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Help me brainstorm some good 'fit' schools for dd


Matryoshka
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So yesterday I made a big matrix comparing the schools my two junior dds are interested in.  Dd2 has a pretty good list; her SATs are right in line with most of the schools (actually on the high end of most), and the ones she's most interested in going to (almost all engineering schools) have an over 50% acceptance rate.  She's got a few safetys that I think she could be happy with if big-sticker schools don't come through with money. And she's a girl going into STEM. 

 

Then... there's dd1.  Gah, her list looks different.  Other than the obvious safety (big State U, which is actually a good school and I think would be a really great fit for her interests, but ... shes' not that excited about Big State U.  Because that's where everyone goes), all of the schools she's expressed interest in have huge price tags ($60K+), and lower acceptance rates, and her stats are closer to the low end of their range (although I'm pretty sure she can bring this up when she takes them again - her PSAT was within one point of her sister's; then her SAT was about 70 points lower in each category - I think this is mostly anxiety-driven and she can bring it up to a much better score after a retake or two).  And she's a humanities kid.

 

Her own choices seem to range from large urban school (BU, NYU) to women's LAC (Smith, Mt. Holyoke).  She's looked a bit at Brandeis, Wellesley, and Dickinson in PA. She's looking for schools that have Anthropology and/or Archaeology and/or Linguistics, but honestly I don't know that she really knows exactly what she'll end up with.  My guess is that she'll need to go to grad school, so I'd really like her not to be saddled with a lot f debt coming out of undergrad.

 

I suggested SUNY Potsdam at one point, as it has all the majors (and a nice music program - she's a violinist, but that won't be any kind of academic focus I don't think, but would be nice to have), and a great pricetag, but of course it's at the back end of nowhere, and she doesn't like that.  I've also suggested SUNY Stony Brook to her, which might be okay as a backup, but the list still looks really unbalanced to me.

 

I think she'd like to stay in the northeast for now, I think up to a day's drive (~10 hours from Boston) could be doable.  Other than the SUNY schools, all the out-of-state public U's cost about as much as a private college, and then with a lot of travel cost & time, I'm not sure what the point would be.  I spent time perusing US News & World Report yesterday, and still nothing popped out at me.  But maybe I'm missing something obvious.

 

There must be something out there that's a good 'fit' for her - either where she's higher on the stats and has a better chance for acceptance and merit aid, or that is a more reasonable price??  Where do you find these schools that meet 100% need and are generous with merit aid?

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Here's an article with a link to the colleges and universities in the U.S. that claim to meet 100% of need. Keep in mind that loans are a common part of those packages:

 

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2014/09/15/colleges-and-universities-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need

 

I would also suggest setting up accounts on www.collegeboard.com and www.collegedata.com and maybe www.parchment.com. All of those sites allow students to search for schools based on factors including the student's scores and grades, school size, location, desired majors, etc. Based on the results of those searches, your daughter can the go investigate the websites of the various schools and see which ones might be of interest.

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Also, if she's interested in linguistics, the Army has a real need for linguists and offers generous financial aid. She'd have to take the Defense Language Aptitude Battery and score well on that.

 

A word of warning on that route, however. My DH did well on the DLAB and actually got an offer for a linguist position in the reserves. But then somebody at the Pentagon in his/her infinite wisdom decided to make DH go on active duty and assigned him to an armored cavalry battalion.

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Also, if she's interested in linguistics, the Army has a real need for linguists and offers generous financial aid. She'd have to take the Defense Language Aptitude Battery and score well on that.

 

A word of warning on that route, however. My DH did well on the DLAB and actually got an offer for a linguist position in the reserves. But then somebody at the Pentagon in his/her infinite wisdom decided to make DH go on active duty and assigned him to an armored cavalry battalion.

 

Yeah, probably want to stay away from the military.

 

She actually thinks she might want to go into something like museum restoration (though would love the idea of field archaeology - that seems like a long shot to me).  She has a great attention to detail, is very artistic, and loves to make miniatures.  She also likes the idea of forensic anthropology (she also likes forensic pathology, but that would require med school, and that doesn't look like the path for her to go for a whole bunch of reasons).

 

But yeah, not a lot of huge salary options in those fields, so huge debt seems like a really bad idea to me...

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How about Allegheny College in Meadville, PA (from the colleges that change lives book)?  It's about 2 hr north of Pittsburgh, so on the outside of your distance range.  My son applied there, and when we visited, I was impressed with how focused the school was on preparing students for life after college, whether it be grad school (which many do) or a career.  They place a strong emphasis on teaching writing and public speaking so that students will be able to present their work in the professional sphere.  I think all students had to do a senior project as well.  They do offer merit aid.

 

Best wishes finding a good fit!

Brenda

 

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How about Allegheny College in Meadville, PA (from the colleges that change lives book)? It's about 2 hr north of Pittsburgh, so on the outside of your distance range. My son applied there, and when we visited, I was impressed with how focused the school was on preparing students for life after college, whether it be grad school (which many do) or a career. They place a strong emphasis on teaching writing and public speaking so that students will be able to present their work in the professional sphere. I think all students had to do a senior project as well. They do offer merit aid.

 

Best wishes finding a good fit!

Brenda

Looked it up :)

 

Unfortunately, it doesn't even offer one of the majors she's interested in. :(

This has been a problem with finding a wider range of schools. .. on paper Clark would be perfect - close to home, also in Colleges that Change Lives... but also doesn't have any of those majors... :(

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I'd be very happy to hear about Canadian schools that would be a good fit for her. She'd love to live abroad. Suggest away! :)

 

p.s. I'm hoping Canadian schools are more friendly to homeschoolers than European ones?

Well, Canadian universities are kind of all over the place in terms of homeschool admissions (homeschooling is far less common here, and some of the post-secondary institutions don’t really know what to make of it yet). Some places are not interested in homeschoolers at all (forget Queen’s, for instance, and the Alberta schools aren’t easy either, I hear). It depends on both the school and the programme; certainly arts will be an easier homeschool admit than science, almost anywhere that takes homeschoolers. This is a dated but still useful website: http://www.universityadmissions.ca/homeschoolers/

 

One thing to be aware of in terms of admissions here is that extracurriculars, volunteer experience, and so on, are not typically considered in admissions decisions. Admission for schooled students is based almost solely on grades (since several provinces have provincial exams, it is very straightforward for admissions to know what a 93 in English 12 from Alberta or BC "means," if you see what I mean).

 

Homeschoolers are thus strongly encouraged to give admissions something that they can straightforwardly compare to the schooled students’ grade 12 average (doing grade 12 at school, taking AP courses or SAT2s, taking community college courses, etc.). International admissions (for schooled students, I mean) rely more on standardised test scores than course grades from school (since they don’t know what a 93 in English 12 from <insert middle-sized US city name here> High School "means" in the same kind of way that they know that for Canadian schools), so my gut feeling would be that if SAT plus SAT2s or APs are sufficient admissions criteria for US school students, they would likely be viewed favourably in most places for US homeschooled students, too. (I teach part-time in a Canadian university, but don’t have anything to do with admissions, of course.)

 

For a general overview of universities here, you can try the Maclean’s special issue or the Globe and Mail report on universities. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/canadian-university-report/

 

So...some universities within your driving radius will be in southern Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, PEI, and Nova Scotia. There’s a good mix of types of schools in those places (though another difference between thee and we is that there are very, very few private post-secondary institutions here–a few Bible institutes and seminaries and that sort of thing–but by and large, we really don’t have the equivalent of your private schools here).

 

So, a few suggestions to get you started (all public schools):

 

Large urban school with anthropology and/or archaeology, linguistics, and music: Concordia in Montréal (it’s an English university, by the way): http://www.concordia.ca/ (Home); http://www.concordia.ca/admissions/undergraduate/requirements-international.html(int’l admissions page); http://www.concordia.ca/admissions/undergraduate/requirements-canada.html#canadian-residents (Canadian admissions page, but has homeschool admissions requirements at the very bottom).

 

Women’s (sort of) liberal arts college: Mount Saint Vincent in Halifax (it’s actually co-ed now, but was a women’s school for years and the percentage is still skewed heavily in favour of females); it doesn’t have linguistics or music, but does have anthropology (http://www.msvu.ca/en/home/programsdepartments/artsandscience/sociologyanthropology/default.aspx ), and also an interesting-looking interdisciplinary cultural studies major. There are several other universities in Halifax (King’s, Dalhousie, St Mary’s), so there may be opportunities to do some work on other campuses as well. International admissions page: http://www.msvu.ca/en/home/beamountstudent/internationalstudents/AdmissionRequirements/default.aspx

 

Small, very well-regarded, rural-ish liberal arts colleges: Mount Allison (Sackville, NB) has anthropology and music (https://www.mta.ca/programs/anthropology/ ) Saint Francis Xavier (Antigonish NS; has anthropology and music; http://www.stfx.ca/faculties/arts/ )

 

Medium-sized research university: Wilfried Laurier University (Waterloo, ON), has anthropology, a big archaeology programme, excellent music school, no linguistics http://www.wlu.ca/home.html# .

 

Hope that helps a little!

 

PS One more item of note: at the moment, our dollar is worth 78 cents US. If it stays that way, that’s already a decent slice off the top of the final bill!

 

Edited to add a link.

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How about William & Mary?

Actually, W&M is on her list... (she loooves Colonial Williamsburg, and we drove around the campus last time we were down there) but the stats aren't that much better than the other places - it comes in at about $50K, and it's on the far outside of our range at about 10 hours. The SAT range is also about the same as the other schools on her list, and acceptance rate is 33%, so far from a safety choice. ..

 

Also, anyone know about the atmosphere there? Dd's fairly progressive/liberal in her views, into social justice - would she fit in at a southern school, or would it be more/too conservative?

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Thought of one more, especially since you mention her liberal/social justice interests:

 

Trent University (Peterborough, ON); medium-sized primarily undergrad institution in a medium-sized city; has anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, but no music. https://www.trentu.ca/undergraduate/departments.php

http://www.trentu.ca/undergraduate/howdoiapply_homeschooled_001.php homeschool admissions; international admissions: http://www.trentu.ca/international/

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Large urban school with anthropology and/or archaeology, linguistics, and music: Concordia in Montréal (it’s an English university, by the way): http://www.concordia.ca/ (Home); http://www.concordia.ca/admissions/undergraduate/requirements-international.html(int’l admissions page); http://www.concordia.ca/admissions/undergraduate/requirements-canada.html#canadian-residents (Canadian admissions page, but has homeschool admissions requirements at the very bottom).

 

Concordia looks particularly interesting.  Because of where the highways run, Montreal is a closer drive than many of the NY state schools!  Is there a way to get the kind of stats I can get for a US university - like % admitted, and what avg SAT scores are (or some equivalent)?  Can't find anything like that on the site.

 

 

One thing to be aware of in terms of admissions here is that extracurriculars, volunteer experience, and so on, are not typically considered in admissions decisions. Admission for schooled students is based almost solely on grades (since several provinces have provincial exams, it is very straightforward for admissions to know what a 93 in English 12 from Alberta or BC "means," if you see what I mean).

 

Homeschoolers are thus strongly encouraged to give admissions something that they can straightforwardly compare to the schooled students’ grade 12 average (doing grade 12 at school, taking AP courses or SAT2s, taking community college courses, etc.). International admissions (for schooled students, I mean) rely more on standardised test scores than course grades from school (since they don’t know what a 93 in English 12 from <insert middle-sized US city name here> High School "means" in the same kind of way that they know that for Canadian schools), so my gut feeling would be that if SAT plus SAT2s or APs are sufficient admissions criteria for US school students, they would likely be viewed favourably in most places for US homeschooled students, too. (I teach part-time in a Canadian university, but don’t have anything to do with admissions, of course.)

 

 

Hopefully all that won't be too hard - she went to ps for 9th/10th, and now most stuff is outsourced.  This year she'll have 3 CC classes, take 2 APs (and she already has one under her belt), and 2 SAT2s, and her math class is online (so outside grade)  Now she just has to do well on them!  She won't have a second chance like she does with the regular SATs...

 

Next year (senior year) the plan will be for her to take math online again, Physics at CC, hopefully an AP Lit prep class and then the AP, post-AP German w/ a tutor, and some electives at the CC.

 

She doesn't have any huge stand-out extracurriculars, but hopefully next year she'll join an orchestra again (she skipped this year), continue w/ ballroom dance (started this year after many years of ballet; she'd also like it the school had a ballroom dance team), and last summer she did an internship at a living history museum.

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http://www.petersons.com/college-search/concordia-university-000_10003238.aspx

 

Would this help? I'm not sure how accurate this site is (I've not seen it before); I will root around a bit and see what else I can find. 

 

Montréal is such a fantastic city; it would likely feel the most "exotic" to her, too, which might be a bonus!

 

(Also in Montréal is McGill, of course, but it's a good deal more difficult to get in--it still might be worth your time to investigate, though.)

 

ETA: https://www.concordia.ca/content/dam/concordia/publications-reports/docs/US-Viewbook-2014-2015.pdf is the viewbook for US citizens. Page 14 has the American-system equivalents to required admissions standards. Not sure if that helps...

 

There won't be an SAT range published anywhere, I wouldn't think, since Canadians don't take those exams, and courses graded on percentages are graded differently here, too, so a chart like the one above might be the most useful, perhaps.

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Franklin & Marshall meets 100% need, but doesn't have any merit aid.   Their acceptance rate is much higher (39%) than most of the other colleges which meet full need.  No idea if it would be a good fit in other ways, but their academics are rigorous.  They have an anthropology major and an interdisciplinary major in linguistics.  They offer free music lessons for all students and have generous study abroad programs.

 

SUNY Geneseo might be a good fit.

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How about Temple in Philadelphia?  They have linguistics, anthropology, forensics, many of the things you listed.  Too big of a city?  It's probably 5 hours from Boston.  They also offer merit aid ranging from $3000 to full tuition.

 

William and Mary also offers merit scholarships, but I would imagine they are pretty competitive.  They do even have some full tuition scholarships, though.  As for having progressive or liberal views, vs conservative, I don't think that would be an issue in Williamsburg and Va Beach.  It is a very touristy area.  I personally think it is an awesome area! 

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If she were willing to go further away, I would think that Wooster College in Ohio might be an excellent fit! It is one of the 40 " Colleges that Change Lives" and if memory serves is generous with merit aid. Their anthropology and archaeology education is FANTASTIC! Jane in NC's son is an alum of the school and could tell you more.

 

Given that your dd really loves archaeology, she may need to reconsider geography because there aren't that many schools in the nation with strong archaeology departments.

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If she were willing to go further away, I would think that Wooster College in Ohio might be an excellent fit! It is one of the 40 " Colleges that Change Lives" and if memory serves is generous with merit aid. Their anthropology and archaeology education is FANTASTIC! Jane in NC's son is an alum of the school and could tell you more.

 

Given that your dd really loves archaeology, she may need to reconsider geography because there aren't that many schools in the nation with strong archaeology departments.

 

I've looked at Wooster (spelled like Worcester is pronounced - as a MA resident, I find that funny, sorry. ;) ), and wish it weren't so far away.  I think I've mentioned it to her, and my east-coast girl says "what, Ohio?"  I think she said the same thing when I suggested looking at Oberlin. :glare:

 

But then I could swear I overheard her the other day saying she thought Earlham looked interesting - wait, that's in Indiana, girl!  I don't think she's actually parsed that's where it is...

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University of Vermont is where all the rich kids in my high school who loved to ski and were college bound but not particularly academically inclined went. I did graduate in '95, however, So it's entirely possible that the school has improved its academic reputation since then.

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If she were willing to go further away, I would think that Wooster College in Ohio might be an excellent fit! It is one of the 40 " Colleges that Change Lives" and if memory serves is generous with merit aid. Their anthropology and archaeology education is FANTASTIC! Jane in NC's son is an alum of the school and could tell you more.

 

Given that your dd really loves archaeology, she may need to reconsider geography because there aren't that many schools in the nation with strong archaeology departments.

I was going to suggest Wooster as well.  Ohio isn't that much farther than PA.  Maybe if you have the time this summer, you might make a road trip out there and take a look.  I found that my oldest son's ideas of how far he was willing to go changed dramatically during senior year.  If you think Wooster is a great fit academically and socially, maybe you could just get her to apply so she has that option come next spring.  I think Jane's son also looked at BU, if I recall.  Maybe you could PM her specfically and ask about archeology.  Best wishes finding a good fit.

 

Brenda

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Hey, anyone know anything about the University of Vermont?  I started thinking about it when I realized we'd have to drive through Burlington if she wanted to visit Concordia... 

 

It depends on what you are looking for. I think it is a relatively large but very decent state public university. They would have her potential major.  Out of state tuition is nearly 40K/year so that may be a deterrent depending on your college budget.

 

I will concede I have more exposure to the sciences than the humanities at UVM. My stepson was accepted there for medical school and strongly considered it, ultimately he ended up with a substantial, and really too good to turn down, merit scholarship at another school closer to home and went there. 

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The University of Maine has anthropology with a minor in archaeology. They offer a summer field course as well. This summer they are working on a dig in Croatia.

 

If she is interested in museum work. The presence of a good natural history, art, or archeology museum on campus where she could work might be a deciding factor to add to your list.

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