Hi,
So my son is a junior in high school and looking at colleges this year. He wants to go to a Christian college (i.e. Evangelical not Catholic), and we are familiar with the schools near us and the Midwest.
But he’d really also like to visit some schools in a warmer climate, east coast…
I just can’t figure out good options…
Other schools we are considering, Cedarville, Messiah, Taylor, Gordon, Grove City, Geneva, Houghton, Eastern Nazarene College…
He wants to major in Computer science.
Stats - 3.4 gpa, probably will be @ 1150-1200 SATs, decent extra curricular activities… Very good charter high school in Delaware.
So what are similar southern colleges?
Thanks
Troy has excellent scholarships and a Christian dorm (it’s a public university but you’ll find it quite conservative and religious).
Birmingham Southern would be closer to Grove City in vibe.
Samford (match), Furman (reach) and Wofford (reach) would also be in the southeast and be similar to Messiah, Eastern, or Hillsdale, especially academically.
If he wants to expand his search to include more options for his major, he might want to consider public colleges and universities in the South. Virtually all of them will have large and active Christian Evangelical communities and he will have many more options in terms of CS academics. My nephew is deeply involved in those groups at Valdosta State in Georgia. Valdosta would be an academic safety for your son but schools like it would probably be culturally good fits for him.
Samford yes, Furman and Wofford not so much if you’re looking for active religious feeling - as in requiring Bible, not just vague religion/philosophy. Not sure about evangelical but some with christianity as part of core mission - Mercer, Presbyterian College, Erskine (tiny), Charleston Southern. Honestly don’t know about lots of these - D’s friend attended Charleston Southern. We visited Mercer but not a fit (at the time looking at civil engineering which it didn’t have )- pretty though.
My daughter is a senior this year and Cedarville is in her top 2. They have a very strong academic reputation. Cedarville graduates are well respected and in demand for their high character, preparation, and work ethic. We were extremely impressed with the students we spoke with – going out of their way to answer questions and make us feel welcome. The faculty and professors really engage with the students and know them all by name (#4 in nation for “student engagement” according to the WSJ). There are never any TAs teaching classes. The campus is nice… Now, the school is definitely not for everyone. They make no apologies for being a Christian school. Every student is required to get a Bible minor which basically amounts to 5 humanities classes. There are curfews and “rules”, but nothing that extreme for a private Christian school… The school is on the expensive side as most private schools are, but a 1200 SAT (25 ACT) would get an automatic $42,000 merit scholarship… bump up to a 1280 SAT (27 ACT) and you are up to a $50,000 scholarship which makes it more on par with a major in-state public university.
Liberty in Lynchburg, VA and Belmont University in Nashville, TN. They are bigger than most of the schools on your list so far, if that’s a positive or negative.
Presbyterian is really small (1200) and the town is small. There are a lot of those small schools in the south, especiall North and South Carolina. These towns are really small.
We looked at Presbyterian and just couldn’t image how anyone could get 4 years of courses out of a department. We looked at several (physics and math) with only 5 professors listed in each department. There are no other colleges nearby to take course on an exchange.
I don’t think Presbyterian or Mercer would feel “evangelical” . Depending on what the op’s sons wants are. There will be plenty of Christians but also plenty of typical college type drinking etc…
^there’s a lot of drinking at evangelical colleges too, alas.
At Wofford, the requirements are light, there are 9 “Christian/Western” credits, as such: 3 in Religion, 3 in Western Civilization, and 3 in Humanities (great thinkers of Greece, Roman, Early Christians, etc)
At Samford, the requirements are a bit more stringent: 2 Western Civilization courses (which include Biblical scholarship and theology), Communication (in Christian perspective), Biblical Studies, plus 1-2 classes in Humanities (also with a Christian perspective).
I know it’s far from your target area, but the weather is wonderful and it’s top-notch in terms of academics - what about Pepperdine (reach)? What about Point Loma Nazarene (match)?
If you’re looking for warmer weather and are willing to consider Southern California, Biola offers numerous degree programs within a Christian centered curriculum and environment. It has about 4K undergraduates and 2K graduate students. I know somebody who did their pre-med course and got a great outcome on their MCATs. They offer CS.
I also know somebody who had a great experience at Messiah. He went on to a top graduate school and is now employed at a university as a professor in the humanities. I don’t know anything about their CS offerings.
Be careful about investigating CS placement and salaries. At the high end, CS placement is excellent, however at schools like these it can be spotty. You may want to investigate that before picking a school. Surprises are bad.
There should be no bad surprises from Wofford, Samford, or Pepperdine. Eastern and Grove City should be OK for regional hiring in CS.
Seattle Pacific is Christian and well-known and recruited for CS.
Make sure to check the accreditation. You don’t need ABET but you do need official regional accreditation.
Thanks for all the help and ideas. @MyBjnk - I agree and my son really likes Cedarville. But you might be thinking of another school regarding the scholarships and financial information you quoted - Cedarville’s scholarship for a 1200 SAT is published at $10,500/year. It’s total cost is under $40,000… Correct?
We looked into schools in Nashville, but is Belmont good for comp sci? What about Lipscomb?
Will definitely check out Samford and some others. We are interested in Palm Atlantic but more sure if it’s academics or reputation, and for comp sci, are strong enough?
Thanks.