B student desires warm climate schools

Parents Forum
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<p>My B student daughter is a junior and only wants to attend college in a warm climate. We live in the Midwest. California is her first option. Florida and Arizona would be other options. Other distant choices might be Washington DC area, or southern states--where it is not so cold for so long!!! </p>

<p>Her first time SAT scores are 1100--math and verbal both 550 (without a prep class)--although from what I read, it is unlikely that she will gain more than 50-100 points. She will take the new SAT in ?May or June). Very liberal daughter. Definitely dances to another beat. Likes dance (modern), interested in international business (but who really knows). Very business saavy. A great kid for anyone who knows her. No AP courses. Her EC's are all edgy-- Volunteers at planned parenthood, organized a group of students on March on Washington for Women's Rights,etc etc. I think she will flourish in college (how I wish she had been an early bloomer in high school). Any suggestions would be appreciated.</p>

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<p>a friend with similar stats, and looking for dance options, applied to Univ of Arizona. They even offered her a small scholarship to offset out-of-state tuition, but since that money is first-come, first-served, she should apply in early Sept. Good luck.</p>

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<p>Boy, she sounds spot-on for Guilford. Business is a strong major, and they are very crunchy granola. She might want to look at Warren Wilson too or UNC-Asheville.</p>

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<p>I'm not sure Washington, D.C. would make someone happy who wants a warm climate. It was lovely today--for three or four hours in the afternoon--but it was winter coat weather in the morning and as soon as the sun started going down. Our first frost was, I think, in November. January, February, and March are winter, and you can never tell about December and April.</p>

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<p>Oxy comes to mind as a great fit. VERY liberal, very diverse, children who march to a different drummer for sure. Lovely school.</p>

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<p>I second Occidental in L.A.</p>

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<p>Occidental would probably be an unrealistic reach for a student with a "B" average and SATs of 1100. They have become incredibly selective in the past three years. Average SATs are now in the high 1300's at Oxy and GPA's are up there too. Her stats would also make Pitzer, the other "liberal" southern california school also a reach. But it would be more within range possibly.</p>

<p>If she's not opposed to an all-female school, Mills in the Bay area would meet her needs and be a match. Other schools she could look at include: University of Redlands, Whittier College, Chapman University, Loyola Marymount, St. Mary's College of California, University of San Francisco and possibly either the University of San Diego or Santa Clara University.The last ones, however, are all Catholic so might not be a fit for someone who works for planned parenthood. Of these schools, the University of Redlands would probably be the closest to being liberal but it's still pretty conservative. They do however have a "school within a school" The Johnston Center that attracts some very liberal students. I'd suggest UC Santa Cruz but her GPA may be below the out of state UC minimum of 3.4 for out of state applicants. If she's above 3.4, would be worth checking out but she will need to take the SAT II tests. One Cal State school worth checking out, however, would be Humboldt State in extreme northern Calif - very liberal student body.</p>

<p>A few other ideas: although not quite "warm" the Pacific Northwest has somewhat moderate weather (certainly less cold than the midwest) and more liberal colleges. A few possibilities up there would include Lewis & Clark (they have an SAT optional admissions choice), Reed, University of Puget Sound, Evergreen State and maybe Willamette. The University of Washington and/or the University of Oregon might be worth checking out as well.</p>

<p>In the south, I agree with PattyK that Guilford would be a good option. Another would be Hendrix in Arkansas. In Florida, I would recommend Eckerd College, and the New College of Florida. Moving a bit north, she might check out Goucher in Maryland. She might also take a look at Southwestern College in Texas - it would be a bit of a reach, but not outrageously so as they are trying to broaden their geographic reach.</p>

<p>In Arizona, she might check out the University of Arizona (reach for an out of state student with those stats), Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona State (not exactly warm in the winter, though). In Nevada, she could take a look at Univ. of Nevada-Las Vegas. </p>

<p>My daughter, who also marches to a different beat, started off her college search insisting that she wanted to go somewhere warm --- the problem is that there really aren't many "liberal and quirky" schools in warm climates. The main ones we found were Hendrix, Guilford, Mills, and New College. Because of this, she is gritting her teeth about the cold and considering other options. She figures she'd rather be cold and surrounded by like-minded interesting people than warm and surrounded by sorority girls (no offense to any sorority sisters out there - just not a match for my daughter!) Her current list includes Goucher, Lewis & Clark, Earlham, Beloit, and Guilford.</p>

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<p>By the way, Goucher in Maryland has a fantastic dance program.</p>

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<p>The Bay Area isn't necessarily warm (at least this time of year), but it is warmer than the midwest and she might want to consider Dominican University in San Rafael. It will be more accessible than Oxy and there are some interesting local dance options I think. </p>

<p>Also: Late bloomers do bloom. The SAT standards on this board can be daunting when you first view them. There are many good options for your daughter. Carolyn has offered a great list.</p>

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<p>Gos Caeolyn, I'll shut up now. How do you people stay on top of this? 5 years ago when we started looking at colleges for oldest son, you were right in there at Oxy with a B and a 1200!</p>

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<p>Ckerr, No, it's definitely not warm but it would certainly warmer than the midwest. LOL! I thought of Dominican too but wouldn't consider that a liberal school - it's also Catholic. Don't know if someone who works for planned parenthood would be a match at a school where some of the teachers are nuns. :) </p>

<p>It is really strange that California, which has such a rep as a "liberal" state, has so few private schools that are really "liberal." I guess all the liberals must go to the UC's. :)</p>

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<p>Kirmum, The reason I follow Oxy's admissions info closely is that both of my in-laws are alumni and are pushing hard for daughter to consider it. In the past three years, Oxy's popularity and application numbers have skyrocketed - median SATs of accepted students are now in the 1300's. Amazing isn't it? I guess part of it is that there simply aren't many good LAC's in southern California that don't have a relgious affiliation of one sort or another. I also suspect that many people are using Oxy as a back up as the top UC's become more competitive. In any case, I'm not pushing it for my daughter as I think it would be a reach for her unless a miracle happens with her SAT scores and grades this year. :)</p>

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<p>Carolyn:</p>

<p>It seems to me that California schools tend to have higher SATs than comparable East Coast schools. I assume it has something to with demographics in the CA population and, perhaps, a relative shortage of colleges within a day's drive.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all of the suggestions. We will pursue them. We are trying to use her spring break for tours. Much more difficult road trip than pursuing schools in the North East corridor. </p>

<p>Does any one know how students with these stats really do at college, i.e. if accepted at Occidental or any school that usually has kids with much higher GPA's/SAT scores really do at these schools. If she happened to gain acceptance at a "reach" school with these scores--would she likely be able to complete college academically or struggle. She doesn't have an eating disorder, use drugs, or drink. She is fiercely independent with her school work--never has let her family review her papers for corrections, etc (admirable but silly to me--just this year after 11 yrs of school does she let us peek at her papers--generally at the last hour before much can be done for recommendations). A sobering memory about fierce independence goes back to second grade--when the assignment was for the child to create a story. Parents were told that we could type the story. My daughter typed a 3 page story letter by letter--all by herself!!! Frustrating for us. </p>

<p>Are there any resources for parents to know the outcome of such students. My point is that there are A+/1600 SAT score kids at Harvard, Yale, Duke , etc that were squeaky clean but just don't make it. </p>

<p>It just seems that for the late bloomer kids, that schools are looking at a small window of adolescent development and making decisions. It just makes me think of how many developmental milestones she had from 6 months of age until age 2, or until age 5. I don't want her to undershoot options. Just random thoughts. What do you think?</p>

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<p>Have you read the book, "Colleges That Change Lives" ? subtitle= '40 schools you should know about even if you're not a straight-A student.' Several of the schools Carolyn mentioned are among these 40 schools. This book was tremendously helpful to us in our college search for our "B" student. They also have a website, and the schools are sorted geographically. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.ctcl.com/index.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ctcl.com/index.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>for example, the South:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.ctcl.com/region_south.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ctcl.com/region_south.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>I'd suggest you check out the US News & World Review College site - they have detailed charts for each school that show the percentage of applicants accepted with various SAT scores. You have to subscribe to the premium edition to get that but it's inexpensive ($15 or so) and well worth the money. </p>

<p>I'm struggling with the same thoughts you are - Your daughter and my daughter sound so much alike, especially the fierce independence part. My daughter is a hard working student but her GPA hovers in the 3.4-3.5 range no matter how hard she works. Her PSATs indicate that she'll probably score in the 1100s to 1200s, again if she really works at it. She really loves learning and has always chosen classes based on how much they interest her, not how easy they will be --- but she doesn't do all that well when faced with very intense academics. She is very determined, sometimes to her own detriment. </p>

<p>I worry about her getting in over her head at a very academic school but I also know she would be bored at many schools that will fit in the "safety" range for her. It's a real balancing act. In her case, it's been made somewhat easier because she seems to have a clear sense of what she wants in a college beyond the academics - community is very important to her, as is a liberal and laid back student body. She also wants a college where a high percentage of students live on campus for all four years. And, she'd strongly prefer a school where there are no frats/sororities, or at least a school where the frats/sororities are relatively low-key in terms of over all social life. She subjects each college visit to the "pocket book" test: If she sees girls walking around with designer bags, it's crossed off her list immediately. </p>

<p>Sorry for rambling, but I can relate to your question - finding the right balance of support, academic intensity, and community is a challenge for kids who think outside the box and dance to a different drummer. It's not just the grades/SAT scores - it's finding the right fit.</p>

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<p>Ah, NJres, as usual, an excellent suggestion. That was the book that got my daughter thinking about the type of school she really would feel comfortable with. Luckily, she read it early on and has never fallen into the "name" trap of some college seekers.</p>

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<p>Interesteddad - Just saw your comment. Yes, I think the "best" private colleges in Calif. are so few and far between that anyone looking for an alternative to the UC's faces some stiff competition. It does seem to me that there are many more options for "Average" students looking for smaller schools on the east coast than there are here in the west. I can count on two hands the non-religiously affiliated LAC's from San Diego to Seattle. I don't think I could count the non-religiously affiliated LAC's on the east coast without the aid of a calculator.</p>

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<p>pattykk, you stole my response -- those were exactly the schools I was thinking of when I read the original post! Maybe also St. Mary's in Maryland (but it's not quite as warm as she might want!).</p>

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<p>Credentials aside--forget the U. of Wisconsin. High of 9, low of -11 today. It's cold, cold, cold.</p>