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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: Thanks for all the thoughts here!

Mellow vibe = Collaborative vs competitive feel

I am surprised that people aren't more bullish on kid's chances at F&M, Lafayette, Kenyon, etc.

Also, we are full pay - does that make a difference here?

I don't see people making negative predictions about his chances at those schools. It's not parents' and advisors' job to be bullish. It's their job to make sure students have safeties as the foundation of their list.

Full pay male ED at need aware school where the student has well above median test scores = recipe for success. Why in the name of the admissions lord would they reject such an applicant? It's like a 39 year old single woman with student loans turning down a marriage proposal from a handsome disease free 6 foot tall multi-millionaire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: Thanks for all the thoughts here!

Mellow vibe = Collaborative vs competitive feel

I am surprised that people aren't more bullish on kid's chances at F&M, Lafayette, Kenyon, etc.

Also, we are full pay - does that make a difference here?

I’d be very surprised if a full pay boy with his stats - and assuming good application and demonstrated interest (to include interviews) - wasn’t accepted to those schools. Only caveat is if MCPS or similar where honors are weighted 1 instead of .5, the gpa isn’t super strong. People really need to specify honors weighting.

Also - I’d consider adding Bates, Grinnell, Macalester and Oberlin. Not sure of location preferences.

I would not add Grinnell. My son is a recent grad and it’s a pressure cooker environment. He a teammate committed suicide, two friends had mental breakdowns and left school. My son was never in therapy till college. He got a fantastic education but the price was steep. His 2nd choice was St Olaf and I often wish he had gone there instead.

My son is there now and chose it over St Olaf. That is not his experience at all. He has a balanced life and great grades etc. It is not as intense as the SLAC I attended and I have never heard anyone describe it as a pressure cooker.

My daughter attended Grinnell and that was not her experience either. She had a great time, met great friends, and they’re all perfectly happy and leading very interesting and healthy lives. It sounds like that poster had a kid who was predisposed to be a weirdo and fell into a whole group of weirdos. That could happen anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I would keep F&M, Union, Lafayette, and UMD, Kenyon. Add Dickinson. I think Bucknell and Lehigh are the WRONG fit, and I can't really comment on the others.

F&M and Lafeyette are very similar to Bucknell and Lehigh.

Lafayette has D1 sports, which makes it a little different than a D3 school.

Can you elaborate on this? DC is looking into Lafayette as a low match since they offer humanities and engineering and there seemed to be an academic mindset (not fratty) based on website. Not correct impression in your opinion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I would keep F&M, Union, Lafayette, and UMD, Kenyon. Add Dickinson. I think Bucknell and Lehigh are the WRONG fit, and I can't really comment on the others.

F&M and Lafeyette are very similar to Bucknell and Lehigh.

Lafayette has D1 sports, which makes it a little different than a D3 school.

Can you elaborate on this? DC is looking into Lafayette as a low match since they offer humanities and engineering and there seemed to be an academic mindset (not fratty) based on website. Not correct impression in your opinion?

Grew up nearby and thought of it as very fratty, not sure if that’s still the vibe. But it has overlap from our school with sporty / fratty schools like Colgate. The Lafayette website says 37% of upperclassmen are in Greek life. To me that’s a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I would keep F&M, Union, Lafayette, and UMD, Kenyon. Add Dickinson. I think Bucknell and Lehigh are the WRONG fit, and I can't really comment on the others.

F&M and Lafeyette are very similar to Bucknell and Lehigh.

Lafayette has D1 sports, which makes it a little different than a D3 school.

Can you elaborate on this? DC is looking into Lafayette as a low match since they offer humanities and engineering and there seemed to be an academic mindset (not fratty) based on website. Not correct impression in your opinion?

Lafayette frats pretty hard, but geeds aren't totally shut out of the social scene like at W&L, Sewanee, Depauw, etc. It's comparable to Bucknell, Colgate and Lehigh in terms of Greek influence on social life and the party scene.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: Thanks for all the thoughts here!

Mellow vibe = Collaborative vs competitive feel

I am surprised that people aren't more bullish on kid's chances at F&M, Lafayette, Kenyon, etc.

Also, we are full pay - does that make a difference here?

I’d be very surprised if a full pay boy with his stats - and assuming good application and demonstrated interest (to include interviews) - wasn’t accepted to those schools. Only caveat is if MCPS or similar where honors are weighted 1 instead of .5, the gpa isn’t super strong. People really need to specify honors weighting.

Also - I’d consider adding Bates, Grinnell, Macalester and Oberlin. Not sure of location preferences.

I would not add Grinnell. My son is a recent grad and it’s a pressure cooker environment. He a teammate committed suicide, two friends had mental breakdowns and left school. My son was never in therapy till college. He got a fantastic education but the price was steep. His 2nd choice was St Olaf and I often wish he had gone there instead.

My son is there now and chose it over St Olaf. That is not his experience at all. He has a balanced life and great grades etc. It is not as intense as the SLAC I attended and I have never heard anyone describe it as a pressure cooker.

My daughter attended Grinnell and that was not her experience either. She had a great time, met great friends, and they’re all perfectly happy and leading very interesting and healthy lives. It sounds like that poster had a kid who was predisposed to be a weirdo and fell into a whole group of weirdos. That could happen anywhere.

Wow, I'm surprised that someone who has a kid who is smart enough to choose Grinnell and get in talks about young people with mental health challenges that way. Your response makes me more concerned about who thrives at Grinnell than anything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I would keep F&M, Union, Lafayette, and UMD, Kenyon. Add Dickinson. I think Bucknell and Lehigh are the WRONG fit, and I can't really comment on the others.

F&M and Lafeyette are very similar to Bucknell and Lehigh.

Lafayette has D1 sports, which makes it a little different than a D3 school.

Can you elaborate on this? DC is looking into Lafayette as a low match since they offer humanities and engineering and there seemed to be an academic mindset (not fratty) based on website. Not correct impression in your opinion?

Lafayette has a reputation as being very fratty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I would keep F&M, Union, Lafayette, and UMD, Kenyon. Add Dickinson. I think Bucknell and Lehigh are the WRONG fit, and I can't really comment on the others.

F&M and Lafeyette are very similar to Bucknell and Lehigh.

Lafayette has D1 sports, which makes it a little different than a D3 school.

Can you elaborate on this? DC is looking into Lafayette as a low match since they offer humanities and engineering and there seemed to be an academic mindset (not fratty) based on website. Not correct impression in your opinion?

It is part of the patriot league-so smallest
D1 you can get.

Colgate and Lehigh are in the same sports league.

[Anonymous]

Vassar seems kind of out of place on that list, unless it’s your ED reach? And to a lesser extent, Bucknell

How about Elon?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: Thanks for all the thoughts here!

Mellow vibe = Collaborative vs competitive feel

I am surprised that people aren't more bullish on kid's chances at F&M, Lafayette, Kenyon, etc.

Also, we are full pay - does that make a difference here?

I’d be very surprised if a full pay boy with his stats - and assuming good application and demonstrated interest (to include interviews) - wasn’t accepted to those schools. Only caveat is if MCPS or similar where honors are weighted 1 instead of .5, the gpa isn’t super strong. People really need to specify honors weighting.

Also - I’d consider adding Bates, Grinnell, Macalester and Oberlin. Not sure of location preferences.

I would not add Grinnell. My son is a recent grad and it’s a pressure cooker environment. He a teammate committed suicide, two friends had mental breakdowns and left school. My son was never in therapy till college. He got a fantastic education but the price was steep. His 2nd choice was St Olaf and I often wish he had gone there instead.

My son is there now and chose it over St Olaf. That is not his experience at all. He has a balanced life and great grades etc. It is not as intense as the SLAC I attended and I have never heard anyone describe it as a pressure cooker.

My DC also went to Grinnell. It's very mellow socially. People are generally friendly and supportive. The students are not competitive or cutthroat, but they work very hard. My kid's professor told me she thinks her students are the nicest people she knows -- humble, hard-working, and kind. However, it is very rigorous. Most of the students I met appeared to really enjoy learning, which I would guess had something to do with the open curriculum -- you study what you love. When I visited, I was always surrounded by enthusiastic conversations about what the kids were learning, so they all learned from one another. OP's kid is obviously very bright and high-achieving and might enjoy the intellectual climate and learning for its own sake. So I would say Grinnell is mellow in some ways, but the workload can be stressful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: Thanks for all the thoughts here!

Mellow vibe = Collaborative vs competitive feel

I am surprised that people aren't more bullish on kid's chances at F&M, Lafayette, Kenyon, etc.

Also, we are full pay - does that make a difference here?

I’d be very surprised if a full pay boy with his stats - and assuming good application and demonstrated interest (to include interviews) - wasn’t accepted to those schools. Only caveat is if MCPS or similar where honors are weighted 1 instead of .5, the gpa isn’t super strong. People really need to specify honors weighting.

Also - I’d consider adding Bates, Grinnell, Macalester and Oberlin. Not sure of location preferences.

I would not add Grinnell. My son is a recent grad and it’s a pressure cooker environment. He a teammate committed suicide, two friends had mental breakdowns and left school. My son was never in therapy till college. He got a fantastic education but the price was steep. His 2nd choice was St Olaf and I often wish he had gone there instead.

My son is there now and chose it over St Olaf. That is not his experience at all. He has a balanced life and great grades etc. It is not as intense as the SLAC I attended and I have never heard anyone describe it as a pressure cooker.

My daughter attended Grinnell and that was not her experience either. She had a great time, met great friends, and they’re all perfectly happy and leading very interesting and healthy lives. It sounds like that poster had a kid who was predisposed to be a weirdo and fell into a whole group of weirdos. That could happen anywhere.

Very sorry to hear about PPs son and his roommate. Perhaps major plays into to stress levels? Of course predisposition does too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would consider Skidmore.

+1 for skidmore

I don't think they offer merit aid though.

Yes it does

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe Pitzer

Great for the soft sciences

[Anonymous]

Could Dickinson be a good option?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I would keep F&M, Union, Lafayette, and UMD, Kenyon. Add Dickinson. I think Bucknell and Lehigh are the WRONG fit, and I can't really comment on the others.

F&M and Lafeyette are very similar to Bucknell and Lehigh.

Lafayette has D1 sports, which makes it a little different than a D3 school.

Can you elaborate on this? DC is looking into Lafayette as a low match since they offer humanities and engineering and there seemed to be an academic mindset (not fratty) based on website. Not correct impression in your opinion?

Lafayette has a reputation as being very fratty.

+1

Lafayette, Colgate, Lehigh are similar. Very fratty & lots of alcohol consumed.