<p>I'm only a sophomore, but I'd like to start looking at colleges. I go to a competitive public school in Massachusetts. Some things I'd like in a college are:</p>
<p>-Close to a city (or even in a city). I don't want to be in the middle of nowhere. Also, I'd like the college to have some kind of campus.
-Warm weather! I don't mind being far away from home and I know that I definantly want to be somewhere far from the cold.
-I want a school with good academics, but still a good social scene. I don't want a school that is dominated by Greek life, but I'd still like some sort of party scene.
-A good study abroad program. I've always wanted to study abroad, although it's not a dealbreaker for me.
-I'd prefer a middle-sized school, but I wouldn't mind a big school or a smaller school.
-I don't care whether it's a public of private university.</p>
<p>I don't know exactly what I'd like to do as of yet. I've considered something in business/finance/economics, but I'm still undecided. I have an unweighted GPA of 3.8 and I'm not sure about my weighted, but I take as many honors courses as possible. Next year and senior year I plan to take AP US history, AP calculus, AP Spanish, AP English: literature and composition, and possibly AP world history. I haven't taken the SAT or ACT yet, either.</p>
<p>Some colleges I have considered are: University of Miami (toured last month and I really liked it!!), Jacksonville University, Trinity University, University of Tampa, Clemson University, and Wake Forest University.</p>
<p>If anyone could tell me whether those schools "fit" me with what little information you have about me or suggest other schools, that would be great! I can give additional information if needed. Thank you!</p>
<p>I've heard Wake Forest's party scene is pretty much dominated by the Greeks, but I'm not speaking from personal experience. USC may be bigger than what you want but seems to fit everything else.</p>
<p>You have a lot going for you! Check out Rice, Emory, maybe a UC school (Berkley?) or if you want to go really big, you can't beat Univ of Texas/Austin. Great school, & one of the best cities on earth to be young in.</p>
<p>I think University of Tampa is a bit of a commuter school. If you keep up your grades you will likely get into all of the schools on your list. For a bit more of a reach, consider Emory. Villanova has a good business school, but don’t know if it’s warm enough for you. What about University of Santa Clara? University of Richmond is another option. I don’t know if UVa and UNC are in large enough cities for you, but your stats and interests fit. The schools are large enough that you will be able to find a non-Greek scene.</p>
<p>Take a look at the Claremont (CA) colleges-Pomona, Scripps, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd. These schools are physically contiguous and share resources so you have the benefits of a 5,000+ student campus, but the SLAC environment (no graduate students competing for resources, small class sizes). Pomona is the most competitive and highly regarded. Harvey Mudd is more for the Cal Tech/MIT crowd. Greek life is nominal at all of these schools.</p>
<p>And study aboard is now a huge industry that any school in the country can tap into. You will notice that the same reputable study abroad programs are available no matter what school you attend. So this doesn’t have to be a criteria at all.</p>