellor’s Science Scholars) is patterned after it – so much so they say exactly that on the program’s landing page. UMBC is one of the most innovative colleges around these days with terrific leadership and some stellar outcomes.