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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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?[/quote]

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. [/quote]

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

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. [/quote]

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.

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