She might get a great merit at Case Western, and they are really a wonderful place for a pre med given their affiliation with Cleveland Clinic.
Also would look at Rhodes College. They also have a fellowship of sorts with St. Jude.
My son’s friends have been very unhappy at Santa Clara (spoiled, rich, not academically oriented classmates….) and are coming back into CC system to transfer out. I hope it’s their personal subjective experience, but i would look closely again at Santa Clara.
Based on the kids we know at Conn, it leans arty/intellectual and not preppy. What are you basing your impressions on???
The preppy choices are typically Fairfield, Trinity, etc.
University Hospitals are on the Case campus…and that is a great affiliation as well.
My DD is a Santa Clara grad and loved everything about the school. We are not Uber wealthy and she never felt like she was an outsider. Her friends from there are all very down to earth…no rich kid aura. I’m sorry your friend’s kid had a negative experience, but there are plenty of students there who have positive ones. Also, my kid’s friends were very academically oriented…engineering, premed, business.
I’m not sure how Santa Clara got into this…their theater department is small, and does a fine job, but I wouldn’t call it strong.
I thought the OP said Santa Clara was on the list. Maybe I misread (?).
Didn’t misread. They added Santa Clara.
I missed that addition. If they want a strong musical theater program, I’m not sure Santa Clara is a good choice. I believe they only did one musical theater production a year. My DD played in the pit orchestra for them. Maybe that has changed…
Well you may want to watch what’s taking place in Arizona - women’s rights wise - although it sounds like there will be more to this story.
Arizona Supreme Court rules state must adhere to century-old law banning nearly all abortions | CNN
That is good to hear. I based my impressions mostly on other threads here on CC. 
She’s in an odd spot - she wants to minor in theater and to have the ability to be in musical theater productions, ideally good ones, but doesn’t want to go to a school with a BFA theater program, since they really only allow their BFA students into their productions. It makes for a pretty narrow needle to thread.
One musical theater production a year is perfect - she will be so busy with her STEM classes it is realistic that one a year is the most she could do.
Then SCU will be fine for her theater likes. There are also some civic theater groups in the area.
I would suggest she reach out to that theater department chair to inquire about what the program will have for her!
And ask how likely it is she’ll be chosen. There are usually not enough spots for the music or theater majors. My daughter was a theater major for a year and never got a role. She got to work on the productions but never was chosen for one. Had good auditions, but no luck in getting a role. Now if she were a boy…
Santa Clara has a small theater department. The musicals have larger casts. All majors are welcome to audition, IIRC…this is a question to ask.
Anyone in theater knows that there are never any guarantees you will be cast…and certainly not in a leading roll.
If Arizona ends up out, a fair sub would be KU. Not far from the big city in a great college town - they have a theater minor which says The Department of Theatre and Dance welcomes non-majors who wish to learn about acting, drama, design, theatre history, and technical theatre through the completion of a minor. Students minoring in theatre are welcome to audition for department productions and serve on backstage technical crews if they are enrolled in THR 101, THR 201, THR 301, or THR 401.
The Honors College is rated one of the tops in the country.
Tuition is reasonable and they have merit.
Oh - and abortion rights have been voted on by the citizens and are embedded in the state constitution. People think - Kansas red - but it has a Dem governor, has secured reproductive rights, and just so happens has a fine school with great costs - that will fulfill both physics and pre-med needs.
A couple years old but these don’t change:
The one thing that worried me about our visit was that we didn’t really get the chance to see a lot of students. They were on the tail end of spring break. There were handfuls of kids milling around campus, but not a critical mass. She didn’t like the vibe of the University of San Diego students. We didn’t get that same sense form Santa Clara, but we had a much smaller pool to compare.
Problem solved - if it becomes a finalist next year, after you have offers, etc - you get back to visit.
Perhaps your student can arrange a visit with a student ambassador in the meantime - or maybe one for physics and one for theater.
Truth is, even when you find the right one, it’s a crap shoot - so you never know - but if there’s any interest (and you labeled it a top choice) and she’ll have slots left, no reason not to apply and see.
I’m curious to see - with all the work you’ve done - when you apply - how different does the list look? Did she look at schools like Gonzaga, U Portland, or Loyola Marymount. Or Loyola Maryland, Loyola Chicago, or DePaul?
With a lot of these she’s giving up the “name” but as you’re seeing - all schools have the potential to deliver and the fit is more important than the “prestige.”
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OP here, adding an update - D25’s list is down to just 9 schools. It feels too short, but every school we removed was for a good reason (weather, food, theater program, politics, didn’t like on-campus visit, distance from airport, etc., etc.), so I am confident this is a final list. Now she is just chomping at the bit for all the applications to open on Aug 1st!
(In alphabetical order)
Bryn Mawr
St. Olaf
Santa Clara University
University of Arizona
UC Berkeley
University of Massachusets, Amherst
Univ of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Utah
Washington University at St. Louis
2 Safeties
4 Targets
3 High Reaches
She would be fine with either safety and I am fairly confident she will get into at least two of her targets. Not expecting the high reaches, obviously, but she wants to go for it anyway. (4.0 UW, 34 ACT, Good ECs).
My two cents is nine can be plenty if the list is well-balanced and chosen carefully, which is obviously the case here! And I suspect you are right she will end up with some fun choices to make.
If she’s happy with all those, then it’s a great list…a bit “mixed” size wise and weather but a great list.
What are the safeties?
I see Arizona, SCU, UMASS, Utah - so I’m going with four and St. Olaf and likely and I’m guessing Bryn Mawr comes through.
I think you’ve done very well here - because AZ and Utah will hit your $$ amount - whatever that is.
The question may be - do you choose a UNC (and you better make sure that lunatic doesn’t win governor) at full pay over an Arizona - with its merit and is arguably a stronger physics school.
If the answer is no, then you can take UNC off.
Your list of 9 isn’t too short or long - it’s perfect for you and depending on how a UMASS at $16K off stacks up vs. an Arizona or Utah - perhaps they’re not necessary too - although never hurts to have more.
You’ll just say no to more!!!
But you’ve done nice work here!!!
Looks like an excellent list. While it would be surprising for an initial list, given your kid’s preferences and requirements, it definitely seems like the right list for your kid.
Good work and Good luck!!
Very much depends on the various definitions. Based on the average overall acceptance rate, it is Utah and AZ, but if we use Collegevine’s estimate, Utah, Arizona, UMASS, SCU, St. Olaf are safeties, Bryn Mawr is a Target, UNC, UCB, and WashU are reaches.
Her personal top four are St. Olaf, SCU, Bryn Mawr, & WashU, but they all require significant merit money to meet the desired budget. UNC, UMASS, Utah, and Arizona will be the best price if merit $$ isn’t significant enough at any of the others.
My hope and guess is she ends up at one of her top four.