College for anxious, smart, somewhat socially awkward kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My rising jr sounds similar. Schools on the list to look at:

W&M
Mary Washington
Dickinson
Swarthmore
Haverford
College of Wooster
Kenyon
Case Western
Rochester
Carleton
Macalester
Carnegie Mellon
Clark

Terrific list, imo, and pp’s are right to add Brandeis and Grinnell. I’d also add Tufts and Rice as reaches. We’re also asding a couple of big state uni’s with honors colleges, as while the schools on the whole will not be chock full of any one “type,” all types will be represented and some people with social anxieties prefer to remain more anonymous than the environment small LACs foster.

[Anonymous]

Juniata is an overhyped CTCL joke. Do better.

[Anonymous]

Not OP but any big, really big, schools that would be on the list outside of UVA (already mentioned)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great list above.

agree

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rising Junior. Smart, friendly, kind, socially awkward. Just starting to look at schools. I think small or mid-size school would best. Where have you seen your kid (if similar) thrive? Excellent grades. AP/Honors classes. Not all all sure of major or focus of study.

Any advice please.

Any of those weird SLAC schools

[Anonymous]

Providence
Northeastern
Oberlin
St joes

[Anonymous]

I was like your kid, and I went to UVA. I easily found my place there. To be honest, I went because it was in state and my boyfriend was there. But I think you shouldn’t necessarily nix big schools.

[Anonymous]

Girl? If so, try Smith. Mine matches that description to a T and is loving Smith.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Girl? If so, try Smith. Mine matches that description to a T and is loving Smith.

Also Mount Holyoke. My DD, a rising senior, sounds similar and has a lot of schools from the PPs list on her list but her favorite right now is Mt H.

[Anonymous]

Elon? everyone there seems to be so darn inclusive and happy. lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My rising jr sounds similar. Schools on the list to look at:

W&M
Mary Washington
Dickinson
Swarthmore
Haverford
College of Wooster
Kenyon
Case Western
Rochester
Carleton
Macalester
Carnegie Mellon
Clark

Terrific list, imo, and pp’s are right to add Brandeis and Grinnell. I’d also add Tufts and Rice as reaches. We’re also asding a couple of big state uni’s with honors colleges, as while the schools on the whole will not be chock full of any one “type,” all types will be represented and some people with social anxieties prefer to remain more anonymous than the environment small LACs foster.

PP here, thanks to those that like the list. It’s kind of what we are working from as a starting point, and it wasn’t all inclusive (DC isn’t considering anything on west coast so the list doesn’t include potential options there). A few of the other schools mentioned are possibilities as well so it’s good to see those names suggested as well. My DC isn’t socially awkward but is just shy and not a partier so really honing in on schools that seem like a good fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Juniata is an overhyped CTCL joke. Do better.

My smart/introverted/anxious son loved Juniata and right now it is his top choice. It is a safety for him, so I have mixed feelings about whether it is the optimal choice, but it's really the only school we've toured that he has been definitively positive about. We have toured a lot of the schools listed on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My rising jr sounds similar. Schools on the list to look at:

W&M
Mary Washington
Dickinson
Swarthmore
Haverford
College of Wooster
Kenyon
Case Western
Rochester
Carleton
Macalester
Carnegie Mellon
Clark

This is a solid list, but it's criminal not to include Grinnell on it. Grinnell is as good as all and better than most of the schools on the list, is full of students who are exactly as OP described, and is one of the few highly selective colleges that actually is generous with merit aid.

My painfully awkward colleague went to Grinnell!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not OP but any big, really big, schools that would be on the list outside of UVA (already mentioned)?

Any of them. I think the point is that big schools have a range of kids and kids of all interests and personalities.

[Anonymous]

Also, I toured Dickinson recently and while I really liked it, I actually didn't think it seemed particularly good for a socially awkward kid.