best colleges in the south for my daughter with a 31 ACT/4.0 GPA

Hi everyone, I was wondering if you all could give me some guidance as I’ll be helping my daughter start her college search. She has a 4.0 GPA with AP/Honors curriculum at a private catholic school, a 31 ACT (33 Math/33 English/28 Reading/28 Science), varsity tennis 4 years, student government, clubs, NHS, etc., nothing super amazing other than solid all around stuff. She wants to go to school in the south like Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, maybe Virgina. She likes the idea of Emory but I know that could be a long reach. What schools do you all think would be best for her to look at and what are thoughts about ED? I really appreciate everyone’s help! I will be driving her to look at them when things open but I dont want to take her to look at places where she has no chance at getting in.

Is the 4.0 weighted or does she have straight A’s?

Can she retake the reading and science section of the ACT or is she done?

Major and affordability would also be helpful so people can give you better advice.

Budget constraints? Home state? Potential major? Only looking at large schools?

Thanks for replying already both of you! 4.0 is unweighted, her weighted is 4.41. Home state is Missouri and she is looking at Biology, maybe a focus in the field of genetics such as being a genetics counselor or something. She wants to rush greek. I think a school of 6K or larger undergrad. We won’t qualify for need based but are in that group of people who can’t really afford full price for these very expensive schools. We can swing the out of state tuition.

I forgot to say that she can take the ACT again but so far she hasn’t been able to complete the reading section she keeps running out of time.

The University of Richmond would be within range with respect to admission.

Thank you! I didn’t even think of University of Richmond!

I have a friend whose D is at Elon and loving it for bio. Would mostly likely be a safety and offer merit money.

Awesome! I had Elon down to go look at so now it will be officially on the list. It looks like a nice school.

NC State, USC, Clemson, UGA, Alabama, Auburn. Maybe UNC-Wilmington or UNC Asheville for larger schools. If you visit Elon stop by NC State. One of my favorites. Wake would be on the list except it’s expensive. App State or College of Charleston maybe?

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Alabama has some good merit aid available (up to now)
https://scholarships.ua.edu/freshman/out-of-state/
Nice facilities too from what I’ve read

I can’t tell you all how helpful this is! I literally just hopped on here today and this is very very helpful. Thank you so much for taking time to assist me. I feel lost right now with so many schools, the range of cost, and I guess I feel proud of my daughter in that she’s a very solid kid but it’s not like she has a 36 ACT or is going to an IVY so I dont know which way to go on this.

Question- University of Georgia…Is that a reach school for her? I think she mentioned that one to me and any thoughts on the culture there? I think she mentioned they have a genetics department or something.

Based on the stats you provided for your daughter, she would be automatically eligible for $15k a year at Auburn.

I wish the title of this thread was “RIGHT colleges in the south for my daughter with a 31 ACT/4.0 GPA”. There’s a BIG difference between Alabama and Richmond.

I don’t know if she knows precisely what the right school is for her as we haven’t been able to do the visits yet, but I am personally interested in campus safety, how much the party scene on campus dominates, etc., and just the overall retention rate and experience at the school. All comments and insights are welcome as I am gaining insight!

Rhodes College in Memphis, TN - connection to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Greek culture. It would tick a lot of boxes.

This year the Florida State University OOS tuition waiver was a 31 ACT and 4.0 weighted GPA (based on their system, not whatever an individual school uses which only counts core classes). The criteria can change for next year depending on applicant pool, but it was also 31 ACT last year. You didn’t mention Florida as a possible state, but it certainly is in the south! We are from PA and my D20 will be starting there this fall with the OOS waiver and honors.

Another great recommendation thank you!

Check out West VIrginia U, it’s R1, with rolling admission, $17,500 scholarship for stats, genetics grad program, med school.

Thank you! Never would have thought about West Virginia U!