Colleges for a low-key high-achiever?

[Anonymous]

My SIL has asked me for input on colleges for my nephew, who's currently a junior. The only school he's expressed an interest in is the public flagship, but SIL and BIL want him to aim a bit higher. The school's college counselor brought up Ivies and other elite schools, and that's all they can focus on.

He scored 1500 on the PSAT as a sophomore (just took it again a few weeks ago) and currently has a 4.0 (unweighted but he knows he is tied for #1 in his class), lots of APs, strong extracurriculars.
His high school is a pressure-cooker academic magnet, and he's expressed to me more than once how much he hates the competitiveness and cutthroat environment. Partly, I think his nonchalance about college is a direct response to the school environment and pressure from his parents.

He's always excelled in STEM but is probably more passionate about politics/international relations and is also very artistic and musical -- he has won some awards in that area. He's very into languages -- he's fluent in French and Spanish and is currently taking Mandarin. He's also really into community service and has expressed an interest in taking a gap year to volunteer internationally and travel (hopefully that's possible by 22-23), which I think would be great for him, but his parents/the school seem to be really discouraging that.

I've reassured him that college has a lot less of the BS of high school regardless of where you end up. He is definitely on the mature side for his age and very over it. I think he could really thrive at a SLAC, but also think he'd be adept at making a big state school feel small. Pretty sure SIL/BIL could make either work financially.

Any ideas? I was going to suggest the CTCLs, Colorado College, the Claremont consortium. Deep Springs and then transfer to an Ivy? Elite schools where kids tend to report they're very happy? Tell SIL and BIL to chill?

[Anonymous]

Williams, Dartmouth, Northwestern, or go down the list of LACs and see what he likes location wise. Davidson (rural), Macalester (urban) etc.

[Anonymous]

I was a high-achieving high school student who hated the competitive environment and the race for top rankings, but played the game anyway. I was thrilled to spend my college years at Reed College in Portland, where competition and grades are not the focus, and where I was surrounded by brilliant students and caring, talented professors. His interests and personality sounds like they'd fit right in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a high-achieving high school student who hated the competitive environment and the race for top rankings, but played the game anyway. I was thrilled to spend my college years at Reed College in Portland, where competition and grades are not the focus, and where I was surrounded by brilliant students and caring, talented professors. His interests and personality sounds like they'd fit right in.

Not the OP but my DC has Reed down as a possible ED choice but we have since read a lot of stuff about it being a pressure cooker, students dropping extracurriculars in order to keep up with the academic demands, etc. This has been here on DC Urban Mom. Can you shed some insight? Our DC is bright and at a competitive high school but does not want to feel that kind of pressure for 4 yrs of college.

[Anonymous]

Indiana Univ. for low-pressure, enjoyable undergraduate experience. There is a robust and active Hutton Honors program, outstanding music school and interest groups, wide range of languages taught to high professional competency level with native-speaker instruction.

Bloomington is a nice town, not as lively as Ann Arbor or Athens but has plenty to do. They award merit money for high-stats students. Resource-rich for Fulbright, Boren, etc. and Peace Corps prep.

[Anonymous]

Michigan. This Kid is a very independent learner and would feel suffocated at a SLAC or rural environment.

[Anonymous]

Or look at any other top Publics-depending on what weather/part of the country he likes

[Anonymous]

Honestly, he really sounds like someone who would thrive at a flagship public. And SLACs soundlike a bad idea. Flagship gives him access to a wide range of courses (eg languages) and profs. Large/diverse group of students (many of whom aren’t grade-obsessed or coming from pressure cooker academic environments) will give him a different perspective on college. Not sure what state he lives in, but flagship in state capital (Madison, Austin) could be a plus for a kid interested in politics.

Basically, flagships can be a real feast for smart, curious kids with wide-ranging interests (both academic and extra-curricular).

I say this as someone who has studied and taught at both public flagships and Ivy+ privates. And as the parent of a kid who went from a pressure cooker HS to a pressure cooker college and chose a flagship for PhD work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, he really sounds like someone who would thrive at a flagship public. And SLACs sound like a bad idea. Flagship gives him access to a wide range of courses (eg languages) and profs. Large/diverse group of students (many of whom aren’t grade-obsessed or coming from pressure cooker academic environments) will give him a different perspective on college. Not sure what state he lives in, but flagship in state capital (Madison, Austin) could be a plus for a kid interested in politics.

Basically, flagships can be a real feast for smart, curious kids with wide-ranging interests (both academic and extra-curricular).

I say this as someone who has studied and taught at both public flagships and Ivy+ privates. And as the parent of a kid who went from a pressure cooker HS to a pressure cooker college and chose a flagship for PhD work.

Why?

[Anonymous]

I went to an Ivy, and my kids to different flagship state schools, but from what you've written Tufts and Macalester seem like they might be a nice fit for your nephew.

[Anonymous]

Middlebury -- strong foreign language and global politics programs, students are interesting and fun but not elbows out competitive types. But he's got to get his SAT score up.

[Anonymous]

Frostburg State University.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, he really sounds like someone who would thrive at a flagship public. And SLACs sound like a bad idea. Flagship gives him access to a wide range of courses (eg languages) and profs. Large/diverse group of students (many of whom aren’t grade-obsessed or coming from pressure cooker academic environments) will give him a different perspective on college. Not sure what state he lives in, but flagship in state capital (Madison, Austin) could be a plus for a kid interested in politics.

Basically, flagships can be a real feast for smart, curious kids with wide-ranging interests (both academic and extra-curricular).

I say this as someone who has studied and taught at both public flagships and Ivy+ privates. And as the parent of a kid who went from a pressure cooker HS to a pressure cooker college and chose a flagship for PhD work.

Why?

Strong UMC vibe at most (which is probably the class fragment whose attitude toward school turned him off)
Few profs in each field
Fewer extracurriculars (which is where arts/politics might end up fitting in his college life).
Basically, scale matters in terms of the range of attitudes/activities and the culture of a university. There’s no one right way to be a college student at a public flagship (less true of SLACs which often attract/cultivate a certain type of student). There are kids who flourish at SLACs and would be less happy at a larger school, but this kid (intrinsically motivated, turned off by environmental/social pressure, ASKING to go to a flagship) does not seem to be one of them. Flagships are great for choose-your-own-adventure types. More pieces to play with and lots of different ways to assemble them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Michigan. This Kid is a very independent learner and would feel suffocated at a SLAC or rural environment.

+1 in particular the Residential College at Michigan could be a good niche

[Anonymous]

Rice