<p>I think we already know all the top (probably unreachable) ones, though you can remind me. But what are the excellent, second level or safeties for guy with excellent credentials but probably not quite good enough for Duke, UVA etc., who wants a big time college experience?</p>
<p>USC, Notre Dame, UCLA although I would say none of them are really safeties for ya.</p>
<p>Indiana, Purdue, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Penn State, Maryland, Wake Forest, Kansas, Iowa, U of Miami (FL), Clemson, NC State, Connecticut, Syracuse, Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin, Colorado.</p>
<p>My son was in a similar situation (waitlisted and eventually rejected from UVA :( Didn't even try UNC or Duke.
UDEL, UMD, PSU, Pitt - all good state schools. Try the honors colleges if he has good numbers - helps to get small classes and priority registration My son is at PSU in the honors program and he loves it.</p>
<p>if u want really good sports and good academics:
Stanford, Duke, USC
state schools: UNC, UMD, UCLA, and many more
you'll have more of a 'college experience' at these schools.</p>
<p>PSU, UNC, UMD! All good schools with a strong sports tradition. Also look at Wake Forest. Many of the schools in the Southern but not so Southern area will fit that mold. Stanford and Duke are obviously the top ones, but certainly not the ones that offer the best overall experiences neccesarily.</p>
<p>University of Texas- can't believe no one mentioned it! Stronger academically than many of the ones listed so far.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions. Any more? </p>
<p>My older D is at Colgate and she applied to similar level schools. My son's academics are as good as my daughter's were but he wants a totally different type of atmosphere. He won't be playing varsity sports but wants the big school atmosphere.</p>
<p>Perhaps I'm just not as familiar with Big Universities as I am with LACs, but a number of the schools mentioned don't seem (to me) to be on the same level acedemically for a U as Colgate was for a LAC. </p>
<p>Have I got things wrong?</p>
<p>Your first post asked for second level/safeties so some of the schools mentioned are in that category. Of course, have to suggest the University of Michigan.</p>
<p>Thanks Blue Mom. While UMich is a wonderful school (and one he's got high on his list) I guess I don't think of it as on the same level as Duke or UVA ~ at least ~in selectivity. So what I'm looking for are more on the UMich level but which I might perhaps not be familiar.</p>
<p>Wisconsin and Michigan are quite similar in a lot of ways.</p>
<p>Are there any Southern schools that fit the description? He wants to go down to visit Duke and UVA anyway, so I'd like to add others. So far I'm suggesting Vanderbilt and maybe Wake. W&M may be a bit too conservative.</p>
<p>Univerisity of Miami , University of Florida (safeties - not as good as Mich) but might have honors programs to investigate.<br>
Duke, UNC are great schools but very hard to get into.
Vanderbilt and Wake Forest are also very good and a bit easier to get into (my son was accepted to Wake but declined - it's very expensive and they gave him no $). I would not consider them safeties though.</p>
<p>UNC, Tulane, USC, Notre Dame, BC, Northwestern, Penn State, UIllinois, Georgia Tech all seem worth looking into to me.</p>
<p>this sounds a little silly but if your child wants a "big-time" college sports experience there are only about 100 schools in the mix ... check out the DI football teams ... <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/standings%5B/url%5D">http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/standings</a> ... and that pretty much is yoru starting point. Cut off the geographic areas that don't match and there are not a whole lot of schools to investigate ... and there are 20+ excellent schools in the bunch.</p>
<p>UCLA, Cal, UVA, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Duke, Texas, Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame, Stanford, Miami, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Boston College, Maryland, Wisconsin, and Washington. This is just off the top of my head though.</p>
<p>boston college sounds just like what you are looking for</p>
<p>Although it has been already mentioned I want to plug my employer the University of Wisconsin-Madison. An excellent combination of academics, sports, and the good life. The same can be said about many (all?) of the Big Ten schools.</p>
<p>For private universities - Stanford, Northwestern, Vandy, Duke, ND, USC, Georgetown, BC and Wake Forest.</p>
<p>For public - pretty much any B10 school and the top tier schools in the other major conferences.</p>
<p>Cal (UC Berkeley) is number one in the sears director cup standings after the fall season. The sears cup is awarded yearly to the top athletic program in the country (usually Stanford). Most pac-10 and big-10 schools fair well.</p>
<p>here is the article and top ten rankings after the fall,</p>
<p>cheers,
CUgrad</p>
<p>Cal Ranked 1st in Fall Director's Cup Standings</p>
<p>Bears secure top spot for first time ever.</p>
<p>Jan. 11, 2007</p>
<p>BERKELEY - With an NCAA championship in men's water polo and top-20 finishes in five other sports, California is ranked as the No. 1 athletic program in the country in the final fall Sports Academy Director's Cup standings, released Thursday.</p>
<p>The Golden Bears compiled 364.5 points during the fall athletic seasons to edge out Stanford, which has 334 points, for the top spot. Duke is third (316), with UCLA (309) and Wisconsin (309) rounding out the first five.</p>
<p>For Cal, the Bears received the maximum 100 points in men's water polo, which captured its record 12th national title in early December with a dramatic 7-6 victory over USC on Jeff Tyrrell's game-winning goal as time expired.</p>
<p>In addition, both volleyball and men's soccer reached the Sweet 16 of their respective NCAA tournaments. For volleyball, which defeated LSU and Cal Poly in the opening two rounds, the finish matched the best in school history. Men's soccer won the Pac-10 title and received a first-round NCAA Tournament bye before downing New Mexico to advance to at least the third round for just the third time ever.</p>
<p>Field hockey won the NorPac Conference crown and beat Ohio in an NCAA Tournament play-in game to gain entry into the main playoff draw, while women's soccer edged Auburn, 3-1, in its NCAA playoff first-round match.</p>
<p>Finally, football capped off a spectacular run with a share of the Pac-10 championship and a 45-10 victory over Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl. With a 10-3 overall record, the Bears were ranked 14th in the final polls.</p>
<p>Cal's No. 1 ranking after the fall seasons clearly represents the Bears' highest placing at this stage of the year. Cal's previous best came last fall when the Bears were 11th. The Bears have successively improved their fall standing each of the past four years, from 28th in 2003, to 15th in 2004, to 11th in 2005, to first in 2006.</p>
<p>Last year, the Bears finished seventh overall for the full 2005-06 campaign, also the highest in history, and Cal is certainly on pace for its seventh top-15 finish in the past eight years.</p>
<p>The Director's Cup, which was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today, measures the best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country and awards points based on final national standings in a maximum of 10 NCAA-sponsored sports for both men and women.</p>
<p>Visit the NACDA website for a look at the complete fall standings.</p>
<p>Final Fall Director's Cup Standings
1. California 364.5
2. Stanford 334
3. Duke 316
4. UCLA 309
4. Wisconsin 309
6. Colorado 304
7. Virginia 303
8. Wake Forest 300
9. Florida 280
10. Notre Dame 279</p>