colleges for gifted yet social kids

[Anonymous]

my DD is very smart and a very hard worker- straight A's, 35 ACT Score, great extracurricular activities etc... but not really the intellectual type. She is a social butterfly, loves sports, would rather talk about tik tok or go shopping than read etc... Once you get to know her you can tell she is smart and interested in the world, but it isn't her surface level personality. She would rather be at a party than studying on any weekend night.

She should have no problem getting into most schools. I am thinking because of her personality she would be happiest at a school like Duke,or Vanderbilt that seems to have a lot of student-life balance. UVA may be too big.

Any insight? Anyone have any experience with a kid like this at an ivy league or smaller school? Trying to help her guide her college search, and she didn't love the idea of many of the options her school college counselor gave her, but does want to go to a top school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my DD is very smart and a very hard worker- straight A's, 35 ACT Score, great extracurricular activities etc... but not really the intellectual type. She is a social butterfly, loves sports, would rather talk about tik tok or go shopping than read etc... Once you get to know her you can tell she is smart and interested in the world, but it isn't her surface level personality. She would rather be at a party than studying on any weekend night.

She should have no problem getting into most schools. I am thinking because of her personality she would be happiest at a school like Duke,or Vanderbilt that seems to have a lot of student-life balance. UVA may be too big.

Any insight? Anyone have any experience with a kid like this at an ivy league or smaller school? Trying to help her guide her college search, and she didn't love the idea of many of the options her school college counselor gave her, but does want to go to a top school.

She seems as though she's the type that will fit in at any college. Make a list of the ones that would be a good fit on paper and go for a few visits.

[Anonymous]

My DD can be described like this and loves UVA. Why do you think it’s too big? Very active social scene, 800+ clubs, very involved student body that is a work hard/party hard type of atmosphere.

[Anonymous]

The myth is « elite » schools are full of intellectuals. They are not. They have some, but that’s not the overwhelming current. Many are work hard, party harder. She’d probably be fine most places she gets in.

Maybe less likely to want a St John’s, Swarthmore, Reed, Chicago, Carleton type school.

[Anonymous]

USC or UCLA?

[Anonymous]

Honestly, your DD sounds like many of the smart kids I have known in the last 10 years. I think there are very few schools that she might find too "intellectual" (maybe MIT/Chicago/Williams) - that will be a much shorter list than ones she should consider. Instead of focusing on the social environment, I would consider other factors to guide your search (school size, location, etc.). I would really caution you about thinking she will get in almost everywhere, because that is not what is happening for even the most high stats students.

I have kids now out of college who I might have described like yours, except perhaps more into athletics, and they ended up at Ivy/NESCAC/CAA type schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, your DD sounds like many of the smart kids I have known in the last 10 years. I think there are very few schools that she might find too "intellectual" (maybe MIT/Chicago/Williams) - that will be a much shorter list than ones she should consider. Instead of focusing on the social environment, I would consider other factors to guide your search (school size, location, etc.). I would really caution you about thinking she will get in almost everywhere, because that is not what is happening for even the most high stats students.

I have kids now out of college who I might have described like yours, except perhaps more into athletics, and they ended up at Ivy/NESCAC/CAA type schools.

Totally agree with this. You’ll be able to eliminate a few. Not enough to have a short list so you’ll need to figure out other criteria.

[Anonymous]

Your daughter does not sound unusual for many of the very bright kids I know.

[Anonymous]

She’s not that gifted. My kids also scored 35 ACT and have straight As in APs/honors and they are extremely social kids. Two are total jocks too.

[Anonymous]

You literally described my kid and their entire social group.

They all are in the same honors/ AP classes and go to parties and play sports and are active in clubs.

They will fit in on any campus. Even the really studious/non-party schools have a social subset/underbelly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, your DD sounds like many of the smart kids I have known in the last 10 years. I think there are very few schools that she might find too "intellectual" (maybe MIT/Chicago/Williams) - that will be a much shorter list than ones she should consider. Instead of focusing on the social environment, I would consider other factors to guide your search (school size, location, etc.). I would really caution you about thinking she will get in almost everywhere, because that is not what is happening for even the most high stats students.

I have kids now out of college who I might have described like yours, except perhaps more into athletics, and they ended up at Ivy/NESCAC/CAA type schools.

Yep.

And it is much much tougher since Covid and test optional. Kids like this are getting rejected in droves. Acceptance rates are single digits in top 20s. Literally thousands of kids just like yours —and them throw in all the ones that aren’t submitting test scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She’s not that gifted. My kids also scored 35 ACT and have straight As in APs/honors and they are extremely social kids. Two are total jocks too.

When I say gifted I mean it as an IQ of Gifted level, in Mensa etc... Not just a way to describe her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, your DD sounds like many of the smart kids I have known in the last 10 years. I think there are very few schools that she might find too "intellectual" (maybe MIT/Chicago/Williams) - that will be a much shorter list than ones she should consider. Instead of focusing on the social environment, I would consider other factors to guide your search (school size, location, etc.). I would really caution you about thinking she will get in almost everywhere, because that is not what is happening for even the most high stats students.

I have kids now out of college who I might have described like yours, except perhaps more into athletics, and they ended up at Ivy/NESCAC/CAA type schools.

Yep.

And it is much much tougher since Covid and test optional. Kids like this are getting rejected in droves. Acceptance rates are single digits in top 20s. Literally thousands of kids just like yours —and them throw in all the ones that aren’t submitting test scores.

Application #s are through the roof. You have 50k to close to 100k students applying to a given university.

It’s bleak out there for kids like OPs in the top 25 schools.

[Anonymous]

I know she won't get in everywhere for sure, just meant she is competitive for any school.


Thank you- very helpful replies.

[Anonymous]

My kid is similar and is at UMD, honors. His living learning community is full of these types of students.