According to SCOIR, admit rate at Grinnell is 13% so yeah, probably in the Reach category. No app fee there though.
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We used to live out that way so she eliminated the Colorado area too because âsheâs seen that part of the countryâ. 
Maybe not the best reason to eliminate -but you have to cut the list somehow.
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more thinking out loudâŠ
Loyola University Chicago?
DePaul University (also in Chicago)?
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I recommended both of those to some of her friends! I think they are great universities. They donât work for us $-wise. (Well they might -but she would need big scholarships)
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And I probably should be more specific in my request â does this list (by itself) look okay? Should those âextraâ ones in the target group be added? Itâs already at 15 (or maybe more) so unless you think of a really good fit school that Iâm missing (like maybe Puget Sound U? ) --let me know if you think this list is okay. I want to make sure those targets seem rationale, and she has a decent chance of getting into more than just her safety. Also maybe I have something on the list that really needs to go then please let me know that. (For instance you heard something about university X having massive financial issues, or college Y has massive âbroâ mentality -haha -what a way to phrase that)
ughhh, I feel we are so behind. S26 had ring night last week and that drove it home how close we are to senior year and college applications. He has only 4.5 weeks of school left until the summer!!
I hope that he can gain some clarity during our spring break college trip about what he wants out of his college experience. He definitely wants to take the June ACT (so do two of his best friends, so there is some friendly competition going on), so he will spend the first half of summer studying.
We are very far from having a list!!
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I donât think you are behind â you can make a list this summer! Honestly, weâve been bantering this list around for a while -and itâs change considerably based on lots of different moving pieces! So if he gains some clarity on what he wants -that will make list development SO MUCH easier.
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I know youâve indicated that youâve run the NPCs on here. My question isâŠdo you need LOTS of need-based aid or a more moderate amount? For instance, if the school costs $80k, is your family comfortable paying $40-50k, or is it needing a price more like $15-25k? If the former, then I think that a number of the targets would be targets. If itâs more like the latter, then those targets probably turn into reaches.
If a school says it meets 100% of need and doesnât say itâs need-blind then that means itâs need-aware and the more need a student has, the harder admissions can become (not to say that a kid with high need wonât get in, but the odds do decrease if itâs very substantial aid needed).
Additionally, are the NPCs coming back affordable largely via merit aid or via need-based aid? The higher the percentage of merit-based aid, the likelier I think the school would grant an admission.
Iâll be back, but those are my initial thoughts.
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Its rather likely the course path is going to be exactly the same, or so similar that for all intents sheâs going to be a Biology Major - with all the Pre-Med/Pre-Dental/PreVet students anyway plus the bio majors.
What career path does she see or do you see with a âBiologyâ major⊠I ask because an undergraduate Biology degree w/o either a very special niche/special hook as a minor/talent or a professional/graduate degree afterwards is not a strong pathway to a 6 figure career. Iâm not knocking âBioâ⊠my undergraduate was Bio Major / Chem minor at University of IllinoisâŠhowever, had I not gone on to prof/grad school my career options would have been fairly limited (income/promotions wise).
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I had the same experience with my B.S. in Biology. While it was enough to get my foot in the door, it wasnât until I got my masters degree that I was able to pursue my career goals.
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Youâre not behind! My D26âs classmates are just starting on their college searches and visits.
D26 started early because of athletic recruitment. If she wasnât trying to go that route, she would have a different timeline.
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What is ring night?
Iâm gonna suggest Eastern Michigan University. They donât have out of state tuition and are pretty generous with merit aid. Their School of Health Sciences within the College of Health and Human Services has great faculty who are well connected to help find research and internship opportunities.
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I wrote about our recent visit to UPS in the âColleges that moved up or downâ thread. Probably on Sunday. But in a nutshell:
Beautiful campus, including the dorms. Walkable to coffee, restaurants, shops. Surrounding neighborhood is lovely.
Students seemed happy and friendly. Our tour guide was greeted by fellow students multiple times during our tour.
Student center and on-campus cafes were livelyâthe most energetic of the 3 LACs we visited last week.
I got the impression that there are several things to be involved with on campus, and that itâs easy to get involved. They have a theater, which I specifically asked about since my D is very involved with stage production. I was told itâs not competitive; anyone who wants to can participate.
Very small Greek presence, really not noticeable. Division III sports. During the tour, as another fellow student greeted the guide, he added, âHey, weâre taking walk-ons for rowing, if any of you are interested!â
For a pre-health major (which my older daughter is at DePaul, and Iâll get to that in a minute, since someone upthread mentioned DePaul), you donât really have to major in a hard science, unless thatâs really your jam. Youâll be getting another degree no matter what, so really you just to try to fit in the pre-reqs for whatever kind of program you might be considering. I note that UPS has an OT program, a PT program, and a Masterâs of Public Health. I know nothing about those specific programs but it seems like theyâd have good advising for any pre-health major.
All that said, I donât think my D26 will choose a LAC, which I am very sad about. She got more excited about the bigger schools we visited, Oregon State and U of O.
Now back to DePaul. My D22 is a Health Science major there, with the goal of becoming an occupational therapist. DePaul has an OT school, but not a PT school, not that sheâll necessarily stay on for OT school there, even though I know sheâd like to. She LOVES Chicago (we are from the Bay Area), and loves DePaul even though sheâs not super involved on campus. She has great friends/roommates and has enjoyed or loved at least 75% of her classes (maybe one dud per quarter). Sheâs found a volunteering gig related to OT. The student body is diverse, more like a public school in that regard. Definitely arty kids around because of the theater, film, and music departments. DePaul is generous with merit aid; we are a full-pay family according to FAFSA, but my D receives a half-tuition scholarship. The school is Catholic, but that part is barely noticeable, which for our family is a plus. I think it could be worth considering for your D, but it is definitely not a small LAC.
Edited to add that you might want to start a new thread for your college searchâthere are a lot of great minds here who probably arenât reading the Class of 2026 page!
Edited again to add this link (if itâs allowed): Health Professions Advising | University of Puget Sound
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So of your list, Miami Ohio is the only one that Iâm familiar with because my D26 is also looking at it. We toured last month â of your requirements, one thing that gave us pause is that the school is in a very, very red area of the state.
But, we picked up a school newspaper, and the articles indicate that the political sentiment among the student body is much less red. (Disclaimer, we do live in the south, so weâre used to deep south attitudes.)
I have an artsy kid, and she is hoping for a diverse, artsy crowd. She LOVED the nerdy, inclusive vibe at RIT. Thatâs not exactly how Iâd describe the Miami Ohio kids â theyâre much more country club than artsy, but not enough to put off my D26. She thought it was diverse enough that she could probably find her people there. It wasnât racially diverse, though â itâs pretty white.
All that said, the campus is beautiful, the kids seemed happy, and there is an Emerging Tech program that matches pretty closely with what my daughter wants to study. The marching band was a big draw for her, too â I think she really likes a mid-sized school, because a big state school (and band) seems intimidating, but a SLAC seems too small to her. Thus Miami Ohio checked a lot of boxes.
They definitely give good merit aid! My D26 would hopefully be in the running for their top merit award â thatâs what weâre hoping for.
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We looked seriously at DePaul â I think my kid would LOVE living in Chicago. Unfortunately the major she wants to study is in an isolated building somewhat away from campus, and it seemed like sheâd miss out on all the campus life. So this was a hard no for her.
Shame, because it seemed so great (at least on paper) otherwise!
What major is she interested in?
User Experience Design and/or Game Design â both of which I think fall under the Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media â which I gather is at the Loop Campus?
Weâve only been to Chicago once, and Iâm not familiar at all, but it seemed like it was completely separate from the main Lincoln Park campus, and my D26 didnât like that. Especially if sheâd have to commute back and forth for some classes.
D26âs ACT score came out today from the 3/25 ACT exam they all took at school. She did no test prep. Got composite score of 25, 27 math, 24 science, 22 english, 27 reading. I was hoping sheâd get a composite of 26. According to ACTâs ACT-to-SAT conversion calculator on their website, this translates to a 1210âŠwhich is better than the 1170 SAT she got last fall.
Was hoping to be able to skip the June SAT, but looks like weâll bite the bullet and sign her up for it. Oh well.
Now Iâm going to go figure out what that might get her for merit scholarships at a couple of Texas schools.
OhâŠand Embry Riddleâs NPC doesnât work. That was frustrating earlier this week!
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Ok, ran the NPC at Tulsa just now. With this ACT score + GPA has it in the affordable ballpark. I am SUPER DUPER STOKED about this! Need to book airfare to go visit there during our HSâs fall break in early October.
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