best schools for nerdy student?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:St Johns in Maryland
Reed (I don't know their current admit profile)

Not St John’s unless she wants a great books curriculum (which seems unlikely given psych/soc interests).

[Anonymous]

I have 2 kid who meet this profile with higher scores (1530 SAT and 34 ACT) and lower GPAs (4.0-4.1W, but 4.0 W kid will probably graduate around 4.15.

Kid 1 definitely found her crew at Oberlin. Great choice for her.

Kid 2 is applying now.


Both introverted/nerdy intellectual. Both heavily involved in music.

Some schools that they considered/are considering include: Kenyon, Wooster, St. Olaf, Macalaster, Grinnell, Vassar, Bowdoin, Bates, W&M, Carleton and Wesleyan.


Both kids also really like Pitt, despite its size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely W&M. Chicago - where fun goes to die.

NP here. I like the balance I hear about W&M for smart nerdy types but not an oppressive atmosphere.

Chicago sounds like nerdy and no fun.

DS is a junior - nerdy with stats/activities high enough to consider "highly competitive schools" lottery but yet to see whether he will. Non-STEM (not VA resident). He's starting to compile a list and would love to hear what DCUM'ers have to say about other W&M type nerdy schools and other Chicago type nerdy schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know of MIT, Caltech, Swarthmore, etc. The issue is 1. my daughter is not STEM-y and 2. she does not have the scores/grades to get into those schools (which are kind of a long shot for everyone). But she loves to learn, super shy, kind hearted, a bit of a dork. She wants to major in psychology and sociology. 4.2 WGPA, 3.82 UWGPA, 30 ACT. Suggestions? Prefers small, no real preference on geographic location.

I thought Brandeis seems promising. The tour gave a lot of specifics about favorite courses and great professors, which is not something I've run much elsewhere.

Love our tour guide at Brandeis and their passion for education, but several of the buildings looked in disrepair. We loved Muhlenberg -- genuinely friendly, kind students, passionate about education, and nerdy seemed cool there. DD is applying to some of the top nerd schools, but cut Brandeis and kept Muhlenberg.

+1 to Brandeis and Muhlenberg, both of which offered merit aid to my nerdy DD.

[Anonymous]

Carleton College--its reddit description is "The friendliest, nerdiest, and quirkiest college in America!"

[Anonymous]

University of Mary Washington

[Anonymous]

She might like Harvey Mudd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:University of Mary Washington

Not the first thing that comes to mind when I think Fredericksburg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Providence
Boston u
Furman

omg. no. none of these. ok bu might have a contingent of nerds but providence and furman are about as far away from nerdy as you can get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Carleton College--its reddit description is "The friendliest, nerdiest, and quirkiest college in America!"

probably not realistic for her test scores though?

[Anonymous]

University of Rochester

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Carleton College--its reddit description is "The friendliest, nerdiest, and quirkiest college in America!"

probably not realistic for her test scores though?

From USNews: "Half the applicants admitted to Carleton College have an SAT score between 1330 and 1520 or an ACT score of 30 and 34."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She might like Harvey Mudd.

Are you kidding? Non-STEM DC.

[Anonymous]

Davidson

[Anonymous]

Would she consider all women’s college? Yep My nerd is at Smith and in heaven.