Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two schools came to mind when I read your description: Vassar and William & Mary. W&M has the dual degree in IR with St Andrews, which may be of interest.

Yes. She’s applying for the WM program. It’s concerning though. When you dig, many kids leave it because it alternates years on the campuses and it’s a very whiplash experience. A one year on a foreign campus may be better. Plus it very competitive. WM is on the list for sure. But 2 COVID B-s (4 As, a B+ in an AP) skew GPA. There were specific reason COVID hurt her grades (science fair project she spent all year on was not considered because it was meant to be the final, etc, during coronacation, and a 50 on a major assignment that was new work during coronacation in March April). So, it’s hard to tell if WM is an option from FCPS. Sophomore grades are glitchy. But COVID. So who knows?

You’re good at twisting yourself into pretzels, Mama bear. Covid inflated grades, didn’t hurt them.

Generally yes. But lots of almost completed big projects were completed. And if a kid missed a completion, it was an issue and retakes were not allowed by some teachers. It just stopped and the timing wasn’t great. It’s hard to know how grades from COVID spring will count. Her guidance counselor said not to worry context would be provided in the schools recommendation. But who knows? I agree this years grades and freshmen grades stand on their own.

Anonymous wrote:Given languages and IR, she might consider Occidental as well. If you end up visiting the Claremont Colleges, you could easily add Occidental to your trip. She could take virtual tours of CMC and Oxy to get started.

It was high on her list. She attended a virtual tour, info session, student chat. It had an off putting surf dude vibe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two schools came to mind when I read your description: Vassar and William & Mary. W&M has the dual degree in IR with St Andrews, which may be of interest.

Yes. She’s applying for the WM program. It’s concerning though. When you dig, many kids leave it because it alternates years on the campuses and it’s a very whiplash experience. A one year on a foreign campus may be better. Plus it very competitive. WM is on the list for sure. But 2 COVID B-s (4 As, a B+ in an AP) skew GPA. There were specific reason COVID hurt her grades (science fair project she spent all year on was not considered because it was meant to be the final, etc, during coronacation, and a 50 on a major assignment that was new work during coronacation in March April). So, it’s hard to tell if WM is an option from FCPS. Sophomore grades are glitchy. But COVID. So who knows?

You’re good at twisting yourself into pretzels, Mama bear. Covid inflated grades, didn’t hurt them.

Carleton
Colby
Grinnell
Kalamazoo
Kenyon
Lawrence University
Macalester
Wesleyan

OP you are overthinking this and are borderline obsessed. She's looking for a college, not a husband.

I have heard terrible reviews of the W&M/St. A program. Please do your research before applying.

Ideally, she will get top grades this year and have a chance to visit schools in person. There is a big difference in location between the VT/ME schools and Boston schools. Does she want to be close to or in a city, or would she be fine in a more isolated setting?

Given languages and IR, she might consider Occidental as well. If you end up visiting the Claremont Colleges, you could easily add Occidental to your trip. She could take virtual tours of CMC and Oxy to get started.

Anonymous wrote:OP, seriously consider Wesleyan in CT. It’s a bit larger for SLACs. My daughter applied to a couple of the schools you referenced and ended up going to Wesleyan.

Not on our radar. Can you tell me more about why you think it’s a good fit?

Anonymous wrote:She should try to visit. She could walk around masked and get a feeling for the place. I don't think they have resumed tours. W&M has handled COVID-19 well.

St A's and W&M are very different places, IMO. St A's is sporty, wealthy and students drink a tonne. The program would be great for the right student but it is costly.

For a SLAC, Kenyon has some strong language programs.

If it's a critical need language, the Language Flagship has some strong programs at various universities. Students grow close to their cohort. These universities often have MA and PhD programs so your course availability won't be topping out like at a (sorry!) Bates. It's important to have those opportunities for higher level structure, grammar and phonetics courses. Grad students are great for conversational practice!

Interesting point on languages. Thanks. She’s AP Latin, which his a great grounding, in the process of becoming fluent in a Romance language and wants to dabble in others. I think her primary focus is going to be IR.

OP, seriously consider Wesleyan in CT. It’s a bit larger for SLACs. My daughter applied to a couple of the schools you referenced and ended up going to Wesleyan.

She should try to visit. She could walk around masked and get a feeling for the place. I don't think they have resumed tours. W&M has handled COVID-19 well.

St A's and W&M are very different places, IMO. St A's is sporty, wealthy and students drink a tonne. The program would be great for the right student but it is costly.

For a SLAC, Kenyon has some strong language programs.

If it's a critical need language, the Language Flagship has some strong programs at various universities. Students grow close to their cohort. These universities often have MA and PhD programs so your course availability won't be topping out like at a (sorry!) Bates. It's important to have those opportunities for higher level structure, grammar and phonetics courses. Grad students are great for conversational practice!

Anonymous wrote:Two schools came to mind when I read your description: Vassar and William & Mary. W&M has the dual degree in IR with St Andrews, which may be of interest.

Yes. She’s applying for the WM program. It’s concerning though. When you dig, many kids leave it because it alternates years on the campuses and it’s a very whiplash experience. A one year on a foreign campus may be better. Plus it very competitive. WM is on the list for sure. But 2 COVID B-s (4 As, a B+ in an AP) skew GPA. There were specific reason COVID hurt her grades (science fair project she spent all year on was not considered because it was meant to be the final, etc, during coronacation, and a 50 on a major assignment that was new work during coronacation in March April). So, it’s hard to tell if WM is an option from FCPS. Sophomore grades are glitchy. But COVID. So who knows?

Two schools came to mind when I read your description: Vassar and William & Mary. W&M has the dual degree in IR with St Andrews, which may be of interest.

^^ sorry, SL is Sarah Lawrence, came off because of concerns about the financial health of the school

There is an article about Smith in the NTY today that isn’t flattering. Bryn Mwar and to a lesser extent Haverford have had similar incidents. I will start a separate thread on the Smith article, because the specific incidents they discuss aren’t part of my question. But, they point to an issue we are struggling with. Our older kid is at a Midwestern SLAC and merit aid was a consideration and it’s a great fit for him, his upbringing and how we raised him. But, finances have changed and money is less of an issue with kid 2 (kid 1 is being made whole). So we started looking at need only schools. And we are hitting reputations for wealthy, entitled kids with wealthy entitled parents in NE SLACs. That’s not our kid or family. She’s a nerdy introvert who is very down to Earth. It has decent social skills.

I’ve chimed in here on SLACs based on kid 1. But kid 2 is very different and I could use some first hand info on the community vibe at schools. So now I’m tapping into the DCUM Hive mind.

Because info helps.

International relations and linguistics.
The most rigorous humanities and languages schedule humanly possible (9APs and scores are/ should be strong), 2 foreign languages (one AP, One level III), a summer language program in a third language but only Calc AB and standard A2, pre-Calc and physics. Honors until then. Only 3 lab sciences (Honors Chem and Bio)

High level fine arts. Not planning to major, but wants a decent fine arts community
Has some interesting activities that tie into IR, but COVID has paused travel exchanges
Is not into athletics and doesn’t want Greek

Good FCPS high school.

33 ACT banked early junior year, but with skewed scores: 34 in Reading and 36 in English early junior year. 28 in science and 32 in math. Trying again after pre-Calc and AP Lang and should have a 34.

5-6 As,1-2 A-s junior year and APs should support the grade. But upward trend from A/B mix freshman year and a couple of low Bs in 10th, 1 in STEM and the other directly related to the COVID end to the academic year. The guidance counselor can provide context.

So very strong where she is strong, but lopsided. Amherst, Williams, Swat are not going to be realistic.

If we can get her on campus for a real visit by fall, may ED Carlton

Where else should we be looking outside the MN and Ohio SLACs, Grinnell? It’s hard without being able to see the campuses in action.

She is looking at Vasser, Hamilton, Tufts, BC and Northeastern (both much larger, but for comparisons sake), Middlebury for languages program, Claeont McKenna But Middlebury’s trust fund kid Rep is concerning. Will apply to American’s IR school but is not thrilled about staying in DC.

The Maine schools (Bowdoin, Bates)? She has decided that Colby’s politics department “is obsessed with American politics,” which is a fair point.

Some of her schools (Bowdoin, Tufts, CMcKenna, probably Middlebury are clearly reaches).

We are also concerned about financial health of colleges, so SL and Earlham came off.

Location isn’t as a big issue, but doesn’t want South.

First hand experience? Good choice for ED2?