Anonymous wrote:Kid has 4.2 and 35 ACT. Very limited ECs. Looking for SLAC with supportive community and mellow vibe.

Bard
Vassar
Union
Franklin and Marshall
Kenyon
Bucknell
Lafayette
Lehigh
Haverford
UMD (as a local option)

Is this a varied enough list?

Dickinson & Occidental? Both give great merit and have wonderful mellow, supportive atmosphere.

Anonymous wrote:Great thread! I’m about to take my kid to visit Lake Forest, another Midwest safety. Any thoughts on it? Sounds like people are a lot more enthusiastic about places like Beloit and Kalamazoo.

I live nearby and it is just…not an inspiring looking school. My kid did soccer camp there and I remember thinking “no way.”

Anonymous wrote:I would not consider St Olaf as a safety. YMMV

St Olaf definitely a safety. Sorry.

This kid is already attending college.

Anonymous wrote:Kid has 4.2 and 35 ACT. Very limited ECs. Looking for SLAC with supportive community and mellow vibe.

Bard
Vassar
Union
Franklin and Marshall
Kenyon
Bucknell
Lafayette
Lehigh
Haverford
UMD (as a local option)

Is this a varied enough list?

Why are we treating this kid like he can’t get into a good LAC? He has a GPA over 4.0 and an almost perfect ACT? Is it bc he doesn’t have many extracurriculars? I think we need to know more about him. What’s his unweighted GPA. What kind of school does he go to. A 4.2 at a competitive private is not the same as a 4.2 at a Montgomery County Public School where grade inflation and 10 APs are the norm. At my kids’ private, where class is considered an honors class and few students make 4.0s.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try Wahington College in Chestertown

Oops - Washington College

I was going to suggest same! The campus is beautiful—new environmental science building and access to sailing, kayaking, etc. was surprised when we visited how cute the town is. It’s one of those schools that’s really under the radar.

Denison was another one to add to list.

Anonymous wrote:Potential safeties:

College of Wooster
Juniata College
Knox College
Lawrence University
Lewis & Clark College
Muhlenberg College
St. Olaf College

+1

Bard is fairly easy to get into but intellectually intense. I would not describe it as mellow at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Goucher

Not to be neurotic, but if kid's scores and GPA are really high, will safeties sniff out that they are safeties and candidate is unlikely to attend - and therefore reject?

Be sure to visit each of the safeties, do an on-campus interview if possible and make sure you demonstrate interest.

What’s the unweighted GPA?