Thoughts on this college list - SLAC with supportive community and mellow vibe

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dickinson College in Pennsylvania might work for OP.

Pomona College, Bowdoin College, Carleton College, Davidson College, Grinnell College, Hamilton College, Skidmore College, Wesleyan University, Bates College, Colby College, Colorado College, Macalester College, Holy Cross, Pitzer, Connecticut College, Sewanee-The University of the South, Gettysburg College, St. Lawrence University, Kalamazoo College, Lewis & Clark, and many others, but I see no need to venture further down the rankings.

It is very hard to get into Bowdoin. Great school though.

[Anonymous]

I think you should include one or two friendly, good public flagship universities as safeties, because your child’s stats will carry so much more weight at a public. Impression re publics is that they don’t have time to look at all the ECs for all the potential student and they’d love to know that a kid is strong enough to thrive there. Not Michigan or Cali for a safety more like UCONN, UMASS, Arizona maybe even Wisconsin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kid has 4.2 and 35 ACT. Very limited ECs. Looking for SLAC with supportive community and mellow vibe.

Bard
Vassar
Union
Franklin and Marshall
Kenyon
Bucknell
Lafayette
Lehigh
Haverford
UMD (as a local option)

Is this a varied enough list?

W and M

[Anonymous]

Several posters have suggested Wooster. I heard it’s a quirky, weird, hipster crowd. Is that true? Is it more artsy than sporty?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great thread! I’m about to take my kid to visit Lake Forest, another Midwest safety. Any thoughts on it? Sounds like people are a lot more enthusiastic about places like Beloit and Kalamazoo.

There was a good thread about Lake Forest a while back, including some thoughtful posts from an alum: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1156364.page#25788672

Curious to know what you think!

[Anonymous]

Curious why folks think Haverford is too much of a reach for this kid? My junior DS is very interested in H, has 1510, is top 5% of class. Is it too reach-y for him?

[Anonymous]

William and Mary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious why folks think Haverford is too much of a reach for this kid? My junior DS is very interested in H, has 1510, is top 5% of class. Is it too reach-y for him?

With schools under 20-25% acceptance, it can just be a numbers game. They get more highly qualified applicants than they can accept, so they're basically a reach for all.

[Anonymous]

This is a current senior?

[Anonymous]

Whitman College

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious why folks think Haverford is too much of a reach for this kid? My junior DS is very interested in H, has 1510, is top 5% of class. Is it too reach-y for him?

Do you guys have Naviance? At our affluent public school a very top kid might get in every few years, but because it is a tiny school overall, very top kids more commonly get rejected. Hav is small even by SLAC standards. The class of 2025 is 49% people of color. 11% first gen. They admit less than a thousand kids for a class of about 400. They also need to field sports teams. I am not saying it is impossible but there are just not a lot of slots.

The kid in question has a great ACT, a 4.2 (good but not s standout gpa), and no/minimal ECs. I do not think it is likely based on that info.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious why folks think Haverford is too much of a reach for this kid? My junior DS is very interested in H, has 1510, is top 5% of class. Is it too reach-y for him?

Do you guys have Naviance? At our affluent public school a very top kid might get in every few years, but because it is a tiny school overall, very top kids more commonly get rejected. Hav is small even by SLAC standards. The class of 2025 is 49% people of color. 11% first gen. They admit less than a thousand kids for a class of about 400. They also need to field sports teams. I am not saying it is impossible but there are just not a lot of slots.

The kid in question has a great ACT, a 4.2 (good but not s standout gpa), and no/minimal ECs. I do not think it is likely based on that info.

Check out the class profiles on their site. For “27, they had a 12.9% admit rate. They enrolled 374 - total!

Haverford.edu/admission/class-profile-2027

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious why folks think Haverford is too much of a reach for this kid? My junior DS is very interested in H, has 1510, is top 5% of class. Is it too reach-y for him?

Do you guys have Naviance? At our affluent public school a very top kid might get in every few years, but because it is a tiny school overall, very top kids more commonly get rejected. Hav is small even by SLAC standards. The class of 2025 is 49% people of color. 11% first gen. They admit less than a thousand kids for a class of about 400. They also need to field sports teams. I am not saying it is impossible but there are just not a lot of slots.

The kid in question has a great ACT, a 4.2 (good but not s standout gpa), and no/minimal ECs. I do not think it is likely based on that info.

Check out the class profiles on their site. For “27, they had a 12.9% admit rate. They enrolled 374 - total!

Haverford.edu/admission/class-profile-2027

Really important to apply ED to a school like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Curious why folks think Haverford is too much of a reach for this kid? My junior DS is very interested in H, has 1510, is top 5% of class. Is it too reach-y for him?

Has a good shot if he applies ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Curious why folks think Haverford is too much of a reach for this kid? My junior DS is very interested in H, has 1510, is top 5% of class. Is it too reach-y for him?

Has a good shot if he applies ED.

People will still call it a reach because it's a reach for everyone because of low acceptance rates and holistic review. Your DS sounds like he would have a good shot ED, but it's still not a sure thing.