OP’s kid is a strong candidate, but some of these choices are highly selective. Does anyone know of any open/flexible curriculum options at some slightly less selective schools?
Wesleyan has an acceptance rate of 19%…so a little lower than what the OP has asked. And an undergrad student population of just over 3000.
But there is a lot of crossover (in my opinion) with Brown and Wes applicants.
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Brandeis has been mentioned before and I think this is also worth considering.
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UNC is probably going to be around a 5% rate for oos this year due to such a huge rise in applicants. Kids have gotten into Harvard and not gotten into UNC.
Some you could look at: William and Mary, Oberlin, Northeastern, Brandeis, American, Skidmore, Wake Forest
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I think this student needs to sit down and look at the criteria they want in a college. Make a list. Then decide if there are things that they could compromise on. What are their top priorities.
Just finding a college with a 20-30% acceptance rate, near or in an urban area might not be the only criteria they should consider.
Things my kids collectively considered (and both wanted urban schools).
- Strength of programs in their major interests.
- Campus appeal
- Proximity to things to do off campus.
- Ability to do favorite things ON campus.
- And one kid absolutely wanted pleasing weather.
I would suggest you visit some schools with 3000 students, and some with 15,000 students…to see whether there is an appreciable difference.
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I could see Scripps being a terrific option. It’s part of the Claremont colleges, which truly are connected, so the size feels more like 6k. It’s sunny LA area, no seasonal affective disorder there! 30 percent acceptance rate. Liberal arts
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When specifically looking at open - Kalamazoo.
Small, less selective but neighboring a large public, in a city and not that it was requested but great merit. Also a PhD producer…very respected.
They have the K plan.
But as mentioned earlier - at least for this 2nd/3rd tier of schools, the student (and the OP parent) will have to make trade offs.
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Oh that’s interesting!
Wow - so much knowledge in this hive, really appreciate all the insights! To answer some of the above questions:
- She is doing the IB diploma so, most rigorous course load available at her school.
- Older brother at UPenn - she didn’t like the preprofessional/career track vibe there; she tagged along while we visited colleges with him (he’s now a freshman) but admits she wasn’t really paying attention sigh.
- We visited all 5 claremont colleges earlier this year and while she thought she would love the small class sizes, etc, the college town was a bit too sleepy for her and she says the energy on campus was a bit subdued for her; thus her focus now on larger colleges or smaller colleges near an urban center.
- I don’t think she would mind the east coast in terms of climate, just trying to avoid the constant grey-ness of the Pacific Northwest.
- She is applying to all the UCs some of which will be target/likely
- I find it challenging to support her exploration since she doesn’t really know what she wants to major in; her brother was easy (finance/econ).
** I should add - if anyone has any ideas for good target schools would love to hear them too! So far, we are planning to visit Georgetown, Tufts & Wellesley (some of the UCs fit her target range too).
Really am grateful for everyone’s thoughtful questions and suggestions! I am making a list and trying to plan to visit a few. I hadn’t thought of W&M and Kalamazoo - going to research now!
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Winston Salem is gorgeous - I used to work there. But yes, I think the Greek system and pre-professional vibe wouldn’t work for her. Our neighbor’s daughter is there now and loves it.
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That’s what I thought too! But we visited and it just felt too small for her I think. She hung out with a friend (current freshman) and their group for the evening making friendship bracelets. I think she wanted more excitement lol.
One thing I’ve found super useful during my college research process is to look at the n i c h e website in the “Majors” section, which lists the most popular majors in each school we’re vetting. You can actually get quite a bit of color on a school by seeing where student body interests lie (and maybe also counter a strong first impression that might be unearned?)
Wharton-esque majors (and nursing!) do seem prevalent at Penn. Brandeis, which I think seems like a reasonable safety school for your daughter, leads with econ, biology, and public policy analysis (and then business.) Business is the top major at W&M but they have a fairly even distribution across a number of other liberal arts fields coming close behind.
You can also check out the Campus Life tab and percentage of students in frats/sororities.
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A bit small but Occidental College another match / safety to consider. Half the desired target size but i don’t think would get the subdued vibe you saw 40 miles East, at least in the immediate surrounds.
I go back to Pitt - which I think could fill the void of safety and meet all your upfront desires including urban-ness. It just ‘fits’ what you mentioned and offers cross enrollment opportunities at Carnegie Mellon if desired. It’s a smaller flagship like school but strong in many areas - yea business and engineering but also STEM and the humanities.
A Syracuse might work too. More partyish/Greekish than Pitt and smaller city and not urban per se but like Pitt strong in social sciences and humanities - maybe not quite as STEM-ish. It sounds like she’ll have great options regardless. SU would be a safety in her areas.
Is large in Greek but also lots of non - Greek.
Anyway just a few more thoughts.
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If visiting Gtown, the AU makes sense. Someone mentioned earlier.
It doesn’t seem like GW would fit but it’s not a long walk from Gtown, and you get a sense of DC making the walk - and then you can keep going all the way to Capitol Hill. You’d walk right through and experience Uber urbanness- just another campus type to see. It’s the best city to walk. Just awesome. AU a train and 15 min walk or Uber away. Personally I’m not sure they’re seen as strong in the STEM area but likely all schools would suffice if the student ended up STEM.
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One quick note with the UCs (and UW for that fact) - the test blind does take one strong facet the student has away.
So if looking at schools with the size of a UC, would other flagships be possible ? Arizona and Colorado, are both strong in STEM, especially physics and the sunshine would be immense. The UCs, short of a few, wouldn’t necessarily be adjacent to ‘urbanness’ and not sure that UCSD and UCI would match the energy need….
Schools like Minnesota are urban or a U of South Carolina is a top Honors College etc. both are urban - one big city urban and one smaller city. ASU is another top Honors and strong in physics - as an alum I’d say a bit less traditional campus wise than a U of A but like South Carolina, a highly rated Honors College.
Honestly, if you had two safety/matches, you’d likely be good to go. It’s the fallback but potentially not needed.
Good luck.
I totally get that. If she’s looking for a more social/party experience, LMU might fit the bill too.
FWIW, my D22 is at ucla and is a versatile humanities lover and she digs math. Settling on a major has been quite the roller coaster (started off poli sci, switched to history, added economics, now likes comms… )
She is having a blast. Smart, fun kids who absolutely live the work hard, play hard ethos. I think you said your D was applying to UCs—which is great. My D thought she was headed east but when it was all said and done, ucla won her heart and mind. It’s great for your daughter to have the option!
Good luck!!
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Really appreciate your insights and yes - the test blind doesn’t really work in her favor for the UCs although the fact you can apply to all of them with one application makes it a bit easier to navigate. I think Barrett at ASU is a super appealing program and TONS of sunshine lol. So that might be a good one to visit and pursue. My sister went to UCSD and spent an inordinate amount of time at the beach haha.
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That is so good to hear that your daughter likes and loves the flexibility! I mentioned somewhere else in this post that mine is an introvert and we all (including her) started off assuming we’d be taking planes, trains, and automobiles to drop her off at some tiny LAC in the middle of nowhere. But after we visited Pomona and the Claremont colleges (with high hopes) she realized she actually likes a bigger, more bustling environment so she can “disappear” if she wanted and not be the center of attention in a tiny 10-person class discussion lol. So she might actually love one of the UCs. Grow and learn I guess…
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Plus Pitt is rolling admissions I think so she’d be able to get her application early and hear back early which would be nice!
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Actually, I disagree with this. Her interests are of the sort that you can find lots of schools to match in terms of academics. Some majors require specific kinds of accreditation or specialization, but if a kid has wide-ranging liberal arts interests, she can meet those needs in a lot of different places. So then it really becomes a matter of fit – social scene, geography, vibe, etc. As long as the departments are there and robust (and not in danger of being on the chopping block for budget cuts – but I don’t think this is a problem in the kinds of schools you’re considering), you can focus on other factors. One consideration you might want to keep in mind: an open curriculum or a flexible (and minimal) core curriculum would allow her to explore those interests more broadly before settling on a major.
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