I’m applying to several “reach” schools for music and environmental science but I need some safety, mid-range Liberal Arts Colleges to apply to as well, any advice? My current list of reach schools includes Middlebury, Scripps, Bowdoin, and Bryn Mawr. My only safety school as of now is Lewis and Clark.
Skidmore has a very good environmental science program, and if you’re competitive at Midd, then Skidmore is probably practically a safety for you.
Academic stats? budget?
For ES:
Allegheny
Eckerd
Hobart & William Smith
St. Lawrence
Colby offers a slight edge to female applicants, and could be a match for you.
@violingirl28, are you still assuming a 4.3 W GPA and a 1300 SAT. If yes, I don’t think Bowdoin or Middlebury are achievable unless you are a hooked applicant and then it would still very much a reach - Bryn Mawr and Scripps are more achievable given they are women’s colleges and pull from a smaller pool of applicants. Do you have any matches in mind?
Seconding Allegheny. Great for ES. Have small scholarships for music as well.
St Olaf would be a match/low match. Lawrence could be a safety.
Consider Muhlenberg, Franklin & Marshall
DePauw is worth a look. Very good for music and fairly strong in both biology and geology.
https://www.depauw.edu/academics/catalog/majors-and-minors/college-of-liberal-arts-2/
Denison – large Bio reserve by campus for environmental research, and strong music programs, with new performing arts building opening next fall. I don’t know if it’s a safety, but it’s worth a look.
College of Wooster, Lawrence, and St. Olaf would probably be matches. Oberlin would be a bit reachy, but not as much as the schools you’ve listed above, assuming admission to the College. Conservatory is very competitive. U of Puget Sound might be worth a look.
What is your unweighted GPA? Have your test scores changed?
My unweighted gpa is 3.9 and my SAT hasn’t changed @mamaedefamilia . Is it my SAT that’s too low? I know that Bowdoin is test optional @Chembiodad
Univ of Vermont is a good safety if you like Vermont and want Env Sci
Test Optional schools like #3 ranked Bowdoin are looking to see something very, very special if an applicant doesn’t submit SAT scores, so that would depend on what EC’s you have been involved but its fair to say that they would want to see something that reflects a tangible commitment to their mission to the common good.
Possibly Whitman? Dickinson?
Not sure how strong these are in the areas that interest you.
I Agree with so many of the above, especially Whitman, Lawrence, St Olaf’s, UVM, possibly adding St Lawrence as well.
@violingirl28 Your SAT is a very respectable result for most colleges in this country but not at the tippy top reaches that you’ve listed in your first post. If I remember correctly, one of @Chembiodad 's daughters applied to Middlebury with stellar grades and a 35 superscore on the ACT and was denied. For test optional, like Bowdoin, the other elements of your application will have to be stellar.
I reiterate my recommendations made in post #10. You are just below the median SAT for last year’s admitted class at Oberlin so it’s a reach, but not a completely unrealistic one. The others are more likely.
My daughter applied to many of the schools listed above (Wooster/St Olaf/Dickinson/Oberlin) because of her EC interest in music and the performing arts. They are all wonderful schools, each with their own unique character, and it was difficult to choose among them. If you watch some music videos from St Olaf and/or Oberlin Conservatory on youtube you will surely be impressed. Both are strong in the sciences.
Somewhat elegantly, however, the OP’s 1300 SAT score would fall at or above the entry point of the middle range for, I believe, three of the four colleges listed in the original post. In this sense, she managed to reach what might be regarded as a threshold statistic for applicants without definable categorical distinctions. Acceptance or denial, therefore, could depend on factors not immediately apparent from her brief profile on this thread.
@mamaedefamilia, DD was waitlisted at Middlebury during RD; she was put on the summer melt waitlist, but she chose to move on and is really enjoying Hamilton College
While an ED acceptance at Middlebury may have been more likely, she chose to take a shot at Brown and was deferred / denied.
Hamilton College reported an accepted median ACT of 33 / SAT of 1460 for the Class of 2021, so she’s definitely feeling like she is amongst academic peers.
Its getting much tougher at all of the top-20 LAC’s.
Our S19 is undecided but definitely wants to be somewhere where Environmental Studies is an option. He’s targeting a few top-tier LACs but has Dickinson and Denison as (hopefully) safeties. SAT 1540. 5.6 weighted GPA. He has shown interest which is important to both. Visited Denison last summer and met with reps at our high school for both schools this fall. If you’re interested in any of the suggestions above, make sure you check to see if they track interest.