Penn

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP here: seeing so many suggesting Brown and Chicago; aren’t they polar opposite schools in terms of culture and intensity? Not criticizing- just want to clarify b/c our DC is also trying to put a list together

Brown is nerdier than you'd think. And Chicago is more social than you'd think. It's not surprising that 18 year olds today would have both on their list.

Yes, I noticed a few years ago while touring and attending admit days, the student bodies at the very top schools are all interchangeable these days.

Anonymous wrote:He sounds exactly like my son who is now a 3rd year at UVA. He is an Echols Scholar is very involved in the Jefferson Society.
https://jeffersonsociety.org/ He is a history major and plans to go to law school.

UVA certainly has its share of sporty boys and there is Greek life, but there are also a lot of kids like my son who love UVA and have found their people.

+1. Seriously consider UVA because of the Jefferson Society, America’s oldest continuously running debate society. My pre-law kid was in it for four years, served as an officer and recently returned for the Society’s 200th anniversary. Look also at UVA’s PPL major (politics, philosophy & law). That, and great LOCs (some of which came out of faculty contacts via Jef Soc), got him into a MPhil program at Cambridge. He goes to Harvard Law in August. You will be applying OOS, which will be around $80k (same as W&M) - so still less than some of the $94k ones being discussed here) but with your son’s credentials you should look into having your high school nominate him for the Jefferson Scholar program, which is very competitive, but, should he get it, pays for everything plus spending allowance. A number of Jef Scholars participated in Jef Soc. There are several threads here on applying for the Jefferson Scholar program. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:NP here: seeing so many suggesting Brown and Chicago; aren’t they polar opposite schools in terms of culture and intensity? Not criticizing- just want to clarify b/c our DC is also trying to put a list together

Brown is nerdier than you'd think. And Chicago is more social than you'd think. It's not surprising that 18 year olds today would have both on their list.

Sounds like my DS. Has found his tribe at Pomona, especially as he got more engaged with students and professors in his major. The accessibility of faculty makes a big difference towards an intellectual setting.

Anonymous wrote:First of all, best wishes to all senior parents who are waiting on ED news right now. My son is a junior and we’re starting to get serious about pulling a list together. He’s a straight-A student with 1500 PSAT and rigorous schedule at a top public. He’s a champion debater and strong writer who dabbles in some other creative ECs. Open to various school settings but not excited about anything athlete or Greek-dominated, and would prefer to stay in the Northeast-Mid-Atlantic region, although we also have some family in the Midwest and I think he’d consider that, too. We’re full pay if it matters. He’s thinking about a career in law but not dead-set on it.

For a writer, Kenyon.

OP, I have a somewhat similar kid, also a HS junior but probably more sporty, and he liked Swathmore and Wesleyan on a recent swing through the northeastern LACs. Obviously odds are better at Wesleyan.

Fwiw I wouldn't sweat the athlete/non-athlete divide too much unless it's a pain point for your DS himself. I have an older kid at one of the Maine SLACs and I've read stuff here about how terrible it is to be a non-athlete at one of those schools. He has had a fantastic 3.5 years, has many friends, actually got into playing club sports after studiously avoiding sports but isn't part of any team culture at all.

I understand why parents worry about this stuff, but I think these schools are so small that the kids have wide interactions and there's less pigeonholing by sport than at a large school with an intense athletic program.

^ +1 to the comments about Brown. My kid loves it, he’s an engineering major and works hard. Many of his classes are tough, and I think he’s only taken 2 classes S/NC thus far, as a junior. So the idea that Brown students are just taking all their classes pass/fail and that professors are just handing out As is not the reality. His friends are incredibly smart, hardworking and academically engaged. Fwiw, other schools he applied to were Swarthmore, UMD, JHU, UWisconsin, CWRU. Case Western deferred him- definitely demonstrate interest if applying to Case!

Anonymous wrote:NP here: seeing so many suggesting Brown and Chicago; aren’t they polar opposite schools in terms of culture and intensity? Not criticizing- just want to clarify b/c our DC is also trying to put a list together

My Brown student also liked UChicago very much, but did not apply as they were only willing to do regular decision so figured it was a waste. Brown has a heavily parroted misconception online, students are very academic and passionate about what they are interested in and taking courses of your choosing makes all students engaged thus upping the bar. The grading system fuels this, but that is also very misunderstood and not the reality of how 99% of students operate (S/NC all classes). It's meant to encourage exploration and make connections and not be burdened with grade fear in making class selections so you can take risks. They select for kids that will utilize it productively and that is evident in their supplementals.

NP here: seeing so many suggesting Brown and Chicago; aren’t they polar opposite schools in terms of culture and intensity? Not criticizing- just want to clarify b/c our DC is also trying to put a list together

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yes—would love any suggestions for schools that are less competitive admissions-wise as I realize many of these will be tough.

I’m the pp who mentioned Case and would put it in that category.

Thanks, will add it to the list!

Yale, Vassar, Wesleyan, Tufts, William and Mary.

Anonymous wrote:And yes—would love any suggestions for schools that are less competitive admissions-wise as I realize many of these will be tough.

I’m the pp who mentioned Case and would put it in that category.