<p>One of my very close friends is very stressed about schools, and is convinced she can't get into a good college. She is an A and B student who takes mostly CP classes aside from honors English sophomore year (C+) and honors English junior year (B+). The only other C on her transcript is a C+ in marketing which is a field she does not plan on pursuing. She will probably take AP Lit and AP Environmental Science next year. She has only taken two years of a foreign language in high school but she completed Spanish III sophomore year which is a three year equivalent. Her SAT (all three sections) is in the high 1400s. She is a very hard worker and has some good extracurriculars (sports, peer leadership, etc.) and I'm sure she would have excellent recommendations. We live in northeastern NJ about 30-45 minutes away from NYC. Her mom doesn't want her to go more than three hours away from home. She is not sure about a major yet. What suggestions do you guys have? She wants to go to UMass Amherst, Rutgers, Syracuse, or UConn but she knows those are reaches. I have recommended West Chester, Towson, Quinnipiac, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. IUP is definitely a safety but she wouldn't be thrilled to go. Any other options?</p>
<p>What are her cost constraints? The PA public schools are relatively expensive for out-of-state students, and their financial aid is poor for in-state students and worse for out-of-state students.</p>
<p>What general areas is she interested in (humanities, social studies, science, etc.)?</p>
<p>New Jersey has a number of public schools that she may be able to get into.</p>
<p>She is interested in humanities. She may want to become a teacher or a psychiatrist, and probably won’t get much financial aid.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus </p>
<p>She should consider WVU, Ohio University, Alvernia (PA), Mount Aloysius (PA), St. Vincent (PA), Geneva (PA), and Slippery Rock (PA).</p>
<p>Albright, Arcadia, Eastern (if Christian), Messiah (if Christian), Lycoming (great match), Elmira, Wells, Hartwick, Nazareth, Salve Regina, Juniata (<-really good college that admits B students), Elizabethtown (sounds like a great match), Chatham, Mitchell, McDaniell, Notre Dame of Maryland, Simmons, Hiram (<-good school), Ohio Wesleyan (<- sounds like a great fit). Of course, Rowan and Ramapo.
It’d be best if her mom could relax her distance criteria to allow her to look into colleges that may be more affordable - that’s why I tried to create a larger radius. It’d be sad for her to miss out on Hiram or Ohio Wesleyan because they’re too far, for instance, when in fact they’re not THAT far. Have her run the Net Price Calculators since these colleges don’t meet need.
A note: AP Lit is typically very time-consuming and difficult. APES sounds like a good choice, but your friend may be in over her head with AP Lit. Why not take AP Language, for instance? Has she talked with her Honors English III teacher about it? Colleges are not impressed with a C in an AP class… and since she got a B+ in Honors English III, she’d probably do better in AP English Language and Composition, unless she really loves to read and has asked her teacher to make sure if she can get a B or more in the class…</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions! The only problem is I doubt her mom would budge on the distance… Ohio is quite far away. AP Language is really only a junior year class at our school, so I doubt that she would want to take it as a senior. Lycoming, UNC Greensboro, East Carolina, etc. would all be good matches but are too far away. @MYOS1634 </p>
<p>College of Wooster is only a 7 hour drive. <a href=“https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Hackensack,+NJ/The+College+of+Wooster,+1189+Beall+Ave,+Wooster,+OH+44691/@40.5631064,-80.1901988,7z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c2fa1bb7efde49:0x420aad8868dd16d7!2m2!1d-74.0434736!2d40.8859325!1m5!1m1!1s0x88374669eac9421f:0x919f1b77a39b8fc4!2m2!1d-81.9336!2d40.811056!3e0”>Google Maps;
<p>Lycoming isn’t far, it’s probably 3hours from NYC.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention she wants a school on the bigger side, like 13,000 total undergrads at least @MYOS1634 </p>
<p>Towson would be a good option for her. After her mom runs the Net Price Calculator, if TU is affordable, encourage her to visit. TU is just north of the city of Baltimore, inside the I-695 beltway and easy to get to from NJ by rail or by car. The second largest group of students there (after students from Maryland) come from New Jersey. Towson began life as a Normal School, and has a solid reputation for producing good teachers.</p>
<p>Full disclosure: Happykid graduated from Towson two weeks ago. She loved her time there.</p>