DD is looking for ideas for mid-size (3000 - 7000 students) colleges for biology/science education, social work, etc. I’m hoping she finds one that’s not too big, with a supportive environment and not too many party distractions, as she’s managing ADHD.
She has 1300 SAT and 28 ACT scores, and a B-level GPA that shows great improvement over the four years. AP scholar, lots of extracurriculars, strong in the arts.
She’s interested more in urban/large town locations but flexible, particularly if the school is in a beautiful location. Cost is not a factor.
So far we’ve added several Jesuit schools to the list, like University of Denver and University of Seattle. Any other ideas?
If she wants to teach in high school, consider what the teacher credential requirements are in the region she wants to teach in and whether it is necessary or desirable for the college to offer supporting course work for that.
My S also liked mid-sized universities and we ended up with a number of Jesuit colleges on his list (he did end up at Fordham and loved it). We were impressed with the Jesuit schools we saw and felt that they provided a strong and well rounded education. If you haven’t done so yet, i would comb through the list of Jesuit schools very carefully and pick out ones that are academic/geographic matches. http://www.ajcunet.edu/institutions/
In addition to Fordham (you would need to see if he is an academic match – admission has been getting more competitive) and Fairfield (which is suburban, not urban) we saw and liked UScranton and St. Joes (Phila). Another Catholic school we liked was Siena College, outside of Albany, NY. A couple of other (less urban) mid-size schools that ended up on his list were Marist College and Quinnippiac.
My son ACT 29 also likes mid sized, and Elon (tiny town but beautiful), U Richmond, and Rhodes are on his list, as well as (yes, Jesuit) Loyola of Chicago, Loyola of MD. My DD goes to LMU in LA (again Jesuit) and we all love love love it. She’s not a partier and is very happy with her social life. Super supportive school (she is currently exploring a change in major and getting lots of support) and as a Jesuit school, social service culture abounds. We also visited American University which fits her wants just didn’t wow DS.
University of Dayton would fit size and stats. Super nice friendly campus–strong sense of community. Denver is private, non-religious. Seems like it would fit as well.
She should check out Loyola University in Maryland - may be a perfect fit! Villanova University is another possibility as well as Santa Clara University.