@skyii558 thank you for your imput. You hit on several of his options! We visited both VT and U of South Carolina a few years ago w/our D15 and my son still remembers them and has kept them on his short list ever since. We plan to visit both USCarolina and Auburn in the same trip in June so we will be able to make back to back comparisons.
One thing that has worked well for both D and S is to tour more than one school close together. It has really helped with the comparisons.
A quintissential college town is what he is essentially looking for and in touring 3 schools so far with him, he has not found that.
We toured 2 colleges in Florida and both times it was 82 degrees and sunny. We toured in shorts and sunglasses and my son could visualize being outdoors every day. Then we toured UNC-Wilmington and it happened to be a nasty, cold, rainy day. We were in boots, jeans and jackets holding umbrellas. After the tour (which I thought was great- I loved the campus), I asked him what he thought and he said that it was ok. That it was cold and rainy and he didn’t see any kids outside. Oh how I wish it had been a nice day. It would have given him a totally different perspective. Now I know.
I know you said the southeastern part of the country, but if he entertain being up north, University of Vermont is a great place for an outdoorsy person and Burlington VT is a great college town.
James Madison is walkable to downtown restaurants and shops. There is also a bus system that takes students to areas that are a little further out, and not always as walkable from the West campus. In the Shenandoah Valley, there are definitely lots of outdoor activities close by.
We live in Charleston so I just want to put my 2 cents in about it, I was actually just walking through the school today! A close friend of mine is the dept chair of French Studies & she has shown me around. There are a ton of shops and restaurants right at its doorstep, in fact, we toured schools in VA & NC and not one had the variety & quantity that Charleston has. My D didn’t want to go to school in the same town she lives in and kept saying if she wasn’t from Charleston, what an ideal school for shops & restaurants it would be!
It is intermixed with the city but all in 1 area and the original campus is walled and stunning, covers several blocks & has a large green where they have a gorgeous graduation. If you saw Patriot Games this area was featured in the movie. The dorm and dining commons along with other buildings are all next to the historic campus & not much else is there, mainly college buildings but the more it fans out the more intermixed it becomes. I do get a campus sense in the main area, but if you have been to, say, Harvard, C of C is much smaller campus wise but the same set up as Harvard spills out beyond its gates into Harvard Square in Cambridge ( I used to live there too).
I have never heard of or noticed the brick matching thing.
There are literally hundreds of schools that would fit your needs/description. Your choices for OOS are random based on a few anecdotal reviews. You need to become a serious list maker.
First of all identify where your kid is academically. It doesn’t pay to research schools where he is far out of line with other students. Schools where his stats make him far below the middle or where their stats are far below his are not likely to be places he will be admitted or find an academic peer group. Potential majors also need to be identified and the majors plus required/available courses looked at.
Look at geography. We moved to Florida and the heat/humidity going between classes can be just as bad as it being cold. Locations a thousand or more miles away presents logistics planning. Trying to visit home can be expensive- as well as time consuming.
Make lists of priorities. Rank them. No place will be a perfect fit. Is A more important than B? What if College X has everything but A?
You state the outdoors. I’ll put in my plug for UW-Madison here. It may not be at all appropriate for your kid, however. Large, beautiful campus with an urban setting. Hoofers offers a lot of outdoors activities including sailing on the adjacent lake. Great place for runners, bicyclists. Great academics. Liberal. Great places to go next to campus. The four seasons are an experience. Could go on and on.
Okay, now you and others can substitute a myriad of your colleges that are equally great. That is the reason to systematically rule in/out regions et al. Perhaps something outside of his current comfort zone/rut. Campus, area culture can be shocking to a young person who never thought the rest of the word thought/did did things differently. I grew up in the county of the UW above and always thought I was conservative until I moved (college choices were limited eons ago- finances especially). Everyone makes assumptions about places. I know conservatives who found their niche at UW in recent times.
Keeping in ind the “B student” and “Southern”:
USC Columbia, CoC, UNC Wilmington, UNC Asheville, UTKnoxville, Mizzou, UArkansas Fayetteville, WVU,
Millsaps? Southern Miss? Rhodes? Troy University? College of Coastal Georgia? Southwestern U (TX)? Austin College (TX, not in Austin)? St Edward’s (in Austin, TX)? NAU?
A bit or a lot colder: UDel, Penn State UP (apply DUS Summer Session before Nov 30), Ithaca College, St Michael’s, UVermont, University of Ohio (in Athens, OH), Iowa State, Indiana U Bloomington (except for business, not accessible for a B student).
Mississippi State, everything is right there. Loved Colorado State it was one of our last two choices but Kansas State gave us an offer we couldn’t refuse! Auburn is a good choice too. We went to SMU and it has everything right there.
If looking at Colorado State (great college town!) look at U of CO Boulder as well. Very different feel to both but so close it’s almost silly not to visit and consider both.
Feel free to stop by the 2017 3.0-3.4 thread, you’ll get tons of ideas for the B student. I’m not up on the southeast at all as my B+ kid who wanted a college town did not want anywhere warm or too sunny lol.
Thank you for so many great suggestions! @MYOS1634 you have listed several schools on our list so that is great to see. @eandesmom I have followed the 2017 3.0-3.4 thread that you started for quite some time. It has been incredibly helpful and I have been especially interested in following your son’s journey as my son is also interested in environmental studies and/or natural resources.
When we started our first list of schools, prior to any visits, S18 gave me a list of what he thought he might be looking for. He likes warm weather, he preferred to go south, he would love a school either near the water or the mountains (I explained that the mountains usually cancelled out the warmth), he would love to be near a golf course, or even better, have a golf course on campus, he wanted a larger campus (he goes to a very small private school where everybody knows all of your business), hopefully a football team (none at his HS), and oh yeah, a major in environmental studies/science and/or sustainability or some sort of focus on the outdoors. To that list, I added the need for a Jewish group, whether a Hillel or AEPi fraternity.
Once we visited our first 3 schools last month he had his first tangible piece of what he really liked in a campus. The walkability factor was the one thing he came away with as a positive and the most noticeable difference in the schools. So his list shifts once again and has a new column on the spreadsheet. Getting information out of him has been like pulling teeth so I was thrilled that he has been forthcoming with what worked for him on our tours.
We are off to Elon and App State in 2 weeks and then UNC-Wilmington (again), University of South Carolina and Auburn as soon as school is out in June.
University of Alabama has the strip right off campus next to the football stadium. Bars, restaurants, supermarket, other right there. A short walk will bring you to the revitalized downtown area with more upscale restaurants.
UT Chattanooga might fit the bill… very walkable to downtown Chat; wonderful outdoorsy small city; very active outdoor rec major and environmental science major- 10 minute walk to the river where you can go paddleboarding and kayaking; 10-15 minute drive to Lookout mountain for climbing; near the Ocoee for whitewater kayak/rafting. On campus rec center is also geared toward outdoor activities- indoor climbing/bouldering and a kayak plunge pool- and extensive equipment rentals and organized trips.
and University of Arkansas-- very outdoorsy; funky college town feel.
A bit of a reach but Dickinson may work - nice town and very walkable.
I know that Penn state has an on campus golf course.
Both are cold/cold ish.
(depending on whether you compare to the South or to Michigan !)
@doschicos Flagler is actually what started this thread. The photos you have seen don’t hold a candle to what the city is really like- beautiful, charming, historical, beachy, walkable, picture perfect. My son was so happy exploring the city with his friend that tagged along on our trip. The tour was also first class. We toured 6 schools with D15 and 3 schools so far with S18 and this was far and away the best.
That being said, I don’t think the school itself is for him. It is way to small for what he wants and even the charm of the city can’t change that. Also, my son is pretty conservative and most of the kids we saw both on campus and milling through the city were tattooed, pierced, smoking and hair dyed. On an already small campus, not sure he would find too many of ‘his people’ there. But, for now it is on the list as a likely and we will see how he feels about it come application time.
He goes back and forth with Alabama. At the moment, it is not on the list. I am sure that will change again.
Somebody at one point had recommended UT- Chattanooga and on paper, it did sound like a great fit, until I saw that the 4 year grad rate is 18%- Ouch!