Where do unconnected, top academic kids from a feeder private go to college?
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Anonymous
OP: those 2 ECs plus a non fancy part-time job and volunteering. Won a couple low-level writing competitions. We do agree the ECs are nothing to write home about. She is not focused on HYPMS type schools. Would be thrilled at say Swarthmore or WUAST in terms of ranking, just wondering which are best fits for her ability, academic focus and personality as described |
Anonymous
3.85-3.95 generally all get top25. 3.75 can get top40. At DC's Big3 school 3.8 is sort of the "line in the sand" for a top30 school. The top30 colleges don't really take the 3.7s regardless of how high their SAT score is, how great the extracurriculars are, etc. (I'm talking unhooked kids here). |
Anonymous
| Chicago, Cornell, Penn, WASP |
Anonymous
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Your daughter sounds a lot like my daughter, in both personality (focus on learning and research, rather than paying attention to a T10 list) and academic prep (1560, 4.0 UW), and the schools sound similar (we're on the west coast, but I described Sidwell to her recently as "the DC version of <your school>"). She was looking for the overlap of "warm/friendly students", "high academic rigor", and "strong emphasis on undergrad teaching".
I think you're smart to be cautious/realistic. The boards here make blithe comments like "3.85-3.95 generally all get top25", but at the end of the day it doesn't always work out like that. In fact, I think unless applying ED, it often doesn't. Rice was high on our daughter's list, though (like your daughter) she had reservations around Texas. (Ultimately she was waitlisted at Rice during RD, so it was moot.) She is starting as a Monroe scholar at W&M in the fall, and is really, really excited about it. The connection she had with professors there — even as a prospective student — was absolutely outstanding. One has already invited her to join a research team when she gets there in the fall. Carleton and possibly WashU could also be worth your daughter checking out. When looking for likelies, if you're in town for Carleton, set up a visit to St Olaf as well. If any of those sub-20% private schools feels like it's absolutely the right fit for your daughter, and the finances work out for you, I would strongly recommend applying ED. Our daughter didn't want to ED anywhere, and it all worked out with W&M, but I do think that some doors open up for ED applications that are a lot stickier during the RD round. |
Anonymous
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From what you say, Swarthmore sounds like a fit.
Your description of your daughter reminded me of an old friend, super smart, not showy. FWIW she went to Haverford, majored in a science, and did her PhD at Stanford. |
Anonymous
Possibly Michigan with a strong "Why Michigan" reason. Geography or past acceptances fron her school might help a little? Especially if LSA. Play up the TA thing. Michigan is big on robotics but has lots of female engineers. The EC will have respect but be typical like captaining a sport. Could write an essay around "leading" peers on the robotics team. The "leadership style" will be of interest. You need to give DCUM more info on what your DC wants from a college, not just worry about where can she get in. I do believe that the credibility of an app matters a lot, even if the candidate has generic "chance me" stats. |
Anonymous
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Kids with weak ecs tend to do best at the big state schools that admit, more or less, on the basis of grades and test scores. I'd consider GaTech, Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan, UVA, etc. . .
Liberal Arts schools tend to be very holistic but if you go beyond the T5, you may get lucky. Being a girl is a disadvantage, though. |
Anonymous
At a top private, Michigan is taking way below the 3.95 kids. They went down to 3.6 this year at Big3 schools. |
Anonymous
Pomona with Claremont consortium is very nice. But seems impossible to get in from our school. |
Anonymous
Pomona unlikely with these ecs. |
Anonymous
PP from above. I suggest Chemistry with an English minor at Michigan. Or chemistry dual major with English. English major is a hook. There are many, many females interested in neuroscience and the environmental side of science at all top schools (environmental engineering, and Michigan has a College of Environment and Sustainability). That is common/increases competition at several schools I looked at. I think Chem/English and interest in recycled plastics is compelling. For "Why Michigan" you could talk about breadth of the curriculum to take classes in other areas. There already are cross-disciplinary classes on AI and its implications. Access to Engineering might also help. There are project teams that are open to any major. And lots of FRC types at Michigan to hang with. I recently went to a reading at an Ann Arbor bookstore by students who were in a 3 semester English course concerning writing about the Great Lakes region. Some of their self-chosen topics were environmental science oriented. It was fascinating. So Michigan can support the in-depth study of specialized writing. https://lsa.umich.edu/english/news-events/all-events.detail.html/135336-21876711.html Another point about Michigan. It is possible to transfer from LSA into the College of Engineering. In case that would be of interest. I have a work colleague whose daughter is transferring cross-campus as a junior. I thought plastics might be in Chemical Engineering? Rice is a good place to study engineering and materials science. A high school classmate did that, also sent his daughter there, then she went on to Stanford for a PhD. I think that should definitely be on your kid's list. |
Anonymous
Weighted or UW? Ours similar, but is based on weighted. |
Anonymous
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How about honors programs at state flagships like Maryland?
Or one of the WASP’s. I would add Carleton, Bowdoin, Wellesley, and Davidson to those LAC’s. For mid-size non-Ivy, Rice, Emory, Tufts, BC |
Anonymous
BTW I’m sharing not because I think your kid should go there (I think she will get into higher ranked schools) but because a SLAC can be a good path for this kind of kid. |
Anonymous
You don't need to retake the SAT with a 1560. That's good enough for everywhere. For this student's interests and disposition, I think Rice would be an exceptionally good fit. The lack of standout ECs is an issue though. But if this is a "top feeder" high school, and she has some writing awards and a proven passion for certain fields - even robotics - it could work. Rice is changing though - they have been on a building spree recently and are expanding their undergrad size by I think 25 percent. So it's not as small as it used to be. And they've added a business major, which is a very un-Rice thing to do. But even going from 4000 to 5000 undergrads and including a business major, Rice will always be Rice. It's a school for bright kids with a lot of intellectual curiosity who want to do good things. I'd visit. Preferably in October. For most of the academic year, the weather is great. But September still has the heat. I get the Texas issue. But Rice has a very nice campus in a good neighborhood near the largest medical complex in the world. It's a very blue corner of Texas. So visit, get a sense of the residential colleges, which are great and a feature of Rice. And if she likes it, shoot your shot ED. Other schools to consider for an unhooked student with those interests, stats, and disposition would be Chicago, Brown, Northwestern, WashU, Harvey Mudd, maybe Pomona. And the really good publics like Michigan and Berkeley, which are big enough for everyone to find their space. And if applying RD, I would go ahead and apply to Stanford and MIT because you never know. The stats are there. Who knows, maybe a really compelling essay gets them over the top. But I would really look to apply to a school ED if possible. |