Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 11:39     Subject: Re:Need targets and safeties
Anonymous wrote:I would ED1 to Carleton or Mudd. Carleton has a lower athlete percentage than Swat and Swat has gone a bit overboard with first gen, as over 25% admits and almost no overlap with their athletes (not really any more room at the inn for the ED round). I actually think Swat will be as difficult or a more difficult ED admit than Brown (but would not risk Brown ED either).

Swat is 29% male athletes overall, and first year will be higher due to attrition. https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/institution/details

Carleton is 22%. Still a lot but when buckets are tiny that 8% will make a difference.

Mudd is harder to say because it shares with CMC and Scripps but I would say it is lower than Carleton…


Thanks -- percentage athlete is part of our analysis.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 11:39     Subject: Re:Need targets and safeties
Yeah, Holy Cross. 25 math majors for a SLAC is a lot.

https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=College+of+the+holy+cross&s=all&id=166124#programs
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 11:37     Subject: Need targets and safeties
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The reaches my DS likes best are Harvey Mudd, Carleton, Swarthmore, and Brown. He likes them because they are collaborative environments without substantial Greek life that have strong STEM offerings (he wants to be a math or statistics major and go to grad school).

What are possible targets and safeties? Assume he has the stats to be competitive at the above reaches, but they are still lottery tickets.


Curious, if your DS doesn't want to do Greek why does it matter if there is Greek on campus? He just doesn't get involved in it. I think you may be eliminating a log of school schools.

Not OP but Greek life disproportionately dominates the social scene. You can avoid it to an extent, but why not simply avoid the issue completely? Plenty of non-Greek options.

OP, speaking of non-Greek options for a target, I think Holy Cross has good math but my recollection is vague.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 11:37     Subject: Need targets and safeties
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The reaches my DS likes best are Harvey Mudd, Carleton, Swarthmore, and Brown. He likes them because they are collaborative environments without substantial Greek life that have strong STEM offerings (he wants to be a math or statistics major and go to grad school).

What are possible targets and safeties? Assume he has the stats to be competitive at the above reaches, but they are still lottery tickets.


Curious, if your DS doesn't want to do Greek why does it matter if there is Greek on campus? He just doesn't get involved in it. I think you may be eliminating a log of school schools.


At Greek heavy schools, frat parties dominate the social scene. He also thinks he is less likely to find his people at a school that attracts a lot of people who do want Greek life. Some Greek life is ok -- like Brown has some fraternities but it's not the dominant culture.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 11:33     Subject: Need targets and safeties
I’d take a look at Union, more “stem”y than most lads and would probably be a target or likely depending on your kid’s stats.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 11:32     Subject: Need targets and safeties
Anonymous wrote:The reaches my DS likes best are Harvey Mudd, Carleton, Swarthmore, and Brown. He likes them because they are collaborative environments without substantial Greek life that have strong STEM offerings (he wants to be a math or statistics major and go to grad school).

What are possible targets and safeties? Assume he has the stats to be competitive at the above reaches, but they are still lottery tickets.


Curious, if your DS doesn't want to do Greek why does it matter if there is Greek on campus? He just doesn't get involved in it. I think you may be eliminating a log of school schools.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 11:30     Subject: Re:Need targets and safeties
I would ED1 to Carleton or Mudd. Carleton has a lower athlete percentage than Swat and Swat has gone a bit overboard with first gen, as over 25% admits and almost no overlap with their athletes (not really any more room at the inn for the ED round). I actually think Swat will be as difficult or a more difficult ED admit than Brown (but would not risk Brown ED either).

Swat is 29% male athletes overall, and first year will be higher due to attrition. https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/institution/details

Carleton is 22%. Still a lot but when buckets are tiny that 8% will make a difference.

Mudd is harder to say because it shares with CMC and Scripps but I would say it is lower than Carleton…
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 11:17     Subject: Re:Need targets and safeties
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:St. Olaf.

BTW, Mudd is great but Pomona is probably better for potential PhD math types. Williams also great for Math.

Check out Reed.


Thanks, Pomona is definitely on his reach list.

He rejected Reed because of their freshman year humanities requirement, but otherwise I think it would be a good fit.

You know your stuff. Reed’s “North American” humanities requirement (I kid you not; that’s what it is) is a problem and 3/8 of the freshman year coursework.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 11:17     Subject: Need targets and safeties
Pitt and Minnesota for safeties. They’re larger than the schools you list but neither is frat-oriented. For his stats he will get merit and likely honors college at both, which pulls the sting of the safety, and both are early rolling so he can be in before he hears from his ED.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 11:16     Subject: Need targets and safeties
CWRU is a fantastic idea. He should get $$$ and he'll likely get in if he has Brown/Harvey Mudd stats.

I went there for grad school and while there are frats the culture is not traditionally "fratty" at all. It's STEM heavy and Cleveland is really under-appreciated city. Great restaurants, major sports, etc.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 11:15     Subject: Re:Need targets and safeties
Anonymous wrote:St. Olaf.

BTW, Mudd is great but Pomona is probably better for potential PhD math types. Williams also great for Math.

Check out Reed.


Thanks, Pomona is definitely on his reach list.

He rejected Reed because of their freshman year humanities requirement, but otherwise I think it would be a good fit.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 11:15     Subject: Need targets and safeties
Rochester also gives merit. But Case has EA Rochester doesn’t. Your DC will receive Case EA decision by December. Both are excellent targets for your DC.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 11:12     Subject: Re:Need targets and safeties
St. Olaf.

BTW, Mudd is great but Pomona is probably better for potential PhD math types. Williams also great for Math.

Check out Reed.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 11:09     Subject: Need targets and safeties
Case Western with merit.
Anonymous
Post 01/03/2026 11:06     Subject: Need targets and safeties
The reaches my DS likes best are Harvey Mudd, Carleton, Swarthmore, and Brown. He likes them because they are collaborative environments without substantial Greek life that have strong STEM offerings (he wants to be a math or statistics major and go to grad school).

What are possible targets and safeties? Assume he has the stats to be competitive at the above reaches, but they are still lottery tickets.