<p>i'm looking for a school on the west coast and/or somewhere warm that's pretty liberal, has a good social scene that isn't overwhelmingly greek, and has a decent academic reputation. somewhere with at least 5,000 but not more than 25,000 undergrad. i think i want to study math, but i'd like to leave my options open. i live in virginia but i'm hoping to go out of state. i have a 3.9 UW and 1430/2140. any suggestions?</p>
<p>Turn on me, for West Coast safeties, perhaps take a look at some of these: University of the Pacific (decent school in Stockton an hour or two from Sacramento and San Francisco, beautiful campus, kind of a pre-professional bent); Chapman U in Orange County (Disneyland!) in the LA area; University of Redlands (an hour or so east of LA).</p>
<p>It's hard nowadays to predict safeties, but I'd also add that you could consider the smaller UCs: Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara --- two incredibly gorgeous locations and respected academically --- and also Irvine, which is in a nice but not spectacular location and has a pretty low key social scene but excellent academic reputation. I know students there who are enjoying it and getting a great education. </p>
<p>I can't say how liberal or not they are (the student body anyway), but several other suggestions might be Loyola Marymount in L.A. or Pepperdine in Malibu. University of San Diego, a Catholic university, also has a good reputation. </p>
<p>Chapman is a strong up and comer in Orange County (closer to Irvine and Newport Beach than L.A. but you could still go to L.A. if you're willing to brave the traffic.) Your stats would make you a contender for significant merit aid there, I believe.</p>
<p>thanks for the suggestions so far but i forgot to add i don't want a school with a religious affiliation</p>
<p>Pepperdine maybe?</p>
<p>Tulane, maybe?</p>
<p>turn on me, bear in mind that a school can have a religious affiliation without pushing it on you. My daughter and I toured the University of San Francisco, for example, which is a Jesuit college--and they are very accepting of diversity, religious and otherwise. They do require you to take a couple of religion courses, but it doesn't even have to be about the Christian religion. There's no required chapel attendance or anything of the sort.</p>
<p>USF also gives a huge amount of merit aid to students of your caliber...$18,500 a year if you apply early enough. And they're in the heart of San Francisco, just a block from Golden Gate park, so it's an amazing area. It might not be challenging enough for you, though.</p>