<p>We just returned from dropping our second Whittie for her second year. Being on campus always makes me want to go back to college there too. And Shrinkrap, I’d second finding a way to get him to visit; it is just one of those schools that is hard to “get” until you get there. As to the academics, I think Whitman cares a lot that a kid will be able to succeed with challenging college level academics and they know that GPA is one reliable predictor. I think they also recognize that some kids “bloom late” or other factors effect the stats–and that they will listen to a well-presented case about why Whitman is the right place and why the kid believes they would thrive. Good test scores help the case of course. </p>
<p>As to the monochromatics of NW schools, I think some of it is distribution of demographics: (eg: lots of migration to NoCalifornia happened due to mining, agriculture and then WWII shipbuilding and was from the South; NW migration was more narrowly agricultural (at least away from the Coast and near all the colleges you list) and in E. Washington those tended to be be midwestern religious minorities (Adventists, Moremons, Mennonites, Russians) until the more recent arrival of Hispanics. I can certainly see why many AA kids might see urban settings as just more familiar and certainly easy to get to and get home again. But I definitely think if you can get him onto any of those campuses and linked to admissions reps/athletic opps he will see he’d not be alone and there is a kind of community that is diverse in many ways.</p>