<p>Thanks, Mombot - that’s helpful. We are all now “liberal Protestant” (Episcopalian) and that’s good to know about Notre Dame. </p>
<p>We visited a few years ago and loved the school, but found South Bend kind of depressing. Is there an actual “college town” for the kids to go to? (sorry - that is such a nightmare grammatically).</p>
<p>What about Boston College. There are about 9,000 students and lots of school spirit.
It is actually in a suburb of Boston. Non catholics are welcome there, I believe the only requirement is to take two philosophy courses.</p>
<p>I would absolutely look at Northwestern.</p>
<p>Suggestion…since your D loves NYC ( same here), have you looked at Fordham? It’s an up and coming school but still less competitive than NYU and with her stats she is likely to get some good merit aid. The Rose Hill campus is very pretty.</p>
<p>Also, William & Mary offers optional summer interviews, (see their website). I would recommend that you register your D for one if she plans to apply.</p>
<p>Have you considered Franklin and Marshall? Purdue? Johns Hopkins? I initially thought Notre Dame too, might be worth an extra look.</p>
<p>Perhaps Lehigh, in Pennsylvania? It’s about the right size, and has some school spirit. It’s definitely worth looking at while you’re in PA.</p>
<p>and if you look at Pitt, Carnegie Mellon is in Pittsburgh too.</p>
<p>My D and I just spent a week at Penn State. It is a lovely university in a lovely town. Yes, it is in the middle of nowhere and can’t compare to NYU. However, it has a great campus feel. The campus was very pretty, lots of brick buildings and green spaces. I liked that even though it is a big university, it seemed to have all of the university in one place. The campus was big, but had that self contained feeling you get with small liberal arts schools. Lots of students were riding bicycles and everyone we talked to was kind and willing to help. There is a nice downtown area just outside of the campus filled with just about any kind of restaurant you could want. Also, lots of cute little college shops. My D said the dorms were nice. There are some nice looking apartments(from the outside anyway) just 2 blocks from the shopping area. The ice cream at the Creamery was terrific…I heard that either Ben or Jerry learned to make Ice cream there. </p>
<p>I grew up in Charlottesville…Dad was a prof at UVA. The UVA campus has some very pretty spots. But it doesn’t feel as self contained as Penn State. It is spread across Charlottesville and can seem kind of spread out. It too would not compare to NYU. That said, the two campuses seemed more alike than I would have expected. Both are in small(ish) cities (or towns). Both have a lot of beautiful brick buildings.</p>
<p>I have also spent some time at the U of Maryland. I didn’t like it as much. The shopping restaurant area is not nearly as nice as the ones at Penn State or UVA. And the area around the campus has some sketchy parts.</p>
<p>Good luck with your college tour!</p>
<p>She may want to look at the University of Delaware. My son considered Delaware his east coast safety school (we’re from the Chicago area) and it was the lowest on his list of schools out east until he visited for a weekend and stayed with some honors students. He came home feeling he would get a great education with his intellectual peers at UDel and it became his number one choice.</p>
<p>My son would not seriously look at any schools in the Midwest because he wanted to go “away” to school. He has similar stats to your daughter and was accepted OOS to W&M.</p>
<p>I know it is outside your triangle, but if your daughter is looking at U of Mich, Wisconsin and Northwestern, she may want to look at U of I Urbana. She shouldn’t exclude it if she is considering engineering or business.</p>
<p>While in Pennsylvania, look at Bucknell and UPenn as well.</p>
<p>You people are AWESOME! Thank you so much for all of your suggestions! </p>
<p>Just a few responses - she’s already registered for an interview at W&M and really looking forward to it. She’s been very careful not to have a favorite school because she doesn’t want to be heartbroken if she doesn’t get in, but I can tell W&M is at the top of her list. </p>
<p>We’re headed to Boston next month to see BC, BU and Tufts (just added because of a suggestion someone made here). </p>
<p>I’m adding so many more schools to our list - your suggestions have been terrific.</p>
<p>She likes the city of New York? Then BU should be considered. She is within the range for merit scholarships(check out their website. scholarship money is clearly spelled out). And BU is right in the middle of Boston. You can get anywhere in the city with nothing more than a quick train ride or walk. Liking the NYU campus helps because BU is just like that. The campus is the city but unlike NYU where the campus mixes with other buildings in the area, BU pretty much is all of Comm. Ave from Kenmore Sq. to Brighton Ave. And they no longer have a football team but their hockey and basketball teams keeps the fans going. Enjot the trip there and spend some time thinking about what it offers. You will certainly find BC a prettier place but getting into the city isn’t a quick trip on the T.</p>
<p>4gsmom, dont rule out Brown!</p>
<p>Four years ago, when my d was a rising sophomore, we did a college tour of New England, and stopped at Brown “just to say we did”, but the moment we got there we realized it was the school for her. </p>
<p>We come from a small midwestern town, and didnt think she had a chance, but it gave her something to strive for.</p>
<p>Her combined SAT was 2100 (dont remember the exact break down, but she sure didnt get an 800 on anything). Her unweighted GPA was 4.0, weighted was 4.08 (our school didnt offer AP or Honors courses until her senior year). She didnt play sports, was very active in several other kinds of ECs. </p>
<p>She applied ED at Brown, figuring she wouldn’t be accepted, then she would apply to her #2-4 schools, but SURPRISE! She was accepted ED, and just finished up her first year. She couldn’t be happier there.</p>
<p>From talking to some other people who applied, some that made it, some that didn’t, it seems that besides the statistics, Brown also likes to see what kind of an individual someone is by their essay and their alumni interview. My daughter is a bit quirky, and not a “follower” or even really a “leader”. She’s her own person. Brown has been the perfect place for her, and we’re thrilled.</p>
<p>Good luck to you and your daughter.</p>
<p>U Chicago, rah, rah, go Chicago, I’m not seeing it.</p>
<p>LOL, I hear you, monydad. We’re going to UofC because we’ll be in Chicago, but you’re right, it’s not exactly “rah rah.” I got my PhD at Northwestern Medical School and am fairly familiar with UofC. I’m not sure it’s the best fit for her, but she wants to take a look when we’re out there.</p>
<p>Good to see your comment about her trying not to have a favorite school at this point (though easier said than done). I’ve found that it’s just as important to identify the safety school(s) as the reaches and matches. If she can identify a place she’d be happy to attend, is affordable, and where she’s likely to be admitted, it takes a lot of pressure off the process.</p>
<p>Finding EA (or ED if finances aren’t an issue) and rolling admissions schools can mean she has something in her pocket before acceptances/rejections start coming in. Outside of those pesky finances, that means she’ll have a baseline acceptable choice, and each later acceptance is a potential upgrade. If UConn would make her happy, you already have your safety.</p>
<p>So, keep in mind what you’re willing to pay and how much of a factor finances will be (and convey that to her now). Identify a few schools to visit which will be safeties in all the senses, and put as much emphasis on the bottom end as the top. When W&M (or whatever her favorite turns out to be) comes through at an affordable price, she does nothing but gain. And she may surprise you (as DS did me) by having safeties become some of her favorites.</p>
<p>I just had a twinge of envy. I thought I was thrilled to be done with this “process” and now I’m remembering how much I enjoyed those roadtrips with both my son and daughter.
Anyway, when I looked at schools with my children I would often think “where would I go if I could do it again”. And, my criteria would be similar to what your daughter is looking for. So, I say BC, Wake Forest and ND(along with W&M).</p>
<p>4gsmom–South Bend IS depressing, but the kids mostly stay on campus other than occasional forays to Target. Lots of kids do service work in the community–D. taught in a night school for English Language Learners.</p>
<p>The Center for Social Concerns and the Progressive Student Alliance are the hotbeds of activity for the more liberal-leaning students. I won’t say ND isn’t conservative because it is, but it is (Mostly) a thoughtful conservativism, and it really helped my D. because she had to think about and defend her beliefs–she wasn’t in an echo chamber.</p>
<p>Just to add my $.02 here – when D started looking 4 years ago (wow! time does fly!) she was also looking for a medium size school with lots of school spirit. Similar to OP’s D, she avoided all NE LA schools since they were too small. We were also living in CT, about an hour out of NYC. (We have since moved to the Hartford area.) Some schools we looked at: Notre Dame (tons of school spirit, not a particularly appealing college town), Northwestern (neither of us liked the campus, but that could have been influenced by the fact that we were there on a freezing February day!), Tufts (didn’t appeal to her at all), BC, Villanova, Fordham, GW (thought she wanted an urban school, but decided she didn’t), Bucknell (beautiful campus, not sure about school spirit), and a few others. Where did she end up? Wake Forest. She’s a rising senior and loves, loves, loves it. The undergrad population is about 4200, but the school spirit is huge. She has developed a passion for football. It’s a little outside your original search area, but may be worth a look.</p>
<p>Also, I know admissions is always a roll of the dice, but IMO, Georgetown isn’t necessarily completely out of the realm of possibility for OP’s D. I know quite a few students who have been admitted with lower stats. A couple may have had hooks, but not all of them.</p>